Pre-Departure Orientation!

Ciao!(: So as I mentioned in my last blog post, my pre-departure orientation was this past Saturday! Honestly it was really looong and mostly boring but at times it was really helpful! The church that the meeting was held at was about an hour away from my house so I got up at around 8 am to get there on time! We pulled up to the church and saw a girl the same age as me with a German shirt on. I immediately knew we were definitely in the right place! Once we got into the church there was name tags out on a table for everyone with the country they were going to. My parents left and I took a seat next to the girl I had seen in the parking lot earlier. First thing we did was introduce ourselves, there was 3 volunteers and about 12 kids there and at least half were going to Germany with the full ride scholarship. Then there was one girl going to Belgium for a year, one boy going to Japan for the summer and another girl going to Italy but only for the summer. Oh and my friend Lani was there too, she's going to Spain. We went over the basics, no hitchhiking, no driving, no drugs... blah blah blah (; We watched a Youtube video on the history of AFS & how it keeps growing. I guess they send 13,000 students abroad every year! Hmm... I'm trying to think what else we really did! Oh we did an exercise where we wrote down on a note card what we thought the elements of culture were, then attached it to a rock with a rubber band. Then we stood around in a circle, passed around a bag and each placed our rock in it one at a time to get a feel for the "weight and stress of a change in culture".

My fears & hopes for the year, my AFS guidebook and a few of the worksheets we did.

We also each got two notecards and we wrote our biggest fear and biggest hope for the year abroad. Then we went around and shared, everyone pretty much had the exact same fears & hopes! This showed us that we're not alone, everyones sharing the same feelings. They gave us a worksheet to fill out called "What Would You Do?" Basically it gave you a scenario such as: "You see a former classmate and he makes the OK gesture to you" then you have to write how you would respond. So initially I said that I would just smile and make the OK gesture back, I mean that's pretty simple right... ? Not really. We got another worksheet that specified the situation a little bit more. It added, "Your response if you came from a culture where this gesture is obscene". This goes to show us that we will probably make innocent mistakes abroad because we're not used to the culture! There was a list of problems we could have abroad and it was crazy because almost all of them I  had thought of before! Everyones parents came back for the last hour to have an information session with the volunteers. I'm not really sure if this is appropriate to post on this blog or not.. but I'll just go ahead and say it! My parents and my friends always joke around that I'm going to get pregnant in Italy! haha it was so funny in the orientation because they brought up pregnancy as a reason to get sent home and my mom looked right at me! Don't worry, that definitely will not happen! I just thought that was a little funny story to share(: That was about everything that happened at the pre-departure orientation! It was really cool getting to meet some other future exchange students because they're going through the exact same thing as me!(: Like I can talk to my friends here in Ohio about AFS but they don't really understand as much as another exchange student would.

I got my password & username for Rosetta Stone online and I'm partly through the first level! I like it so far and I feel like I'm learning some Italian but it's so repetitive I get bored of it sometimes... Oh I still haven't gotten my host family )': waahhh I'm so sad, I want my placement SO BAD. Ugh. Everyone who's gotten their family's like "Oh it's worth the wait!" So I just need to be patient. What else!? Oh today I pretty much had a pannick attack because I checked my e-mail and got an e-mail from AFS and of course I jumped to conclusions and thought it was my host family! But of course it wasn't... it was just an e-mail about applying for a Visa! Boooring ): ! On the Italy 2012-2013 Facebook group there's a girl who lives in Italy but is on an AFS exchange program with the United States. She's currently living in a town in Ohio that's only 30 minutes away from me!! She messaged me and asked if I want to meet up sometime and ask any questions! I'm so excited!(: This is going to so awesome to get to meet a true Italian! I'm going to have like a gazillion questions for her!

Weekly host family placement update: 230 students out of 470 have been placed!

Well that's all! Buonanotte (Good night!)
Jacqulineee(:

Ahhh!

YAY! So my blogs been added to the AFS Study Abroad Blog page on their website! whoooo hooooo!(: I'm seriously so happy about that! My names under the Italy section on the right side, 3rd name down! Check it out hehe I'm so proud(:

Okay so in my last post, I was talking about how I was worried that I still hadn't gotten any information on my pre-departure orientation, well it turns out that we never got the e-mail with all the information about PDO! Yesterday night I posted on the Ask An AFSer Facebook page just asking if it was normal that I haven't recieved  any information whatsoever on my pre-departure orientation yet. A lady who just so happened to be in charge of the Greater Cleveland Area, saw my post & told me that my PDO is THIS SATURDAY! Uhh come again... I have a lacrosse game on Saturday! ): It turns out the people in charge of the PDO e-mailed the information to my interviewer who was supposed to forward it to me and parents but it got stuck in her junk mail or something? I don't know but the point is I didn't get the information until now! At school I was freaking out because the PDO is from 10 am to 3:30 pm and my lax game was at 1! Ahhh! What the heck was I supposed to do?! It's our last home game, I didn't want to miss it! Amazingly enough, today when I went to lax practice it was a miracle because my coaches said that the game on Saturday was canceled! Wow, talk about being lucky(: So my whole freak-out was all for nothing!

