Christmas

Ok, I have wayyyy too much to write everything, so I'll just give a brief overview.

First, we celebrated last night. We had dinner, (fish and potato salad) and then opened presents. Then we played with our presents, and talked, and did the usual Christmas thing. Then today, we had a huge breakfast, and just hung out all day. So that is my VERY brief overview.

Now for the pictures...

Table set for Christmas dinner

Food!

Dessert...

Nutella is delicious(:

And I have lots more pictures on Facebook, or email me if you want specific pictures, and I'll tell you if I have them...Happy Holidays!

You Call THAT Tap?

Hey everyone. I could say that I haven't blogged because I have been busy, but truthfully, I have just completely forgotten.

My Dance Class

Ok, so the 13th and 14th, I had my dance performance. My class did our tango. It was really fun, and I got to see most of the other dances. I must admit, my entire class was busting up laughing when we watched the tap dancers...(there was only one class of 3 girls tapping)...because they have seen me tap. And these girls have been tapping for 7 years (I tapped for 8), and wow. Let me just say, when my mom took one year of adult tap class, they were better then these girls. (Don't get me wrong, my mom is a great dancer, but some of the other people in her class...not so much.) So we found it completely hilarious. And the girls in my class told me that the tappers think they are "so cool" because they are the only tap dancers...HAHA.

My ice skating lessons are going amazing! I can do spins, and sorta go backwards, and im learning a (very) simple jump. As in, I don't spin, but I still get some air! (: I also can skate on one leg, and I can (finally) skate crossing my legs. It's pretty sweet.

I saw my future host sister compete last Saturday. She got first place, making her the Slovakia National Junior Champion, or something like that. All I know is, she's an amazing skater, and she gets to compete in South Korea in February. Go Monika!

Right now I am on Christmas Break. My first day off was the 23rd, and I go back to school the 10th of January.

In school Tuesday, we had "Christmas Market". Basically, each class that wanted to set up sweets and small things to sell in their classrooms. It was really fun. Then Wednesday, there was a show in school. All of the graduating students had things in the show, mostly dances, and a few other people performed, too. (Including the  three tap dancers, LOL) It was really cool to see. And I think Holton needs to do this next year(:

I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I Get It.

Yea, you miss me. Get over it. I'm not coming home soon. And if the only thing you have to say to me is, "I miss you." then why bother? I know that you miss me. I miss you too. But repeating that doesn't help. Tell me what's going on with you, or sound interested in what I'm doing. But don't talk to me just to talk. Because I really don't have that much to say anymore.

You Wish You Were Us

Rotary Conference as an Inbound number 2!!!

First, let me say, I'm so tired right now. Like, super tired. So if this makes less sense then usual, it's totally not (completely) my fault.

Friday
Ernesto and I took the train from Piestany to Bratislava. It's an hour by train. We met up with all the other exchanges at the train station. Everyone was yelling, hugging, being the crazys that we are when we all get together. We took our luggage to a van that Rotary had for us, and then we walked (through the rain) to the Government Office. We got a tour of that, which was pretty cool. Lots of pictures. We probably take 3 times as long as other tours, just because we get so easily distracted by taking pictures. So we did that.
Then we walked to the Old City part of Bratislava. We got a tour of that too. It is so pretty! And really interesting, all the history that is there. It's so different for me, just hearing about all these buildings that are hundreds of years old. Well, obviously I've heard of old buildings like that before, but I haven't seen any in person before this year. So it was pretty sweet.
After that we all went to the Christmas Market. Which is like the best invention ever. Stalls set up in the middle of a square, with ten bazillion things to buy for Christmas! (Lots of really good food, too.) We sort of ate dinner there. (We were supposed to, but I don't remember what I had, which means it was probably junk food. Or as close to junk food as it gets here.) We went shopping at some mall then. I don't remember where. (I really pay attention to the names of places that I go.) Since I'm broke, I only bought a few shirts, but it was still fun.
Back at the hotel, (once we got there, I mean.) we got our room assignments. The rooms had 7 people in them, but they were split up into like 3, 3, and 1. In my 3, I had a girl from Mexico, and another American. Of the other 4, 3 were American, and 1 was Mexican. So our room had a bit of Spanish going on. We had our Secret Santa thing then. Everyone seemed pretty happy with the gifts. I got a scarf/pennant thingy that says "Slovakia" in really big letters on it. Then we all were talking and hanging out until curfew, at which point we just went to our rooms and continued talking. My room was awake until 1:30.

Saturday
I woke up at 6:30. So, wayyyyyy too early. Breakfast was at 7, but all we had was tea and bread with butter or jam or whatnot on it. Then we grabbed our coats, and waited for the bus. And waited. And waited. The bus finally got there, but we had a bus with no heat. It wasn't a huge deal, since there were like 40 of us, and those South Americans are crazy! They were singing, and dancing, and just being noisy in general, but it did warm us up. So it was nice and toasty warm there. We went to Vienna, where we saw a palace. No, I don't know the name of it. But there was another Christmas Market there. So we shopped some more. It was horrible weather though, like 33 degrees and raining. Ugh. (1 degree Celsius)
After that, we went to the like center of Vienna. We had the option to go on a tour or to just shop. Only 10 of us out of 31 went on the tour. It was really interesting, hearing about all the history that was there. Then we went shopping. My group's first stop...STARBUCKS!!! Yea, I know. But we have been deprived of Starbucks for 3 months, and we are teenage girls. Do the math.
Then we went window shopping, for the most part. But it was really fun. Until Jenn and I went to find a restroom, and couldn't find our group. We met up with Ernesto and Crystal later, and the first thing I said to them was "We lost Teague!!!" They laughed for quite awhile over that one. We found them later then.
When most of us were on the bus, we had a bit of an adventure...First, 2 of the Mexicans were missing. Then Viktor (Brasil) fainted outside. It was really scary because we didn't know what was going on. In the end, the Mexicans were only about 5 minutes late. Viktor had to go to the hospital in Vienna, and as of this morning, he was doing fine. We will get an email update once they (Rotary) have more information.
We went back to Bratislava, to the mall. It was more shopping, so obviously it was fun. I didn't lose anyone else then(:
Back at the hotel, more talking. I was with Jenn in the guys room, where we were basically having a back massage party. Until Jenn found out I was ticklish, and tried to throw me on the bed to tickle me more, but she ended up slamming my head into the wall. Ouch. (I'm fine, by the way.) A lot more people came into the room then, it was super crowded. Jenn, Teague, and I went to Jenn's room to talk for a bit. Then Teague went back to the guy's room, and Jenn and I went to the lobby for the wi-fi. We stayed there until curfew, at which point we all went back to our rooms. My roomies and I stayed up talking for a really long time. At like 2am, we heard this pounding coming from the floor. We were freaked out for like 5 minutes, until I remembered that Jenn's room was right below ours...We ended up all of us out on our balcony talking to them (Jenn and her roomies) for a few mins, but it was really cold. I think we stayed up until about 3...

