Forms!!

ASSE has finally sent me my forms! I received them last week, around Thursday. Within the thick envelope we forms for my doctor to refill out, the old forms he filled out wrong and a new program agreement form. I have to sign it again with my parents. I have not heard anything about my application, but I bet they are reviewing it in Italy as you read this post!!! I am thinking more and more about Italy and next year and my future.

I have been looking for colleges and trying to decide what I want to study and major in. I love History and Italian and I don't want to go to Italy for a year a lose it. I found on college, abroad :), where I can double major in History and Italian and receive my Bachelor's degree in three years. And the best part, its in Liverpool England!!! but this is only one of the few I will be looking at. Who knows where I am going, but this is on the list for now.

On another note, 7 more days of school and 10 days till Christmas Eve!!!! YAY!!!! Christmas is always a fun and wonderful holiday, but this year it will come and go really fast because the first day off from school is Christmas Eve!! Which means I can't really enjoy the Christmas spirit of sleeping in and watching Christmas movies or anything which makes me a little sad :( but oh well school off is school off!!

Hopefully I will be returning to blog about my application being accepted into ASSE Italy or something much bigger, but until then, I will enjoy my decreasing American high school days

Today

Today was like anyother Monday, suckish! Thanksgiving break just finished and now we go back to a full week of school, oh so much fun, NOT! When my alarm went of I did not want to climb down from my bed or get ready to go to zero period gym. I got up and ready to face another long day at my boring high school. And that was how my day went, long and boring. When I realized what day it was, I remembered something (the reason for this blog) and became extreamly excited!

Today my application is being sent over to ITALY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In nine months its going to be going to Italy!! I can't wait, but to tell you the truth I am really scared and sad to be leaving my family and friends. Sure I hav thought about it and sometimes its whatever for now cause its so far away, but then other times it hits me and makes me really sad and all I want to do is hang out with all my friends. This weekend I'm going to the city with my mom, host sister, and mayber dad and brother so that should be fun. Masque and Mime is in a break right now because the play ended a few weeks ago. This past weekend I went to a party and I hung out with some of my friends and it was really fun, but at times I wish they were with me all the time. Sure its a while till I go, but once I am there I know there will be times when I know I will wnat to come back and be surrounded by my family and friends. I just need to take it one long, boring, homework filled day at a time and I'll get there and be back.

Once I find more about my traveling application, I'll let you know, right after my mom and facebook

A few new updates to inform you with.

First of all, the play at my school is tomorrow!!!!! After hours and hours of rehearsal at school with missing actors, missing props, food moms, and totally confusion, the time has come to let everyone see just how great the theatre program at Ketcham is! I love being part of Masque and Mime and I am going to miss everyone in it next year. This is my last fall play with them, but its not as bad as it will be at the end of the spring play, cause that will be really my last show with them. But on another note, I am super excited for tomorrow night and I hope a lot of people go and see it.

Next Wedensday Masque and Mime is going on a feild trip to New York City!!!!!!!!!!! We are going to see Bye Bye Birdie and meet the cast after :) I am really excited to go to the city and meet the cast, maybe not see the play. It will really fun hanging out with my friends and leaving school early! If I had to live anywhere in the U.S. I would chose New York City because I love it. I know that many can't stand the city and hate going, but I love the city and wish I went more often. There is just something about it that makes me wish I could stay. I would love living abroad somewhere in Europe (Italy my #1 choice) but if I can't I would reside in New York City.

I am going to call ASSE tomorrow after school because I do not have rehearsal :) and will have time to do homework and maybe take a nap, but I don't know. The one thing with Masque and Mime is that it takes up all of your time and once the play is over, you have nothing!! I get really bored and start to miss all my firends. I loved working with the cast for this play and I know I'm going to miss them because not all of them will be in the spring show. This spring we are doing Bye Bye Birdie so going to see the Broadway play will be interesting and give us idea's for our show.

The frist quater ends tomorrow and so far taking two English and History classes have been okay. Double English can get boring, but luckily we are doing different things. Writing two essays are worse then one. I'll put up a new post when I call ASSE and talk with Hanna. Hopefully there will be some really good news.

November :)

Halloween has passed, soon it will be Thanksgiving, then on to Christmas!!!!! The fall and winter are by far the fastest seasons of the year, especially in school. The play will be in two weeks!!! And soon I will be staying past 5, then later 8! Saturday, I was at school from 9am to 4pm!!! that's 7 hours!!!!!!!!!!!! As much as I complain about the hours and having no time for anything else, I love it. I'm really excited for Italy, yet at the same time I am really really really scared!! First of all, my Italian sucks!!! I wont be able to understand a lot. Second I am going to miss my family and friends A LOT!!! But it will be worth it! The first and last few weeks will be the hardest. I have lots of time till then so I wont think about it too much :)

No news from ASSE yet :(

School is getting boring and I can't wait till the next vacation. My life has been school, masque and mime, homework, sleep and repeat. I went and listened to a few college reps at guidance, Marist and Wagner, both seem really interesting. The thing is I have no idea what I'm going to be! I know the first two years are at DCC and after who know!! I still have to take the SATS of ACT not sure which one, or maybe both. (lol) I still need a job! After the play. The candy sales have been really good and steady. I have reached $300 from candy :) Thank you to all those who have supported my trip by buying candy! At school I entered a contest held by the Literary Magazine at my school. You need to support some form of writing, art, picture etc. of your interpretation of "The Other Side" I decided to send in a picture. (the one at the top of my post I fixed it up before and this copy looks worse then what I submitted)

Autumn

Fall is by far my favorite seasons of all!! I love the weather (although this year has been pretty bad), the fashion, the colors, the leaves changing, and everything about it!!! I love the color orange and many things in fall are oragne!!! I decided to change my template again to fit the season :P

Nothing new has really happened with ASSE and my trip. I am fund rasising in school and still have not recieved the new paperwork from ASSE for the doctors. I have been really busy with Masque and Mime. This year we are doing Appoiontment with Death and it is only three weeks away!!!! AAHHHHH! Just a little worried about that, but I know everything will come together like it always does.

In random news, I still need to make/get a Halloween costume. Kristin and I are having a party and we need to dress up and I have nothing! I have an idea what I want to be, just not the costume itself. I wanted to be a soldier but im just not sure seeing as I have a week to go.

Oh well I'll think of something, I always do

Italy Template

So i changed the background and its an Italian coast!! its really pretty! and i like it and i hope you do too :) wouldn't it be awesome if i went somewhere like this!!! it would be amazing!!!

one step closer!!