Hmm besides that there's not a whole lot of other news! Still haven't gotten my host family... ): But in the past few days it seems like ALOT of people have gotten their placements so hopefully that means I should be getting mine soon too! I just have to look on the bright side!(: Uhh that's definitely easier said than done.. haha

Weekly host family placement update: 200 students out of 470 have already been placed!
Cross your fingers for me that I'm one of the 200 that's already been placed & their sending me the e-mail as I type this (;

Okay well that's all! I'll post again after the pre-departure orientation to let you know how it goes(:
Ciao, Jacqueline(:

New month, but still no news ):

So it's a new month, May! Yay! (: That means the last day of school's getting closer and my departure to Italy won't be too far off either! I'm excited that time's flying by so fast but I still don't have any news on my host family )': Some people have gotten their families already and I seriously can not even begin to describe how jealous I am!! I've started learning a little bit more about Italian geography and I'm hoping to be placed in the South! Not only because that's the area closest to the Mediterranean Sea but the culture just sounds richer & funner! But it really doesn't matter that much to me, I just want to know!! I got an e-mail from AFS a week or two ago and I was soo pumped because I thought it'd be my host family but no... it was just an e-mail about a new Italian language requirement:

Dear Jacqueline and Family,

While you may still be waiting to hear about your acceptance into the program, I wanted to inform you of a new addition to the AFS-Italy Year Program.  

AFS-Italy has informed us that they will now be supplying all participants with access to an online language learning module through Rosetta Stone, in order to help you prepare for you study abroad experience.  Please note that this language learning course will be MANDATORY, and requires that all students complete at least 1 level of course (approximately 40 hours) BEFORE you arrive in Italy in September. Should you not be able to complete the required One Level of language learning, AFS-Italy will then ask that you reimburse them for the cost of the program (approximately 50 Euros or 65 USD).  If you need to reimburse AFS-Italy, you will be asked to do so upon your arrival in Rome.

To clarify, this online learning module is provided free of charge by AFS-Italy, but you will only need to pay for the course if you do not complete the first level.

You will receive an email from AFS-Italy in early May, providing you with the online learning module details (including a username and password).  Please note that the AFS-Italy volunteers are going to be monitoring your progress throughout the course, and may often email you periodically with letters of support and encouragement.  Additionally, if you find this program to be helpful while you are abroad, you will be able to access it during the first few months of your program (up until the end of November).

Note:  All students will also be provided with another language course once you arrive in Italy (in person, not online).  This course will be organized within your community and typically contains from 40-60 hours of lessons.  

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

Best Regards,

Outbound Programs
AFS-USA

So yeah, that's about the only news from AFS in the past month. Umm what else... well some people have gotten information regarding their orientations but I haven't gotten anything about that yet either... oh well! I just need to be patient but that's definitely not one of my strong suits. Oh yeah also I've been trying to get my blog posted up on the AFS student blog page but once again nothings happened with that either! It's still not up on the website, oh well I'm just going to have to wait (: I've also applied to like a million fastfood places in my city for a job but none will hire anyone under 16 so I'm pretty much screwed ): I'm going to have to think of other fundraisers or something! Also I've been pretty lazy with learning Italian, I keep saying to myself that I should really start learning on the LiveMocha account I've made but I'm still only on lesson 1. I mean, I'll have plenty of time to learn over the summer right?
Soo just to update you: 24 more days of school! whooooooooo!(:

• 50 kids from the USA going to Italy next year
• only 7 of those 50 have gotten their host family's already ):

I guess people got a call from an AFS guide who told them about the 7/50 thing but I didn't get a call! Oh and I'm not really sure but I feel like I should start applying for a Visa because I guess the process takes forever, but I haven't looked into that yet either... Wow this is such an uneventful blog post! haha well hopefully next time I post, there will actually be some news!(:

Ciaoooo(: 

Jacqueline

I want my host family, NOW!