Sunday
This morning, we had our tea and bread again. Then our Slovak test...it was really hard. We had to listen to them read questions, and they talked super fast. Then there was like an entire page for us to read in Slovak, and answer questions. The whole thing took almost 2 hours. After, we packed and got ready to leave. We rode the bus to the train station. Most of us still had to buy tickets, which was crazy. Because once I had my ticket, I had exactly 5 minutes to make the train. We ended up running and just barely making it. The train was so crowded that we had to stand in the hall for the entire ride. Or at least I did, since Ernesto and I were the first ones of us exchanges to get home. It was only an hour, so not too horrible. Train got here, I walked home...After lunch here, I slept for like 1.5 hrs. So I'm still really tired. But this weekend was amazing(:

Oh Snap.

So.
Thursday night my backpack was stolen while I was in dance class. I left it in the same place that I always do, in the little room we use to change clothes. And all the other girls had their bags there, too. But only mine was stolen. Which doesn't sound so bad, until you realize that in my backpack was my: phone, ipod, camera, nook, and wallet. So I lost my driver's license, my debit card, my credit card...all of it. What a fun time.
I'm getting the cards replaced and stuff, but for now, I'm not so happy. I don't like being broke...sigh.

Do I Get a Name Day Too?

Happy Thanksgiving, Americans!

So as I was walking to dance today, I was thinking. Whenever I hear a little kid talking in Slovak, I always feel like they are really smart at first. Like, "Wow, they can already speak a foreign language." And then I remember...no they can't. They can only speak their language. It is still a funny feeling though, having 4 years olds use words that I don't know. I can honestly say that is a first.

School today was boring as usual. But it was slightly worse, knowing all my friends in Michigan had the day off...and have been (slightly) rubbing my face in that...thanks, guys. haha, I'm kidding. I'm only complaining because everyone has something to do with Thanksgiving on their Facebook...but it's ok.

Tonight I got to see Lucnica, only the most awesome thing ever! It is a Slovak Folk dance group. And it was amazing. Seriously, if you ever get the chance to see this, do it. It was sooo cool. But I couldn't take pictures, so too bad for you all. (:

So Predictable

Last night I went to see the Russian National Ballet (or something like that. I'm not really sure.) with Andrea, Gregor, and Babicka. It was really fun.

We didn't see any specific ballet, it was a gala thingy, or something like that. (As you notice, I'm not so good with the details. I do have a lot of pictures, though.) We saw parts from The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, (I think) Giselle, and a few others that I don't know.

I was very happy with what they showed from the Nutcracker, namely the Russian dance. If you aren't familiar with it, it is the part in the Nutcracker where they are in the Land of Sweets. There are 4 dances, the Chinese Tea, Spanish Chocolate, Arabian Coffee, and Russian Candy Canes. (I have also seen it with French something, but I don't remember what it was. All I remember is that they started playing the wrong music for the Frenchies, so after their dance, we think they got mad because we didn't see the French when the rest of the dancers had a dance together. [This was a few years ago when I saw the Moscow Ballet.] But I digress.) Anyways, I love the Russian dance because the male part has these amazing jumps that he does for almost the entire dance. It's really cool to watch. And amazing to see how high they can jump! Also, I remember thinking as the male dancer came onstage, "Finally, he has on proper trousers." I think the British English-English class is getting to me. Although I do still giggle when someone calls them "trousers", so I don't know what the voice in my head was thinking (maybe it wanted me to laugh? I try not to listen to its suggestions, the last time I did, I ended up naming my penguin Carlos.) But I know that I was glad he was wearing real pants and a shirt, not the white tights and midriff shirts the other male dancers were wearing...I will never understand why they don't wear longer shirts. The current "male ballerina" (male ballet dancer?) look is not a good look. It's just not.

Swan Lake-The Swan That Refuses to Die for At
Least 27 Minutes(Or So it Seems)

I have a lot of pictures, but they are really blurry because I didn't set my camera on "sport" or whatever to take motion pictures. But I have a video of most of the finale, it's pretty sweet. If you want the link, comment for it, because I don't want this to just turn into a video diary, and I'm not sure if you are all interested in watching the ballet(:

After the performance, when we were walking out, I saw two little girls in the lobby. They were about 7 years old, and as I watched, one started running, with an almost comically intent expression on her face. I distinctly remember thinking to myself, "I bet she's gonna jump." And lo and behold, she did her version of a grand jeté. It was quite funny, in they way she executed it, and in the fact that it was completely predictable. I mean, really, after a ballet, you see a kid running intently through the lobby while another kid watches, obviously they are trying what they just saw. Still very amusing.

17

So I'm sure most of you know that my birthday was last Thursday. I'm 17 now. Yay me.

Like a week ago I got my birthday box from my parents, but I was a good kid and didn't open my present. Then. I did, however, freak out about my football that I got. Yea, I know what you are probably thinking...yes, I know there isn't "American Football" here. Yes, I know I'm a girl. But no, I don't throw like a girl, so there. And I took my football to school and my friend liked it, she can actually throw pretty well. So I had fun with that.

Then the day before my birthday, I was on Skype with my parents so I opened my present from them so they could watch me open it. I have a lovely nook from them. My nook's name is Margret. (If you don't know, a nook is like a Kindle, basically an electronic book-thingy. It's awesome.) So far, I have had my nook for 4.5 days, and I have read 5 books. Yay, I'm back to being my geeky self(:

My new art stuff(:

Then on my actual birthday...a bunch of people told me happy birthday at school, which was nice. At first it surprised me, though. Mostly because for my past birthdays, I have seen my friends, who then tackle me with hugs to say happy birthday. This year, all of the people that told me happy birthday did so with a handshake, and a kiss on each cheek. Very different. (The first time scared the crap out of me, though.) After my dance class that night, my host family had an amazing dinner for me. Plus I got presents, which I wasn't expecting at all. They included chocolate, an angel figurine, and pastels with paper. (Not all, but I don't feel the need to list everything I got.) I tried my pastels today, but I need to watch more tutorials on Youtube before I show my pics to anyone, haha. Oh, also, before my dance class I got a box from Aunt Gen...she is without a doubt the very best aunt ever. In the box: 84 packages of Starburst. Amazing. (Starburst is my favorite non-chocolate candy, for those of you who were wondering. Also, no Starburst in Slovakia.) I'm pretty much set for life, Starburst-wise. (Actually, at this rate, more like 2 months...but oh well.)

Friday night I went with some friends to a bar here. We mostly gossiped and danced. It was pretty fun, but I didn't know that many people, and my friends introduced me to this semi-creepy guy, because he spoke English. But it all turned out fine.

