Läste den här texten ett tag innan jag åkte... Då tyckte jag väl att den var lite trevlig. Trodde aldrig det kunde passa in så himla bra. Men varenda ord är bara sååå sant.
Exchange is change. Rapid, brutal, beautiful, hurtful, colourful, amazing, unexpected, overwhelming and most of all constant change. Change in lifestyle, country, language, friends, parents, houses, school, simply everything.
Exchange is realizing that everything they told you beforehand is wrong, but also right in a way.
Exchange is going from thinking you know who you are, to having no idea who you are anymore to being someone new. But not entirely new. You are still the person you were before but you jumped into that ice cold lake. You know how it feels like to be on your own. Away from home, with no one you really know. And you find out that you can actually do it.
Exchange is thinking. All the time. About everything. Thinking about those strange costumes, the strange food, the strange language. About why you’re here and not back home. About how it’s going to be like once you come back home. How that girl is going to react when you see her again. About who’s hanging out where this weekend. At first who’s inviting you at all. And in the end where you’re supposed to go, when you’re invited to ten different things. About how everybody at home is doing. About how stupid this whole time-zone thing is.
Thinking about what’s right and what’s wrong. About how stupid or rude you just were to someone without meaning to be. About the point of all this. About the sense of life. About who you want to be, what you want to do. And about when that English essay is due, even though you’re marks don’t count. About whether you should go home after school, or hang out at someone’s place until midnight. Someone you didn’t even know a few months ago. And about what the hell that guy just said.
Exchange is people. Those incredibly strange people, who look at you like you’re an alien. Those people who are too afraid to talk to you. And those people who actually talk to you. Those people who know your name, even though you have never met them. Those people, who tell you who to stay away from. Those people who talk about you behind your back, those people who make fun of your country. All those people, who aren’t worth your giving a damn. Those people you ignore.
And those people who invite you to their homes. Who keep you sane. Who become your friends.
Exchange is music. New music, weird music, cool music, music you will remember all your life as the soundtrack of your exchange. Music that will make you cry because all those lyrics express exactly how you feel, so far away. Music that will make you feel like you could take on the whole world.
Exchange is uncomfortable. It’s feeling out of place, like a fifth wheel. It’s talking to people you don’t like. It’s trying to be nice all the time. It’s bugs.. and bears. It’s cold, freezing cold. It’s homesickness, it’s awkward silence and its feeling guilty because you didn’t talk to someone at home. Or feeling guilty because you missed something because you were talking on Skype.
Exchange is great. It’s feeling the connection between you and your host parents grow. It’s knowing in which cupboard the peanut butter is. It’s meeting people from all over the world. It’s having a place to stay in almost every country of the world.
It’s cooking food from your home country and not messing up. It’s seeing beautiful landscapes that you never knew existed.
Exchange is exchange students. The most amazing people in the whole wide world. Those people from everywhere who know exactly how you feel and those people who become your absolute best friends even though you only see most of them 3 or 4 times during your year. The people, who take almost an hour to say their final goodbyes to each other.
Exchange is falling in love with this amazing, wild, beautiful country. And with your home country.
Exchange is frustrating. Things you can’t do, things you don’t understand. Things you say, that mean the exact opposite of what you meant to say. Or even worse…
Exchange is understanding.
Exchange is unbelievable.
Exchange is not a year in your life. It’s a life in one year.
Exchange is nothing like you expected it to be, and everything you wanted it to be.
Exchange is the best year of your life so far. Without a doubt. And it’s also the worst. Without a doubt.
Exchange is something you will never forget, something that will always be a part of you. It is something no one back at home will ever truly understand.
Exchange is growing up, realizing that everybody is the same, no matter where they’re from. That there is great people and douche bags everywhere. And that it only depends on you how good or bad your day is going to be. Or the whole year.
And it is realizing that you can be on your own, that you are an independent person. Finally. And it’s trying to explain that to your parents.
Exchange is dancing in the rain for no reason, crying without a reason, laughing at the same time. It’s a turmoil of every emotion possible.
Exchange is everything. And exchange is something you can’t understand unless you’ve been through it!
Bilder från swim carnival! Lite olika personer tog kort med min kamera, och det slutatde med att jag hade 1000 bilder från denna dag... Här är några av dem:
Såhär såg vi ut
Poolen! Det som är helt grått är faktiskt rök från bushfires, vissa morgnar har det varit riktigt dåligt och det luktar hemskt.
Emilly och Keely. patterson är det röda 'huset'
Holly simmar, älskar denna bild haha :)
Cred till Kelsey för himla snygg bild
Superman kommer för att rädda oss! (jag är längst bort till höger)
En gren var ironwoman, där det ingick att hoppa över och krypa under bord
Sen skulle man äta torra weet-bix och vissla
Vissa var mer seriösa med utklädnad
Splash-tävling
De flesta killar gjorde mag-plask
Det var alltså inga moln, även om det ser ut så på bilderna. Bara rök. Solen hade lite svårt att göra sitt jobb
Hejhej! Händer så mycket som jag inte hinner skriva om! Men ska göra mitt bästa att catcha up, inte minst för att jag själv ska kunna se tillbaka på det när jag kommit hem igen.