So once again, it is a sleepless school night spent thinking about Italy and stalking AFS blogs. Well, the sleepless part might be due to the fact that it's the last day of spring break and I have school tomorrow ): The sonner I go to sleep, the sooner I have to go to school... so looks like I'm going to be up for a while!

So today I finally got around to writing a thank-you letter to AFS for the Viaggio Italiano scholarship. It took me a while because I really wanted it to express how grateful I am. I had a tough time writing it, so I'm going to post it on here for any AFSer's who need an example to help!(:

Dear Scholarship Sponsor,

Hi, I’m Jacqueline Knirnschild. I’m fifteen years old at Brunswick High School in Ohio. As one of the winners of the Viaggio Italiano Scholarship, I just want to let you know how grateful I am. This scholarship has made a huge difference in my fundraising. Without this scholarship, I would’ve had a difficult time finding enough funds to go.

I love traveling and spending a year in Italy as an exchange student is going to be such an amazing, wonderful experience. I am so excited to learn a new language, immerse myself in a new country and make life long friendships with other AFSers, my host family and Italians. One of my goals of going abroad is to become completely fluent in Italian. I’m going to do my very best to represent the United States positively. I am making a scrapbook to share my life with my new Italian friends and family. I’m excited to discover new things about Italian culture. Hopefully, not only will I learn from my host family but they will also learn from me too. In return for this scholarship, I am writing a blog so that everyone can read about my experiences in Italy. I will already highly recommend AFS to anyone I know who’s interested in traveling abroad. Actually, one of my friends from preschool saw that I was going to Italy and it inspired her to go to Spain with AFS next year, she was just accepted last week. I also can’t wait to bring back the Italian culture to all my friends and family here in the United States. As the world makes advances in technology, people tend to get closer and interact with people from other countries. It’s so simple to send a Facebook message to someone living on the other side of the world. It can only be beneficial for people to understand other countries and cultures as the boundaries of countries intermingle and we become a global economy and world. In the future, I will be able to bring back the Italian cultural differences and similarities to help my country be more open minded about the world around them.

There are varying opinions amongst my family and friends about my decision to become an AFSer. Most of my friends are surprised and dumbstruck as to why I would want to be an exchange student. One of my first challenges involved with becoming an AFSer was convincing my parents that I was serious about it. Before I even approached my parents with the idea, I did a lot of research on AFS and thought about clear logical reasons on why I should go. After I told my parents, I signed us up for an online web conference call to learn about the program. Then we sent some e-mail’s with specific questions to AFS volunteers to further help my parents understand why I want to go. After this, my parents are now fully supportive of my decision to be a foreign exchange student in Italy.

Another challenged I have to overcome to go to Italy is fundraising. This is why winning the scholarship is so important to me. I have already made a blog with a “Chip-In” button for donations. I also hosted a “March Madness NCAA College Basketball” 50/50 raffle. Basically, there are 64 basketball teams, each person donates $20 to get one team. The teams are chosen randomly and whoever’s team wins gets half of the money and the other half goes towards my Italy trip. This summer, I’m planning on hosting some Italian dinners where I will do a presentation on Italy and serve Italian food. I also am going to host some movie nights in my backyard with a projector with my friends. I’ve put in applications at all of the fast food restaurants in my area and am going to do as much babysitting as I can.

Thank you again. I can’t even express how thankful I am for this scholarship. It means so much to me and I can’t wait for my amazing experiences in Italy to begin!

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Knirnschild

Besides writing my thank you letter, I've been obsessing over getting my host family! Lot's of my friends here in the U.S like to tease me, "What if your host family is weird!?" "What if they're super strict!?" I just laugh and shrug it off because I know that AFS is going to do a great job on finding me a family! But sometimes the comments and jokes make me a little bit antsy, I just want my host family already!! On the "Ask an AFSer" Facebook group (Oh, how I love Facebook!) a volunteer said that Italy is very well known for giving out their host families two months before arriving, which would mean the very beginning of July! Ugh, I don't want to wait that long ): ! But I should be thankful because I've heard of people who didn't find out until 2 WEEKS before they left.. umm I would cry if I had to wait that long! It's weird to think that Italian families are looking over my file and deciding whether or not they want me as an exchange student! It kind of makes me nervous, what if no one wants me!? What if I never get a host family!? Ahhh I just need to relax! Anyway, the volunteer also said that there's too many host families in Italy and not enough exchange students, so I have pretty good odds of getting a family. Too bad for them, some poor Italian family is going to get stuck with me (;

I also saw some interesting stats on the AFS Facebook page!(: 

Currently there's...