Anyways, that's what I did for my birthday here. Questions, or for more details, feel free to email me(:

What to Say?

So walking home today, I realized a few things.

1. Life here is normal to me now. Meaning I'm probably not writing stuff that people are interested. But it is all so normal for me now. So I don't know what you want to hear about, bringing me to my next point...
2. I don't hear from you people! I want to keep this interesting for you. But you gotta help me out a little here...So just leave a comment telling what you want to hear about, or you can email me (kathleen.buckley18@gmail.com). But I like feedback.
3. My birthday is Thursday! I will be 17, and I'm really excited. I'll tell you all about what I did after the fact. =P

So that's pretty much my update. I don't know what to write about unless you all ask.

I'm so Lazy

Ok, so it's not that I haven't been doing stuff, I'm just too lazy to blog about it all. =]

This picture is from today...see below for details, cuz I don't want to bother reformatting all of this, haha.

On a side note, because this is a really random post...check out my dance class, I taught them some cheerleading. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3yLH7GIY-I

So, what's new...hmm. Skating and dance are still good. I'm still learning Slovak. Same old, same old.

Also, Ernesto is teaching me a few words in Spanish, fun times. He's mostly teaching me compliments, aka how to flirt...hahaha. And then he laughs, because apparently I have an accent...who knew?

Yesterday I went to a benefit concert that the Rotary Club here sponsored. It was piano, cello, and opera-ish music. I liked it. =]

Today Ernesto and I went with most of the Club to this wine tasting, no, we didn't taste the wine. But I took pics. After that we went to this ceramic place, it was totally awesome. I can't really describe it, so here are some pictures. =] (Also, you can check it out on this website: http://www.slovakia.cdfoto.net/keramikaen.htm)
oh, and yea, i got to try making a bowl/vase-thingy =]

Lots of Updates

Ok. So I have a bunch of stuff to talk about...but I will probably get bored and not write that many details. I don't know yet.

Fiona: I have heard (I'm not the first in the loop, for better info talk to my parents.) that she is doing great. The surgery went fine. As I understood it, there is still a little bit of the tumor there, but they are waiting for the lab results to see what they will do. Fiona is alert and remembering things, which is good because apparently a bad sign is short term memory loss, but she is all good for now. She is moved out of intensive care, but still in the hospital. So that is what I know from my last update.

The itty-bitty skaters that I think are better then me.

Skating: My skating lessons are super awesome amazing fun! I have had two lessons so far. It looks like I will be taking about two lessons a week. So, in my first lesson I learned to not fall, and how to stop. In my second lesson, I did a turn! And not just like 360 degrees, either. It was like 3 turns! Go me. When I finally did it, I got super excited, and then I got laughed at because apparently I'm funny when I'm acting like a 5 year old. Go figure.

Slovak: I am still learning (duh) and I think it is going pretty good.  I can remember a lot more now, and I'm having fun when my friends don't realize I know something, and I just say "I understand." Their faces: priceless.

an elf, me, a butcher, and a pirate

Halloween: So, sadly, there is no trick-or-treating here. But I think I had way more fun then any of my friends in USA. (na-na-nana-na!) So last night ( 10/30) I went out with a few friends from my dance class. We went to 2 places: the first was a bar and there was a band playing like alternative rock. They are friends with a few of the band members. So we listened to them for a while, then went to place number 2, Indians. They had a thing, where if you wore a costume, you got in free. So we were all dressed up, although my costume was a little lacking. I was just wearing a dress and heels, so they were going to make me pay, until we used the "she's an American and we are showing her stuff" excuse. So I got in free, and the guy told me "Welcome to Slovakia." Exchanges rock. So once in, it was a madhouse. We didn't get there until like 10:15, so it was already crowded. Everyone was in costume, and the dance floor was soooo packed. But it was super amazing. We spent the whole time there dancing. At one point, I got my butt grabbed...It turns out it was a guy that was friends with my friend, so she explained the whole "American" thing, and he apologized. But he said that he wouldn't do anything unless I wanted to. hahaha. Relax, nothing happened. =] I had to be home at 12 (boo.) but all my friends were staying until it closed, at like 3 or 4 am. So I left early, but I still had the best Halloween ever. =D

Fiona

My cousin, Fiona, is having surgery Thursday.

She has a brain tumor, but the doctors don't know what it is. They are removing it, and will have it biopsied. She has had 2 seizers because of this. Fiona is 14 months old. Please keep Fiona and her family in your thoughts and prayers as she goes through this time.

Thank you.

Finally =]

So I had my very first ice skating lesson yesterday. I had to be ready to leave a 7am...it was very early. I learned how to stop, which is very important, since my old method was to slow down and run into a wall gently to stop. But now I can stop without looking like I should be in a mental institute. I also learned how to look graceful (ish) when skating forward. And how to go backwards very slowly. My coach tried to teach me how to turn, but I'm failing at that...well, I can turn if I'm going like .0005 mph. But that's about it. I also forget to keep my back straight, and my knees bent, and my arms up...ballet didn't pay off. At all. But it's super fun, my next lesson is Wednesday.

I have a picture, but I'm being too lazy to connect my camera to get the pic, so you don't get to see it. I'll tell you about it, though. It's a pic of a little girl, probably about 3 to 5 years old. She was better at skating then I currently am. Sigh.

=D

I did a little happy dance today...

Because I'm awesome. Well, not really. (Actually, I am awesome, but that's not why I was happy-dancing.) I was happy-dancing because I finally got ice skates!!! Whoot whoot! Meaning, yes, that's right, I start my lessons tomorrow morning! (Yay!) at 8:00 am...but I have to be ready to leave at 7:00 am. (not-so-yay.) But I am super excited, it is going to be so much fun! More on skating later. =]

Not our table, but one like it.

Tonight I went to this really cool tea-shop-ish-place with Olivia. It was sweet. (hahaha, pun not intended, but still funny. =D) We sat on this carpeted elevated floor area that had a bunch of cushions, and we had a little tiona-sized table. (That's a table that is like a foot tall, for those of you that are confused right now.) We had to take off our shoes to sit down. The menu was like and entire book and inch and a half thick! There was tea from China, Japan, Tibet, India, South America...everywhere. Of course, I couldn't read the menu, but still. The tea was really good, and we stayed for like 2 hours. We were mostly gossiping and laughing at everything, but really, we're teenage girls. What else do we ever do? =] So it was a very fun night.

(Just Desserts)

This is gonna be completely random, and not in any order...just to warn you. I'm going to write of things as I think of them, so there might be some pretty odd connections  here...anyways.

School has been pretty normal, aka super boring.  The other day (I think it was yesterday...yea, it was yesterday.) I understood a little bit of what my English teacher was saying when she switched to Slovak. Meaning I understood when she said that what I had just said, after she asked for my opinion, was wrong. And that she was right when it came to British English. Yea, ok, whatever. But other things that happened in school...I have started taking random videos with Olivia between classes...they are quite hilarious. If you want the link, send me an email and I'll try to remember to give you the Youtube link. So that has given me something to do during school.

