In-State Orientation

Hey! So I really should be doing my homework because I have been gone this whole weekend and I still have so much work left, but I am still spending time updating you guys so you should feel honored lol >_< Anyway, I had my in-state orientation yesterday and I just got back from it today at 5 pm because  my whole family stayed there for the night and visited the beach and the sand dunes around the city.  I made a video about it so rather than type everything I said in it I will just post it here.

Today is awesome!!!

So I have been really worried about my exchange to Japan because there was so much legal stuff to do and it was all sooooo complicated.  Host family problems made it worse and I am been really nervous.  BUT! This morning I came back from going to the dentist and my mom found a really exciting mail in our mailbox! It was my Visa to Japan!!!!!! <3 :) I was so excited because there were these problems with the application and stuff and because I didn't have some documents, I couldn't apply. At least that's what my dad told me. But apparently after he tried to turn in my Visa application on Wednesday and got rejected because of the missing documents, he called YFU and asked for them.  I thought it was going to take at least a week for YFU to give him the stuff but thy actually got it to him with a day or so and apparently my Visa application got turned in. I am just so amazed at how fast everything went! Maybe because I am going as an exchange student, my Visa got approved a lot faster. It's supposed to take about 5 business days for a Visa to be approved, but it hasn't even been 4 days since my dad first went on Wednesday and it obviously got delayed for a day or so because YFU needed to give us some extra documents. AND it takes about a day to mail something from Detroit to my city. So I guess my Visa got approved in a day or less! lol that makes me happy because that's just a huge burden off my chest. Now I don't have to worry about whether or not I can get a Visa and still go.  I was really worried about that for a while.... now things are much more certain!

Today is just so awesome! Later this afternoon, my whole family is going on an overnight trip to Ludington, Michigan just so I can attend the in-state orientation there. I thought it was just going to be my dad and me but apparently everyone's going so it will be a lot more fun! Gosh today is totally my lucky day or something with so many great things happening to me :)

Remember to stay tuned to my Youtube channel because I will be posting a video about my in-state orientation tomorrow.

Two weeks before I leave for Orientation in California!!!

I got my letter!

SO today, I finally got my acceptance package from YFU. It was full of information on my exchange trip and now I can finally get some things done... hopefully. I am soooooo excited! Here are some pictures :)

There were a bunch of other papers too, but they weren't that important. It's going to take FOREVER to read though...... >_< I am actually kind of .... sad? I heard from other people that the World Traveler Handbook was a cool book and stuff. But mine looks nothing like what other people's looked like. So I am wondering if they ran out of books and had to just print one normally or if this year, everyone got the "boring" version lol. Well either way, I can't wait to read it and find out the answers to a bunch of my questions :D

I haven't made a Vlog about my acceptance package yet... but I will and it will be a lot more detailed than this blog post so stay tuned to my Youtube account too.

**UPDATE**: New Video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VjWM8sc-cg

So much to do...

Since I am leaving in about 28 days, there is so much to do, but I can't actually do anything yet... My current To Do List:

• Set up bank account and debit card
• Complete and turn in Visa form (yes I am not a U.S. Citizen)
• Buy/make host family presents
• Decide what to pack
• Pack
• In-state orientation
• Dinner with scholarship sponsors
• Finish the school year
• Study for finals
• Study Japanese
• Maybe buy a laptop to take with me to Japan
• And do whatever else I forgot to put on this list

There are a couple other things that I didn't put on the to-do list because they are unimportant.  However, the  important things I did put on the list are not really being completed either. I can't set up a bank account and debit card until my parents talk it over and make a final decision. I can't fill out my Visa form until YFU gets back to me and answers some of my questions and that won't happen until the next business day (tomorrow). I can't prepare my host family presents yet because I don't know who my host family is yet and I have to wait until my in-state orientation because they will give me more details about it then. I can't decide what to pack yet because I am still waiting for a lot of info from YFU since I haven't gotten my acceptance package yet (snail mail is soooo slow....). I can't start packing because I don't know what I need to pack yet. I can't go to my in-state orientation until June 4th. I haven't started preparing for finals yet because they are still a couple weeks away and I am suuuuuch a procrastinator >_<   I haven't made much progress studying japanese either because again I am such a lazy procrastinator..... Lastly my parents haven't bought me a laptop yet because they don't even know if they want me to bring one to Japan.

Basically I am probably going to be super rushed trying to get everything done in the last week..... oh boy and the week before I leave is finals too..... hmmmm wonder how my grades are going to turn out this year :P But fortunately, I am used to being a procrastinator and I always do everything last minute so I have gotten pretty good with crammed schedules. Anyway, wish me luck with all of this stuff. I will keep you guys updated!

Oh and one more thing. people always ask me about how to get started as an exchange student and how to apply to an exchange organization. So here's a link to my Vlog on Japan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ1CBiWzWew

I hope to get another post up tmrw.... IF I get my acceptance package from YFU that it. I am trying to be patient but frankly I can't get any preparation done until I receive it soooooo I really hope I get it tomorrow! :D :D

HEY! Self Intro and Some Other Info

Hi everyone! My name is Hannah and I was lucky enough to receive a scholarship to go to Japan as a foreign exchange student this summer for six weeks.  I am going throughout a program called Youth For Understanding (YFU) and my scholarship, the Japanese Business Society of Detroit, pays for the whole price except $1000.  Without a scholarship, the exchange trip would cost about $7500. I am super excited!!!!! There's going to be so much to do and I hope to document all of my adventures in this blog. I also have a Youtube channel where I will post Video Blogs. You should take a look at that as well because it will probably go more in depth on certain topics and once I am actually in Japan, there will be videos of my actual experiences :)

http://www.youtube.com/user/Hannah2Nihon

I will try to update as much as possible... but who knows what the situation will be like in Japan? My host family might not have WiFi (which would suck soooo much) or I might get extremely busy. But I will try my best to tell everyone what's been going on.

I leave for an orientation in California on June 17th but before that, there will be soooo much to do, like going to my in-state orientation, buying host family gifts, having dinner with my scholarship sponsors, etc. I will post on all of those events and hopefully give you guys some good advice on foreign exchange trips :)