Okay this is just a quick first blog.
Emma i just watched your videos, you are offically the cutest thing i have ever seen in my life.
Haha, my day has been brightened up :D
So, yeah.... now i've been in Az a week... I wrote this a few days ago and thought, what the hell... i may as well post it.
So, it’s been a week since I’ve seen everyone back home, and at this point in time I’m not feeling too homesick, though I know give it another week and I will be bawling. :)
I’m just going to start off by saying that this experience has been nothing at all what I imagined it to be like really. Everything here feels so normal, and seeing I don’t legally have to attend any school why I’m here at all, it feels kinda like a big holiday. I kinda wish at times I’d only signed up for 2 months now, instead of 3.….. Then I would’ve got heaps more of the summer and been able to go to Fringe, Big Day Out and Soundwave. Instead I’m here, in mighty Arizona.
I just checked on the baby and she puked everywhere.
Oh god.
Okay, so the 14 hour plane trip was lame, it was soooooo long… it felt like days in that seat. I was sitting next to a guy who seemed pretty unsociable for the first 13 hours of the flight… but BAM when breakfast was served there were questions being thrown left right and centre. He was nice actually, and gave me lots of handy tips and facts and stuff. He was from Washington…. On god, I wish so badly that that’s where I was. I haven’t really had the chance to see to much of Phoenix yet, as these past few days all I’ve done is help the family move. One thing is for sure though, Maddy now has a competitor for female with the biggest guns. MINE ARE HUUUUUGE.
I was travelling with 3 other kids, 2 from Sydney and 1 from Perth. They were so much fun ahaha it was great. One girl was going to… get this right, it’s like every American exchange students dream…. California. Not only that, but Orange County in Cali. OH MYY GODDD. And when I was all, you’re so lucky, she was all… I actually wanted Nashville. I was like NAH MAN!
But yeah, so we all arrive in LAX airport, have to go through customs.. We got put in the wrong lane at first.. The citizens lane and the fat angry hungry coppers really weren’t fond of us. My guy wasn’t gonna let me through because I didn’t have a visa. HA suck, I have a letter from the exchange company.
So we leave Julia behind with her Nbc family and the 3 of us get to chill for 3 hours. We were going to go on a shuttle bus ride that takes you down sunset boulevard and all that, but we didn’t have enough time. It was so surreal though, as we were flying into LA you saw the HOLLYWOOD sign and everything. It was SO smoggy though. Grossly so. Amazingly so. If that’s LA than god help the Chinese.
We fully wanted to buy all the LA merch, but couldn’t fit it in our bags. We settled for some great american coffee.. Starbucks to be exact. My white choc mocha w/ extra cream has never ever tasted better. Seriously, it shits all over the one in Adelaide. Or formerly shitted all over. The guy who made it was so chilled, whistling away. Ahaha then we couldn’t figure out all the change we had been given, it was such a struggle. So pete and I asked this lady could she explain it to us, she very politely did. She told us we didn’t have very strong accents for Australians.. We turned to each other and died a little on the inside. We were yet to step on true foreign soil and we were already losing our precious identities as laid back sheep shearers.
So oui, Pete and Kimberly left for Wisconsin and I had about an hour to myself. I failed to find any sweet american teen magazines but settled for some kind of gum and celia’s highly recommended peanut butter cups. Which aren’t as amazing on the 2nd try, kinda sickly actually. Anyway, boarded my little plane to Arizona, with a total of about 15 people on board. Promising.
Land in Arizona an hour later with no one there to pick me up. I waited for about 10 minutes, started to freak out and went up to the information desk. Long story short and 3 terminals later, I ended up meeting some really great people.
There was this one guy, hell chilled, who kept telling me not to stress, it’ll be alright. He reminded me something chronic of Bosley outta Charlie’s Angels. Haha but his support was great. So when they couldn’t get on to my host family an couldn’t contact my emergency co ordinator, I was a lonely sole, who the lovely Arizona police force decided to take under there wing. The First 2 officers I met were bicyclists and when uno found out I was Aussie he said “ That’s where the wiggles come from right?” and proceeded to sing one of their more modern tunes. He was slightly jigging too. Oh god it was had to keep a straight face. The other officer was slathered with tatoos and had a hard worn scowl on his face. The lift up in the elevator to their office was one filled with conversation about wiggly mans’ son and his slow development in potty training, and dous accusing the poor son of having a disability.
