I am back from Europe. It was awesome aside from
a) It was cold
b) We didn't go inside many of the neat buildings we saw

Sunday I depart for LA and the next day I depart for Japan for the next 10 months.
I won't be writing here, so feel free to read my exchange blog, http://hellonippon.wordpress.com/

So Wed. afternoon, Mum and Oma trekked up to the Eco-Lodge across the street while I stayed home and basically organized an itinerary. Because I’m OCD like that. Can’t really recall doing anything of interest the rest of the day. Mum and Oma bought awesome paintings from some random guy up at the lodge. They’re really good paintings, actually. I think we may have done some bird watching later on too. We do that a lot. It’s fun :)

Thursday, we drove down to La Fortuna, where Arenal Volcano itself is. The drive is SUPER windy and kind of scary. In Costa Rica, you never know what may be around the next bend. I’m not even sure parts of that even qualified as a road.
First we drove to the Arenal Park and thought about walking to see the lava flow and the observatory, but then we decided we were hungry so we left and drove into town. We were pretty lucky to be able to see the volcano because it wasn’t very cloudy, although we couldn’t see the top. I guess its pretty rare.
La Fortuna is a pretty nice town, although it’s rather touristy because of the volcano. There is a beautiful central garden and huge church in the center of the town (every town has a church and it is always the biggest building). There is also a super-fancy Megasuper (grocery store) and lots of places to buy souvenirs.
It was pretty early, so we found a sort of café-type place to eat. Mum and I got scrambled eggs and toast, which were DELICIOUS!!! We even saw the eggs being delivered haha! Oma got some chicken sandwich which was also quite tasty (we tried some). I also tried some type of frozen drink which was….odd. It was ice with sugar cane juice and lemon. Sugar cane juice is actually kind of disgusting.
After eating, we looked around for a while in the stores. I also got kissed by some random Costa Rican guy ahaha! Don’t worry, Thomas, it was just on the hand :P. Then we went to one of the tourist info centers to look up information on a boat trip down Cano Negro (black canal). The guy at the info center was really nice and funny. He started freaking out when his interact machine ran out of paper and I helped him fix it :)
So we booked the tour for the next day and then went next door for some lunch! Yes, we eat a lot. I had some Costa Rican pizza and fresh orange juice. Have I mentioned that the fruit here is awesome? It tastes so much better because they grow it all here so they don’t have to pick it until the last minute and then it is not artificially ripened and it’s fresh. Also, the pizza tasted like tacos hahahah.
After lunch we drove a couple kilometers to Baldi Hot Springs. The hot springs were amazing! They had (supposedly) 25 different springs with temperatures ranging from 25 to something like 65 degrees. Yeah, that one was so hot I could barely put my hand in. There was also a giant Jacuzzi with bubbles :)
We spent about 2 hours at the hot springs, and then made a quick stop at the Megasuper for some groceries. Then we drove home, which was kind of scary in the dark and with the jungleness all around.

This morning we got up early to drive to La Fortuna again for 7:30 for the boat tour. We got there a little early, which was kind of upsetting because the bus was late. Our guide was awesome and his name was Rafael. Our bus driver’s name was Marvin, but we were told to call him Pinguin. On the way to Los Chiles (where the boat was), Rafael pointed out cool things like the pineapple plantations and we stopped to see the Chicken of the Tree (a giant iguana hanging out in a tree). We made a quick coffee stop and then went to Los Chiles and boarded the boat. The boat driver was amazing and spotted all these really well camouflaged animals. We saw all sorts of awesome animals, despite the rain. There was howler monkeys, snake birds, egrets, sloths, white-faced monkeys, and more. The white-faced monkeys put on this amazing show for us. They were all stuck in a tree and there were dogs nearby, so whenever the monkeys tried to leave the tree, the dogs came running and barking. So we sat there for like 20 minutes watching as all the monkeys slowly made their way across the grass to the next tree. It was amazing!
And, at the end of the tour we went to Nicaragua!!! It’s hilarious, on the bus Rafael told us we needed to fill out a form with our name and passport number, but he told us to just make the number up! So anyway, the border to Nicaragua is basically a rock and a wooden sign. No police, no nothing. There’s an old rusted desk. So I went into Nicaragua for about a minute :)
Then we drove back to the tour’s base and we had lunch, which was delicious!! It was chicken and rice with coleslaw and beans and chips. We had some sort of strawberry juice and a slab of delicious Costa Rican pineapple for dessert. After lunch we drove back to La Fortuna, and I’m pretty sure everyone slept.
We got to La Fortuna and Mum, Oma, and I walked around a little bit more and picked up some more souvenirs. Then we drove home. Tonight we’re eating hamburgers made with Costa Rican beef :)

And for your personal interest, here are some things I've learned about Costa Rica:
1. Driving is not safe, because:
a. the road is either not paved, full of potholes, or both
b. the road is very curvy
c. the road is actually erroding to the point of a single lane in some places
d. landslides
e. fallen trees
f. other cars driving on your side of the road around turns

