7. Pariiiiis, here I come!

Some suuuuperbly exciting news today on the AFS front:

My mom just received my plane ticket, along with my luggage tag & travel itinerary. Woot!! It's one of those things that make my upcoming adventure oh so real. Baby! Basically, I'm leaving mid-day, at 1:30ish. From there, I go for a transfer departing at 7:00ish p.m. Then, I arrive in Paris, around 7:00 in the morn. Sooo exciting, non?

Secondly, I`m gonna continue filling out my visa application, which hasn't been completed cause I'm still waiting for more information about my vie française. It`s such a long process but I have a huge passion for filling out forms so three yips for me! Yip! Yip! Yip! And there is a huge list, and I mean HUGE of things/stuff I have to get to prove my identity and such. It's great! It's like a treasure/scavenger hunt! This is soo my thing!

Lastly, I'm guilty for being on the computer right now. As important as my [bt]log is, I should really be slaving in the kitchen right now to make a cake for a special b-day boy, which my mom is purchasing from me in order to up the "$" on my fundraising-o-meter. (see right) Ohhhh yeahhhh... (deep voice)

See, my mom recently met this lady who's story touched her. The woman is a stay-at-home mother with four sons that all have some disability or another. Tomorrow is one of her sons' birthday so we're inviting all the boys over and having a PAR-TAY!!! (even though we've never met any of them :P) Woot! The boy's never had a b-day party before cause he's never been, well, socially accepted enough, you could say...He's got autism.

I love my mom for that. The second she sees she can help someone who's spirit is in need of lifting, she goes right for it. I love that our family is so open to making those gestures. It's so IBO & it's soooo AFS. :D

G'day, maties! Arrr! (that's an Aussie pirate speaking...)

(oh, do I make myself laugh or what?)

And always w/ <3,

[bt]

6. Productive...

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!

A delicious $200 just got added to my $5000 goal. Thanks to the generosity of many...

UNO. For Prom, I organized the transportation for 44 kids: a city bus! Tout le monde had to pay $16. $17 if they paid late. Anyway, my original plan was to give people a last minute ride to Prom in case they didn't have one at the last minute. And sure enough at 10 o'clock the night before Prom, I added two people to the bus! My job was done & I was prrr-oud. :)

So now I've collected an extra $65 from the additional kids, which almost everyone has agreed to let me keep to give to AFS cause technically, I owe it back to them. And even though it's hard to tell, I can't help but be all smiley inside. :D

DOS. The garage sale went AWESOOOOOOOOOOME! No rain. Yips! I made $137 & I got to hang with the twins & their parents. Good times. I like them. They're good people. :)

With my inexperience, this is what happened...(feel free to laugh at me if you want :P). I sold a sewing machine for $8, four movies for $1 & I almost sold a $1000 gold watch for...$2. Yeah, that's right. DOS DOLLARES. You should've seen the hate spewing out of the woman's eyes when I told her I couldn't sell it to her. She knew what that watch was worth. Oh yeah, she knew... And clearly, I didnt. Oops...hehe.

However, I did manage to sell a hockey helmet for $17, two beach umbrellas for $15 apiece & a cabinet for $30. Cool beans & mucho yips!!!

Cheeeeeeeeeeyao!

<3

[bt]

5. Unproductive...

So I went to that friend's house today to sort out her garage for the Sunday sale. We basically moved everything up from the basement & did some clutter clean up. It was unproductive & I'm not proud. :(

Tomorrow is a new day...

<3

[bt]

p.s. I've officially publicized my [bt]log. I'm insanely nervous about how people will take it. I can feel my heart beat...

p.p.s. Still no news from HM.

4. Fast-forward!

Life.

In it, usually we learn slowly, from little mistakes & mishaps here & there. Last night/two nights ago, my learning experience/growth was way-past-the-speed-limit fast, it made me feel like a child.

It was Prom night & I'm left a little speechless.

Due to my lack of exposure to such...delinquent behaviour, shall we say, I was a little taken aback about all the heavy drinking (at least I think what I saw was considered heavy...I've got no reference) but then again, it's not like I wasn't expecting it. I knew people were going to drink. But, I guess reality didn't turn out the way I imagined it would. It just put me off a tad that I had to see some of my friends (possibly for the last time in a year) in such not-so-themselves states.

On a positive note, the overwhelming majority of people who got drunk/wasted/hammered/smashed/trashed (the reigning vernacular of the night...) allowed for pleasant bonding moments between myself & the remaining minority of sober individuals. But, all in all, it was a night to remember.

Now is currently the following night & I feel like I just just pulled an all-nighter when it was actually twelve hours ago. *sigh* What sleep deprivation does to you... Now I just have to worry about the AFS garage sale on Sunday. So dead for that. I've got to go to the friend's house today/tomorrow, which is where we're holding the event, to help her clean & sort. We should make posters too. Should be fun except...it's supposed to rain Sunday. I don't know if postponing is an option...