Denna veckan har varit den andra hela veckan i skolan efter summer holidays. Tillbaka i vardagslivet med läxor och allt som hör till. För nu är det ju year 12 och då är det allvar! (hahah ja, de säger det så himla mycket hela tiden.) Bara i hospitality skulle vi tills i fredags gjort en snygg fyrarättersmiddag-meny, med kostberäkningar, arbetsplan osv och en miljon frågor i boken. Vem orkar det liksom. Matten går himla fort fram också, men nu förstår jag faktiskt till skillnad från förut så det är helt okej!
Nog om skolan, det händer faktiskt mer än det! Förra veckan gick jag, Kelsey och Mackensie till poolen efter skolan. Vi simmade lite, och de hjälpte mig med freestyle som jag är helt katastrof dålig på hehe. Men det var ett bra träningspass och i torsdags hade vi swim carnival med skolan, och jag var faktiskt med i några grenar! Trodde aldrig det skulle hända, men jag simmade i tävling hahaha. På swim carnival tävlar man med olika 'hus' i skolan, jag är i Bogong, det gröna. Man klär ut sig också, i den färgen huset har. Vår kompisgrupp gjorde inget stort, men vi matchade iaf, vilket var poängen.
I onsdags åkte vi på en outdoor ed excursion på trees adventure, vilket i princip var olika höghöjdsbanor. Jag är himla höjdrädd och gör i vanliga fall inte sånt här. Innan utbytesåret hade jag inte ens övervägt att åka, men nu älskar jag utmaningar och att åka var ett självklart val. I faced my fears och gjorde den längsta och svåraste banan! Den var så himla högt upp, svår fysiskt och jag var livrädd. Men åh så roligt det var. Bussresan dit och hem tog fyra timmar enkel väg, och vi var tvungna att ta en omväg på grund av bushfires. Men vi satt längst bak och pratade hela resan, var så himla bra. Är så glad att jag har så fina vänner. Bilder från detta kommer när jag fått dem från smithy (kunde inte direkt ta med kameran upp i träden...).
Kyrkan har bytt namn från faith city till new life chapel, och de har renoverat massa. Det är så fint nu! Och barn-programmet har bytt tema och vi som är ledare har t-shirts och allt. Jag hade hand om de stora barnen förra söndagen och älskade det. Sedan serverade vi glass och tog familjefoto i 42 graders värme. Youth är igång också, går dit efter skolan varje fredag och hjälper till.
Förra helgen campade vi vid the weir också, under bar himmel. Låg typ och kollade på stjärnorna hela natten, så himla underbart.
Nu ska jag sluta babbla och se om jag kan hitta lite bilder :)
Soluppgång at the weir
Hittade denna spindel i huset! Syns kanske inte så bra, men den är stoor! uuuschhh
This is about the weekend one week ago, but wow, what a weekend! Was barely been home at all, but it was soso good. It started at waves, the pool, on friday evening. We went there with youth and had a lot of fun! It was a 40-degree day, so the pool was definatily the right place to be. After youth we met up with Mitch and picked up Mason before we went for a drive to the weir. That night sky, the stars were just amazing! Everything was so perfect.
On saturday some of the year 12s in church went to the Youth Alive country leaders event. It was in Tatura, which is a 2 hour drive from Wodonga. It was a very intense and full-on day. After signing in the day started with a session, normal service with worship and Preaching by Ps Corey Turner (again). Almost feels like we're friends now when I've been listening to him so much the last couple of weeks haha. But he is really really good and my hostmum has ordered his book too! Then we had some afternoon tea before a second meeting where Ps Mikes was peraching. His sister is married to our senior pastor. Then we had elective sessions, I went to one with Ps Corey and one with Ps Adam from our church. Then we had dinner and after that we were supposed to go home, but Bethany, Zack and I decided (probs more God's decision than ours) to stay on the final meeting and go home with Dean and Lendel. The meeting was amazing. The presence of God was so thick you could almost feel it, and Lendel spoke heaps of stuff over my life. Afterwards we met some nice new friends and then we headed home, and had a really good chat in the car. We came home at like 12:30 and I was on kids in church the next morning. But it felt good to help out and step into a leader roll after being on a leaders event. Felt sorry for Zack though who was on band and had to be in church at 8.
On the evening service Kelsey spoke a bit about Denmark, and instead of preaching some people from youth spoke. They were so good and inspiring!
Evening service in church, Ps Mik, Jodi (my connect group leader), Abi, Rochelle, Zack and Lendel
Everyone in our group was there! Zack, Jeremy, Caleb, Kelsey, Bethany, Abigail, me, Rochelle, Jess and Meg
Hejhej! Här kommer några av bilderna jag hittade på skolans databas :)
Horse riding:
De kapporna fick vi låna, hahahah såå otroligt snygga verkligen
Planting trees:
För övrigt är typ alla dagar över 40°C och att gå i skolan när det är så varmt är inte kul. I början var det en lite kul upplevelse, men jag är so over it nu. Svettas av att hämta böcker i skåpet, och air condition i oed klassrummet funkade inte och jag kan inte gå hem, utan måste ta bussen där man måste trängas med typ en miljon barn på. Det blir knappt under 30 på nätterna, så man kan inte direkt gå för en morning run eller något heller. Suck. Wellwell, bättre än sveriges 6 månaders mörker och kyla iaf.
