Wow. There is not much more I can say. I'm in a state of joyous disbelief. Why? Well, because tomorrow Megan and I finally begin our long awaited adventure to Japan. After a year of talking nonstop about Japan, trying to learning the language in study hall, and lamenting over how many days were still left in school, we have made it. Tomorrow, we drive out to near the airport and get as much sleep as possible before our early morning flight on Monday out to LAX.
Right now, I'm doing all of that last minute packing I should have done earlier this week :P However, everything has been laid out in my room for the last week- the floor is covered with an assortment of things waiting to be packed. I am beyond excited right now and am still having a hard time believing it's finally time to go. I just can't wait :)
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Host Family!
With less than 4 weeks left until I depart for Japan, I have finally found out about my host family!!! Now I am definitely super excited and haven't really been able to stop talking about Japan. Two nights ago I received an e-mail from my AFS adviser saying that I officially had a host family. My family is a young couple with a really young son! I sent them an e-mail that night and today I got a reply from them. My host dad said that he could speak some English and sent a couple of pictures of the family. The e-mail was really nice and I am so thrilled that AFS has placed me with them- they are perfect :) Now I just can't wait to meet my host family in person in a matter of weeks!
The pre-departure orientation was nice, there were a few other girls going to places all over the world and the slide show our local AFS volunteer had made was really informative. I now also have a definitive departure date and can finally count down the days I have left before I get to leave! This weekend I will probably start making a list of what I need to pack and when school gets out I will sit down and make sure I pack! I recently purchased a Japanese-English dictionary and have been working on my online course that my language school in Japan asked me to finish before I come. The online lessons are actually really good and I have been able to pick up quite a few useful verbs that will be sure to help me out.
So I am, to say the least, absolutely 100 percent super excited about leaving soon and meeting my host family! I am hoping that I can find some nice gifts to bring them this weekend. I will probably get a couple of local t-shirts for my host parents and a kid's book in English for my little host brother. Now that I have less than a month to go, I have to get everything organized, start packing, clean my room (XP), and get ready to go. I can't wait!
The pre-departure orientation was nice, there were a few other girls going to places all over the world and the slide show our local AFS volunteer had made was really informative. I now also have a definitive departure date and can finally count down the days I have left before I get to leave! This weekend I will probably start making a list of what I need to pack and when school gets out I will sit down and make sure I pack! I recently purchased a Japanese-English dictionary and have been working on my online course that my language school in Japan asked me to finish before I come. The online lessons are actually really good and I have been able to pick up quite a few useful verbs that will be sure to help me out.
So I am, to say the least, absolutely 100 percent super excited about leaving soon and meeting my host family! I am hoping that I can find some nice gifts to bring them this weekend. I will probably get a couple of local t-shirts for my host parents and a kid's book in English for my little host brother. Now that I have less than a month to go, I have to get everything organized, start packing, clean my room (XP), and get ready to go. I can't wait!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
It's Official!
A couple of days ago I received my confirmation e-mail from AFS Japan! So now comes that last stretch of the exciting wait as AFS Japan works on placing me with a host family! The last few weeks of school are now coming into sight and in a short amount of time, it will finally be June. I am, to say the least, super excited!!! My local AFS orientation is next weekend so I am looking forward to meeting other people who are planning to go somewhere in the world with AFS. Of course, I think other than Megan and I, there are only supposed to be a couple of other people attending the orientation, but still it will be fun to talk to them and see where they are going and why they chose those places.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Ever closer
With the beginning of March, there are now less than four months to go before I depart for Japan! Spring is almost here and I have now begun working on teaching myself hiragana. So far, I feel comfortable enough with it and I hope to have the 46 basic characters safely tucked away in my head before spring break (school is taking up a lot of my Japanese study time). I've decided I also really want to focus on verbs and vocab at this point so I've made flashcards and hopefully they will do me some good. On another note, I am super excited because I received an email from AFS today that my application has been sent off to AFS Japan! YAY! This means I am one step closer to being on my exchange!!! I keep staring at my calender hoping that it is farther into the month than it really is, the days just won't go by fast enough. Oh June, why won't you come just a bit quicker?