• 400 student applications already sent over to AFS Italy
• 80 student applications that still need to be sent from overseas
• 54 students that have already been placed with host families
• 300 applications being reviewed by volunteers around Italy

Just getting to know all of these facts gets me SO excited!!(: 480 students going to Italy from all around the world!? That's a lot more than I expected, it's awesome! I'm constantly checking the two Facebook groups for any new host family gossip and information. I can't even begin tell you how much I wish I was one of the 54 who already know their families ): ! I'm going to cross my fingers that I'm one of the 300 being reviewed and I find out super duper soon!

Ciao! (:

Jacqueline

I guess I should start learning Italian... ?

So I recently joined the AFS Italy 2012-2013 group on facebook and it seems like everyone knows at least a little bit of Italian, except for me... oops. I guess I should probably start learning the basics of the language soon! I mean I doubt I'll be able to survive with my current vocabulary of spaghetti and ciao.. haha hmm so what else is new? There's not a whole lot going on with Italy yet because I'm still in the early stages but I'll just fill you in on some of the little things(:

I'm legit OBSESSED with reading past AFSer's who went to Italy's blogs. Like as soon as I open my laptop I automatically start reading someones blog about Italy. It's so exciting to read about other people's crazy experiences in Italy as an exchange student! I seriously can't even believe that is going to be me in 160 days (I don't have a countdown or anything...)

I've been working on fundraising a lot more lately and I wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of my amazing friends and family who recently contributed to my "March Madness" fundraiser. We raised $640 towards my trip! It means the world to me that you guys donated because it's such a huge help!(: Thanks again!

The other night, I got the chance to talk to my returnee mentor, Jessica! Basically, a returnee mentor is an AFSer who went to Italy as an exchange student in the past. We talked on the phone for over an hour! It was so awesome to get to hear about all of her fun times and get some first-hand advice! The main thing I gained from our conversation is to always keep yourself open, outgoing and friendly when traveling as a foreign exchange student because you'll have the most fun if you're open to try new things.

However, there was one little thing that I kind of worried me during our conversation... When I asked Jessica if there was anything specific that I should pack, she said, "Pack loose-fighting clothes that can stretch." Umm.. to say the least I was pretty confused, "Why stretchy clothes..?" I asked her. She said, "Because you will gain weight." FML. Yeah.. so to anyone who knows me now, when I get back from Italy, expect to see a whole new chubby me! Yay. haha I mean I honestly don't really care that much but I just thought that was a funny story to tell you guys(: It really surprised me because Jessica said that everyone she knows who went to Italy gained weight, some up to 30 pounds! And I read a blog about someone who gained 30 KILOGRAMS! (That's like 65 pounds) All I'm saying is that I would probably be an unhappy camper if I gained 65 pounds... but it's just like whatever. I'm going to Italy, so hello, of course I'm going to stuff my face as much as I possibly can! Pasta... pizza... gelato... BRING IT ON!(: I can't wait.

Weelll that's about all that's going on with me!(:
Ciao,
Jacqueline

P.S I changed my twitter & facebook so that they're in Italian, except whenever I try to use them it bugs me because I have no clue what I'm reading, so I'm constantly changing it back to English! I think I pretty much defeated the whole purpose... oh well

Update!

I just made my blog, so I'm just going to fill you guys in on everything that's happened with me and AFS so far! (: This is the story of my decision to become an exchange student, honestly it was a totally spur-of-the-moment thing, I just randomly decided to do it!

In Ohio, on a lazy Sunday in the end of January, I was home alone and had absolutely nothing to do... it was such a boring day! I seriously felt like I was going to die of boredom. That's when I started wishing that I could live somewhere else. Simply out of curiosity, I started googling exchange student trips. I stumbled upon an organization called AFS. I got so caught up in the website that the next time I looked at the clock, an hour had already passed. Becoming an exchange student sounded like just the right type of excitement I was craving! After looking at the application due dates, I discovered that I still had about a month and half to apply. While I was examining the site, I found a page dedicated to scholarships. Well, I might as well check those out, I thought. Why not save my parents a few dollars? (Okay, maybe more like a few thousand dollars...)

Most of the scholarship application deadlines had already passed, except for one: Viaggio Italiano. Hmm... Italy. Never been there before, barely knew much about the country except that some of my Aunt's family lives there. That was good enough for me! Excitedly, I grabbed my phone and punched in my dad's cell phone number. After a few rings he answered, "Hey dad! Guess what? I was really bored so I looked up some exchange student programs but they're kind of expensive... can I apply??", I said. To my surprise he said, "I'm sure we could find a way to handle the money, we'll talk about it tonight when your mom and I get home!" 

