Pre-departure orientation!

Well, technically, this happened yesterday, but whatever, posting it today instead. So. After arriving at the hotel (and getting lost on the way there) my grandparents,mother,brother, and best friend said their goodbyes to me. I really am going to miss them, but I'm so crazy excited/terrified/ nervous/ shell shocked/ insane with emotions to be able to bring myself to care all that much (No matter how bad that sounds, I just don't want to make myself homesick and depressed by looking back at everything I left behind when I haven't h8is insane adventure rapidly coming up in front of me, y'know? Anywayyyss, after lugging my stuff to my room (Thank goodness it was on the first floor) with the oh so wonderful help of a girl named Samantha (Sammy for short) who I also found out was my roommate, we went back out to the lobby, and after about five to ten minutes of socializing with these awesome people, we were ushered into a really big ballroom/banquet hall type room. Did I mention the hotel was Mexican themed? It was really pretty, and I'm kicking myself for not taking more pictures OTL. So at first Floyd (Leaders name, he was really nice) Basically talked about AFS. Then, after standing up and giving introductions (name, where your from , host city, something about your host family) we plated th8is fun game where we would get a sticker with a persons name on it stuck on our back (ex: Angelina Jolie) and we had to go around and ask people yes or no questions to try and guess who our people were (and vice versa) It took me FOREVER to figure out my chick was Hilary Clinton. Screw you Hillary. you don't even knooooww. After that, we talked about how Americans are generally outspoken, and how in Japan were going to have a good amount of time where we're basically mute and will have to communicate. So we had to form a line shortest to tallest without talking. It was surprisingly easy, actually. Afterwards we had to form a line with the months and days our our birthdays in whichever order but this time WHILE talking. Eventually we had dinner (Mexcian food omnomnom I'm gonna miss youuu ;___;) And then we had a presentation from Yuki, a friend of mine who works with AFS and moved to L.A a while ago. She answered any questions we had about Japan and was just generally awesome. We were finally sent off to bed at about ten o clock, we were all pretty freaking' tired by this point. I took a shower first,and man did I hate the hotels shower. It was really.....temperamental. Anyways, Sammy and I wound up singing random songs with each other and talking about Japan until about 12:45. Have I said I like her? I really like her XD.

All in all, it was a good day.

Now for pictures!

I got my host family!

Hey everyone who reads this, I GOT MY HOST FAMILY!

I'll be living in a city called Suwa, which is a really green mountainous area (total opposite of my ghetto neighborhood lol) It's famous for it's hot springs and HUGE lake, and it's really big fireworks festival.

I'll be going to Suwa Futaba High School, it's public, with like 400 something girls and 200 something guys.



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Isn't it beautiful? ლ(இ◒இლ)



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I think those are some pretty epic uniforms. I'm wondering if I can switch the tie for a ribbon. Unfortunately I couldn't find a bigger picture no matter how hard I searched (；◇；)



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My host family!(‘◉//∀//◉)=3
Mitsuhiro, 36, carpenter, host dad. He looks like a fun guy, I can't wait to meet him! He looks like a laid back type of dude, who cracks bad jokes a lot.

Kouga, 4, otouto (little brother) #1! He's so cute! Also his name is like Kouga from Inuyasha! OTL that would be the first thing I notice about him XD

Akiko,35,host mom. She looks like a really nice lady! I really like her smile. I'm looking forward to meeting her! (*´◒`*)

Banri, 2, adorable otouto #2. OHMYGOD he is so friggin' cute!! Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ

12 days left until I leave!

departure date!

so i just found out exactly when im leaving. 11:30 in the afternoon on march 20th! woohoo!
basically right now im just doing school work, and working on my student visa application. i also got my passport pictures yesterday. everything's coming together!

cant wait!!

till next time,

Elizabeth.

hisashiburi ne!!

hisashiburi ne, minna-san!! (its been a long time , everyone!)

WOW its been SUCH along time since my last post. I sincerely apologize. **bangs head against wall**

