First Month…

So I know that I should have been writing blog posts all along, but to be honest I kind of forgot and I’ve been busy. So here is a list of things that I’ve done

• I’ve introduced myself to the school, At Assembly. So I got up on stage, in front of the 1000 and some students at Northcliff High. I remember standing up from my chair, and then I remember sitting back down. What happened in between, is pretty blurry in memory. I do remember what I said though, but only because I practiced it before I went up there. I said “Hi, my name is Emily, I’m from Canada which is just north of America (because no one knows where Canada is). I've been here for 3 weeks and I will be studying at Northcliff for a year. Thank you”. I consider it a near death experience.
• I’ve gone on holiday with my family to a resort in Bella Bella called Warmbaths. It is a waterpark with camping as well as cottages. Oh ya- they also have warthogs!! Surprisingly they looked exactly like Pumba from the Lion King, but a lot smaller.

Wart hog @ Warmbaths             Matthew, Trent and I at the wave pool

 

• I went paintballing with my friend Alexa and my host sister Haley. I still have 3 bruises from where I got hit, but it was a lot of fun!
• I’ve had several Braai’s, which are bbq’s, but to the max. There is so much food its ridiculous, but there is always a lot of food here! You start with snacks, then chicken wings, then ribs, then steaks, then sausages (or that was the menu for one of them). As you can imagine I was full after the chicken wings.
• I’ve gone to a car racing event with my host Dad, Brother Matthew and Sister Haley. It wasn’t a special event but it was a lot of fun spending the day at the track (where I saw two Lotus’)
• I attended “Inter-high” which was a track meet for all the “A” athletes. There were 4 schools that attended, but we had the most students there for support as well as the most athletes. We won with 250 points, and school in second had 177 points, so we did very well. This was actually my schools 14th year winning “Inter-high”.

Cheerleaders at Inter-high and Me and my friends Alexa, Taylor and Megan at Inter-high

• I have attended Rotary Meetings, and presented my Power Point on Canada. Everyone was very impressed with the presentation but I was criticised for saying “Torono” and “Oddawa” instead of fully pronouncing the t’s.  But other than that they were very interested about Canada, especially how huge it is compared to South Africa. They loved the pictures of the scenery and asked a lot of questions about the Great Lakes.
• I ate curry at an Authentic Indian Restaurant in the Indian District in down town Johannesburg. It was quite honestly one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. The naan was covered in garlic and was to die for.
• I  attended a talent show at a children’s clinic with the Interact club in my school. The clinic is just a facility in which the children go to to use the library or do crafts. They are also fed breakfasts lunch and sometimes dinner. It really is just a place for the children to go. The talent show was great, and the kids were adorable. There was a group of girls who did about 6 diferent kinds of traditional dances as well as “waka waka”. After the show we did facepainting for the kids, and then after that my friend Alexa and myself got our faces painted like the South African Flag- which was perfect because there was a rugby game on that day.

Dancers at the Talent show                  Me and Alexa with our facepaint

I’ve made a lot of friends, and at school my classes are English, Math, Afrikaans, Computer and Technologies, Business and History. I go ice skating with my host brother at least once a week, and have made dinner for my host family a few times. I’ve met the other exchange student who is in my school- his name is Pun and he is from Thailand. I will be meeting all the other Inbounds and Outbounds on the weekend of September 18th for a Bushveld weekend (which I am very excited for!!!!!). I’m also trying to get onto the Capetown Trip and am planning on going on the Kruger National Park Trip. I’ve also been invited by the wives of the Rotarians (the Rotary Ann’s) to go to a cottage just outside Kruger on the weekend of the 24th of September which I also plan to go on.

For those of you wondering about the puppies- there is only one left !

I know because I don’t write that many blog posts that you may have some questions! So feel free to email me at emyy.darling@hotmail.com ! Hope everything is going well in Thornbury and with the other exchange students around the world!!

 

xoxo

Emily !

First week…

My first week in South Africa was great.

I was really nervous for my first day of school, but I found that Haley’s friends had already become my friends and I fit right in (except for the fact that I didn’t have my uniform for the first week). I stood out quite significantly, and I got a nickname- Emily Rose…like the Exorcism of Emily Rose. None the less I was excited to go back the next day. I didn’t have any of my  classes sorted so I followed Haley to all her classes, where I quickly made new friends, as well as distracted the class when they continued to ask me questions instead of doing their work- I thought the teachers were going to kick me out of their classes! They didn’t though. :)

So after the last class on Friday, Haley and I got all dolled up to go see Step Up 3 (it sucked), and then on Saturday I had my first Braai with my family and family friends - and I was full after the chicken wings- which were then followed by ribs, steaks and sausages. After that I went to bed- I think the Altitude sickness/Jetlag is catching up to me because I’m tired most of the time (getting up at 6am for school doesn’t help either).

Today I had my first day of school in uniform, and I also got to pick my classes (English, Math, Business, Afrikaans, Life Orientation, History and Computer Applications). I didn’t stand out as much- and found that most of my friends were in my classes.

I’ve been going to the gym with my family (or going to gym or gymming as they call it), as we all got memberships (to hopefully keep off the “Rotary 30”). I’ve been shopping (mostly for school uniform), and seen 2 movies. After school I don’t really tend to do much unless we are going out somewhere or going to gym.