2. Men walking through the jungle with machetes is normal

3. Cows and/or horses roaming free is normal. Same with chickens.

4. The church is always the largest building

5. All buildings are open-air

6. There really is no pattern to the weather at all

After working from 8:30-11:30 on Saturday morning, Mum and I started the drive to Toronto. On the way we made a few stops, one of which was to Winners to buy shorts. We found no shorts and I settled with some jeans I planned to cut up later.
There was that huge storm forcasted and we arrived in Toronto right about when it was starting. Actually, the snow wasn't so bad, but the wind was crazy!
We went to our hotel room, which was in the Comfort Inn right across from Woodbine racetrack. Oma had already checked in and her and Mum spent the night in the Swiss restaurant downstairs while I sat in bed watching TV and lamenting over leaving Kemptville. (Yes, I realise how silly this is. Shutup.)
The next morning (Sunday) we woke up at 3 AM to leave by 4 for the airport. Our flight was at 6:30. The weather was crazy and we left a little late, but took off fine. There were a few bad turbulents, but once we went above the clouds and got out of the storm zone, flying was fine.
We landed in Atlanta, Georgia about 15 minutes or so late. This was kind of worrying because we had only an hour to catch our connecting flight to Liberia. More worrying, however, was the fact that we spent 20 minutes sitting on the tarmac because another plane was in our place to park. FINALLY, they let us off the plane and we started walking as fast as possible to our concourse. Of course, Atlanta is a MASSIVE airport, so it took forever. Also, we had Oma, who couldn't walk fast or run. We met another lady and her dog, Max, on the train who were also going to Liberia. Finally, when we reached concourse T I ran full out to our terminal to tell them to wait. The lady at the desk told me the gate was closed. I looked at the clock. It was not quite 10:00. Our flight wasn't supposed to leave until 10:02. More people from our flight came running down and soon there was about 15-20 of us standing there yelling at the people because the plane was still there and we couldn't get on. So the lady at the desk told us that they'd let us on and started issuing us new tickets. BEFORE 10:02, someone looked out the window and the plane had driven off. Right in front of us when we were about to board. Obviously we were all infuriated. We were told to go down to the desk at the end of the hall and talk to them.
So all 15 of us went down to the desk, who in turn told us to go to concourse E and talk to the people at the desk there. Mum demanded a wheelchair for Oma, and we waited for about 10 minutes before one actually came. We went to concourse E and mum got in line with the others and waited (it was a huge line).
Oma and I sat in the food court for a little while and listened to this obnoxious piano that played by itself. Badly. Then I went and joined Mum in line and helped argue with the people from Delta. Delta claimed that it was the weather's fault that we didn't make the flight (it was really the 20 minutes we spent on the tarmac) and that 20 minutes was a normal taxiing time. They also refused to pay for our hotel rooms (there is only 1 flight to Liberia a day) and all they gave us were a few 5 minute phone cards and a discount at a hotel.
So, without a coat and without luggage, we went outside to where the shuttles are. After waiting for a while, our shuttle finally came and after some crazy scary driving, we arrived at the seediest hotel ever. The outside was all plastic and flapping in the wind. So we went in and got a room and discovered that not only was it a gross smoking room, but there was a massive draft coming in from the window. So we changed rooms and got a nicer one.
Since we had no way of getting around and no coats to walk outside in, Mum called a taxi and a nice man drove us to Ruby Tuesday's, where we had lunch. Then we went back to the room and amused ourselves with the TV for the rest of the day.
Monday morning, we woke up and after getting ready and grabbing some breakfast we discovered that we had missed the 7 AM shuttle to the airport. So we called a taxi (which we really couldn't afford, but we needed a ride because Monday is the busiest day) but it didn't come in time so we took the shuttle anyway. Turns out there was really no rush because we just put Oma in a wheelchair and ended up getting through security etc. in about 15 minutes. Since we had too much time now, we walked the whole 1.8 kilometers down to concourse E. We saw some cool African statues on the way.
By the time we reached concourse E, we still had an hour left, so we got some food and looked around in the stores. We made our way down to our gate and right about when we got there they started boarding. Perfect timing. At the gate we saw some of our friends who also missed the connection yesterday. We all boarded the plane and then we were off!
The plane ride was alright. It was a bit of a crappy plane, though. Delta showed the movie Stardust. It was a really clear day, so it was neat to see everything below us. After about 4 hours, we arrived in Liberia!
The landing was soo scary because all I saw from the window as we were about to hit the ground was a grassy field! Then I saw there was actually pavement below us. Liberia airport is essentially a grouping of three, large, open-air barns with GINORMOUS fans. Luckily, we got in line early and breezed through immigration. Immigration was awesome as it consisted of the Costa Rican guy stamping our passports and not asking any questions.
Then, we went and picked up our luggage on the one singular conveyor belt and we were out! And oh goodness, was Liberia HOT!
We spotted the Thrifty car rental guy and he took us to the shuttle, where we unloaded our luggage and drove off to the place where the cars were. We got our car (some sort of Toyota white 4-wheel drive thing haha) and then drove back to the airport so Mum could get some Costa Rican cash. Then we were off!
We had to drive to our house in Nuevo Arenal, which was about 2 hours from the airport. We also made some stops on the way to take pictures and get some groceries for the house. Costa Rican grocery stores are neat. Everything is open air here.
At around 5 PM (we're an hour behind here, by the way) we finally made it to the house! It's by Lake Arenal up in the hills in this gated community. We met Ed and Leslie, the houselkeepers and they showed us the ropes. Then we unpacked, ate dinner (hot dogs) and hit the sack. Because 3 days of travelling tires you out.

