I honestly don't know how this happened. One day I was writing a blogpost and telling you guys I had a 100 days left and now here I am writing again but a good 100 days later and from the comfort of my new bed in Mac, OR.
A lot has happened since I last updated this blog. I'm just going to fast forward to the last days before my departure though. I had a final birthday/going-away party on Sunday the 7th of August with some friends and family, and headed out into the world on the 8th. Before flying to Oregon and moving in with my first host family I spent a couple of days in New York with around 20 of the other Finnish rotary exchange students headed to the states with me.
We had a lot of fun and enjoyed every moment there. Our hotel in NY was located in Hell's Kitchen, not very far from central park, and had a beautiful pool on the rooftop. During our stay we had a couple of training sessions with our country officers and talked about culture shock; staying in host families; american culture; and the huge ethnic and religious diversity in the US. But the trip wasn't all lectures on the rules and quotes about adaptation, we also managed to include a bunch of sightseeing and exploring the city into our timetables. We visited Greenwich village, the Brooklyn bridge, Broadway, Central park and even made it up to the One World Observatory and got to admire the spectacular view of the whole city from above. On Tuesday night we went to see Cats at Broadway with Leona Lewis as one of the lead roles. Another one of the highlights of the trip was definitely visiting the NBC studios at the Rockefeller center. As a huge fan of Jimmy Fallon and the Tonight Show it was a great experience, though I have to admit I was quite bummed I didn't get to meet him during our tour. The cherry on top of the cake though was riding around Manhattan in our limousines before dinner and finishing up our sightseeing tour before taking the elevator up to a spectacular restaurant on Times Square called 'The View'. It was located on the 48th floor of a hotel and had an amazing scenery. The restaurant spun slowly around itself as we dined. A great way to conclude the trip.
Shoutout to all my buddies in New York and Topias who I dragged to Oregon with me. This trip would not have been even half the fun it was, had it not been with you guys. See you on the plane back! ♥
Topias and I got to Portland a little bit later than expected due to a delay with our last flight but were still welcome home by a huge welcome committee of both our host families, rotary club members and our country officer Dan. After we took care of the urgent paperwork we both went home with our host families.
My first host family
Dan, Topias and I
As far as as my new host family goes, I could not be happier. I feel very welcomed and even though I've only been here for a couple of days, the Gardner's have managed to make me feel at home. I'm really happy that my host family has a dog. Molly is the sweetest, fluffiest dog out there and almost as cute as my Leo. My host sister Emma left for Brazil today so we had to get up really early, around 4 AM, to take her to the airport.
Next week I will try to take care of some of the school stuff that needs to be sorted out like signing up for classes, school sports and clubs, as well as, try to get myself a working sim card. I will also go to my host club's Rotary meeting on Wednesday to meet the rest of the club.
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