My Host Family is great !!!!! Oh my gosh I’m so lucky. Haley is smart, and funny and we have a lot of things in common. Tanya and Clarke are great parents to me and never stops feeding me! Matthew is always texting, but is still very funny. And Chad seems very interested in the differences between Canada and South Africa, as well as spending time with me (ICE SKATING!!!).

Sorry I hadn’t posted a blog earlier- but the Internet here is like a cell phone signal- and we don’t use it that often (so many other things to do!).

Oh and p.s. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW HOPE YOURE HAVING AN AWESOME DAY XOXOOXOX

Me in my school uniform !!

Settling In

So I packed in about 3 days (finished as we were closing the trunk to go to the airport), said my goodbyes and hopped on a plane to Washington. I almost missed my flight to Jo’burg but I made it.

I was greeted by my District Counsellor's Husband, then after I got my luggage, my host family and Counsellor.

I’ve only been here for one day, but so far I love it! My host family is awesome and everything is going great, even though this is only my second night!

Anyways I just thought I’d drop a few lines to let everyone know that I made it here safe and am having fun! :)

xoxo

Emily

Visas, Flights and Goodbyes

After sending off my visa application on a Friday (the 18th of July) my family and I were expecting to wait the full 10 days before getting it back. It was surprising when we recieved it back in the mail the next Thursday (the 22nd of July). It was also in this time period that I went to St.Mary's to say goodbye to my friends who were going back to Poland, leaving for Mexico, and my Australian friend who doesn't like to wear shoes (maybe you know them). It was lots and lots and lots of fun!! :)

In the past 2 weekends I've had two parties at my house, one for my Mom's birthday (which also doubled as me saying goodbye to some of the adults in my life) and my going away party for my friends (which was African themed!!).

I had lots of fun at both parties and am glad I got to see alot of people before I'm off to Africa.

p.s. I've booked my flight for August 6th !!!!!! SO EXCITED TO GO !!!!

In the Beginning...

So for those who don't know the story: here it is from the Beginning!

After a presentation in my grade 7 class, I became interested in the Rotary Youth Exchange, and during my Grade 10 year, I finally put my thoughts into action and applied to become a part of the program. I was then thrown into the interview process and found out in my health class that I had been accepted! I had hoped to be sent to a Spanish speaking country (Spain!!), and quickly asked a family friend to help me learn. At this point I didn't know where I was going.

Living in the Town of the Blue Mountains came to benefit me in my Exchange Adventures. The Thornbury/Clarksburg Rotary Club hosts a ski day for all the Inbound Students (Students who are here from other countries). I was so nervous to meet everyone, but they all thought I was the new girl from Australia so they didn't hesitate to come up to meet me (which they would have done anyways but I didn't know how exchange students were at the time!). I got to enjoy 2 days of skiing with teenagers from all around the world, some who had never seen snow until they arrived in Canada, and some who had never skiied before. Over all it was tons of fun!

In March I was put into a van and shipped off to Fingal (a church camp in the middle of nowhere where I met a bunch of other Outbounds (students from Canada and the U.S. going to other countries) who became some of my best friends. On the way there we entertained ourselves by talking about dead pets and politics. We showed up to the conference and everyone thought we had met before! After we met the "crew" we learned about Culture Shock, Visa Applications, the 5 D's (Don't drink, Don't drive, Don't do drugs, Don't Date, Don't get tatoos or piercings) and Body Language. Everyone got to know eachother and couldn't wait to see eachother at the next conference in May.

Somewhere between the two conferences I recieved a phone call from my Rotary Youth Exchange Officer, Mr. Rick Offord, who informed me I was going to South Africa (my 4th choice). I immediately started crying, and calling everyone I knew. I'm still trying to get in touch with everyone and keep them updated on the latest news about my exchange (this is why I created this blog!)

We then all jumped in the van again with the Inbounds for the second Conference. To be honest it was way more fun than the first now that everyone knew eachother! And having the Inbounds there made it a little more interesting.

Then again between Conferences I recieved more information about my exchange. I will be going to District 9400 with a girl named Hannah from Indiana. I will be living in Randbug (near Johannesburg) and will be attending a private school called Northcliff High (I get to wear a uniform!!). In my first host family I will have a 16 year old sister Haley, and brothers Mathew and Chad who are 18 and 20 years old. My parents names are Tanya and Clarke and I will also be living with my grandparents as well as 2 dogs.

I just got back from the third, last and most epic Conference which also happens to be the biggest Rotary Youth Exchange Conference in the world. It is known as "Grand Rapids". We danced, cried, screamed, sang, played soccer, took pictures, traded pins and tried to sleep (9/72 hours were spent sleeping, and I lost my voice). I can't wait to go again next year as a rebound (and see my first host sister Haley as an Inbound!!!)

So after 3 amazing weekends of thorough training through Rotary Youth Exchange, I'm finally starting to prepare for my trip. During these weekends I have met inbounds, outbounds and rebounds who I'll remember forever (I'm also going to miss you like crazy).

Now you're up to date! I'm just about to apply for my visa this week!

xo

Emily