Finally...

After counting down for two months, today is the day of my first official orientation and Rotary spring outing :D.

I'll update afterward!

Spending time with a Hungarian :)

Today I went to the zoo with Paige (outbound to Germany) and Kristof (inbound from Hungary). It was really fun and I'm so glad he was in Fresno for the weekend! I love his accent and can't wait to hear it all the time next year :D. He wanted me to speak in Hungarian but I got incredibly nervous and only ended up saying "nem" (no). When he said it it sounded so much better.. of course. It was really fun hanging out with both of them and I can't wait until our next get together the last weekend in February!


Other than that.. no news on my application or anything else. I guess in this case no news is good news!

Done!

I finished my application last Wednesday night and we sent it off on Thursday (fed-ex'd overnight just in case)! It was officially due yesterday and I'm so so so glad to be completely and forever DONE with it!

I really feel like I made mistakes on it or left something off and they're going to send it back and make me do it all over again. I am praying everything goes smoothly.

Other than that, the next outbound orientation is in exactly 1 month! I can't wait. I get to see all the inbounds and other outbounds and it will just be so much fun. I'm definitely counting down the days :).

Viszlát!

Small updates

Szia!

Since my last post, I got in touch with the club that is sponsoring me. I interviewed with a club here in Fresno but they only had one spot, so the Visalia Breakfast Club is sponsoring me :). Visalia is a small town about 45 minutes away from Fresno. While I assumed the "breakfast" part of the name was just decoration... it's not. The club meets at 6:30 in the morning!! So my mom and I drove down the night before and stayed in a hotel (worth it!) and went to the meeting on Thursday morning.

When we got there, we really had no idea what to expect. When we got there not many people were there yet and we felt really out of place. We decided to sit towards the back and wait for Sam, the YEO, to get there. (I just deleted like three paragraphs of unnecessary description about us waiting... hahaha) Anyway, many people came up and introduced themselves to us and I heard many "Oh, are you hungry?!" jokes. When Sam got there he stood up and introduced my mom and I and we stayed for the rest of the meeting.

For anyone who is anticipating attending a Rotary meeting and doesn't know what they're like... the best advice I have for you is to relax :). Dress nicely, don't be afraid to talk to people, and have fun! The meeting itself was way more relaxed than I expected. They made jokes and told stories, and then also did serious club business. Overall, it was REALLY fun and I can't wait to go to more meetings :).

In other news, my application is nearly done. I need my photo page (probably the easiest part of the application.. haha), my mom's letter, and the copies of my transcripts and then I'm done!

Just in case anyone is wondering, I will be going during my senior year so I have to take my senior classes now. This semester I am taking a semester of gov/econ during 6th period and then a semester of english 4 through an online type of class. I have to take the other two semesters during summer school (a total of 8 weeks), along with an art class at the city college (4 weeks) to be eligible to attend a UC/CSU. Quite ridiculous, but it's worth it!

Lastly, just today I learned about 32 new Hungarian words/phrases! I can say/spell them all (the accents are a little confusing) and am really proud of myself. Overall I've learned 66 :). I really REALLY recommend the program Before You Know It. It teaches you vocabulary and basic phrases, which I think will be really helpful at first on exchange (dare I say more helpful than knowing how to correctly conjugate verbs)!

Well.. I wasn't expecting this post to be this long, so I'm ending it now. If anyone has questions on any part of the application process, don't be afraid to ask! Maybe I'll post more if I can figure out how to write less ;).

Answering some questions

Since I've told everyone I'm going to Hungary, I've gotten tons of questions! I decided to answer some here... just in case anyone reads it!

When do you leave?
I don't know for sure, but it's most probably going to be in August

Where in Hungary will you be?
I won't know specific city or any host family details until probably March at the earliest.

Why Hungary?
Well, I didn't exactly pick it. During the interviews, I said my top three were Norway, Sweden, and Belgium. Afterwards, I kept thinking about Hungary and I just could not get it out of my head. It just seemed so interesting and different and under appreciated. I'm extremely glad I got it, and am so excited!

Won't you miss your family and friends?
Of course! But they will be here when I come back :)

You're seriously missing your senior year to live in a foreign country?
Yep! For me... walking with my friends at graduation or going to prom aren't comparable to spending a year learning and growing.

So besides all of that.. I don't really have any updates or anything! I'm just working on finishing my application and making sure I've got everything. It really is a long process, but I love every minute of it.

I'm going to...

Hungary!!!!!

I got the call this afternoon around 3 and I have not stopped jumping around! I'm so excited! :)

Accepted!

It's official - I'm accepted and going on exchange next year!

I'll know which country in the next couple of weeks. I can't wait :)