Burlington, Week One.

Well, a lot has been happening since I arrived here nearly a week ago...

I spent most of sunday unpacking my bags, and getting settled in. I hadn't actually realised how much stuff I had brought, so it took longer than I had expected to get my clothes all put away in the drawers. That afternoon I went out to the supermarket with Terry (my host-dad), to pick up a few things for dinner (or supper, as they call it here). The supermarket was pretty cool, I have to say. It was a lot bigger than New World or Foodtown, and everything was sold in larger amounts than you could normally buy in NZ. One thing I found fascinating, was that every thing there was labelled in bothe English and French! I was very confused at first, as to why a pie was called a 'pie-tarte' instead of just a 'pie'. I did figure it out eventually...
Terry's son and his family came over for dinner, so I got to met them which was lovely, and then their kids Ben (2years old) and Sarah (4months old) stayed the night.

It was nice having the kids around, and we spend Monday playing with them, and watching 'Mickey Mouse' and a Canadian kids show "Toopy and Binoo" - look it up
:P Sandra Strauss from the Burlington North Rotary Club came over in the afternoon, to see how I was doing, and also to drop off some clothes left behind by a previous exchange student, Shauna from Australia. There were mountains of sweaters and hoodies, which I am sure will be great, as it is very very cold here.

On Tuesday I had an appointment at Corpus Christi, the school will be going too. I picked my 'courses': English, History, World Religion, and Drama. I was given a tour around the school, which is three storeys high, but not as big as Howick College. It is only two/three years old, and only about 900 students go there. They have the American lockers!!!I don't actually start school until Monday 8th February,but it was nice to go in and get sorted out.

On Wednesday I got to sleep in, and then in the afternoon Laurie (my host-mum) took me around town. She showed me the swimming pool, the bus stop, and then took me to the Mapleview Mall, one of the biggest in Burlington. It was fun looking around there, as all of their stores are totally different to ours - The Body Shop was the only store I recognised!

Laurie and I drove into Hamilton on Thursday morning to get my school uniform - but when we got there we were told that they don't infact stock Corpus Christi Uniform, and the we needed to go to Oakville - on the other side of Burlington. It wasn't too far however, and I did get to see Hamilton! I was amazed at the choice all the schools have when it comes to uniform!! I could choose from a button up shirt, a formal shirt, or a long sleeved polo shirt, in black or white. There were three types of pants for girls, and a skirt/kilt to choose from (you think Howick had a short skirt...), and then three options when it came it sweaters - a striped rugby jersey was even available! I have the white polo shirt, a pair of pants, a skirt, and a plain sweater.. though it was very hard to choose!
I had 'Kraft Dinner' for lunch, which is one of Laurie's favourites. It is that Macaroni Cheese in a box kinda thing, and while it was nice, the powdered cheese was a little disturbing..
That evening, I got to go Iceskating with Emma, Ashley, Misaki and Jesse, some previous exchange students and their friends! It was lots of fun, and was in an Outdoor rink, something you would never find in New Zealand! I only fell over a few times, and didn't crash into anyone (not too hard, considering we were the only ones on the rink!).

This morning I got to attend my host club's Rotary meeting. They have a breakfast meeting, which started at 7.00, so Terry and I had to leave the house by 6.30 :S, far too early for my liking. However I did enjoy it, and I got to see Misaki (student from Japan) and Emi (soon to be going on an exchange) again, and meet a previous exchange student Connor, who had gone to Equador. I was introduced to lots of the Rotary members who I had only spoken too over email, so it was nice to be able to 'put a face to a name'.

I miss you all,
Sarah
xxx

Mission Acomplished.

Well, I made it! I am now officially in Burlington!

On the 20th of January, I left New Zealand with 34 other Rotary Exchange students. Rhi, Emily, Pippa, Kaden and Ange came to see me off, and gave me a St. Christopher Necklace, which I haven't taken off yet. It was so nice to get to say goodbye too them, and Em phoned me at the airport to say goodbye, which was very special. With only a few tears, I eventually went through the gates.
An 11hour flight followed, which, while exciting at first, the novelty wore off pretty fast. I did however get to watch Zombieland (:D) and Case 39. Needless to say, no sleep was had.

