GOT MY HOST FAMILY

So today was a pretty normal day.  I went to school, came home, watched a movie, and then it started to rain.  (In literature light rain signifies a change in plot.) I was oddly moved to go outside a play in my rose garden in the rain.  While I was out there, I felt very happy and at ease.  A thought popped into my head: I bet I'll get my host family today.  Now, I thought this about every two weeks and it had been untrue until today.  But this time felt very absolute.  Sure enough, I go inside and check my email like I do routinely.  And I GOT MY HOST FAMILY.  I was so happy, and my whole family was in the room reading over my shoulder.  I'm in MADRID like I wanted to be.  I have a brother one year older and a sister one year younger.  I'm a permanent multiple host family thing, which apparently means I'll have this family until December and then get a new family, still in Madrid, until I leave in July.  I know a few people who have this too, and what I'm guessing will happen is my family will realize how much they love me and keep me the whole year.  That's what usually happens, anyways.  As an exchange student this is the kind of unexpected circumstance that you should...expect.
I wrote them an email in Spanish and English, and I'm very excited to hear back from them.  I'm still shaking but I'm so so so so happy.

Orientation

  As promised, orientation was really fun. Plus we never even touched the AFS rulebook!  I was the only Freshman though, and that sort of stunk.  Basically, my parents and I went to the capital twenty minutes away with ten or so other students going on various AFS trips soon.  My friend from Norway who's here with my program slept over the previous night and then went with us to Raleigh (the capital) which was fun too.  Norwegians are really nice.
  For some of our six hours spent there we just asked a lot of questions about phones and luggage and things.  The students in attendance who were from other countries were all very personable and helpful.  There was this Italian girl who had a gorgeous accent.  My favorite part of the orientation was when the American students went into the basement with one adult and a couple returnees.  We discussed the things that no one wanted to say in front of their parents, and I think everyone gained a few valuable tips.
  The funniest of my somewhat inappropriate stories took place in this basement, which everyone came to refer to as 'the cave' because it was dark and ugly and we had to go through a bunch of storage closets to get to it.  But at least it was a place where we were assured our parents couldn't hear us.  There was only one boy in our group of students, and he was obviously a little intimated by all of the beautiful girls he was with.  So imagine what he felt like when a girl bound for Turkey asked an Italian returnee about birth control.  We all sort of forgot he was hiding in the corner, and our conversation got pretty detailed.  Needless to say when someone asked if he was still there, all of us girls cracked up laughing and apologized for our lack of memory.  My second favorite part was the birthday cake.  The birthday girl was Japanese, my father is Japanese and I'm 1/4 so we went over and said hello in her home language.  You could tell she was pleasantly surprised.
Here are a few things I'm planning for now that I've discussed them with other students in the same situation as me:

• Honeysticks.  You're supposed to bring little trinkets and gifts for the people in Spain and your family there.  Something that I think represents North Carolina is a straw full of flavored honey.  I mean, where else, right?  The other students said BBQ sauce, sweet tea, Duke shirts, footballs or frisbees, Burt's Bees is really popular and expensive in Europe?, candy sticks, cheap Hollister shirts for younger kids, scrape books, and a pretty book about NC.  Gifts that can be used as ice-breakers when you meet your family and to hand out to friends.
• My parents.  My parents were planning on driving me all the way to NY then staying in the city for vacation while I was at my orientation.  Everyone I'd ever talked to told me I absolutely could not do that.  I tried to convince them not to, but they were adamant.  Luckily, while us kids were in the cave and the parents were upstairs talking my mother was magically turned into not wanting to take me.  Thank you to whoever yelled at her. 

 It's not like I wanted to shake my parents off my tail as soon as possible or anything like that, but the argument is that the student is embarking on their own journey. Alone. Without their parents.  Having them in the gateway city, with the kid at that crucial time of starting their adventure, just never seems to go well.  The student is, essentially, leaving their old life and family behind in their hometown.    Plus all kinds of other things go wrong, like the family wanting to see the teen one last time at the airport before they leave, and then the kid is embarrassed or cries and decides they want to go home.  I think just knowing that my family was in the area would throw me.  Same with the family visiting their student while they're abroad.  There's all of this crazy hidden psychology stuff involved that I don't want to get in to.  Anyways, I'm glad to be leaving America from the airport in Durham, NC.

