TICKETS ARE BOOKED!

Today I logged on to Its Your World Travel and discovered that I had received my itinerary! I leave on September 4th at 7:00 am. I will fly from Anchorage to Seattle to Detroit to Amsterdam and then on to Stuttgart. I will arrive in Stuttgart at 1:30 in the afternoon on September 5th. I am so excited to finally see everything coming together! Although I am what you could say "bitter" about being the last one to leave District 5010, I understand why I must go so late. After all, school starts September 15th. At this point I'm just ready to go. I would be thrilled if I received an email stating that I'm actually leaving next week. But I guess I will just have to wait for my time. God has a plan for everything. Even if I don't necessarily agree with that plan at the moment. In the mean time, I will just continue down sizing my wardrobe (why keep what I won't bring) and decluttering my room(my brothers want it to be their "man cave").  On a completely unrelated note, I have begun messaging Leo's (would be host sister but she's coming to Alaska) friends. They're really cool but I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it... Maybe I won't have as much of a choice to pick my own friend group once I get there. Oh well, I guess I will find out!

Rotary Presentation

Today I gave my presentation about myself and Alaska for my home club, Anchorage East. It was mediocre at best.. I had to sit at the head table which was on a stage facing the entire Rotary club. I was so paranoid that people were watching me eat. It didn't help when I spilled water on myself... I'm pretty sure everyone saw that.. One thing about those blazers that they don't tell you is how incredibly hot they are! I thought I was about to melt right off the stage. Also, there were tons of german speakers in the room. So they all knew when I butchered the german language. You wouldn't think "Mein name ist Madde und ich bin aus Alaska" would be too hard. But it is. I physically can not pronounce "ich." Everyone always tells that I'm doing it wrong! I know it's wrong, but I just can not make that sound. I am convinced that it is impossible. Even though my german is pretty sub par, at it's best, everyone still clapped for me at the end. Also, they were kind enough to give me a really nice hard cover book with photos of Anchorage. It is so pretty. I will really miss it here. Tomorrow I am going to a going away party for the Thai exchange student with Anchorage East. His name is Boom and he leaves to go back next week. I will really miss him. Thank ya'll for taking time out of your day to read this! And also, thank you Rotary for this opportunity. I haven't even left yet and it is already changing my life.

My Mom and I before the Rotary meeting

Goodbye Boom! I'll miss your presence at the Rotary stuff

1 month 18 days 15 hours 53 minutes 35 seconds

After months of waiting, I have finally received my host guarantee form from Germany. That is the form that securers me a place in Germany! I honestly thought it would never get here and that everyone else would go on exchange but mine would fall through.  Luckily, we have now begun to book tickets! The only bad thing is, all of the other Rotary Exchange class of 14/15 people are starting to leave and most will be gone in the next 3 weeks. It makes me so jealous that they're leaving so soon. I still have 1 month and 18 days left in Alaska. Yes, I am counting down. Although, every now and then I will have a mini breakdown. I realize how much I will miss my family, especially my parents. For the other future exchange students reading this, don't try to hold it back. It happens to ALL of us. One of my friends, she leaves for Austria in 3 weeks, has panic attacks. I think it's finally starting to hit all of us that we're actually doing this and we won't see our families for almost a full year. There have been times when I've considered backing out and not doing it, but I know this is what God planned when he moved my family back to Alaska. He meant for me to do exchange. That might sound silly, but I am a firm believer in that everything happens for a reason.

Fundraising

I have decided to start earning money to put away for while I'm in Germany to hopefully help cover extra expenses (traveling, phones, food, ect.). One of the things that I have done to make money is selling my old clothes. One day, while doing some "deep cleaning," I realized that my dresser and closet were filled with clothes that I haven't worn in years. I probably only wore about 15% of the clothes I had. It was ridiculous. So instead of letting that massive pile of clothes gather dust in my closet, I decided to take it in to the local resale store (Plato's Closet). I made over $200 just selling the clothes I don't wear anymore! I have also been applying for jobs. Unfortunately, that's not going so great. I might just be being too picky on where I'm willing to work. (For the record I turned 16 a month ago so I have only been eligible to get a job for a month.) Since I have not gotten a job yet, I have been doing quite a bit of babysitting. The family I am currently babysitting for is paying me 10 dollars an hour. Thats more than I would make at any job that hires people with my qualifications! I have raised about $700 dollars from these two things alone. My goal this summer is to end up with at least 1,500 dollars. I'm not sure if I'll make it to that, but it would be nice to know that I have extra cash just in case I need it.

Rotary Blazer

So one of the Rotary traditions is to give the exchange students blazers, which they decorate with pins that they collect from their travels. A great way to spot a Rotary exchange student is to look for any color of blazer(the color depends on the country). The blazer will most likely be decorated with random things, the craziest I have seen is a rubber chicken. The blazers also help other Rotary exchange students to find each other in airports. Not many people wear blazers decorated in colorful pins on an airplane! It is a great system to find each other so you are not traveling internationally completely alone. Rotary always tries to match your flight with another exchange student who is going to somewhat the same area. For example, I could meet a kid in the Seattle airport and we would fly together until Amsterdam, where we would go our separate ways. It is a great way to meet new people and stay safe, because after all, safety in numbers.

My blazer

1st Host Family

This afternoon, as soon as I left from orientation, I received an email from my first host family. I was at the mall with my mom and when I saw the email I freaked out and so many people stared at me! My family lives in a small little town with a population of about 10,000. That is around the number of people that live in my town. My family seems like such a good match for me! I will have a younger brother who is 13 and an 18 year old sister. Their other child will be leaving to be a Rotary exchange student in Alaska shortly before I arrive. She is also 16. The mom is a ballet teacher and the father is an engineer. They also enjoy flying. That is great considering my dad is a pilot and I have grown up around planes! The mom also enjoys baking and gardening. I love to bake and I've never really had the chance to garden because I move during the summers (military family). I also dabbled in ballet and I hope she will let me sit in on a few classes and learn! I would be awful but it would be a great way to meet people. The cool thing about the daughter who is coming to Alaska is that we can exchange information about where we live and what we're going through as exchange students! Well, at least I hope that's what happens. I would love to ask her questions about Germany and answer any she has about Alaska. I also have every intention of begging my host brother to teach me to play soccer! I've never had a sister before and I hope we become close, despite the age difference. I could really use some tips on how to dress so I don't end up looking like a slobby American. After all, Alaska is the worst dressed state in America! I am so excited to meet them and I can't thank Rotary enough for this opportunity.

Spring Orientation: Outbounds

This weekend I have been fortunate enough to attend the Rotary Spring Orientation! It is strictly for outbounds and gives us a chance to bond with each other before we leave for exchange. I am so thankful that I am able to see everyone again. It's been so long and I truly missed them. For many of us this will be the last time we see each other until after our year abroad. This orientation is a lot more relaxed than the Rotary Winter Orientation. They don't take our phones away! It's a miracle! When we arrived we were thrilled to find out that the hotel we are staying at has a pool. For people in Alaska, a pool is a big deal. It is a rare occasion that we actually have the chance to swim. Tonight, after countless hours of sitting in a conference room, most of us went to the pool and enjoyed the luxury of a magical thing known as "hot tub." It was amazing. I can not thank the volunteers enough for how much they've given to us. It means so much to me. From the few short months I have been in the Rotary family, I can say I truly believe that this is the best exchange program in the world. If anyone is looking for a program I highly recommend Rotary. Thank you everyone for this amazing opportunity.

Outbound love! (I'm the girl being held)