So inside the office was actually really fun. Wiggly uno man, insisted on telling me how he plans to move out of America because Obama is president elect and is a terrorist. I asked him did he know who John Howard was and he says “ OH YEAH! Yeah I really like that guy, he’s cool” and when I said “oh really? Hahah I don’t really like him” he quickly proceeded to leave the room.
Lesson number one - Just because this country ALLOWS free speech, doesn’t mean it should ever be used when trying to make friends.
Haha anytime that uno would see any new officer he would ask them : “You know what the highest selling group to come outta Ostralya is?.. The wiggles, wow, like hah oh my god can you believe it??”
By the 7th time he asked the exact same question I was thinking, this guy needs to read more trivia.
Wiggly man was getting really into it all though, walking round the office saying 'CRIKEY and BUGGA" for the first hour. haha
There was this other guy with CRAZY blue eyes who sat there all smiley and happy and claiming he was great because he was English and therefore partly Australian….. He asked if there were many single ladies in Australia. Ahaha. He said he’d get divorced first, and then come and take a look.
Then I met the best officer of all, and I can’t for the life of me remember his name…. But anyway, he was really knowledgeable and we had a great chat. I gave the officers some timtams as thanks for the 3 hours of entertainment in which; one girl od’d and had to get taken to hospital, we later found out she was a kindy teacher and a guy of about 80 was caught shop lifting. Welcome to the usa.
The officers didn’t realize not everyone had guns in Australia. They looked shocked at the thought of it!
So I got picked up 5 hours later by host papa and got taken to a hotel…. Haha this sounds creepy. Anyway I had to spend the night there alone with a vending machine and free coffee machine (OH MY, AMAZING) because HF were moving and had nowhere for me to sleep. I was v frightened and kinda suspsious....
Next day, rise and shine, it was time to move all HF’s stuff. I’m buff man. Wikid biceps.
So all we’ve been doing for the past 4 days is moving and unpacking, moving and unpacking. The weather here is fantastic, probably about 25* all day : ) aha I’m yet to meet the jonas brothers, but I’m sure our time will come :D
Marvina and Keiths little baby, jaidyn is gorgeous… Loud, but a sweety. I can nurse and feed her with the botttle now :D haah Imma baby sitter. Oh, and I have a sweet bed, it double matress with pillow top and it’s double I think, maybe queen. But woweeeee.
The guy who was helping us move was really nice, but asked me if we have Christmas and pizza in Australia. Relevant questions I guess. But I tried not to laugh.
My HF is giving m a sidekick to use whilst I’m here . YES! .. Ahh Imma happy.
Sam, I’ve started using our herbal essenses coconut conditioner PLUS sunsilk shampoo... lethally amazing combo there.., it reminds me of you and your beautiful hair. Although you've moved on to bigger and better things now with pantene.. : (
OH and we have some sick ass, real life, wangsta dealers living above us. They go to bed at like 4am and all day they play some gaming console full boar and rap along to some hiphop. And people are constantly turning up at their door.. Aka DEALERS. But yeah man, they are pretty fully sick :D.
Update on the dealers... they puked over their balcony, into our balcony... So they got evicted.
My host dad is addicted to Final Fantasy... He talks about it more often than not. :)
Everything is pretty good atm, we got cable installed today! yaaaa!
Anyway... i think i may be going to church some days this week to meet some people my own age and hf is going to the snow in a few weeks :D
By the way, haha translation is still a slight problem here.
M:"Where is the babies dummy?"
D: "The what?"
M: "Dummy, like ah... pacifier??"
D: *At this point in time is laughing at me* " We call them binky's here"
D" Ain't givin no dummy to my baby"
Hahaa, but binky?? serisouly? ahh well.
Missing you all! And should be getting a webcam sooon to talk to you mads and emma :D :D
And for the first time in weeks, it's overcast here.
By the way, biscuits here are huge puff pastry things : )
Loooovvvvvvvvve xox