Juillet/July

It's hard to believe July is already halfway through. Summer is flying by as always. I kicked off July celebrating the 4th with my friends, taking lots of pictures at our town parade to show my host family, watching fireworks by the lake, and of course enjoying late night barbeque's. To celebrate my 16 birthday my mom and I took the train down to Chicago on the 6th. We stayed at a great hotel, did some quality shopping and relaxed at our favorite restaurants. It was a great way to spend b-day and I realized these are the little things I'm going to miss next year . Then, On July 7th, we made our way to the French consulate for my Visa appointment. I was super nervous because I expected the interview to be really in depth and there was the nagging thought in my head that I might get rejected but overall It went my smoothly and didn't last more than 10 minutes. I received my actual visaed passport in the mail a few days ago so now my trip to France official and I'm one step closer to getting on a plane. We left Chicago the night of the 7th, I got home at about 10pm and immediately started packing for the Central States RYE conference in Grand Rapids, MI. On July 8 I hopped on a coach bus with all the other outbounds, inbounds, and rebounds from our district to begin the 8 hour trek to Michigan. Once we got to Calvin College we registered and began meeting the other 1,300 exchange students that were there. Each day we had general sessions that helped prepare us for next year. The biggest thing I took out of the weekend was that next year is going to be hard, your going to go through rough times, but its going to be worth it in the end you just have to keep on going. I met sooo many new people and had an amazing time. As always it was really hard to say goodbye to these people. But, saying goodbye is part of being an exchange student. I got home on July 11 and basically slept for the next 2 days to make up for the lack of sleep I got at the conference. I have exactly 5 weeks until I leave and unlike a lot of other outbounds I'm actually really happy that I have that much time here. Don't get me wrong, I am very excited to leave, but I feel like I need those last few weeks to spend with my family and friends and to prepare myself. Here are some pics from the month so far... My Pins

District 6270 2010-2011 Outbounds...

Grand Rapids Conference 2010
CHICAGO!!

Me after my visa appointment
French Consulate!

WAS Happenin'

Hello all-
Sorry I haven't updated in a while, shame on me. But, In my defense I have been pretty busy. Yesterday I got back From the World Affairs Seminar(WAS). The theme was safe cleaning water so we talked a lot about scarcity of water and how we can help conserve and actually make a difference. Although the 2 hour lectures weren't all that thrilling and I got approximately 10 hours of sleep the whole week, I did come back with my eyes opened to a very serious problem in the world and made SOOO many great memories. I also met some really amazing people and overall it was an awesome week that I wont forget anytime soon. Rotary sponsors the program so 98% of the people there got scholarships to come. There was people from around the world and all parts of the US, my roommate was from California and one of my good friends was from Honduras. By the end we were all saying that although we had only met each other 6 days ago it felt like we had been friends for years. Also a lot of the D62760 outbounds were there so it was fun to spend more time with them. If anyone is interested in going next year, you should talk to your Rotary club because chances are they'll sponsor you. Here's the link to their blog and website: http://www.worldaffairsseminar.org/index.php and http://washappenin2010.blogspot.com/

Now for updates about France. I got an e-mail from my travel agent saying that my Visa application is complete and is ready to send of to the French Consulate, which is a huge relief. My host mom sent me an e-mail talking about my classes ans schedule which was exciting. It was weird though because earlier that same day my school in the US sent me my schedule for next year too( they forced me to sign up for classes "just in case I don't go") and turns out my French school and American school both start on September 1. The contrast was strange because in France I'll be taking classes like Italian, Old Greek, and Latin unlike here where all I take in french4. I am excited now but I think school is going to be very difficult not speaking French. I looked at my calender today and was shocked when I realized I only have 5 more Saturdays when I'll be at my house- all the other weekends I'll be gone. That's crazy, out of the next 57 weeks of my life only 5 will be spent with my family and friends here in Wisconsin. This upcoming week is going to be busy as swell- tomorrow is July fourth, the 6th is my b-day, on the 7th I have to go to Chicago for an interview at the French consulate for my visa, and finally on the 8th I leave for my final outbound orientation in Michigan! This summer is flying by...it's July already??

Oh and I would like to say thank you to all my Friends and family for making this whole thing possible for me.. I love you guys!!

Here's some pics from WAS: Pizza at midnight..:)
Playing Ultimate Frisbee on Campus

a speaker at one of the lectures
Friends in the dorm rooms ( which were REALLY hott btw)

I promise I'll update after Grand Rapids!!

A très bientôt,
Hannah