Ahh!

Hey Everyone! I am so sorry I have not been blogging at all. I have been super busy! So I owe you a very long blog, explaining everything. Okay, not quite everything, but most things. I promise I won't put you to sleep. Alright. . . here it goes.

I finished school on April 2nd. It was so sad! I am very excited that I don't have to go to school anymore (even though I really liked biology class), but I will miss the people so much. Like I have said before, I have made amazing friends here. I honestly don't think I could have gotten through this trip if it wasn't for them. I know some of them are reading this right now, so I'd like to give a big thank you to them online. Anyway, there was an Easter mass that we had to sit through before it was officially the holidays. Before the mass, I was able to go up to the front of the chapel and give a speech in front of 700 girls who go to the school plus many teachers. My speech was very funny, if I do say so myself. I was about halfway through my speech when this woman nudged me and said, "get off now. . . please." I had been talking for a little less than two minutes. And she said that I was taking up to much time. Everyone in the whole place started laughing but then everyone got quiet after we realized she wasn't joking. I heard so many reactions including, "oh my god," or "that is so rude." It was not like I was up there insulting the school, I was telling them how much I appreciate everything they have done and what some of my favorite memories were. The woman who kicked me off is new to the school, and what is even worse, is that she did not say sorry to me. I felt so disrespected. Later, the exchange coordinator suggested that I write an e-mail to the woman telling her how I felt. So I took up the advice and did. The e-mail was very respectful. Of course, I got an e-mail back which said things that made the situation worse. I'm going to stop the story there before I get to mad. I will include a copy of my speech in the next blog.

I spent Saturday through Wednesday at my friend Ash's house. The host family I normally stayed with went out of town for the weekend, so I got to stay at another home. I had so much fun. I did some major shopping, met a lot of cool people, watched many movies, played rugby and soccer with my host brother, and went for a few runs. Oh, and speaking of shopping! I bought Sarah a present. :) Ash's family was so nice. I felt so at home and very welcome.

I was dropped off at my host families house on Wednesday. It was good to be back to my starting place, and I realized how much I love the family I am staying with. But, I had to quickly unpack everything I took to Ash's, get it all in the laundry, and then repack because I was going to be leaving for Yamba (a small town 4 hours away from Brisbane) with the girl I was originally supposed to stay with. . . Oh and on Wednesday night, one of my host sisters went out to dinner with a bunch of people, and I did her makeup. Apparently, everyone here loves how I do makeup and I they want me to come back for their formal. I compromised and told them that I will just teach them how to do it.

Yesterday morning, Georgia and her mom picked me up and we left to go to Yamba. (We are here until Monday and we are staying with the grandparents.) The drive took 5 hours due to a ton of traffic in the state of NSW. We got here and I was speechless to say the least. The population of the town is about the size of a freshman class at the University of Washington. If you would like to know more about Yamba, e-mail me. In a nutshell, I am glad that I am only here until Monday. I can't wait to go back. Oh! I am also not feeling very well, which just puts the icing on my cake. (Not really though.)

On April 19th, the day before I leave Australia, I am having a huge dinner with a bunch of my friends. So far I have 22 people coming. We are going to this really nice burger place (that has chicken burgers of course--or else I wouldn't be going there). It will be very sad, but then again I will be so happy that at 11:05 am the next morning, I will be departing for LA.

Lastly, I have decided that I am going to run for Senior Class Spirit officer. I have everything worked out, and I actually think I have a good chance of winning. I have wrote my speech, which I have shared with my host family back in Brisbane. They love it. My speech is actually a rap, which is me.

Anyway, I will post pictures once I get back from Yamba and I post my speech in the next blog when I am done with this one. Take care and I can't wait to see most of you in less than two weeks!