Because I wanted to apply for the Viaggio Italiano scholarship, the due date for my application was a month earlier: February fifteenth. As soon as I decided to apply, my parents, my guidance counsellor and I frantically rushed to fill out the extensive application. Academic records... TB tests... Recommendation letter... Host family letter... Everything really piled up! I also had to write a one page essay for the Italy scholarship. I was basically given a fictional scenario kind of like this: Imagine you came home from school one day in Italy, you and your best Italian friend got in a fight, you have a bunch of complicated homework, you're having trouble with learning Italian, you miss your friends (Blah, blah, blah...). How would you handle this situation? I felt so pressured to fill out my application on time that I rushed through the essay, proofread it a few times and e-mailed it to the scholarship e-mail address. I finished the whole application on the exact day it was due! I just made it! After completing everything, I felt like such a boss pressing the "Submit Application" button (;

Fast forward fourteen days. It's Leap Day. My mom's picking me up from school. As soon as I get in the car she yells, "Did you get my text today!?" Just my luck, it was the one day that I forgot my phone at home because I woke up late. I asked my mom, "No.. what did the text say?" I assumed it was something little, like she bought me my favorite-est food ever, Chipotle, or something. Plus, the scholarship page said that we wouldn't hear any information until the first few weeks of March. My mom screams, "YOU GOT THE ITALY SCHOLARSHIP!" All I can do is scream and jump up and down in the passenger seat. I shriek, "OH MY GOSH! NO WAY!" I seriously could not even believe it! I thought my essay was kind of crappy... plus, I feel like there's so many other people applying! Why would they choose me out of everyone?

As soon as I got home, I rushed to my laptop and checked my e-mail. I had to check to make sure it was real because it felt like a dream! Sure enough, there was the acceptance letter:

Dear Jacqueline Knirnschild:

Congratulations!  You have been selected as a winner of the 2012 Viaggio Italiano Scholarship. The scholarship selection committee was very impressed with the strength of your application and would like to offer you the following award:

Sponsor/Scholarship Name	Amount
Viaggio Italiano Merit Scholarship (Viaggio Italiano Merit Scholarship)	2,000.00

Next Steps:

• Review award: Review the scholarship acceptance form attached to this email.

• Sign and return acceptance form: If you decide to accept the scholarship, sign the acceptance form and return it to scholarships@afs.org as soon as possible but within one month of receiving this email. Include "I Accept" in the subject line.

As you're figuring out how to fund the remainder of your AFS program, take some time to check out the Covering The Tuition section of our website, where you can find tried-and-true fundraising ideas, sign up for a Fundraising Workshop, and more. Additionally, we are always looking for new fundraising ideas to share, so please keep us informed of your fundraising success!

If you have any questions, please contact the scholarships department at
scholarships@afs.org

Best wishes,

Scholarships Department

"If you decide to accept the scholarship..." Uhh hello, of course I'm going to accept it! That's a no brainer, why do they even ask?! I read the e-mail over and over again, pinching myself to check it wasn't a dream! Wow. Probably one of my most happiest moments ever! I just kept screaming and freaking out with my mom, then I called all my relatives and posted a status on Facebook! 

Yup, so now you're all caught up! In about 180 days from now, I'll be leaving for Italy. It's unbelievable but it's true and I'm soooooo excited!(:

Arrivederci (:

Jacqueline

About me!

Heeeyy there! (: 

So before I even start talking about Italy or anything else, I just want to tell you a little about myself! Okay, so as you can tell I'm pretty much your typical blonde, American, teenage girl. I like skiing, volunteering, I'm on my school's cross country and lacrosse teams and I could not survive without my friends and family! But the most important thing about me is that I'm totally obsessed with traveling. My ultimate dream is to spend a year backpacking around the world. As a kid, my family moved from state to state. Before first grade, I had already moved five times, between four different states. Our biggest move was when I was in fifth grade. The summer before I went to middle school, my family and I moved across the country to Australia. Since then, I've caught a serious case of the adventurer bug! 

After spending two fun-filled years in Australia, we moved back to Ohio, where we had lived before the big move. Currently, I've spent about two years back home. I love my life here, don't get me wrong, my friends & family are amazing! But I think it's time for a change and a new experience. Going to Australia was my very first time overseas and my time spent there opened up my eyes to the whole world. Most people in the city I live in  have never been overseas and are content staying in Ohio. I'm not saying that's a bad thing at all, it's just not what I want. 

Well now you know a little more about me! (:

Arrivederci! (Yes, I did just use google translate because I know absolutely 0 Italian...)

Jacqueline (: