Newport and Walmart

Yesterday we went to Newport as a camp for our final excursion activity. We arrived at Newport just before 10am and were allowed the whole day to do basically whatever we liked until 6.30pm when we had to leave to go back to camp.

Intention for the day? Find and visit Walmart. And so it began..

Apparently it was a small Walmart. But we made it!

Hannah, Grace, Ashleigh, Sarah, Sarah, Alanna, Elsie (front) Amy, Kim

The day started off with a big group of us; Sarah, Sarah, Kim, Elsie, Alanna, Grace, Amy, Ashleigh, Hannah and Michael until eventually after about 30 minutes both Sarahs and I broke off from the group because they were being slow shoppers and we were being speedy ones. 

We managed to successfully catch the bus to Walmart where Sarah and Sarah looked like they were about to faint because there was so much stuff!

I managed to resist temptation of buying too much junk, some chewing gum I just coudn't resist.

After Walmart we went into Famous Footwear and I could no longer restrain myself; I bought the cutest $40 pair of Chuck Taylors (picture up asap)

We then caught the bus back and hung around, went to a Chilly Dog shop and tasted a chilly dog. It made me want to puke. So I washed it down with a Dunkin' Donuts iced caramel. Seriously, Dunkin' Donuts is EVERYWHERE, even inside Walmart.

That's all for now, 

Sorry for the short post,

Kia Kaha :)

United Skates of America and other adventures at Culture Camp

Some New Zealand Exchange Students at the Airport

Since you had last heard from me I was landing in Providence, RI, and boy has the time since then gone fast!

I've been here 5 full days already, and I'm having an amazing time at Culture Camp. Camp is mostly for international students who don't speak English as a first language, but for us it's still a great time to learn about the culture and make some friends. It's run like school and goes as follows;

On weekdays the day goes like this; breakfast runs from 7am to 9am, classes run from 9am to 4pm with a two hour lunch break between 12pm and 2pm and then optional activities are offered with dinner running between 5pm and 7pm with curfew at 11pm.

Many activities are available at designated slots, scheduled between 4pm and 10pm. They range from small cooking classes to swimming, basketball, movies, football, baseball, line dancing and many more, there are even computer labs open for those without laptops. 

Alanna, Myself and Grace (Center) in Boston

On the weekend though it was different. On Friday and Saturday nights we had a midnight curfew and Saturday and Sunday mornings we were allowed a sleep in, with brunch running between 10am and 12am, and classes starting at 12am running until 6pm with a half an hour break and dinner beginning immediately after class.

So far we've had two excursions out of three, we've been to Boston for a day and to United Skates of America.

So on Friday the 23rd we went to Boston City, it was about an hours drive from camp in Smithfield but we were in coaches so it was comfy. Boston was AMAZING. I have seriously missed shopping. We were given the whole day to roam the streets with at least three others and had to meet back at 7pm, the rules stopped there. 

Alanna, Amy, Grace and I (All New Zealand exchange students) went shopping. We actually only went down two streets, and one was an alleyway with a mall in it. We caught the underground subway to the second street and apart from being scary, really really hot and noisy on the trip there, we found some good shops.

I didn't buy much because I don't want to pay extra for luggage to Iowa, but I did get a dress for $7, a pair of Paul Frank headphones, a Big Bang Theory t-shirt and a Transformers hat. We also experienced American Starbucks, which is extremely fast! They could teach the New Zealanders a thing or two. Grace has a happy meal, and it seriously comes in a box like on the ads, it was exciting, so I took her box and the smile makes me smile when I see it in my room.

Then tonight we went to United Skates of America which was also really fun. We went roller skating, with the four wheels, which after getting used to were really easy to use. There was also a place to go Rock Climbing and play Laser Tag. I played Laser Tag and came 3rd out of 18, but didn't go Rock Climbing unfortunately. It's really different from New Zealand 'Laser Force', the two teams have designated sides to stay on and you're not allowed to run, but it was fun anyway, especially sneaking onto the oppositions side.

Roller Skating at United Skates of America

Tomorrow we're going on our last excursion to Newport, RI. Again, we can do whatever we want with our time and I think that I'm going to join some Australians in exploring the shops because there's a Wal-Mart about 2 miles from where we're being dropped off, and Wal-Mart seems exciting.

That's all for now,

I'll try to update more often after camp, we're just crazy busy at the moment and I have to cram writing in at night.

Keep being Awesome (:

View More Photos of My Adventure So Far Here

We Speak No Americano

After 18 hours of flying, plus ten hours hanging around airports and a whole lot of turbulence, I’ve finally arrived in Providence, RI at Culture Camp. Having flown across multiple time zones, my body clock is pretty mucky at the moment, and I’ve lived in the 21^st of July way too long.

Ten of us boarded in Auckland International Airport on the 21^st of July at 1.10pm local time, and from there I had an excited, sleep deprived 12 hour and 25 minute flight with my faithful airplane buddy Bryce and the three other happy campers sitting behind us; Alannah, Michael and Amy. Although a selection of new and old movies were available, I couldn’t bring myself to watch any of them fully and instead watched two episodes of the American version of ‘The Office’ and two new episodes of ‘The Mentalist’. Other than that, Bryce and I stuck to playing the built in games like Invaders, Chess and Checkers.