I am taking Slovak lessons from Babicka (my host grandma) and I think I'm learning more...So far I have learned the months, and days of the week, times of day (morning, noon, night, etc.), and sports stuff...So yea. I'm studying during school. Ish. I feel like I know a lot, until I try to talk in Slovak..then it's all like, "Wait, what's that word? How do I conjugate that?" But oh well.

Before...

My dance class is...AWESOME. We finished learning our tango. Olivia is teaching me the modern dance they have to the song "All The Right Moves". (They already knew it when I joined the class.) And our teacher said if I learn it, I can perform it with them. =] Now we are learning jive! So I had my iPod in class, and I was showing the girls some of my "American Music". They had never heard the song "Magic" (by B.o.B) and so I played that one for the teacher, too. Oh yea, I rock. We are jive-ing to "Magic" hahaha! Go me.

After =D

Rotary meeting are still pretty boring for me since I don't understand any of it. But the food is great. =] The District Governor for District 2240 was there last week. (Ok, technically this week, whatever.) But he was speaking in Czech, not Slovak, so it wasn't a big deal that Ernesto and I couldn't understand him. (Whew.) I was going to add some pics of the food on here, but it's not letting me...I'll add them later if I can.

Ok, so I guess this wasn't as random as I thought it would be (mostly thanks to parenthesis haha). Oh, and about skating: Since I don't have skates, it probably will be awhile before I start. But I have dance class, and I bike to Babicka, and tomorrow Ernesto and I are playing squash with a few Rotarians...so I'm not worried (much) about the "exchange student weight gain" haha.

Oh, and the title: If I could post the pics I wanted to, you would get it. =D ***As you can see, I now uploaded the pictures. These are all from Rotary meetings. Enjoy!***

I Was Right

Today started out ok-ish...but ended awesome.

I had to clean my room, which I don't mind, but I had help...let's just say: if you tell me everything I'm doing is wrong, but you don't tell me how to do it right, you're not helping. But I ended up cleaning alone (long story) so it was ok. Then Gregor and I went to Grandma's house. We had lunch (YUM) and then she taught me some more Slovak. We stayed and played and stuff for awhile.

Then tonight I went out with Ernesto and Barča. (She is one of the Rotarian's daughters.) We walked around downtown. Went to one place for pop, then went to another which was like a chocolate cafe! I got this thing-y that was like melted (still warm) white chocolate, with raspberries and whipped cream. In a word, Heaven. It was amazing. Then we went to Indian's, a bar/disco. It was crazy, and super fun! Barča's dad was there too. He was there with a friend, and we all ended up dancing together. Super crazy. But also very fun. I really want to go back next week, but probably stay later. But tonight I came home at like 11 because I hadn't asked how late I could stay, and I don't want to get in trouble. =] But yes, tonight was awesome-ness.

Oh, and if you want to know what I was right about, email me =]

Day 47

So I just want to say, I'm trying to learn the language. Really, I am.

But I still have to translate things. So when people talk to me, they forget that they have to wait. They don't have to say the words super slow, but they have to give me a minute to go over the sentence and translate it. Which no one does. I'm not at the point where I can think in Slovak yet! I still have to translate! Give me a chance people, I'm not a dumb as I sound. At least, until I got here I didn't think I was.

Dance class is still fun. And my friends are awesome. I'm excited for our movie day, Katka and Olivia! But the adults...I understand that the teachers can't take time to explain to the one exchange in the room. That's fine, I try to at least listen to the language, since I have no idea what the meaning is. But I wish the Rotarians here would try to help more. And by help, I don't mean lecture me on the fact that I'm not a prodigy when it comes to learning a new language. Yea, I can't talk. Yea, I'm trying to learn. Yea, telling me this doesn't help, it makes me want to not learn, so I don't have to understand all the things I'm doing wrong. But everyone: I AM TRYING. I'm doing the best that I can, so get over it.

Je Mi Zima

Today Gregor and I went to this really cool restaurant for lunch. We got pizza. And we each got our own pizza, and they were like 14 inch pizzas...but we both ate all of it! It was super good. I got 4 cheese pizza, and it also had some spices on it, I'm not sure what kind though. Anyways, the point of this...Slovak pizza is really good, and I was stuffed.

Then we all went to Andrea's cousin's house later today. We (Gregor and I) played this odd, and fun game, where you have 9 bowling pin-type-thingys, and there is a ball on a string, and you try to knock over the pins...it's kinda hard to explain...but it was fun. Then we ate soup that had sausage in it (I think...). After that Gregor and I went for a walk up to the "lake". hahaha. More like "oversized-pond", but he argued that it was a lake...ok...anyways. It was freezing, so I learned how to say "I am cold." in Slovak. (After I got corrected...apparently saying "Som zima." means "I'm winter." oops.) I was repeating it a bit (or, ya know, a lot...) so Gregor got mad and kicked me. But it was funny. And I deserved it, I know. When we got back, I found out we had to eat more! We had potato salad, and duck, and kapusta, and something that I don't remember the name of...but it was all really good. So now I don't need to eat for like 3 days...haha.

At home, Gregor and I watched "The Game Plan" in Slovak on tv. I can figure out a lot more. I only had to ask what they said 3 times. The rest of the time, I just guessed what they were saying. Sometimes I actually knew though. Yay me! And right now I found out that I can listen to football games online, thank you ESPN. You're awesome. Go Blue.

Circles =D

I love circles. ( I mean those traffic circles, or rotaries, or whatever they're called, by the way.) There is one (tiny and pointless) circle in Muskegon. Washington DC has some good ones (I'm still annoyed that Dad wouldn't drive around the donut one...grr.), but I don't get to go through those often (duh). Piešťany, however, has like a bazillion. And they aren't the itty-bitty Muskegon kind, either. Today, I was super excited, because I got to go through 2 circles...on a BUS. Oh, yea. It was awesome. =D

My entire grade went to Bratislava today. We had to take 3 buses. We went to this college-thingy. Basically, we were in a large room, with about 50 or 60 colleges in Czech and Slovakia there. People could go and ask questions, and get info, and brochures and stuff. It was like a job fair, only for college. I'm sure you're saying, "You must have been bored, and I bet you didn't talk to any of the colleges." Haha, you're wrong. Well, yes, it was boring. But I did get some info on the University of New York in Prague. It actually looks pretty cool, especially if I want to come back to Europe for college. All of the classes are in English, but I can take a Czech class there, too. (Like as a language course.) It offers an American 4-year Bachelors program, in a few different majors.

