Everything is Coming Together

I just got my visa back today! It's so pretty :3

Now my travel agent is looking at flights. I might be arriving in Belgium on the 12th of August! But I just asked the District Chairman and Youth Exchange officer over in Belgium if it was okay that I come then, since I'm supposed to be there more like the 15th. I don't think there should be a problem with it, but it's always good to ask.

Time zones are a bother. If a flight leaves from Toronto, it will land about 7 hours later in Brussels... but that 7 hours is 7 hours to my body. To my watch, it will really be more like 10 or 11 hours. Which means that my night of sleep just got cut out. So I will be awake for 2 days straight. It's basically just like pulling an all-nighter. My body will feel like it's 2am, but really it will be 8am, and instead of going to sleep when I get off the plane, it will be morning and I'll have to go about my day!  Hopefully the excitement of being in a new place will help me power through!

Visa Application: sent!

I got everything together for my visa application and it will be arriving in Montréal at the Consulate on Tuesday morning :)

I didn't end up needing a police clearance, and I only had to send one of my guarantee forms (both pages of course) and one visa application. I hope that there will be no problems with anything that I have sent. I feel like it would be just my luck that I messed something up and that I wouldn't be able to get my visa and have to redo and resend the entire application...

But if everything goes according to plan, I should have my visa and passport back before Canada day! And most definitely before I go to the Central States conference in July! Wooo it's all happening so fast!

I'm still waiting to get a letter back from my host mom. Canada Post being on strike certainly doesn't help matters along -.-

High school is almost over! I graduate in 9 days! I'll be starting to study for exams tomorrow. I would have sooner, but I've been busy with work, preparing my visa application, and other school assignments. At least I only have three exams this semester.  I was just talking to my host sister earlier and she was telling me that she had ten written exams and three oral exams! That's insanity. I'm going to have to be doing that next year. I don't think I'll be able to handle that!

I can't believe that at one point I didn't think I'd end up going on exchange. I remember a couple years ago I had a steady boyfriend who I didn't want to leave and I remember I was considering going on exchange then, but (temporarily) decided against it because I wanted to stay here with him. We ended up eventually breaking up for other reasons, and I'm glad that I was young enough to still have this wonderful opportunity available to me. Now, I believe my year away would have most definitely be worth the time spent away from someone I love. But somehow I still manage to regret a little about not going on exchange earlier! Then I could have been a yo-yo! (an exchange student who went out on exchange twice!)

The moral of the story is, to anyone considering going on exchange, DO IT. Don't let anyone ever hold you back. Because it will be worth it :) You don't want to regret giving up an opportunity such as this when you're older. I have adults constantly telling me how lucky I am to have had this opportunity and that they wish they could do an exchange.  Don't grow up to be like those people! Do an exchange :)

Visa Application Time

I finally got my guarantee forms back last week! So now I'm in the middle of my visa application process! I was excited to get my forms back at first... but then I looked at all the stuff I had to do, and I just wanted it to be done and over with! All the stuff that's still needed seemed like a very intimidating list at first, though now it doesn't look so bad.  I'm glad that I already have a passport that I got last year, so that's one less thing I have to do. I still have to:

1) See my doctor again so he can sign a medical certificate that says I have no contagious diseases and stuff like that. 

2) Get some passport-sized photos for my application

3) Completely fill out the application

4) Possibly get a police clearance

So once you break it down it's not so bad. 

Then I have to mail it off with my original passport, 2 original copies of my guarantee forms, 2 original copies of my application (pictures included), medical certificate, police clearance (if needed), and $252 Canadian.

But the visa application was very confusing... but a little help from people who have done it before really cleared up a lot.  I just need to verify a few more areas with my travel agent, then I'll be done that part. 

In other news, I sent a letter to my host mom last week!! It's all in French, since I'm not sure how much (if any) English she speaks.  I can't wait for her reply!!

I am so excited! I'll be there in about two months! Time sure flies. I am almost done with high school here! I graduate on June 28th and I can't wait to be finished! I wonder if high school in Belgium will be much different than it is here.  I know it will be a great learning experience though. I wonder what sort of classes I'll be taking... I hope they're easy and that I'll be able to pass them all! haha. But I also don't want to spend all of my time there doing homework. I will try in school, for sure, but that school year wont really count for me.  I mostly want to use it as a way to help me learn more french and make new friends. But I do sincerely hope I will be able to understand and learn things from my classes as well. 

I'm very nervous and self-conscious about my french-speaking abilities... It's so hard to understand people unless they're speaking very slowly.  I hope my host families will be patient with me. I'm sure I'll pick a lot up very quickly, but still. 

I'm so excited for my parents too!! While I'm gone, they might be host parents for a boy from Brazil! I'm just sad that we won't have an exchange student in the home when I'm living there! They've never been host parents before, and I know this will be an amazing experience for them. I think it will help them have a more inside view on what I'll be going through while I'm away as well.