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

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

Host Family, Camp and all of the sort.

On Monday when I got home from school, I received some very exciting news..

I'm going to Emmetsburg, Iowa!
[Refer to the lovely picture bellow]

Emmetsburg has a population of around 4,000 people and is located around the southern bay of Five Island Lake. The school I'm going to be attending is Emmetsburg High School and it has a role of about 240. It's a little cute town, by what I've seen on Google Maps.

The host family I have been given is my "arrival" family. This means that I'll be there when I arrive and could be changing to another family if things don't work out, but they sound lovely!

My mother, Linda is a qualified Nurse who is working as a part time Pastor, and my Dad, David, is a pastor for the church next door. As I mentioned in the previous post I have been put on a double placement with a girl named Veronika, and she's really nice too! She's also 16 and is as excited as me to be going on an exchange.

But wait, there's more!

I've been accepted to the EF culture camp, a camp at the beginning of my exchange with other EF students going to America. This means my departure date will be the 22nd of July. The Culture Camp is held at Bryant University on Rhode Island for ten days. During the camp we attend "classes" in the morning, these include English, History, Current Issues and Life in America. In the afternoons we have the opportunity to try out new sports, music, arts and craft or visit the mall. We also get to visit Boston for some shopping on the 23rd and Newport Beach on the 27th.

I'm getting nervous about leaving my friends and family in New Zealand,but I'm very excited about my trip. Everything seems to be happening fast now!

That's all for now; keep it real.