Summer's approaching and I only have one week of school to go! That is, two exams and some random days. Of course once summer starts I'll be working and working and working at this cafe next to a museum, but it seems like a really nice job so I don't mind. Plus, I'll be needing quite a lot of money for Belgium I'm sure.
It's less than three months until my departure date now.. It still does seem surreal though. I have yet to find out my host family, city, school and all that which is plain torture, I want to know more already! A couple of weeks ago I had my orientation camp which was amazing! We were about 40 Finnish boys and (mostly) girls, all going to Europe! The group- feeling towards the end of the camp was just really great since we all had that one big thing in common. I already dread packing for a full year, I mean how can you get the things you need for a year into ONE suitcase? Impossible :D Besides AFS should give me my restrictions on how much I get to take so that I can first buy myself a proper suitcase... Oh and it's weird to have these last-one-before my departure things coming up all the time, like last normal school day, last exam, last one of this and last one of that... I guess this is the point where I realise I'm actually going away for a year?
Haha, random thoughts this time.
Hugs, Julia =)
May 27, 2011
Apr 11, 2011
Waiting, waiting, wanting to know....
Still waiting to find out something about my hostfamily and my placement... I'm just so eager to know more, it's only 4 months until I leave and I know some other people already have their hostfamilies and gaaaah.. Today I got an invitation for my preparation camp in Finland, it's less than a month until that too! I can't wait, and this saturday I have a shorter preparation thing held in Turku for the local leaving exchange students. Ugh my English is already messed up, sorry about that. All these happenings just make it seem so much more real, "it's actually going to happen" is a thought that often crosses my mind, lately all the more as the departure approaches..
Sometimes I do wonder why I'm doing this in the first place... Staying away for a whole year does seem like quite a lot when you think about it.. I know for sure I'll miss my friends and family a lot.. And the language is an issue for me too, I mean yeah, I really really want to learn French properly but sometimes it feels entirely impossible and I'm struck by panic "I'll never be able to do this". On the other hand, I can't wait to leave. I can't wait to be able to see more of the world, to get to know new people, learn a new language and have lots of valuable experiences. I say valuable rather than amazing or superb, I know not all of the things I'll experience are going to be easy to deal with or even remotely enjoyable but after all, when you decide to do an exchange year, you kind of need to know that not everything will be perfect, it won't necessarily be "THE BEST YEAR OF YOUR LIFE" like some organisations advertise (which I think is extremely wrong of them, but I won't go more into that right now), nope it might well be the worst year of your life at the time, but later one will surely value all the experiences and lifelessons you get to learn when dealing with a different culture for a year.
Just some thoughts =)
Hugs, Julia
Sometimes I do wonder why I'm doing this in the first place... Staying away for a whole year does seem like quite a lot when you think about it.. I know for sure I'll miss my friends and family a lot.. And the language is an issue for me too, I mean yeah, I really really want to learn French properly but sometimes it feels entirely impossible and I'm struck by panic "I'll never be able to do this". On the other hand, I can't wait to leave. I can't wait to be able to see more of the world, to get to know new people, learn a new language and have lots of valuable experiences. I say valuable rather than amazing or superb, I know not all of the things I'll experience are going to be easy to deal with or even remotely enjoyable but after all, when you decide to do an exchange year, you kind of need to know that not everything will be perfect, it won't necessarily be "THE BEST YEAR OF YOUR LIFE" like some organisations advertise (which I think is extremely wrong of them, but I won't go more into that right now), nope it might well be the worst year of your life at the time, but later one will surely value all the experiences and lifelessons you get to learn when dealing with a different culture for a year.
Just some thoughts =)
Hugs, Julia
Mar 27, 2011
Small introduction
Hi there! As you might've figured out, this blog will tangle everything concerning my exchange year to Wallonia in Belgium. The organisation I'm using is AFS. I thought I'd start by doing a slight introduction of myself, if I'd happen to have readers who don't know me (as if :P).
Who?
I'm a 16 year old girl from southwestern Finland. I love music, love languages, love travelling. I play football, go to concerts whenever I have the opportunity, read books, watch movies etc.
Why do the exchange? And WHY Belgium?
Well, as I said, I love travelling, and I love languages, I really want to learn French properly. I picked Belgium for my exchange because... yeah why? One thing was the language ofc, I want to learn French but I wasn't too keen on going to France, I don't know why. The fact that it's a bilingual country also kind of fascinates me, I am bilingual myself so it'll be interesting going to a country where the bilingualism (probably not even a word huh? ) is handled in a completely different way than here. I also know some awesome Belgian people and have visited the country before.
That's all for now :) I really can't believe it's only 4 months and a few weeks until I leave for my exchange.... ^^ Scary shit. I'll just have to get through two "exam weeks" and a full term before summer.
Hugs, Julia =)
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