365 days. 52 weeks. 12 months. 1 year. No matter what way you write it, one year is a long time but I have decided to spend the next year of my life as an exchange student in the beautiful city of Charleston, West Virginia in the United States of America.
My host family is an absolute dream. They are kind, caring, supportive, outgoing and make me feel so comfortable with my decision. Amy, a stay at home mum and volunteer has the most outgoing personality its hard not to love her instantly. Marc, an attorney, is kind and caring (he even upgraded me to first class!). Their children Jeremiah and Caroline are so sweet that I know I will get along with them and we will have such a great relationship (to be honest, I always wanted a younger sister!).
I left Brisbane on the 28th of December at 11:30 after a very emotional and teary farewell to and from my parents I set off. The hardest thing for me was leaving my Dad (even writing this I am getting teary). I think I will miss him the most but that isn't saying that Im not going to miss my mum and brother because I already do! My family mean the absolute world to me and the thought of not seeing them everyday and laughing at the stupid things that we do breaks my heart. But I know that they are there with me supporting me through the whole thing plus I will see them at the end of my program so I know I will be ok in the long run.
Anyways, back to my flights. The journey from Brisbane to Los Angeles is 13 hours long and I did not get one wink of sleep the whole way so by the time I hopped of the plane at LAX (with a dream and a…….toy kangaroo?), my eyes were so red I was scared people thought I was on drugs or something! Then the wait began, my next flight to Chicago was 6 hours from the time I arrived in LA so I decided to have a look around. On my journey I stopped at a window, the view wasn't great but to me it was so beautiful. It looked like everything that I could have ever imagined and more. There were palm trees, people driving on the other side of the car on the other side of the road, mountains that had that American shade of brown that you always seen in the TV shows and so much more! The most exciting part for me was something so little but I will never forget it. I caught a bus to get to my terminal, but I had no idea what to do, what bus to catch so I just waited under the sign until a bus finally turned up. The doors opened and I asked the bus driver if he was going to Terminal 7, he said yes and I got on. The bus ride was short but when I got off he said the one thing that made my whole trip (so far) he said 'Happy Holidays!' I swear that only happens in the movies but no, it happened to me!
My next step was checking in and the next best moment in my trip (again, so far) I waited in line but looking at these machines I had no idea what to do with them so I asked one of the workers from United Airlines, who was conveniently wearing a Hawaiian shirt so he could easily be spotted, for help. I explained that I was from Australia and had no idea what to do. His reply was priceless! He replied (in the most fake Australian accent I have ever heard) 'Oh your from Down Unda, how about a shrimp on the barbie?' I couldn't stop laughing but a part of me knew this was my opportunity, my opportunity to finally get one back for the Australians! I then replied to him 'want to see my pet Kangaroo? I feed him everyday but now I am gone, I had to release him back into the wild' His face was pure shock, he didn't know whether I was being serious or just pulling his leg so I continued to show him the photo of me feeding a kangaroo (which I conveniently took on a recent trip to dreamworld). That was it, he was so happy that he finally knew our Australian secret….We ride kangaroos everywhere we go!
Proceeding through the check in and customs (where I got my first full body scan!) There were so many shops that I have never seen before! An E! News store, Hudson News, Carl Jnr, and so many more! The first thing that I bought was the LA Times and NY Times dated the 28th of December 2012 to have as a keepsake so I can recollect what was happening LA when I arrived on my first (and hopefully not last) trip to America. I then proceeded to purchase Seventeen Magazine, some water and a packet of chips (or crisps as they are called over here). All of this cost me no more than $15! BARGAIN!
Then the time arrived! My first ever first class flight! I will eternally grateful to my host parents for organising this because after zero sleep on the longest flight, I got a wonderful 3 hours sleep in luxury. They served me drinks (apple juice) before take-off then the air hostess came to my seat and proceeded to say 'Ms. Taylor, would you care to join us for dinner? Would you care to have Chicken Salad with side of tomato soup and dessert of a home made cookie or would you care to have a Chicken wrap with side of tomato soup and dessert of a home made cookie?' WHHHATTTT? This couldn't be happening! The whole flight was so surreal. On departing Los Angeles, I saw the Hollywood sign, the O.C. and the Grand Canyon. I tried to keep and eye out for Las Vegas but I fell asleep before I could spot it.
When we were flying into Chicago, I found out that it had just snowed all day and so when I looked out the window, the ground was covered in white and lights (which looked like Christmas lights) scattered the ground. It was like a winter wonderland.
I have met so many kind and caring Americans along my journey ranging from a Grandmother off to Colorado to have a late Christmas with her sons and their wives and children to a Baptist Basketball team heading to Hawaii for a get-away and finally a cat lover from first class who though 0 degrees was warm (WHAT?)
Now I'm here in Chicago where my flight has been delayed by over an hour due to snow. Im sitting at my gate just looking out at the Chicago night feeling so blessed for this amazing opportunity that has come my way. Im still so sad about leaving my family but the prospect of meeting my host family after this final plane trip has got me so excited!
I love you all and miss you all so much! Until next time,
Ellie
P.S. Sorry there are no photos, they wouldn't upload when I was posting this
P.S. Sorry there are no photos, they wouldn't upload when I was posting this