Wow, it's late. I feel nocturnal, like an owl. (Owl City reference there. :P)

Nighty-night. <3

[bt]

p.s. I realize I always write my posts after midnight (EARLY morning), so "yesterday", "today" & "tomorrow" are tedious terms to use...ugh.

p.p.s. My host mother still hasn't responded to my e-mail yet. It's making me nervous...

3. Open-minded? NOT.

I just got back from a family vacation today & I'm here to report two unsettling incidences involving closed-mindedness, which I absolutely despise. Plus, open-mindedness is a main AFS value. Main.

ONE. (i'm totally against editing my blog but this example was just too shameful to bear. i'm sry to the person that this was about...& even this next one, i can't exactly say i'm proud...i apologize in advance...10.08.09)

TWO. We went shoe shopping during our trip to get me a pair of p-p-p-prom shoes. Woot! But the Witch we met there...not so woot. At first, it was just my sis & I who saw her. "Can I help you?", we heard from the corner. We replied no. "Well, put everything back in the boxes.", she stated with an evil glare. Politeness? Check.

As teenagers, we're used to the occasional abuse & disrespect we get from the elderly, (that's right! I called her old. ha!) so we assumed that was the source of her discontent. But no. She was no less hateful when my mom got there. Funny, because the entire time after that, she didn't even look at us. Rather, she spent the rest of her time helping this middle-aged blonde lady, offering to order shoes they didn't have in stock for her. Customer service? Check.

Later, when my mom went back to get a refund for the $5 the cashier had overcharged, the Witch refused to allow it unless my mom provided a driver's license & passport. WTF? Who even carries a passport with them on a daily basis? "It's part of the system madame. It's the way it works here. The computer needs them to do the refund. You know, we're getting too lenient now adays, with refunds. blah blah blah." Yeah, ok. Discrimination? CHECK.

[bt]

p.s. I got a host "family" in France! In quotations because apparently, it's only one person. She lives in the north of France & that's about all I know. It's very ponder-worthy. More deets to come...

2. Summer List 2009

The thing about lists like these is that when making them, one becomes extremely enthusiastic, and therefore, one becomes overly ambitious. At least that's the way I make them...

1.Do at least 50% of what's on this list...
2.Go to the Amusement Park.
3.Run 1.5 mile in 9.0min.
4.Read 3 books.
5.Go to a Fine Arts Exhibition.
6.Have at least 15 blog posts published.
7.Have a going-away party. *sniff*
8.Go to the Animal Museum.
9.Watch Crocodile Dundee.
10.See my peeps!

Wow, that's not quite as extensive as I thought it was going to be. I guess it makes it more achievable...

Catch ya later!

[bt]

1. Funky Cheese

FUNKY CHEESE. There. I said it.

Here's my point: I like innovation & I like originality. So I thought, what better way to present myself to the blogging community than an utterly random phrase? "Funky cheese" was perfect. No matter what you may think.

And now begins my actual first web log...

So currently, I am still in the preparatory stages of my year trip to...France!!!. Otherwise known as: I haven't set foot in Europe quite just yet. That's ok, cause raising funds for my cultural experience is becoming quite an adventure in itself.

Simply put, it ain't easy asking for the required $5000. I can honestly say that I've invested over 150h into it thus far, which is A LOT. And it's funny cause I'm only at $3000 and my money's been due for 2 weeks now...oh my! Also, that leaves only 100h of fundraising left. Woot.

Yeah, there's sarcasm there. But I meant to state it with enthusiasm as well. See, some of the AFS kids' parents just straight up pay the $5000, even though they ask you to FUNDRAISE it. Completely different. Completely. All I've got to say is that all the time & energy I've put into begging for donations has taught me organization, leadership & even a little courage to ask for *gulp*...$.


OK. So this [bt]log...I'll be using it to document my AFS experience from now until around this time 2010. (oof, a decade in already?) This will be my first attempt at cyberspace. No, I don't have fb. No, I don't have Myspace. And no, I don't have anything of the likes. So take it easy on me. I'm learning as I go along. Certainly, interaction must be different on the Internet, non?


My ultimate mission is make some fantastically mind-blowing discoveries of France, of life & of myself. I don't anticipate anything but what I don't anticipate. What that is, I don't know. Stay with me & find out...

I'll be in France for 10 months, to be exact. Where? I haven't the slightest clue...yet. I wait impatiently for that exciting information. I desperately want to meet (on paper) my family, my region/town/village, my school, etc. Come September, I'll be attending grade 12 (lycée: terminale) in an attempt to complete the highly acclaimed French Baccalaureat. Oh boy...

One blogging hint I picked up in my research: keep it short.

I shall end this post here.

Sweet dreams. <3

[bt]