• Hosting.  Two things: my family has already decided to host a student my junior year when I get back, but it was fun talking about it today.  Also, meeting more of the hosted students today and listening to them share their experiences made me realize that a lot of them, more then I originally thought, didn't get their families until the day before they left.  I swear if that happens to me I'll drive myself insane.
• Cell Phones.  I figured that I'd buy one of those ridiculously expensive and outdated phones from Europe once I got to Spain.  Now that my parents have joined the conversation it's looking like we're going to use my friends old iPhone for my year, and get a SIM card in Spain to activate it under an international number.  On a similar note, I think I'll get a debit card from a company that doesn't charge for every foreign swipe so my time there will be cheaper.
• Luggage.  I always counted on sending over most of my clothes and not worrying about the 45 pound luggage restriction.  Now, upon being told it was unacceptable to wear shorts in Spain, I think I'll squeeze enough of my essentials into a suitcase and carry-on and buy a whole lot once I get to Spain.  I have no problems with being forced to shop.                                                                                                                             

                                                   Ah, the AFS fun Begins :)

On Life, Students, and Tomorrow

 On Life

 Even though I'm young, I feel like I know a bit about life.  Life goes on like the unstoppable force that it is, never yielding to the trials of youth or the plights of a petty childhood.  You go through it slowly or quickly, depending on the enjoyability of the moment, but more often than not you'll end up wasting it.  I Hope I never waste it.

   Now, most people, even some scholars and writers and people of a high intelligence, will tell you that life is best spent with those you love and things that make you happy.  Some people, such as myself, disagree.  I believe that life is most fully utilized when spent bettering one's self.  How the heck does this tie in to a blog about exchange?  You got it, exchange makes your life better. It opens doors, sometimes teaches you a new language, connects you with great people who could be useful to your success, and will most likely result in a little hardship.  When you're abroad you are bound to miss someone or something or be frustrated with your new life. I think everyone should have to experience a little discomfort.  It'll make you someone who can empathize and rise above adversity.  And of course along the way you'll spend time being happy and loved too.

On Students

The kind of kid--yes, I admit, I am a kid--who is willing to tear themselves away from the comfort of their home for a whole year, apply to do so, and then live through ten months of what they've been assured will be difficult is the kind of kid who will go far in life.  Not to sound arrogant, because I've admired these students' courage for years now and only recently have thought of myself as one of them.  This is a reason why I'm very excited to meet more of my fellow AFSers.  They know what I'm going through, they think like I do, and they're willing to give up home for a year.  That's not your average lazy fat America teenager, now is it?

On Tomorrow

Tomorrow I attend an AFS pre-departure orientation.  Literally, tomorrow.   The exchange experience consists of a few orientations.  The first being a couple months before you leave your homeland, the next at your 'gateway' city the day before you all get on a plane and leave for ten months, a few while you're abroad to help you adjust and connect with other AFS students, and the last as soon as you get home to let you know the hard truth about how painful re-adjusting will be.  From what I've heard the orientations are supposed to be pretty fun.  Just the excitement of going is enough for me.  I'll post tomorrow to tell more about what went down.  However, there is a gigantic AFS rulebook that I'm supposed to bring...wonder what we'll be doing with that....

And now, just to get a little more deep and emotional, On Tomorrow Part II:

In my application to study abroad I wrote about how I think exchange will affect my future.  In general, I hope it'll make me a better person, like I discussed in Life, but I also look forward to it being the year I can look back on and get happy feelings about.  Like, 'oh, that was fun.  Spain is so cool.  I had awesome friends.  It got me into college.' type of reminiscing.  A primary motive was, indeed, college.  If I can continue taking classes a few years ahead of my grade and keep maintaining that 97 average I really would like to go to Georgetown University in D.C. The school is pretty high up there in terms of difficulty, and even with my good grades I need something to set me apart from the robot-scoring-SATers and American/real Royalty who go there.  Hopefully Georgetown will realize that the kind of student who willingly moves to another country is the kind of student who they want on their team.

 I understand that in the near future when I'm in Spain everything will be incredibly different.  I cherish the escape from the everyday monotony of high school.  But I'm also terrified of it.  While I am eager for the variation I'm scared of letting go of comfort.  My family won't be there to baby me and help the little child that they're obligated to view me as.  Nothing will be the routine life that I've come to expect.   I don't know what time I'll wake up in the morning, which effortless friends I'll have to be with at lunch, or even where I will sit to write this blog every week.  Even now as I'm nestled into the familiar cushions of my couch with my pet dog of twelve years cuddled up against my side, I'm gripped with a sudden fear--the fear of the unknown.  The random variables are the only things about exchange that threaten me, and I feel a sort of laziness when I think of having to change everything about my life.  But, as is the motto of exchange, I get over myself and think of how positively this experience--the great, the good, the fantastic, and the fear--will change my life for the better.