I was lucky enough to know Andrea on the flight, a family friend who’s an air hostess and she brought me over some stylish Qantas PJs from Business Class, a toilet bag and some cashews and almond bags. The meals were interesting; we were given two scheduled meals Dinner and Breakfast. For the five of us that didn’t sleep any longer than three hours combined, the wait between the two meals seemed like forever as the time rolled past 3 am Los Angeles time, to when we were finally fed a hearty meal just after 4.30am.

Thankfully, the scrambled eggs were decent as, mushrooms on the side, a sausage (unfortunately no bacon as advertised), some baked beans and a warm muffin was enough to cure my hunger for many hours. Come to think of it, I’ve not had a proper meal since then. 

Don’t worry Mum, I’m fine, I’ve been drinking my water. I even bought a 20oz bottle (or 591ml in Kiwi speak).

At Los Angeles we were met by EF representatives thank goodness, LAX is so huge! Walking between our arrival gate and our departure gate at 7 am local time, we saw four police cars and many huge oddly shaped cars and buses. From there the group split up; Hannah, Matt and I were off to catch two connecting US Air flights while the others were leaving an hour later and travelling through Minnesota and then onto Providence with Delta airlines.

Hanging around Gate 1 in LAX for three hours was somewhat exciting yet painfully slow. We did a lot of people watching, Hannah and I got Starbucks, they love it here there were two stores in Terminal / Gate 1 and three in Charlotte airport that we saw, and Matt got some Mc Donalds. We charged our laptops, had a look around in the overly priced touristy shops and waited some more. Thankfully, apart from being a long four hour flight with no built in entertainment in the airplane, everything went to getting from LAX to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Due to thunder showers in Providence our third and final flight, from Charlotte, was delayed and we ended up leaving an hour later than planned. Fortunately I was able to grab some much needed interrupted sleep while we waited to take off and during the beginning of the flight.

I finish drafting this whilst still hundreds of miles in the air at 2 pm on the 22^nd Auckland time and 10pm still on the 21^st, Boston time and I’m knackered. I’ve not had proper sleep in 30 hours, and it’s a killer.

It’s been funny to listen to everyone’s different accents because all day we’ve either been up in the air or waiting at an airport, so there are so many different types of people everywhere. A highlight would have to have been when our EF guide in LAX said “Holy Mackerel”. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone in New Zealand say that, ever.

I’ve probably bored you enough by now so I’ll finish this and post it when I get internet at camp, after I some long awaited, stress and turbulence free sleep of course. What happens tomorrow is still up in the air at the moment (that was a really bad pun, remember I’m sleep deprived, blame Bryce for being all punny on Quantas) but I’ll keep ya posted.

Kia Kaha (:

Last Minute Posting

Just before I pack up my laptop the night before my departure, I thought I'd write a quick post.

I've just been out to dinner with Mum, Dad, Nana and Bridgette and we had a lovely time. My suitcase is all packed and it weighs around 20kg, hand luggage and hand bag are all ready to go.

I'm very excited as you can imagine! I've heard some cool things about camp from some of my friends there already, and can't wait to meet them.

It's going to be sad tomorrow leaving everyone in New Zealand, but I'm going to be seeing everyone soon.

Thank you all for your support. And especially to all my great friends who are taking the day off school / gateway to see me off at the airport. My Nana for coming up from Palmerston North. Mum and Dad for being patient when I've been getting stressed recently. All my other relatives and everyone else (well, you know who you are), who have all also been so helpful. I'm going to miss you all so much. You're all wonderful.

And my blog. Well I'll be seeing you in America.

Goodnight New Zealand, 'till we meet again :)

One Week!

With only one week to go before my departure, I'm getting super excited!

Yesterday I received my flight confirmation and after a 12 hour flight to LAX from Auckland Airport, my journey looks like the picture to your right.

With Green A being LA Airport where I arrive at 6.30am on the 21st of July, B being Charlotte, North Carolina, where I arrive at 7.06pm and C being Providence, Rhode Island where I arrive at 9.44pm to then journey to Bryant University Camp.

The Red A is Emmetsburg, Iowa, and I have yet to receive my flights from Bryant to my host family. But for someone who's never been to the United States, I sure am going to be seeing a lot of it, from the plane window anyway.

As my room gets tidier by the second and I am thinking about what to take and what not to take, I'm realising how much of a reality this all is becoming.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to my Mum for everything she's been doing recently. From helping me clean my room, letting me see a ridiculous amount of my friends (especially when I was hardly home last week), paying for my trip and trying not to groan each time we recieved a bill in the mail. You're amazing. I'm going to miss you a huge amount.

That's all for now, you may or may not get another post from me before my departure, so if not "Bis Bald!"
(Google Translator says that means Seeya Soon in German)

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind" - Dr Seuss