This weekend my mom, Kristin, and I went to the new Big Lots and when we were looking around, I found were the luggage was. I was looking and thinking about Italy, and I saw this red suit case. It is a good size, a little big, but not to big. And the greatest part was that it was only $40!!!!!! I am so excited and can't wait till I get to pack it, but ultimately to pack it in my home in Italy!!!!!

I have officially sold 2 subscriptions to my Italy Newsletter, Ms. Sarna, and Wil! Thank you so much!!! I have been selling candy bars and I almost raised $100 there. My Gramie, mom, aunt and I will be working on making homemade dog biscuits and doggy bandannas to sell at my cousin's friend's dog grooming shop. I still have to work on the letter and meet again with Mr. Stella, but I have not thought about the letter or looked for organizations to send it to.

September is over and October is beginning, which leaves 11 months!!!

Principal Stella

The meeting with my Principal went pretty well. I discussed if I could do anything at school and at school functions, which a I can't. Oh well. He also said that he would look into this organization who gave him a scholar award, ACIM, and he said he would be more then happy to write to the Sons Of Italy and ACIM and ask for some sort of scholarship/donation on my behalf. YAY!!!!!! My job is to think of some other sponsors to sent this letter to. Also I need to make a rough draft of this letter. I'm not sure what its going to say, but I will think of something.

I'm a little worried that I'm not going to fund raise enough. I know I have 11 months (!!) but it will fly by and $5000 is a lot of money! I need to get a job, but the problem is I'm really involved in Masque and Mime, so that is a little problem. I sometimes get this terrible thought that I'm not going to be able to go next year which makes me really sad. If I don't go, I don't know what I'm going to do!! I could graduate early but you know what, I'm not going to think that because I'm going and I will fund raise and get the money some how!!!

Oh and I'm still waiting for those new forms from ASSE. It was almost a month ago when I called Hanna and it doesn't take that long to mail two forms to New York from Virginia.

Meeting with the big cheese tomorrow

Tomorrow I have a go and see my princapal at 12:15!!! I'm going to talk to him about my up-coming exchange trip and I have no idea what I'm going to say besides I need to fund raise and money!!!! I started selling candy and bought some more today and I kind of afraid that he is going to say you can't sell that in school because I don't think I'm aloud to in the first place. I'm still working on getting a job, I need my new working papers which I think I'm just going to fax to the doctors because the paperwork I was waiting for from ASSE still has not come in. I need to have a yard sale and I'm running out of weekends, but that's okay I like fall so I don't care if its a little cold. Rehearsals are now going to be picking up, everyday till 4:30 or 5, none on Tuesday, and sometime on Saturday!!! I'm excited to work on this show and work with this cast! I know this show is going to be awesome and special in its own way, my last fall play with Masque and Mime! Aaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! That's kind of scary on its own!!!! I know Masque and Mime and all my friends I have made through it is going to be one of the hardest things to say goodbye too!! But I'm not going to think of it because its a while aways :/ Well I'm going to do some homework or maybe just procrastinate some more, and I will most likely inform you what happens tomorrow!! Wish me luck!!!

school....

Day 11 of school and everything is going so slow!!!!!! Classes, the week, Masque and Mime, the day, the week, everything!!!!!! ahhhh!!!! its killing me!!! I want to go and do something, but i can't just go some place during the week with all my homework and having to stay after till 5 everyday. Saturday is homecoming which I'm going to so I'm kind of excited for that because its my first and my last homecoming :/ its really weird to think of it that way, but its true. I want to go to Italy so bad!!! but I didn't want to miss this year. I know I'm going to miss all my friends, my family, and Masque and mime, but i just want to leave!!! I know I'm just repeating myself, but I'm just filled with so many different thoughts. Like how its going to be in Italy, what i need to do this year, make sure I do this and see this person and go here. Italy doesn't seem real yet because I'm not accepted into ASSE Italy yet and its only September!!!! and I would be leaving a year from now. This girl who is there now left the day my school started!! I would have if i left after school started! I would have to go with friends and sit in the class with them.

I started selling candy today is school to start fund raising and I only sold like 5 candy bars!!!!! This is going to be harder then I thought. Maybe once people realize that I'm selling it it will be different. I need to do some massive fund raising so I might talk with the principal but I'm not sure because i don't think i should be selling candy in school because its not for a club or anything, but for me. I will try and hopefully I will get something and permission to do something start raising money. So as of now I have $9,295 left to pay for Italy and supplies :) yay!!!!

MASQUE AND MIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Masque and Mime is my school's drama club, which I am very actively involved in, and started again today for the year. Today was the first general meeting, which was really fun. I got to see all my friends from last year and I was able to pick out the freshman haha. By the way there are A LOT of! About half way through the meeting Jake asks me to go and make copies, and as ASM I am oh so happy to do! After I return with the copies the director is naming the ASM's a.k.a. Me and my best friend Saadia, yay!!!!! I'm so excited to be working with her and Jake this year. I love being ASM, well almost all the time, I have had so much fun hanging out with Jake and staying really late for lighting. Oh boy where to I start.....
Any ways, I return with the copies and sit down and finish listening to what the officers had to say and finishing my history homework. With that all done another person asks me for copies, no problem! That one is done and when I return the director asks me to make copies of the script for people auditioning. Sweet!! I love the copier! I go and make copies and my fellow ASM joins me for some fun copying! Trying to make these copies were rather confusing. They way they were marked, numbered and organized was difficult to figure out at first. The copier did not want to work right, and having to wait for four teachers to use the copier while i was there, I was able to go back down and see that the meeting was over and everyone left and were waiting for the buses. Whoops :P I organized the sets and put them away and left. Kristin and my mom were wait in the car for me and it was almost 4pm. I explained to Kristin that this normally happens because I need to do things and I normally don't finish in time to make the late bus.

I just wanted to share with everyone how the first masque and mime meeting went for me and all the trees I wasted :(

Still no news from ASSE. I did not receive the new paperwork yet, but hopefully that will arrive in my mail box soon!

MAIL!!!

I love getting mail and letters from my friends in the mail. Sure emails are fast, easy, and really helpful, but when you get a letter in the mail and you start to open the envelope and you hear the paper tear, you get excited!! There is just something about opening real mail and reading it on paper and holding it makes letters so much fun! I am still young enough that I don't have to worry about getting bills so I like getting mail and opening envelopes and just tearing out the paper to read whatever it says.

Today my mom brought the mail in after work and I decided to check the pile to see if there was anything for me. I was not really expecting anything, maybe the new forms from ASSE to complete, again, but I figured they would be in a larger envelope like the size my application came in, and because I did not see any that size, I didn't worry. However! There was an envelop from ASSE and at first I was not sure if it was for Kristin or for myself, because two times this month Kristin had received two letters from ASSE. I looked down for who it was for and to my surprise it was for me!!! At once I knew what it was!!

"Dear Alyson,
I was delighted to receive your final application packet and confirm that you are being considered for a scholarship.

ASSE scholarships will be awarded in early April. You will be notified as soon as the recipients have been chosen.

Good luck and welcome to ASSE!"

Whoot Whoot!! I already knew that I was accepted but still opening the letter and reading the paper with the official signature of the Eastern Regional Director, Chantel Bartlett, I become even more excited for Italy!!!! This is it!! I'm in and one more step closer to my dream!!! I wish to go to Italy, but there are also many other places I would love to go and study. And sometime in April I'll be blogging and telling you either I have a scholarship or not, but lets not rush that, well maybe a little :)

Other exciting news, Italian class!! Today my teacher handed out the syllabus telling us about what we are going to be doing this year. She was telling us how we will be learning about Italy, the culture, the regions, doing projects and lots of hands on work, improving in speaking, working together and she is going to try to find some cool Italian music (Sonohra!!) and some cool Italian videos and stuff like that. We are going to take the Italian we have been learning and using it and applying our Italian skills to everything we do in the class!! This is like the perfect Italian class to be taking right before Italy!! YAY!!! I really want to improve in Italian and I love the language and just about everything about it! And I can't wait!!

First day of school

Nothing to exciting happened today, rather the opposite. I went into some of my classes thinking alright this is going to be fine just take one day at a time, but after listening to the teachers and thinking about the work and the subject I realized that I do not want to take that class what so ever!!!!! If I had to stay in those classes I would shoot myself and I don't want to do that now, seeing as I was accepted into ASSE!!! I know guidance will be busy these first few weeks, but I NEED to get out of those classes there are maybe 2, but really 3, that i don't want to be in. I didn't really want to take these classes and I told my guidance counselor this, but no!! she decided to make schedule for me! And now that she didn't "advise" my decisions to not take these classes and picked the "right" classes for me, I have to change. She told me these classes were good for a four year college and for the advanced diploma. Yes I know that I am very capable of getting the advanced diploma, but i really don't care. All it means is that I took more regents, wow! go me! NO!! I want to take the classes I need and I like!!! The teachers seem really nice and all, but I do not want to take the class. I take other classes instead of those and still meet my requirements! So why don't I do that you may ask, but really you need to ask my guidance counsel er, who now has more work to do now instead of during the summer, which is unfortunately over!!

Hopefully I will be able to change these classes and keep in mind my goal and to stay on track!

ITALY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thats what I need to think and keep that in mind and just push through. One thing I know for sure, this is going to be a long thing and I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad one.

Ciao Ciao!!

ACCEPTED!!!!!!!!!!!

No not the movie, even though Justin Long is amazing, but Yes!! I have been accepted into ASSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So today I called ASSE because they said I would find out last week if I was accepted and I didn't hear anything from them so I waited till the middle of this week to call. I talked to Hanna, the one who answered some of my questions and interested me in hosing again this year. I asked her if she knew anything about my application and she said that I had been accepted into ASSE!!!! Which made me super happy!!! But then she also told me my application was missing two things! WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought I had everything and was done collecting paperwork for a while, i guess not. I asked her what was missing and she said my parents W2s and the doctor filled the health form out wrong!!! Way to leave it to the doctors to screw it up, again!! I'm not to worried because Hanna is just going to mail me another form and because I am applying so early in the year I know I have time to get it done (again) and mail it in. Scholarships are not awarded until April so I'm not sure if i heard her right but she was saying that if i get a scholarship great, if not i need to decide if I will still go with out a scholarship and then they will send it to Italy, but that seems a little late in the year to start looking for host families. I don't know, I might just have to call again and ask to explain it again to me, but I will wait a few days cause I have to start packing for vacation!!!

Just think, this time next year I will be blogging to you from Italy!!!!!!!!! SWEET!!

My Sweet 16!!!

Yesterday was my sweet 16!!! I was planing the party to happen at my house in my back yard, but due to hurricane DANNY! my mom had to rent a hall. We ended up renting a VFW building. The hall wasn't too big, but it wasn't too small. It worked out really well for the amount of people that came. I invited a lot of people, but the day before and the day of my party many people canceled which made me said and I was glad those who could make it did! Some of my family was there as well, but the mostly sat together on one side of the room, while my friends and I were on the other side. I also hired a dj, but no one really danced, even though I love dancing, it was just not the right atmosphere for dancing. People had fun and the food was wonderful!! My family helped out with making food and decorating the hall and cleaning up. We could only rent the hall for about four hours or so we ended going back to my house with about five people and we had a camp fire, played apples to apples and then my wii. I had fun and enjoyed seeing my friends before school, some of whom I have not seen all summer!! All and all, its much easier to go to a sweet 16 then hosting your own, minus the presents :]











No exciting news from ASSE yet, but I'm hoping and I really want the email at least telling me that I was accepted. Once the say, yup your accepted I can focus on fund raising and when school starts I have to get my new working papers, then a job and I need to get my permit!! I have checking my email everyday and nothing. I have been reading people's blogs of them studying in Italy and I can say I have read every single Italy blog on the AFS blog web page!! I just can't get enough!!! Most of them went last year, some went this summer for a month and only a few on the AFS page are going and studying this year. I'm really excited for my trip, but kind of sad because this is going to be my last year in American high school. I need to make this year count and do the things I want to do, because when I come back I will be going to college, yes it maybe the local college, but it will still be different then still being in high school. And for my birthday my friend gave me a travel journal and a book about Italy, which I can't wait to read!!!! Another one of my friends gave me a wallet with her picture in it so I would have one when I go abroad!! How sweet!!!!! I wasn't expecting anything like that, at least not at this party!! I hope i find out soon if I an accepted or not! Telling the world via blog will be my third step after receiving the letter/call/email (i'm not sure how they are going to tell me, just make it soon please) the first things I will be doing are 1. Calling my mom! 2. Posting it on facebook! 3. Making a new post on my blog. and while I do all three of those things I will be calling other family members and texting friends!!!!

Till then, ciao!!!

up dates

So to brake up my summer boredom, I have decided to update the layout of my blog. I wanted to change it up some and well that's really it. I looked at every layout and I liked this one a lot. I hope you like it too!!!

News form studying abroad!! Well, there is none. Not yet, I haven't received any email yet from ASSE and I really hope it comes and soon, which I know it will, its just the waiting. Once school starts I will be busy and be thinking about other things and not just about Italy.

In other news: My mom bought me these bright yellow rainboots!!! And they are awesome!! They are a kids size 5, but were $10 cheaper! Plus they were made in the U.S.A.!!!!!! Go America!!!! Now lets start making other things for Americans to buy and lets have it made here!!!!!!

HOST SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!

Okay so maybe you could guess, Kristin arrived yesterday and I'm just so excited!!! So My mom and I woke up around 6 am and started driving down to JFK around 7. Kristin was leaving Washington D.C. around 8:20 am, and the funny thing is, we had to leave our house before she even left D.C.!!! So we arrived at the airport at 9am and we walked inside and found out where we had to wait for domestic arrivals. It was this corner and it was a little disappointing. We were reading the sign that had all the arrivals and information of the flights and hers was the first one on the board. As we were reading the board we noticed it said arrival 9:40 am and next to it said estimated time of arrival was 9:24 am, so we thought we would meet her earlier. We waited and read out books in the spot with these rows of metal benches. As we were reading and listening to this Asian family talking in their cool sounding Asian language, and listening to their children scream and run around us, the time was going by and when I noticed the time it was 9:25, so my mom and I walked back over to the board to see what it said about her flight. It said her plane had arrived at 9:24 so we decided to put our books away, grab the sign I made for her (it was a poster board covered in colorful paper and said "Welcome Kristin ASSE" in metallic blue/green paint) and headed over to the domestic arrival meeting spot. There was nobody in this part of the airport except this one older gentleman who was standing under a sign that read "United and British Airlines Baggage service" with and arrow pointing to the left. We weren't allowed to go there (well we didn't try, I walked over to see what was down there but there was just a metal like wall, which I figured opened up, and that's where I thought she would be coming out through) So we waited by the board and in view of where she would come out. It was about 9:32ish and my mom and I were wondering if we were at the right gate or if we should be some where else, but we decided to wait a few more minutes because I saw a person come out of where I was expecting her to come out. A few minutes later a couple came out and little bit after them came an Asian woman. Around 9:42ish a smaller group, may be two or three people came out. One of them was Kristin and the other(s) I have no idea! I wasn't sure if it was her for a split second because I thought she would have these huge, rolling trunk/suitcases, but she had a big one, a back pack, and a big purse. She waved to us and I noticed her very bright blue FLEX t-shirt. When she got to us she hugged my mother and I and then we started walking back to the car.


The car ride back home was a little less then 2hrs and it was a little strange at first. No one really talked and it wasn't like we could put the radio on or anything. So we were driving with this awkward silence. My mom was trying to find her way out of the city and I had to help read the directions pack to her. I tried thinking of some questions to ask so she didn't feel awkward. My mom asked about her flight. Then I asked some question about any big cities where she lives and a little while later I was talking about school and what classes she might take and how her school system is set up and compared to our schooling. I felt kind of bad because I wanted to talk to her, but I didn't know what to talk about really. So yeah, I was being a little bit shy. I didn't want to be, because I was trying to think if that was me and how strange it must feel. After we arrived home I showed her around our house and I showed her where she could put her clothes, which half of the dresser was hers and the dresser next to her bed, her draw in the bathroom and the self for her things in the shower (well really, I told her about the shower today, I kind of forgot, sorry:|) After she was done unpacking I showed her where the iron was so she could iron some of her clothes. Then we headed out to my friends party.


Many of my friends were there and I had told my friends I was hosting this year and going to bring her the the party and they were so excited to meet her. The weather was really hot so I was ready to jump into the pool the minute we got there. I walked down to the pool where most of the people were and introduced her to many of my friends. After that I went swimming with some people and she sat and put her feet in and talked and listened to some of the other people doing the same thing. When we all decided to get out we were taking by the pool about Twilight and vampires (whom are very overrated by the way!!) and them it was time to eat! We headed up to the kitchen and there was lots of yummy food. My friends party was a birthday barbecue and so there was hamburgers and hot dogs and some awesome yummy stuff. After eating we went to the deck at we listened to music and talked. It started down pouring so some people went to the living room and some went to the screened in part of the deck and that's where Kristin and I stayed for most of the time and talked to people. A little while after we sang happy birthday and had ice cream cake!!! It was wonderful ice cream cake! When we left we headed back home, which was luckily a short car ride. Kristin went on the computer and was talking to friends online, while I watched t.v. and my mom started making dinner. That night my grand parents came over for dinner and we ended up having hamburgers as well, but Kristin did not eat because she was full from the party. After dinner and dessert my grandparents left and the three of us watched some t.v. Kristin was pretty tired, which I would be too! So she headed for bed before I did and watched some more t.v. with my mom.


Today, well I got up around 10am and Kristin wasn't up yet so I thought I would wake her around 10:30 so she didn't sleep to much, and for breakfast she made some tea and ate some crackers while I took a shower and then I ate a bowl of frosted flakes. When my mom came home around 12:15 from work we went out shopping at the mall and Kristin bought some jeans and some shirts. I bought some things as well. Then around 4ish we went to Shop Rite to pick some things up for dinner. Kristin was saying how different the shops were and just how bigger the food store was and noticed there were no sidewalks along rt. 9 and that we couldn't really walk anywhere. When we came home she talked to some people online, I watched like 5 minutes of t.v. and then helped my mom with dinner. My brother's girlfriend came over for dinner and I sat at the table talking to her. And we asked Kristin some questions. Some how we were on the topic of psychics and getting our palms read, and because I was on my moms lap top checking face book :) I went on Blackle and looked up palm reading and we tried reading our palms. It was really fun trying to figure what our palms said about our lives. We talked a lot about food and all the wonderful junk food Kristin had to try and dollar store shopping (which we are doing tomorrow!!!). After Linette (brother's girlfriend) left, I logged onto my blog to write this post, and Kristin took a shower and is now reading in bed, while my mom watched That '70s Show!!!

Sorry this post is so long, but I figured you wanted to know what was going on with Kristin and what its been like these 2 days :)

Nothing yet from ASSE, but hopefully soon, maybe next week they were saying about my acceptance into ASSE Italy. I was also thinking how it must be for Kristin to try and think in English and understand and what to say back and reading everything, and I tried doing some of that in Italian just to see where I would be, and well lets just say it did not work out well at all!!!!! I had such a hard time!! I couldn't think of anything. Maybe just a few things but not as well as Kristin was doing. I was very impressed at just how well she was doing and I hope what ever trouble is having now will lessen and lessen within the next few months.

Oh! and another friend of mine is having a party next week, which Kristin is also invited to, and then next Saturday is my sweet 16!!!! I'm just so excited and about 2 weeks till school starts!!!! what joy! NOT!!!

nothing! :(

Okay, so nothing has come to me from ASSE via mail or email. I just came home from being on vacation for five days and there is no internet where I went, so I was hoping by the time I came back, there would be something! At least an email saying that ASSE at least received my application and they would be looking it over very soon. But oh well!! Because I wont get to disapointed seeing as I'm going to be wait very long to even go on this exchange and get a host family!!!!! Plus....My mom and I (my dad has to work) will be picking up Kristin at JFK this Friday!!!!! I'm so excited!!!! We just got her matress all set up today. Tomorrow I have to wash up her sheets and then make her bed for her, and then I have to finish her sign!!! I'm really excited and I just can't wait! I am really hoping this year works out a lot better and I have a feeling it will. Not only will we be making Kristin's dream come true, but my family and I will see and start to understand what I will go through when I go to "Italy"!!! And this time next year! I'll be in "Italy"!! (Once I get accepted officaly into ASSE Italy, I'm going to take Italy out of quotes, seeing as I'm not accepted just yet) Tomorrow is going to be the last day I can talk/skype with Kristin, but I'm not too sad because she is going to be living with use for 10 months, so I think I can wait a few days.

In other exciting news, I got my schedule for my junior/last year of high school!!! It's really funny telling people that this year is going to be my last year! I mean, I doesn't seem really yet. I don't want to leave my friends and Masque and Mime, but this is my dream, and its not like I'm going to live there (for now :]) I will be coming back and I will see them before most of us go off to collage. And with the wonderful invention of the internet and texting it will be really easy to keep in touch! Well, I'm not going to think about that right now, because thats a far far ways away :)

I bet the next time you read my blog 1. I'm going to pick up Kristin/Kristin is home, 2. I have been accepted into ASSE Italy (knock on wood), or 3. BOTH!!!! We shall wait and see.

Ciao!!!!!
(I need to start practicing)

Day's are flying by!!!

Okay, as many of you know, my host sister Kristin will becoming in just a few days!!! She arrives in JFK in about 8 days!!!!!!!!! My family and I are going to be picking her up at the airport, so I still have to finish her sign :] The other day I got to talk to Kristin on Skype! Which was really fun, but the only thing was that her microphone on her web cam wasn't working so she had to type everything she wanted to say, while I was able to just talk. She has been trying to fix her web cam, but she has not been able to fix it just yet, but hopefully Monday. So for the moment, I am just using the message option with Skype. We are talking about school and which passport she should bring. She has one for Ukraine to travel to other places, and another one for being an exchange student. I just told her to bring both to be on the safe side and we can always but them in our safe to keep them safe :P
Last Thursday I mailed in my full application to ASSE and I have not heard anything yet, so I am going to email them to find out if they got it and when they will start looking at it. They were saying that because I'm handing it in early it should take less time for them to accept me and they will start looking for a host family sooner!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can not wait!!!!!!!!!! I'm just so excited! But I also want this year to be exciting for both Kristin and I. I want to make sure that her year in the U.S. is wonderful and fun. I also want my last year of high school (in the U.S. :]) to be wonderful and full of memories will all my friends and the new friends I will make. I want it go by so fast, yet not to fast. I know I have said this about a million times before but that's how I feel. It's hard to explain really, just how I feel about my trip and everything.

Well, I'm going back to talking to my host sister, whom we will pick up at JFK in 8 days!!!!!

~IT'S ON IT'S WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!~

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So my full application for ASSE went in the mail today and is now on its way to Virginia!!!! AAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited!!!!! I won't find out if I won any scholarships as soon like AFS, but rather in late April. And because I'm handing it in so early, I should be accepted and they should be looking for a host family for me quicker than the norm!!!!! I'm just so excited!!!! Plus Kristin comes in 15 days!!!!! I talked to her for the first time with Skype, well we just sent messages back and forth, but it was sort of like a really chat!!! I found my family's web cam so the next time I talk with her I will use mine and she will use her's and we can talk and see each other that way!!! I'm just so excited for a bunch of things!!! Kristin to come! My application in the mail!! My sweet 16!!! And this weekend I'm going to go to my friend's sweet 16, and hopefully see a bunch of my friends!!!! Okay I'm just excited in general, well may not about the fact that school starts in a little over a month :( That makes me kind of sad in a way, yeah I want to go back and see my friends and start up again with Masque and Mime, but I like sleeping in and not having to do homework every night and just doing what I want to do! This year is going to be really demaning, seeing as I have had to double up on English and Social Studies classes. I'm just hoping this year goes by faster than I think it will, yet I don't want it to go by too fast!! I know I have said that at least three times, but its true! I have so many emotions pulsing through my body right now, I don't know what to think about anything really. Just finnishing my application (which is finally done!!!!) getting my room ready for Kristin (maybe half way done) doing things for my party and still having to finish summer reading!

Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Just taking one day at a time :]

18 DAYS AND COUNTING!!!!!!

No this is not for my trip or anything, but for my host sister, who prefers to go by Kristen. She will be flying into JFK on the 21st where we have to pick her up!!! How exciting is that!!! I have to make this huge sign and everything!! I can't wait!!! Not only is she coming very soon, but I will also be handing in my full application very soon!!! Hopefully when my mom goes to pick up my paperwork at the doctors, they will have it!!! Then tomorrow night will hopefully be my in home interview where I will also get my scholarship form, or I should be getting it today via email. And that's it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3 things!!! and then its off to ASSE!!! WOW!!!!! That's exciting!!! And 2 of those things will be done tomorrow evening!!! YAY!!!!!!!!! and then....waiting, but this wait will be a lot less then waiting for a host family!! oh boy oh boy oh boy!!! And on top of this, I have summer reading, and planing my sweet 16/welcome Kristen to America party :] AHHHHHHH!!!!!! (that's whats going through my head right now!!!!) I just feel like there is just so much to do and so little time, yet I know that I will get everything done in like the next week or so!!! Which is not that bad.
And no, I have not found another job, still babysitting and selling things on Ebay. I will try to find a job on the weekends so I can still babysit. Maybe even working in the evenings for now. But when school starts I will have to work mainly on the weekends, you know what that means! No life out side of home!!! But what little life I have this year will be maid up for my year in Italy :]

The doctors!!!

As you know I have been filling out paperwork for lets see...the last MONTH!!!!!! And I am just about done with ASSE (going to apply with them first and not AFS, even though I have a scholarship of $1,600 with AFS, it's still going to be cheaper with ASSE). All I need is a recommendation, the health papers, finalize my host family letter, an essay, and an in home interview (which will be Monday evening, and Monday, ASSE will be emailing me the scholarship/financial aid form) and then I can mail it to ASSE in Virgina and wait about 6 WEEKS!!!!! To see if I am even excepted!!

So the reason of this post would be to talk about the doctors!! *hint the title of the post :]* So last week I faxed over the health papers that needed to be filled out by my doctor for ASSE. I asked when it should be ready for pick up and they said that my doctor was on vacation so I should call the middle of next week. I called yesterday seeing if they were complete and the lady said they were, so I called my mom and asked her to pick them up on her way home. After she gets there she calls me telling me they do not have the paperwork!!! I was confused and a little angry seeing as I called after I faxed them, and talked to the lady sitting by the fax, who said it was there, and then after calling yesterday seeing if it was done, which they said it was, and now a call from my mom saying they couldn't find it!!!! Oh boy! Well I faxed the papers over AGAIN and called to make sure they got it, and they did. So today I got a call from the doctors saying it was done and I'm going to pick it up tomorrow, hopefully they will have it!

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! I just wait everything to be done and mailed and have them email me telling me I am accepted, which will not happen a quickly as I would like it too! It has only been ONE MONTH!! And I am stressed about this and tired of waiting!! All I know is that it is going to be such a long year!!!

Well maybe not!!! My mom and I will be picking up Khrystyna (my host sister from Ukraine!!:]) on August 21st so that will be really exciting!! I can not wait! I'm still in the process of getting my room ready and moving my stuff so she has a place for her cloths and things. And once I get accepted (keeping my fingers crossed) I will fell a lot better and wont have these confusing emotions (until later) and will become more busy with school so I'll have to think about more things than Italy. I have been listening to this really good Italian band called Sonohra and its been getting me super excited about Italy! I really hope I get accepted, and on the faster side, seeing as my application will be mailed in rater early in the year :]

I really can not wait for a lot of things to happen! Khrystyna to come, my application mailed in, reviewed and accepted!, school to start (kind-of)my sweet 16, not yet planed, Kopchik to come back so we can hang out and have a mega movie marathon! Oh there is just so much! Maybe this year being long will be a good thing so I can enjoy my time with my friends and family and enjoy my last year of high school and all the memories to be made! But I was talking to my friend from Germany, Dorothe whom I miss so much, and she was saying how this year just goes by quick and I should spend the most time with my friends and family as I can and live it, just like my year abroad! Live it, don't waste it, and that's what I plan on doing, living.

Collecting the paperwork!!

Well nothing has really happened that I need to announce to the world, yet! I have been doing paperwork and filling/signing paper with my parents. I faxed over the health forms to my doctor last week and my mom will be picking them up this afternoon. I faxed the school forms to my school to be filled out and I'm meeting with a guidance counselor, Ms. Sarna, and getting this paperwork and talking about my exchange. I also emailed ASSE asking for the scholarship form I need and asking who I get in contact with in order to set up an in home interview for my trip so they can wright a recommendation for my to apply for the scholarships. I have to finialize my host family letter, make it shorter (you need at least 500, I have over 1,000!!!) I need to type up an two page essay on "Why I should be an exchange student" (not bad) and a few other things that I have to check my check list to make sure I do them.

On another note, I just finished painting my dresser (purples!!) and getting ready to turn my loft bed into a bunk bed, after I shampoo the carpet. I can not wait till Khrystyna comes. In Ukraine they don't have roller coasters and I was telling her about six flags and she has never been on a roller coaster!!!!!! I love them and can not wait till we take her!!!

Off to write my essay :)

Host Sister!!!!!!!!

As you can tell from my title my family and I have been approved to host!!!!!!! Her name is Khrystyna and she is from Ukraine! I am really excited and can't wait till she comes. She will be staying with us for the entire school year so August to June I believe. I'm not sure when she is arriving yet, but I'm thinking some time in August. Khrystyna is a FLEX scholarship winner and is going to be like a mini ambassador here in America!! I have emailed her about two days ago, but nothing yet :( that's alright, I wouldn't be checking my email everyday to hear if I got a host family getting so close to the program. I am working on my ASSE full application and writing an essay for a scholarship with them. Really the main question is for every question with all the applications I have done and this essay is "Why do you want to be an exchange student." Which actually is a really easy question because if I think back on when I started thinking about this wonderful/crazy (in a good way) idea I had to ask myself that. Then it was harder because I wasn't to sure, but now this is all I really want.
On Wednesday evening I called into an AFS webinar about fund raising and it was king of interesting. I got some new ideas about how to raise all this money. My parents told me that I am going to half to come up with about half the cost so that's around $3,500-$5,000 and if you remember I wanted to fund raise $5,000 in the first place and so far I have around maybe $500 which is a start....
I have been selling things on EBay and I'm going to have a yard sale next month and in 3 days I turn 16!!!!!! so I can get a job :/ All I know is that I need to get thinking, planing and finish my application so I can get accepted and start looking for some company sponsors or something. Well I do have about 12 more months till I leave for my exchange, hopefully that will be enough time.
I can not wait to hear back from Khrystyna, hopefully it will be very soon!!!

ASSE Full application

Today my preliminary application for ASSE was accepted and I received my full application via email!!! I am so excited!! I really think I am going to go with them, seeing as my family and I are hopefully hosting this school year. My family might also host the same year I am going to be abroad which will be interesting if thats what they choose to do. I'm not sure if they will do it, but all I know for sure is that my senior year I will STUDYING ABROAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hopefully Italy, but who knows! I think that just about any where I go, I will be happy and have the time of my life!

In-home interview!!!

Hopefully tomorrow the lady, Nancy from ASSE will be coming over to have an in-home interview. We are going to discuss two things. 1) hosting and 2) me studying abroad!!!! I can not wait to hear what she has to say and the questions she is going to ask. Monday I should also know when I will get my full application for ASSE. To be honest with you, I am kinda leaning towards ASSE for my student exchange. First of all, Nancy not only emailed me, but also called me and talked with me about my exchange trip and host. She seems to be just as excited about both just as much as me! Nancy also says she likes to be there and be part of the first transition and give support to the student and the family while hosting. I am really excited about hosting and I really hope that this time everything will work out so much better. Plus I am extreamlly excited about my exchange!!! It's so far away, yet so soon. I'm going to be an explosion of emotions!!!

Second times the charm

So last year my family and I tried hosting a student from Finland for a year. I thought it was going to be a wonderful experience and get me pumped and convince my parents to let me go abroad. Well that did not really go over to well. Finland left our home after two months. There are many reasons why she left, I will give you a few. Well, she was a little older than I was so the age difference made it weird a little. Plus she did not have common inturasts as I do or my family for that matter. I'm not sure why we were paired with her in the first place, but I bet AFS knew what they were doing.

I have been talking to my family about hosting again, but now hosting a boy. Well my brother would have to share his room with our new host brother. At first he was not sure and then he said yes, but he made no effert to clean his room and make way for our new brother, so the idea of hosting a girl came to mind. I really want to experience hosting and having all these wonderful memories with my host sister. My friend Dorothe from Germany (whom I miss so much!) came here this past year and just being her friend made me so lucky to know her. My friend Zach hosted her for the second half of the year and just talking to both of them and what they got out of living together made me wish I had a host sister like her. Well the main point of this blog is to tell you that yes, we are going to try again with a girl from the Ukraine. We are not sure if we are going to be hosting her or not, but when I know for sure, I will be on telling you, hopefully soon.

Paperwork is calling my name!!!

ASSE- Step One: Done

I just finished the preliminary application for ASSE!! Same old same old questions like AFS. They were really easy and I was done in 1 2 3!!! Not much to talk about there. :)

I had contacted a rep for ASSE and asked her some of my questions about the program and what they offered. She also sent me the bio for this girl who needed a host family from Italy. I don't think we are going to host her, but ASSE is going to email some more bios for exchange students who have some of the same interests. When I got home from my friends house I had to call another lady form ASSE and we talked for a few minutes. We talked about which program I want to go on, where, how long. She also said she was emailing me more bios and info for my family to look at about the exchange students. I excited to read that email and read about the students. Hopefully there will be someone there that is just amazing and pops out at us and does not end up like the last one we hosted....another story for a later date.

FUND RAISING IDEA!!!!!!
Make a movie!!! I have been having these ideas and making these scenes in my head and I keep picturing them! When I tell someone about it I just say, "I'll put it in my movie I'm going to make!" Well I could make a movie and charge people admission and I can make clips like half an hour every two weeks or a month like those old Super Man movies!!! If my movies came out really good and people watched them!! OMG it would be so much fun and some money coming in for my trip!!!!! YAY!!!! And it would give me something to do over the summer!! and the beginning of the school year before I start with Masque and Mime!! javascript:void(0)

"And I'm a genius, genius!"-Manchester England, from the musical HAIR!!!!!

Scholarship Winner!!!

After checking my email throughout the day seeing if anything new came, I received an email from AFS. This email was about the amount of money I won for the scholarships. I'm just going to tell you what I won. Okay for AFS Family: $200 and for Merit scholarship: $1,400!!!!! Not as much as I was hoping for, but it is WAY better than nothing!!! Now I am $1600 closer to my dream come true!!!!!

Another Program

So yesterday I went online and looked at this program called ASSE that my guidance counselor told me about and I think I'm going to try applying with them because they have a program for Italy which is way less expensive then AFS. I also got a check in the mail from the same guidance counselor for a subscription to my news letter!!!! I have been filling out so much paperwork and trying to make sure I have everything. Monday I will be meeting with my doctor for a physical and for him to sign the forms for YFU and AFS. I think I am going to apply with AFS and ASSE first and if one of them doesn't work out, I will try with YFU, but I think I'm going to be accepted to both. Of course Italy is my first choice for both so hopefully that's where I will be going, but who knows.

Another Application

This morning was my guidance meeting where I got to make next years schedule and talk about my senior year abroad. We made sure I had all the classes I need to take for junior year and made sure I would have enough credits to graduate. I need 22 credits and at the end of junior year I will have 22 1/2 credits! The classes that I need to take in Italy are an English class, economics and gym, which I think a lot of schools in Italy will have. I will also try to transfer some of my credits is possible. Last night I typed up my general email and sent it to everyone I knew with an email and asked them to forward it to everyone they knew. I also found some yummy looking recipes for Italian cookies that I will take pre-orders for.

Online I have started filling out the YFU application and I have the papers that need to be filled out by hand in a pile. When I complete the online application I will mail the rest of the application. The only thing that will take forever will be getting my transcripts and GPA from school, which I will have by uh August!!! Which seems forever. I just want to finish these applications and be accepted, but I will have patience because the wait is worth it.

So today I went online to check my email hoping something came in. The website said I had two new emails and my first thought was my exchange. I logged in and was excited to see an email was from AFS. I clicked on it as once and it was a page with a link and my user ID and password to start filling out my application! I was extremely excited and began reading everything. I printed all the documents that needed to be filled out in person and realized that this application had a ton of paperwork, just like the application for YFU.

I have been teaching my younger cousin, the one I am babysitting, Italian and it has been so much fun!! I feels great to test my knowledge and to speak it and make sentences! If my family were to host I would love to have an Italian host sibling cause then I can practice my Italian and help them with their English, plus they might know how to cook some amazing Italian meals.

Off to fill out some more paperwork!

General Email

So today I am going to start working on that general email I was talking about before. I'm not sure what I'm going to write yet, but it will come to me. Today on of my friends from Switzerland is leaving to go to his last orientation in New York city. He came here for the year with AFS and I am going to miss him so much!!! And tomorrow my friend who came here for a year with YFU from Germany is leaving!! I'm so sad but know I will be in contact with them. They were so happy to hear that I started applying and they forewarned my about all the paperwork, and they were right. I am know where near ready to start the online application for YFU. I have not heard anything from AFS, hopefully I will be Wednesday if not I will have to wait till the following Monday when I come back from my vacation. My teacher finished my YFU recommendation and is going to be faxing it to them today or tomorrow, i think. I have also been talking to my mom about my birthday party which will most likely be at the end of August, yay!!! Hopefully sometime this week or next week I will be setting up a new account so I can start putting the money I have for my trip. Right now I have maybe $300 plus I will get some money at the end of the week from babysitting so that leaves about $11,700 to go!!!! wonderful :)

Donations are now being accepted

I figured out how to add a donate button so now you can start donating towards my year abroad. I really need your help and any donations over $30 you can request to be put on my mailing list for my news letter!!! Thank you very much. I am one more step closer to my dream!

PICTURES!!!

I have been cleaning and reorganizing my room looking for old things that I don't want anymore and can sell at a yard sale. I don't live in the right spot for yard sales so I don't think a lot of people will come, but I have faith because the money I make at this yard sale will go towards my trip, no surprise there. I will also be selling some things on eBay as well, hopefully there will be more people interested on eBay.

Still no word back from my teacher Mr. J with the recommendations, but I know he will do them and let me know by tonight. With the YFU application you need to send in 8 2x2 pictures of yourself and 5 pictures of you and your family/friends/pets/hobbies/activities. I was not sure which pictures to do. I do not have many pictures where I look good. I was able to find five and I don't look to bad. I am smiling and having a good time. Most of the pictures are me and my friends only one is with my family and that's my older cousin.

I am still working on creating a paypal account on my blog and have to talk to my mom some more about it, maybe after dinner. Last night I finished writing my host family letter, but I know I need to add some things and make it better. With the YFU scholarships you have to answer five questions with at least 250 words for each answer, and I completed all five last night as well. Now I have to type them up and save them. I also need to type up an email to send to EVERYONE and let them know I am going to be studying abroad and in need LOTS of money and their help.

I don't want to forget about other things I have to do in my life and during the summer, but I also want to go and study abroad. I know next year will be hard with classes and anticipation for senior year and it is going to fell like forever!!! But once I am there it will be worth it. I finally complete one aspect of the application or print out pictures and take a breath and start thinking about what else I need to do and I just feel like I am running out of time. I don't know why, I know I have about a year before I would leave and like 5 months before the application is due and 2 months of summer to enjoy myself and relax so why am I getting all worked up?? It's driving my crazy!!!

I really want to host again this year, but I would rather get a boy for a few reasons that I will not go into right now. My older brother would have to share his room with our new foreign brother and he has not said yes to this idea, but he didn't say no either. I have talked to my friends who hosted this year and he seemed to get a lot out of it and that's what I wished would have come out of my hosting this year but our experience ended short and badly for a number of long reasons I can't explain right now.

Summer job (for now): BABYSITTING!!!
I will be baby sitting my cousin throughout the summer and making around $20 a day which is not bad at all. I will be starting up a new checking account and putting all the money I make and raise in there to go towards my trip.

I am just so excited and I am not over the fact that my parents said yes and I have started the application process of studying abroad!!!

AFS pre-application!!!!!

So I have just completed the first part of the AFS pre-application and paid the non refundable application fee for AFS!!!!! YAY!!!! It will take about three business days for and AFS advisor to send me a full application. Tuesday I am going to meet with my guidance counselor and have the school fill out some other paperwork for YFU. I also have to make appointments with the dentist and doctor to sign papers, but I will wait till I have some of the papers for AFS as well.

I have also applied for the merit-based scholarship with AFS and its possible to find out the results within a few weeks I believe. I am waiting for my teacher to send me back the recommendation sheets I have sent him for both AFS and YFU. I have asked my biology teacher Mr. J. He has emailed me back and told me he will completing the sheets tomorrow seeing as it is a little past 10pm.

I am also looking for photos to send in with my YFU application. Last night I started my host family letter which needs to be over 500 words and I already have 529. I don't want to write a lot but I want to write enough so they know a great deal about me so I am paired with a wonderful host family. I just don't want to write to much and have it be to long and tell them everything because they would know all about me and that would be boring. Well I am a fun and interesting person so I don't think that would happen. When I was first reading about the host family letter I thought, "Wow! 500 words that's a lot!" but really you are just talking about yourself and its really easy, cause who knows you better than you??

Paperwork

WOW!!!!!!!
I never realized just how much paperwork I need to fill out and have other people fill out for applying to go abroad!!!! There are about 15 different sections just for the YFU application. I can't wait to see what the AFS application will look like. I'm printing out dozens of papers, which I know is killing trees, but I want to make sure I have everything and can keep a check list of what I need to write up or get signed.

*Although this year is going to seem long and task full between classes and preparation, I sort of want it to go by quickly. Summer is just begin and I sort of want it to go by faster, but I really don't! You know that feeling a week or so before Christmas, that sort of rush of excitement and anticipation, well that's what I feel and I have (lets count.....) a little over a year before I would be leaving!! Once I start enjoying my summer and starting on summer AP English work, hopefully it will calm down.* Random thought

After reading for both AFS and YFU application fees and when money is due, I realized that I need to start fund raising and getting a job NOW!!! I am working on that paypal account for my blog and I am writing up an email to send to everyone I know and my patents know. I think my total amount for which ever program I end up going with will be around $12,000!!! Give or take a thousand dollars. I need to fund raise a majority of that other wise I will not be going, so I am getting a head start as fast as I can!! I just need to remember to focus on school work, friend, family, and my exchange for the next 12/13 months and everything will be smooth sailing.

Near the end of summer, sometime in August, I might have a birthday party to celebrate my 16th birthday and for the most part all I want is money which will, as you guest it, go towards my exchange. Plus by the end of the summer you want to see your friends, but don't want to wait till the first day of school.

While writing this blog I have decided on an amount that I am going to list a goal I wish to reach, or higher to go towards my exchange (drum role please...)

$5,000!!!!!!

That's not to bad considering the total amount.

Finally a YES!!!

As some of you know, I have been very interested in studying abroad and finally my parents have said yes!! I am going to start applying Friday with AFS and YFU. Within the application you need to list your top three countries, but because I am applying with both AFS and YFU and they have different programs, I had to pick six. With AFS my choices are 1) Italy 2) Portugal 3) Latvia and with YFU my choices are 1) Germany 2) Greece 3) Poland. I know that some of the countries sound really random, but they are not and I have great interest in studying in all of these countries. All of these countries are well over $8,000 and I am going to have to do a lot of fund raising. I will be sending out a general email and having my parents post it up at their jobs letting people know what I am doing, and fund raising ideas I have, and latter in the year I will be able to say which exciting country I will be studying in. I will be keeping up my blog throughout my junior year as well as my year abroad.

I shall list some of my fund raising ideas for you now:

*Creating a blog and having people sponsor me. I will try to create a paypal account where people can sponsor me by donating money. I will also try to show the amount of money I have towards the trip and how much I still need.

*Making an email Newsletter: I will advertise that while I am abroad I will be creating a newsletter and sending it to people who subscribe via email, or US mail. In this newsletter I will talk about events, activities, people, places, the country, the town will be living in and some basic language that I have learned and used. I will send out this newsletter every two weeks or monthly. People will buy subscriptions to the newsletter before I leave so the money will go towards my trip.

*Pre-Orders for homemade food: I will advertise around holidays and random times throughout the year telling people to please support my dream to study abroad by pre-ordering foods that I will cook/bake at home and hand deliver to them.

*Getting a job: hopefully companies will be hiring so I can start working and putting that money away for studying abroad.