anyways, A LOT happened, so this is going to be a monster post.
first of all, i applied for this program, that's like a ..................i don't really know. its an exchange student program, but you live in a dormitory instead of with a host family. anyways, i applied for their scholarship, but they were kinda shady, and the guy i talked to was a DICK and took like 3 months to answer each of my emails, so by the time he finally got back to me, he was like "weeeellll you would have had to get your visa, and it takes a few months to process everything, and since you don't have time.....you cant go." so yeah....not liking this guy!!!! . so i was kinda bummed for a week, but i didn't let it stop me from looking for other options. i went to AFS's website, and although i had very little hope about this program (i heard it was a really good program, but it was SO expensive, i didn't think i would be able to do it) and i applied for every scholarship i could, and filled out the preliminary app (with the help of my amazing aunt, who paid the fee). i then got started on the HUGE full-application, and it seemed like every possible thing that could have gone wrong during that process went wrong. there were problems with my insurance, so i had to go to this sketchy-looking little (although the doctor was nice, i still had to pay 60 dollars for a physical) clinic near my house, and get the doctor there to fill the paperwork out. then, since i go to a charter school (like homeschooling) i had to write a statement explaining the program, and how i would be able to handle going to a regular school in japan. also had to answer some other questions and stuff. THEN, since i have a single mother, and my real dad skipped town when i was a few months old, i had to have her write a statement explaining why he was on my birth certificate but wouldn't be able to sign any of my application papers, and we had to get that notarized. fun. after all that mess, it was just waiting, which was also "fun." about two months later i found out i was a finalist for one of the full scholarships i applied for (yayyy!) by the way, it was the Toshiyuki Tanaka Scholarship. so then, i had to do a phone interview, where a representative from AFS Japan asked me some questions. so i had that about a week ago, and i was freaking out before it. but everything went really well, Ms.Etsuko (my interviewer) was really nice. she just asked me questions about my childhood, friends, hobbies, why I'm interested in japan, and stuff like that. it lasted about 30 minutes. oh yeah! i have a friend named Michael from Dana point, who was a finalist for the other scholarship (Yoshi Hattori) and his interview was right after mine!! so on Thursday, we were talking and he found out he won it! he found out early because he was really close with his local chapter (or area, theres AFS volunteers like EVERYWHERE) so at that point, i wanted to knock out for 12 or so hours, so i could get to the next day already and find out if i won the other scholarship. of course i couldn't sleep, so i wound up staying up till two in the morning eating chocolate and watching slumdog millionaire (LOVE that movie. seen it like four times XD) before dragging myself to my bed and knocking out. then, this morning, i was woken up at an ungodly hour for a day off of school (veterans day) , from a phone being jammed in my face by my younger brother. it was AFS!! here's how our conversation went:

me: h-hello? (super tired sounding)

her: hi, this is barbara from AFS ! did i wake you?

me: uhh..yeah.

her: well i hope this makes up for it : you got the scholarship!!

me: ....omg. no way! omg. oh my- aha! yayyy! wow! gosh im so happy! ahhhh i cant believe it! woohoo! ahaha

her: yeah!! im so happy for you. everyone in our chapter (L.A) loved your essay and application, and you have a wonderful personality. we are so proud of you! you deserved it!!

me: oh mg gosh.....thank you!! thanks!omg! i cant believe im actually going! i mean, its been my dream for so long....and im actually leaving in less than four months!!!! this is so surreal!!

her: *laughs* congratulations! ill let you go so you can call people and share the great news! AFS should be in contact with you within the next couple days to walk you through the student visa process. have a great weekend, and congratulations once again!!

me: thank you!! you too! omg!! haha

her: *laughs* bye now!

**click**

so yeah, i had a bit of a "omg" spazz attack. but what can i say, i was unprepared! haha. i then spent a good three hours calling family and friends.
so anyways, im leaving in mid march! for now all there is to do is apply for my visa and passport, and buy stuff i need. so excited!!! i dont even know how to describe my excitement, other than "yayy!!"

now that im for sure going, im going to be posting on this blog wayyyy more now!!!


and now i leave you with this epic picture!!

........i've never been on a train before.

song song song~

song of the day:

SO. remember me? ya know, the one who started this blog.
ahh i havent posted in SOO long. sorry!! ive been extremely busy.
so, after many long and repeated arguments-- oh i mean, conversations, my grandparents have decided that they don't want me to go until im sixteen.
they dont really want me to go at ALL actually, but thats the most i could get from them. also, they cant help pay for anything, so its all up to me.
a lot of things to catch up on. first off, i am working on graduating in a year and a half with a program called oportunities for learning. also, im planning on signing up for japanese classes at my local city college (fall semester) for some foreign language credits...also in a few months, im going to start looking for a job, to save up for japan.
hmm what else....oh yeah! ive decided not to go with rotary, because from what ive heard they make you change host families about 2-3 times over the course of the year, and i don't want to do that. i want to stick with one family.
so that sucks! since rotary was really cheap :( now, im planning on going with afs (10,000+ dollars holy crap!! o.0) so its going to take me a while to get that much money....
anyways, im pretty sure no one reads this. so yeah.
if anyone reads this, comment please~! i feel a bit lonely XD
oh~ p.s! im going to start posting links to different blogs i read, so if anyone wants to read them, your welcome to~
todays blog:http://kansantojapan.wordpress.com/2008/08/26/the-travel-post/
my friend shelbi's blog~ :3

jeez

watched episode 152-153 of naruto shippuuden and am in love with this snapshot i got while watching it

its just so sad
plus, this episode was one of my favorite parts in the manga, so of course i love it in the anime.

dont you all just wanna give him a big hug? xD
lol