Honestly, I don't know what I'm going to do for college, but the colleges I'm sort of interested in right now are: University of NY in Prague, University of Michigan, Grand Valley State University, and University of Notre Dame. But really, I have no clue what I want to study. I also think I'm going to look into some college in Arizona (Phoenix is awesome), and I might take a look at Butler University, just for you, Jack. =]

So, this started out about circles, but I got a little off topic...I just wanted you all to know my plans in the distant-ish future. =]

Cooking

I helped cook today =]

We made: rice, potatoes, carrot salad, cucumber salad, soup, chicken, stuffing, pork, and I think wild pig. Guess how many people we fed. Yupp, that's right. 4. Mhm. Only 4. (There's a bunch of leftovers.)

I made the carrot salad. Recipe: Take like 6 or so carrots. Peel. Use a cheese grater to grate the carrots. Add juice from one lemon. (About 2 Tbs?) Add enough brown sugar till it tastes right. Stir. It's really good, you should all try and make it now =]

I also was helping cut stuff, like the carrots and potatoes. And I tried to help cut the liver...but that didn't happen. The liver then went in the stuffing. I tried it, but I found out that I don't like liver.

So I tried a bit (or, ya know, a lot) of pretty much all of it...And all of it was good, except for the liver-stuffing. So I am now a stuffed chicken myself. This is why exchanges gain weight...we don't eat as unhealthy as I did in America, but I sure eat a lot more, because it's all so good! Thank you, Andrea, for letting me help out today =]

Figure Skating!

So today I got to skip my last class (English...I think I better find out what we did, I really need to pay attention in that class...), to go with Ernesto, Eva, and Monika to Bratislava to watch a figure skating competition. It was so much fun! There were about 15 skaters, all ages 15 to 17, I think. The final places: 1st, a girl from Japan (pictured), 2nd a girl from Italy, and 3rd, a girl from Sweden. It was ahmazing to watch.

After we got back to Piestany, Ernesto and I watched Monika's practice. She is sooooo good!!! I think in the entire practice (it was about 2 hours, I think) she only fell once! At least, only once that I saw. This girl is going to be famous one day.

So, on the subject of skating...I'm going to take lessons! I think I will start a week from tomorrow, depending on when we can find some skates for me to borrow that fit my ginormous feet...I might have to buy my own though. Don't worry, I'm just going to buy the cheap-y fun kind, not the uber-competitive kind. (Difference in price: 20 euros to 500 euros.) But I'm super excited! As some of you may know, I already know how to skate forwards, run into things, and fall. I hope to learn how to stop, turn, and skate backwards, but I'll be happy if I can just learn how to stop gracefully. =]

Hum the Tango (Seriously. Do it. Because that's the title of this post. I'm thinking like "do. da do. do. do. da da d-da, duh da da dada, hmm hmm hmm hmmmmmdo do do, da do." Or maybe with "bum"s [bum. ba bum. bum. bum. etc.] But not "la"s. I'm not feeling "la"s here.)

I had my first dance class today. There were four of us there, but there are normally 9. One of my friends from school invited me. It's technically a modern dance class, but tonight we learned how to tango! We are going to do a dance that is a tango with a modern twist. It should be a lot of fun. I really like the dance class =]

I think my title is almost as long as this post...haha too bad. =P

Oh, and I wanna give a shout out to my awesome AUNT GEN!!! Thanks so much for commenting on all of my posts, it means a lot. You're the best, Aunt Gen! =]

I Got a Package! & Gym Class

I Got a Package!:

I got a package, I got a package, I got a package, hey hey hey hey. =D
(Yes, I was actually singing. Be glad no one heard.)
I'm super excited! This package had good timing. =] I got: a sweatshirt from home (it smells like my house, so I probably look really weird right now, I'm sniffing it like I'm addicted to something...but I digress), little American flags, my nail stuff, chapstick, my favorite kind of tea, cornbread mix, and RAMEN NOODLES!!! I am a happy camper. =] Oh, and a note from Mom. Thank you =]

Gym Class:

Today it was awesome! Steer clear! It's a rollerblading American! And she can't steer! (hahaha) We went rollerblading, and since there were only four of us, we stopped and out teacher bought us pop. =] I had to borrow some, and the ones I was wearing didn't have a brake-thingy, so um...I'm sure I looked...interesting. It was really funny. But after a little while, I had to switch with our teacher, and she bladed while I rode her bike, because the rollerblades were a little to thin for my ginormously wide feet. But later we switched back and it was all good. It was a very fun gym class, Mrs. Rizley should let us do this sometime. =]

A Serious Post, For Once

For those of you that don't know, my dad has prostate cancer.

Yesterday he had surgery to have his prostate removed. Everything is looking good, he's doing fine. The doctors sent in lymph nodes for testing, just to make sure they got it all. But Dad looks good.

His surgery took place at around 8 am eastern time, so 2 pm for me. I found out the time of his surgery at about...1 pm here. I found out by reading my brother's Facebook status. Yes, my mom forgot to tell me. She claims it was to keep me from worrying, but really, she just forgot. (Ok, so that was probably the original plan, to keep me from worrying, but in that plan, I still have to be told eventually...) Anyways. My dad is doing fine, and I've finally stopped freaking out about it. (About the surgery, and the fact that I didn't know about the surgery, that is.)

But please keep my dad in your thoughts. Thanks

It Smells Like Home

Yes, for those of you who think like I do...I was in a McDonald's today. =D
Back up. I went with Ernesto, Monika and Roman (My second host family) to Bratislava this afternoon. Monika had to be there for a press conference, because she's an amazingly good ice skater. After it, we went to the mall (I only got shoes and jeans for me, and a gift for a friend). Then we went to Micky D's! I got laughed at. A lot. By everyone. Even the staff laughed at me. I don't care. It was fun. And yes, all McDonald's smell and taste the same. =] It was sooooo good. Especially since I knew what exactly I was eating without having to ask.
And yes, I have pics. But I'm too lazy to upload them right now =P

This is Quality Spinach

Today I had to walk to my Rotary meeting. I wasn't quite sure of the way, but Andrea gave me directions, and she said it would take about 20 minutes to get there. So I left early, giving myself 35 minutes to get there.
40 minutes later...I arrived =] So I was only a little late. Because I only got a little lost. Her directions were to take all roads, but somehow I ended up in the park...It all worked out in the end. =]
Ernesto and I talked the whole meeting. We were comparing pins on our jackets, and talking about other random stuff. For dinner we had chicken and spinach and potatoes. The potatoes were good. Do you know those frozen dinners that are like chicken cordon bleu? And they have like ham and cheese in chicken? It was like that, except this wasn't a cheap frozen dinner. So it was chicken filled with blue cheese. I didn't realize that until about bite number three, and then I decided I wasn't very hungry. Until I realized what it was, I just thought it was some funky chicken. No, it was nasty cheese. Anyways. I ate the potatoes and spinach, so I'm not hungry or anything.
Note on the title of this: Yes, I actually thought that. When I tried the spinach, the little voice in my head told me, "This is quality spinach." I have no clue why I thought that, but I found it funny so I'm sharing it with you. =]

Strecno!

So yesterday I got back from an awesome weekend in Strecno, Slovakia. It is a city in the north-ish, near Zilina.

On Friday, Karol Ambra drove Ernesto and I to Martin (a city near Strecno.) Ernesto is the other exchange in Piestany, if I haven't mentioned that before. Anyway. We had to go to get a medical check-up type thingy. Basically, they drew blood and got chest x-rays from both of us. This is for our visas, so we didn't really have a choice. It was super nasty outside (aka it was raining), so we couldn't do much. We had planned on going to an outdoor museum thingy, but we couldn't because of the weather. Instead, we went to an indoor museum. It had an exhibit about Slovakia during ancient times, and there was an exhibit on the different traditional clothes from different areas in Slovakia.

We met up with 3 inbounds from Bratislava, who were also getting the medical thingy. We all went to lunch together, and I think it took about 2 hours, because we were messing around so much. We ordered ice cream that came in little plastic animals. I got a penguin that had a toupee, so I named him Donald =] The other animals were: a bear, a cow, and an elephant. (Pedobear, Old Spice Guy, and the Grapeist, respectively.)

After lunch, we all drove to Strecno, but we were there super early. So early that our rooms weren't ready. So we went on a hike around the town, and to a memorial for something. I don't remember exactly what, but something to do with a group of French soldiers helping Slovakia somehow. I don't know the specifics. It was really pretty, we could see the entire town =]

Then when we got back, we met with the other inbounds. There are about 50 of us, from all over. There are 18 Americans, like 12 Brasilians, and 7 Mexicans. There were also a few kids from Canada, Thiland, Taiwan...maybe other countries, but I don't know which. We all talked and compared experiences. We listened to a few presentations. When we were all in our rooms that night, they taped the doors shut so they would know if we left our room. My roommate was from Flordia, and she is staying in the Czech Republic, but I don't know which city.

Saturday morning, we had to listen to more presentations. I had heard most of them before at 6290 conferences. We had lunch, then hiked up to Strecno Castle. It was ahmazing. First, on the walk there, the Brasilians and Mexicans were singing quite loudly. All the songs were in Spanish or Portuguese, so I have no idea what they were singing about, but they were definitely enthused. When we finally got up to the castle, we all took a bunch of pictures. Then we went on a tour of the castle. Strecno Castle is one of the very few castles in Slovakia that has been restored, so that made it even more gorgeous. The tour took most of the afternoon.

When we got back, we had more presentations to listen to. Then we were divided into small groups. In my group, 2 Rotarians and 2 Rotex talked to us individually. They asked us a bunch of questions, about how we were adjusting and such. Then they asked if we had any questions, and the only thing I asked was why they don't use textbooks in school. (Answer: It's too expensive to buy them, and the teachers can just as easily teach without them.)

Then all us kids were talking in the main room, and someone turned on music, so it morphed into a dance. It was super fun, I learned a Mexican line dance =] We were all having a super fun time (I really need some new adjectives, don't I? Too bad.), so curfew was extended from 11:00 to 12:00. Once again, we were taped in our rooms. (About the picture: Yes, that is from the dance. Yes, we were doing the Macarena. Yes, I'm the one on the right derp-ing. Sigh.)

Sunday morning, we had breakfast and then a little good-bye, thanks for coming and following the rules, good luck speech. After that everyone went home. I slept about half of the way home (it was an hour and a half drive, I think), and then when I got back, I unpacked and took a 4 hour nap.

I made a bunch of new friends. Facebook is a wonderful thing. =]  So, in all ways, this weekend was a success.

I want to say thanks to Teague and Jenn, you helped make this weekend great for me. And yes, I will eventually watch The Hangover with you both. =]

2 posts, 1 day

Yea. Second post of the day. I'm just awesome like that. ;]
Or, ya know, I have more crap to talk about...
I went to the movies with some of my new friends (go me!). We saw Step Up 3, and I got laughed at cuz I did a little happy dance when it started...in English!!! Weeeeew! Anyways...I thought it was a good movie, cheesy, but I expected it to be. On the way home (walking, of course) we were dancing and laughing and it was fun. I showed my dance to "Evacuate the Dancefloor" and one of my friends did a dance to "All the Right Moves". Good times...she invited me to go to dance class with her. I'm excited! I still have to ask, which I will do once all the angst about the conference is done.
Oh, yea. My first inbound conference is starting tomorrow. I will write more after it, but I'm not taking my laptop. I will keep awesome notes in my journal, though. =] Cuz I know how much my writing interests you all...hmm, I'm guessing not much. Haha, just kidding. Check back Monday or Tuesday, I'll try to write then. =]

Mail Time

So, I'm just gonna say...I love getting mail. It makes me feel important. (I was gonna say special, but I really don't wanna give people even more reason to make "special" jokes about me...)
So far, I have received 3 letters. Ish. One from my dad, but it was only documents that I needed, and he didn't even write me a note...tsk tsk. (I love you, Daddy =] ) The second was more documents I needed from my dad, but this time he took and extra 30 seconds to write a note....that it took me 5 minutes to decipher...hahaha. And today I got a letter from my Grandmother. Thank you, Gram. Although now I'm thinking I should start wearing my glasses when I open mail...
That's all, folks!

P.S. Ok, thank you. Yes, you do have peanut butter in Slovakia. I get it. I was wrong. But it is not common, and my host family hadn't tried it, so I (wrongly, apparently) assumed that there wasn't peanut butter here. Also, because several people who went to Slovakia on exchange said there was no PB...anyways. Ok, there is PB. I'm sorry that I was wrongly informed about that, but I got it now. =] No need to keep bringing that up...Byes!

Best Friday Ever!

Holy wow. Yesterday was awesome.
So I meant to post this last night, but I was really tired, and, let's face it, lazy, so I didn't. Anyways...
Yesterday, school was good. More people talked to me, and I had two English classes. They are super-duper hilarious! It's so funny, the fact that they learn British English here. So I laugh at some of the terms (hoover = vacuum LOL) and I laugh at some of the accents...so it's a very good class for me. After school, one of my new friends invited me to a concert that night.
I only had to walk for 15 minutes to go to a concert! My mind was blown by this fact. There were 6 of us together. We went to a rock concert. The first band we saw, was a Slovak rock band. I liked them, but I don't know their name. We ended up working our way to about the 4th row in front of the stage. It was so cool.
The next band was a Slovak ska band. They were ah-mazing. I was laughing to myself, remembering the time Mr. H told us about his band, and how they picked the wrong genre of music to make it big. Apparently they picked the right genre, just the wrong country. The ska band, Polamy (I think that was the name...) is hugely popular here. We worked our way to the very front! We rocked out right in front of the trombone, sax, and trumpet players. It was like the funnest thing I've done here yet. (I used some great grammer there, huh?)

This morning, I was ecstatic to find out my laptop's fixed!!! ( Did you notice all of the wondiferous apostrophes?) My laptop, it turns out, had my anti-virus, Kaspersky, making it very slow, and also it had a virus. So we ditched the Kaspersky and fixed the virus, and now I'm all set! Whoot whoot!!! I have a few new thingys to work out with my laptop right now, though, so if I don't reply to emails or comments or stuff right away, I'm sorry. But I'll try =]

OMG

Holy wow. Gym is...a different experience.
So far I have had two gym classes. After the first, I thought "Ok, I am a little sore, but I will be fine. Even though we spent the whole 45 minutes running in the park, and stretching in between different kinds of running, I will be fine. My friends said that today was an unusual class, usually we just warm up and then play games, like volleyball. I can handle that. No problem." Ha. How wrong I was...
That was two days ago. Yesterday, I walked to school (for my three classes of the day, Wednesdays rock!) and I felt a little sore. Then I got to school. And walked to my classroom. On the third floor. All stairs. My legs felt like jelly. If that was not bad enough, I was then told that our class was on the second floor. So back down we went. Ugh. I almost died. At least I was only at school for a few hours, then I came home and lounged about all day. Ahhh...so lovely.
You know how they say when you are sore, the second day is worse? So, very sadly, true. Made worse by the fact that I had gym first thing this morning. At least we were in the actual gym today, as it was raining. But we did more running. Then we messed around with volleyball, and I am happy to report that I did not forget all my volleyball training, so I was not the worst one. I think I was one of the better ones, but hard to say.

Oh, that is another thing about gym class. Boys and girls are seperated. So while we were running, the boys got to play soccer. And most of the girls have "conditions" that make them unable to participate in gym class. Right, I am sure they do. So, we should have about 20 or 25 girls in my class. Today, we had eight. The first day, there were four of us. It is crazy. Although I am happy to report that I do not think I have gained any weight...yet. And if gym keeps being this crazy running torture, I might actually lose weight. Which would be a plus. Because the food here is so delicious, if I did not do any kind of workout, I would come back to America weighing close to 400 pounds. At least, that is what I guesstimate it would be...hahaha.

Rotary!

I went to my first Rotary meeting in Piešťany today. It was very different.
There were thirteen people there, including me. I was the only kid, and also the only girl. We were in a small conference room at a hotel. The meeting started at 7:00 pm. When I got there, I was introduced, and then Karol Ambra talked a little about Ernesto, the other inbound who is not here yet. (He should be here soon, I am very excited to meet him!) Then we had soup. I think it was some form of cabbage and lettuce, but I am not totally sure...It was good though. Then more things were discussed. I have no idea what they were talking about. Then we had the main meal, fish and potato salad, maybe? Then more talking. Then dessert, mmmmm. Chocolate cake. Yum. Then even more talking, and that was it.

It was way different than Fremont Rotary. There was no singing, no socializing, no funny fines, no presentation...so no whispering during the presentation (ahem, Dad. hahaha). Not only did we eat three seperate courses for dinner, they were served to us. Yes, we actually had a waitress. It seemed like guests were not allowed, so maybe you have to be a Rotarian to go to Rotary meetings here? I am not quite sure, but if that is the case, I do not agree with that policy. I believe that anyone should be allowed to go to Rotary, is not the whole point of Rotary to get people more involved with other people and the world around them? If all Rotary meetings were closed meetings, Rotary would not be able to get nearly as much done in the world as it does. I could be wrong about the Rotary Club of Piešťany, but I still stand by the fact that guests should be allowed to attend Rotary meetings.

Walking is Tiring

School is better. I have made some friends. Today we were fundraising around the city for cancer research. At least, I think that is what it was for...anyways. I was with two girls from my class, and we walked all over Piešťany. It was fun, but we probably walked a little over 10 miles.
At home, I had to walk to the store with Gregor to get shoes for the house. I need lots and lots of shoes here...I like it. =] Then Gregor and I walked to Babička house. (Babička is grandma.) It was about a mile and a half or two miles. I had my Slovak lesson for the day. So far she has taught me: things in the kitchen, veggies, fruits, chess, body parts (eyes, nose, hands, etc.). I might be forgetting stuff, but that is all I remember off the top of my head.
Then we went to the gorcery store. Ok, before I tell you this little story, I have to give some background info. Here, when shopping, you have to pay for a cart. The carts have a chain-thingy connecting them, and you put a euro in, which releases a cart. Ok. So Gregor asked if I knew what to do with the euro, and I said yes, but that we did not pay for carts in America. He was blown away. He did not believe me at first, and it was hilarious. Just thought people would find that amusing. =]

School

Today was my first day of school. It turns out my class is going to Italy for a few days, so tomorrow until Tuesday I have to go to a different class, but I do not know which one. There are about 20 kids in my class. Only 4 girls said hi to me. 2 of them showed me around a little, but everyone else, including the girl who sat right next to me, ignored me. I could not understand a thing the teacher was saying. There were some announcements, I could not understand those either. The other kids do not speak very good English. I do not like school.

Say What???

Whoops, I forgot to mention this.
They do not have PEANUT BUTTER in Slovakia. OMG.
So, I brought some. And last night, I made PB and banana sandwiches for myself and Gregor. He loved it. (How can he not? Its peanut butter. Haha.) So he made me make PB and banana sandwiches for his parents for breakfast this morning. Andrea said it was too sweet. I am not really clear on if Peter liked it or not (minor language barrier, being that he does not speak English and I do not speak Slovak. Yet.), but I think he did...
But I digress. My point here: I did not realize that peanut butter is an "American food". I thought America did not really have its own food, just McDonalds. But hey, we do! Go us. =)

Lalala.

Ok, just a really quick update:
Everything is going good. I miss people from home, but that is to be expected. I am still not using my laptop, hence no contractions, because I do not know where the apostrophe key is...anyways.
The family went to the mall in Bratislava today. It was fun. I got my "school shoes". (Do not ask...)
Tomorrow is my first day of school! Eeek! Haha. Andrea and Karol Ambra are going with me. I think. I do not know how long they are staying at school though.
I do not know when I will next be able to post, but I hope my next post will be from my laptop, I really miss apostrophes...haha.
Thanks to everyone that is reading this. I really love my 15 followers, thanks for taking the time to let me know you are reading. =)

My Loooooooong Trip

Ok, so this is going to be in a few parts. I'll try to be sorta in order, but no promises...

Ok everyone I'm sorry I didn't write the other day, my computer was being dumb. Basically the update is: thanks to everyone that came to my final goodbye, it was really hard to see all of you go.    
This morning my parents and I drove to Detroit where we hung out at the airport till 1:10, when I said goodbye and got on my first flight. I'm writing this from the plane, and I'll post it later, so this post is gonna be long, and not really in order. This is part one, I will write part two when I land in Chicago or during my next flight, Chicago to London.

So yea. I totally didn't write from Chicago. In Chicago I had to go through security again, then I met up with Myles, Crystal, and Eleanor. We hung out till our flight. We got our seats changed so we were two by two instead of all spread out. I sat by Eleanor. We had a really good dinner actually. We watched movies and read and I colored. =]
I slept for a bit, then we got to London at like 7 local time. We had to go through security AGAIN; and now we're sitting waiting to see which gate we will be at.

We were at gate 24. We found it fine, but didn't have time to change our seats. We just took off from London a little late but thats ok. None of us are sitting together; which isn't fun, but it's only two hours, so we will be fine. There's another exchange on this flight. She's from Pennsylvania, and going to Bratislava. Her name is Maggie, and she's super quiet. But she sems nice. 
I'm sitting at a window seat, and there's two guys next to me. They are just reading, hence me writing this right now. I'm actually writing this on my ipod, so I don't have to worry about pen and paper. I need to figure out the internet once I get to my new house...should be interesting. I'll write the next bit of this once I actually get online and put this on my blog, unless something exciting happens. =] 

Ok. So I firured out the internet, but Zuska (my laptop) is being stupid. So I'm still on my Ipod. My host family is super nice, and I love Piešťany =] I think I've taken about 20 billion pictures, but I can't upload them because of my stupid computer. Oh well. Also, I need to get a new converter because the one I have doesn't fit the plug-in thingy on my laptop. (Thanks, DAD.) But I have to go, I'll probably post more once I start school.

New York, New York

To NY I went...
Dad and I arrived at around 9am. We got to the Consulate at like 10:15, and we were out by 11am. All we had to do was give them my paper work and then I was asked like 15 questions about why I'm going to Slovakia and the like.
Then it was nasty outside, like down-pouring (ugh), so I didn't get to sightsee like I wanted to. We got a cab back to the airport, where we stayed all day. We finally got home a little after midnight. I entertained Dad on the drive home by singing enthusiastically, loudly, and very very badly. But really, he's the one that got me the espresso at 9 pm... =] So it wasn't all my fault that I was hyper.

Tomorrow is my last full day in the USA. I fly out Thursday. I still don't know what time, I'm waiting to hear back from my travel agent on that. Stay tuned, I'll keep you all posted! =]

Sorry to everyone that I told I'd write this sooner, I got busy, and then I forgot. But here it is now! =]

Just an Update

Ok, so I took 3 tests. On the first, I got 6 out of 10, on the second, I got 11 out of 13, and on this last one, I got 12 out of 12! Weeeew! =] I have almost everything I need, my appointment in NY with the Consulate is Monday. Then I should (fingers crossed, knock on wood) be flying out a week from Friday (the 27th!).

Information Is a Good Thing

Ah, the wonders of new information.
As in: I will probably be going to New York on Monday to meet with the Consulate. I will most likely be leaving Michigan A WEEK FROM FRIDAY!!! (I'm not excited or anything...=D) I have talked with my maybe-second-host family, including my maybe-host-sister! Weeeeeeew!
Now, I'm sure you're saying, "But Kathleen, you are only saying 'maybe'. When will you know all of this for sure? Why are you so excited about 'maybe'?" Well folks, because "maybe" is more information then I have had this far, so I'll take what I can get in the "information that leads to excitement" front. =]
I want to say thank you to everyone that has been following this blog, I really appreciate your support! I also love comments, they give me a warm fuzzy feeling, like someones actually paying attention to what I write, and not just ignoring my excited rants like this one, hahaha.
To conclude: Yes, I'm super excited. I'm probably leaving in 11 days. I love when people respond to my blog. I go on crazy random strange rants when I'm excited. (Look forward to more crazy rants in the future, just a heads up.)

For those of you that are part of Fremont Rotary: This Tuesday is possibly my last meeting before I go, so if you have any questions for me, or just want to say "hi", this is very likely your last chance to do so in person. Thank you so much for sponsoring me!

This Post Has No Title

So. I had my going-away party yesterday. (I am now super tan, the beach is ahmazing like that.) Only 20 people came. I know that a lot of people are busy, but it still hurt a bit. Oh well.

On a happier note, I found out a little bit about my second host family. I will have a sister, for the first time! Well, unless you count Dani and Paula so...I will have a sister, for the third time! =] I have emailed them, and I hope to hear back...let's hope the info I got was correct, haha.

Thanks to everyone who reads this and supports me! I love you all <3

Erg.

Well.
This time of the year, aka waiting for info, is super-not-fun. I'm constantly emailing people, like my travel agent, and my other friends that are going overseas, to find out what is going on. I still don't know what's going on with my visa. I still don't know exactly when I have to visit the consulate's office in New York. I still don't know what day I leave, where I leave from, or what time. I pretty much know 4 things: 1. I'm going to Piestany, Slovakia. 2. My host parents are Andrea and Peter. 3. They do not speak english. 4. My slovak is super simple, as in, I would feel comfortable speaking in a preschool class. A special education preschool class at that.
What makes all this waiting worse, is the fact that some of my friends have already started their exchanges. I don't like seeing people posting on facebook "6 days to go!" "i love my new country!" "hlkfj hlwhfel!" (I'm not sure what language that last one was in =] ), when I'm stuck with "im so bored. when do i leave?" (Notice the lack of exclamation points.) I understand that I'm not going to be the last one to leave, or even one of the last (haha Sarah! =] ), but i still want to know WHEN I leave. Right now, it feels like nothing is for sure. I don't have a visa, I don't have a plane ticket, I barely can say "good morning" in slovak. (Dobre rano, for those of you that were wondering.) I just want information. Patience is important, I get that, but can't I also get an email saying "your paperwork is being processed. You will find out more in 3 days." Is that too much to ask for? (answer: yes.)
I'm super excited to go, don't get me wrong. I know that I have to wait for the greater powers at work to get to work. I know that when I finally do get the info, I will prolly panic and have some packing issues. But right now I really wouldn't mind that. It beats not knowing.

On a side note, I have to take some slovak language tests. On the first of three I got a 6 out of 10, on the second I got a 9 of out 13, and I'm waiting to hear how I did on the 3rd and final test. Wish me luck!

Hello, and Welcome!

Hey there everybody!
This is my very first post, so cut me a little slack. =]
On this blog, I will write about my experiences in Slovakia, and other places in Europe I might visit during my exchange. I will try to include as much detail as I can (or as much as I have time to write), but if you ever want to hear more about my travels, don't hesitate to email me at: kathleen.buckley18@gmail.com
There will be more to come once I know more about my travel arrangements and such...keep checking here to stay posted! =]