Monday, January 25, 2010
Taking a Test
A little while back, we received the tentative dates for departure to Japan. So go figure, two of my Regents exams are scheduled in between those dates. Luckily, there is a week for retaking Regents during January and so, call me crazy if you must, I have decided to try passing the Earth Science Regents Exam half way through the year to make departure less stressful (due to the 4 Regents I have to take the week before I leave). My friend, Megan, and I took on the task of teaching ourselves the half a year worth of Earth Science that we have yet to learn in class... all in one night! It was an adventure to say the least, especially because we signed up for the regents exam one day, studied all night the next day, and took the exam on the third day XD
Taking the test after studying all night was another adventure all together. Three hours of sitting in a cold room with only myself, Megan, and the guidance counselor while trying to make sense of all the questions on concepts we had yet to learn. I'm sure I looked like a crazy person as I twisted my pencil around in the air to get an idea of where the earth would be during a specific season compared to the sun or using my hands to get a sense of questions. I managed to finish the test with fifteen minutes to spare and by that time I was starving (lunch had been over for about thirty minutes by the end of the exam) and I was pretty much frozen solid. The room was for some unknown reason extremely cold!
So today (the day after the regents exam) our science teacher told us we passed! HUZZAH! Studying all night and freezing for three hours has paid off!!! This means we have 1 regents down, three to go. I am also excited because there are only 5 months left until I depart for Japan! Everyone in my class has been asking Megan and I all about the exchange program we are doing and one person even tried to convince us to bring them with us :) I just can't wait for June and I am still working steadily on learning Japanese.
Taking the test after studying all night was another adventure all together. Three hours of sitting in a cold room with only myself, Megan, and the guidance counselor while trying to make sense of all the questions on concepts we had yet to learn. I'm sure I looked like a crazy person as I twisted my pencil around in the air to get an idea of where the earth would be during a specific season compared to the sun or using my hands to get a sense of questions. I managed to finish the test with fifteen minutes to spare and by that time I was starving (lunch had been over for about thirty minutes by the end of the exam) and I was pretty much frozen solid. The room was for some unknown reason extremely cold!
So today (the day after the regents exam) our science teacher told us we passed! HUZZAH! Studying all night and freezing for three hours has paid off!!! This means we have 1 regents down, three to go. I am also excited because there are only 5 months left until I depart for Japan! Everyone in my class has been asking Megan and I all about the exchange program we are doing and one person even tried to convince us to bring them with us :) I just can't wait for June and I am still working steadily on learning Japanese.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
New Years!
Happy New Years Eve!
So I am now in waiting mode as 2010 finally begins. AFS Japan will be taking applications early in the year! I am still pressing ahead with teaching myself Japanese(of course I will arrive in Japan only to find out I have been learning all the wrong stuff and I will probably start speaking Spanish XD) My friend, Megan, and I continue to talk in Japanese during school and our most common statements have so far been "Ichigo!" (Strawberry!) and "Atsui ne." (It's hot, isn't it?) About the second statement, we say it even when it's really cold (due to the fact that we are right in the middle of a rather bitter winter) because apparently talking about the weather is a great way to start a conversation!
I finally bought a camera recently, so I am now prepared to take lots of pictures over the summer! The camera takes around 850 pictures, but I have this funny feeling that all of that memory space will be filled up within the first 5 minutes of arriving in Japan :)
So I am now in waiting mode as 2010 finally begins. AFS Japan will be taking applications early in the year! I am still pressing ahead with teaching myself Japanese(of course I will arrive in Japan only to find out I have been learning all the wrong stuff and I will probably start speaking Spanish XD) My friend, Megan, and I continue to talk in Japanese during school and our most common statements have so far been "Ichigo!" (Strawberry!) and "Atsui ne." (It's hot, isn't it?) About the second statement, we say it even when it's really cold (due to the fact that we are right in the middle of a rather bitter winter) because apparently talking about the weather is a great way to start a conversation!
I finally bought a camera recently, so I am now prepared to take lots of pictures over the summer! The camera takes around 850 pictures, but I have this funny feeling that all of that memory space will be filled up within the first 5 minutes of arriving in Japan :)
Monday, December 7, 2009
One Day Closer
My excitement is ever growing as today my application has been sent in to AFS! From here, I now begin the wait to hear back from them and find out if I have been accepted. Every day that I walk out the door for school, my dad always hollers after me "Remeber, this is one day closer to Japan!" The days never seem to go by fast enough, that's for sure. I am getting in a lot of language studying time during my study halls at least. I'm excited now as I am finding that there are more and more things I can say and understand in Japanese!
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