After landing in LAX, we caught a shuttle bus to the Hacienda Hotel, and after changing out of our Rotary Uniforms, we went to Westfield Mall (and ate maaaassiive pizzas), and Venice Beach. We all had lots of fun there, and learnt that it takes 3 Helium Balloons to float a wafer biscuit. We then spent the evening chilling in the hallway with the other students, all using the internet.

We went to Disneyland the next day, and that was aaaawesome! It was raining, but that meant that there were no queues, so we could get straight on all the rides, and stay on for a second turn if we wanted! We spend the second half of the day at California Adventure, a joining theme park, where we did the California Screamin' Rollercoaster, the Maliboomer, and the Tower of Terror! We then had dinner with the Westchester Rotary Club, which was great! It was lots of fun meeting the people who have helped make our stopover so awesome.

The next day was Universal Studios. We took a train ride through all the sets, saw where Desperate Housewives was being filmed, right as we drove past!! We also saw where David is-a-god Boreanaz's Irish Flashback scenes on Buffy and Angel were filmed, and I am fairly sure that if I could have gotten out I would have been licking the floor. We also saw where C.S.I and Bones are filmed. We saw some seriously cool sets. like the Jaws set, and the War of the Worlds set. Plus there were some seriously insane special effects we got to experience, Like earthquakes, and flash floods!
After that we did some of the rides, like the Simspons Ride (A simulated rollercaoster, that really makes you feel like you are on it) and the Mummy Ride, (a freaky indoor rollercoaster thingie) though Jurasic Park was closed. We also saw the 'backdraft' show - showing how they create and contain movie fire, and a show on special effects, which we got front ro seats on, as Sam volunteered to help out. After that, we got to drive down Rodeo Drive, and see the Beverly Hills sign. We stopped on the Walk of Fame, took heaps of pictures, and saw the hollywood sign!

That night we had dinner with the Westchester Roteract and Interact members (kinda like a junior Rotary). We ate lots of Pizza, and met some pretty cool new people.
Then, we packed up, and (some of us :P ) tried to get a goodnights sleep, before hitting the road the next day. Destination: Burlington!!

Nick and I, who were both flying to Canada got on the shuttle bus with Sue at 10am, and drove to Los Angeles Airport. There we checked in, and had around 2hours to kill before our flight. I bought a coffee thing from Starbucks, which was horrendously expensive - around the same price it would be in $NZ! Finally we boarded the plane, and took off. We were sitting beside an ex-kiwi, who has been living in Canada for the last 15 years or so. I watched some 'Big Bang theory' and the Simpsons, and befor I knew it we were preparing for landing. It was 0' as we landed, and very, very cold. There were virtually no queues going through immigration, and we had a lovely lady proccessing our visas, who we chatted to. I was met at the airport by lots of people! Laurie and Terry, my host parents were there, along with lots of others. They gave me a red and white canadian scarf, and some Helium Balloons :D
We went to 'Tim Hortons', a canadian icon, for coffee and hot chocolate, before Terry and Laurie took me home.

That's all for now, I will upload some photos next time.
I miss you all,
Sarah
xxx

Preparation:

Hello Everyone!

I am now nearly ready to embark on what will be the adventure of a lifetime, my year as a Rotary Exchange Student, in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

I am sure I will have a lot of fun, and I shall post as often as possible, letting you all know what I am up too!

I leave New Zealand on the 20th of January (this Wednesday!!!), but I still don't feel quite ready, I have spent the last week or so frantically packing, and doing lots of last minute shopping to make sure I am ready to leave on the 20th. It feels very weird to be out buying scarves and gloves in the middle of summer, but I know that they will be essential in Canada!

When I leave NZ, I will fly to Los Angeles, and spend a few days there with the other Rotary Exchange Students, before flying on to Toronto on the 24th of January.

So, in less than 48hrs I will be on a plane to the other side of the world!
Wish me luck,

Sarah.