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.