This morning we woke up fairly early. For breakfast was fresh fruit and smoothies. Then we took a little walk through the jungle and took tons of pictures. We returned home and decided to go somewhere to do something. We went into Nuevo Arenal and stopped at the German Bakery. I had a piece of cherry cheesecake. Then we went nextdoor and looked at the indigenous craft place. Nice stuff, but rather expensive. The guy running the store kept talking about Akon...? ANYWAY. Then we went back home to the house. Thankfully, the sun came out today, so I spent some time lying by the pool before lunch (grilled cheese). It just rained and is now sunny again. The weather is really illogical and random here. It's also REALLY windy. I'm not sure what's on the agenda for the rest of today or tomorrow, but we have some things we want to do. We may check out the Eco Lodge across the road today.

Exactly 2 months today until Costa Rica!


(And 5 months, 6 days until Japan!)


Also, I almost endured a major catastrophe when my blog for my exchange suddenly POOFED for about a week. Luckily it seems to have re-appeared. Thank god. I think I'm going to back up all my files now.

It's been a little while since I've updated.
First of all, zia_narratora gave me 6 of my interests to describe. If you want to play, leave a comment :)

Being Tomboyish
I actually didn't even remember I had that listed as an interest. I'm not so tomboyish anymore, but I used to be. I like hanging around with guys and I used to love weird things like bugs and dirt, etc.

Djerba
When Mum and I went to Belgium in the summer of 2005, we booked an 8 day trip to Tunisia. We stayed in a resort on the island of Djerba (or Jerba or Girba), which is actually the island where they filmed the Mos Eisley scenes from Star Wars and it is supposedly the island of the Lotus-Eaters where Odysseus was stranded. Anyway, this trip totally changed my life. I had such an amazing time in Africa. I did crazy things like ride an Arabian stallion on the beach in bare feet, eat dinner with a local we made friends with, ride camels in the Sahara desert, and ride off with a stranger to his house without my mum. It was basically the trip of a lifetime.

Historical Ruins
I love ruins. I think they're just so neat! I'm a pretty big history nerd, so I obviously enjoy going to visit ruins and historical sites. That's about it, really. I don't have any cool stories about visiting ruins. Well, I have been to Greece and seen a bunch of ruins there (Parthenon, Olympia, Delphi, etc.) so that was pretty amazing.

Mr. Kronstain
Ahahahaah!!! Okay, Mr. Kronstain was my Grade 10 Religion teacher at my school in Ohio. Basically, everyone just completely mocked him all the time. He actually left the school and is apparently a guidance counselor now! Anyway, I used to just sleep through the entire class. Everyone called him Scotty K. We never did our work. I used to copy out sections of the textbook for my "journal entries". We used to pray for the most random things when we did special intentions. I think Jeremy prayed for a different religion every class. Then there was that time I got Jeremy to set off a firecracker as Scotty K walked in the door and he nearly shit his pants and then we blamed it on Carl. Yeah, basically it was the most amazing class ever.

Pizza (European)
This is another summer of '05 story. Basically, I ate a lot of pizza, because the only restaurant in Wildert (where we were staying in Belgium) was a pizza place. Anyway, European pizza is SOOOO much better than the greasy, fluffy, cheesy stuff you get in North America. Often it is freshly baked in a real pizza oven for you. And I love that you eat it with a knife and fork!

Sock Puppets
Ummm. I'm honestly not sure why I put this as an interest. Perhaps because one of my Myspace pictures for a time was a picture of my hand with a sock on it? Anyway, sock puppets are pretty cool, right?

OKAY! ON TO OHIO!

So Mum came and picked me up from school on Thursday after my last class. We had to do some last minute things, so it took us an hour to actually leave. We drove to the Ogdensburg border crossing and went to New York! It was rather pretty along the river and interesting for me because I'd never seen the countryside of New York before. Unfortunately, there was a big accident on the way to Syracuse, and I guess they had to close the highway. So we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for an hour and a half. Which was sooooo boring. Then we drove through random New York countryside trying to find the highway again. Which we eventually did and then all was well for the rest of the trip. We didn't arrive in Ohio until 11 pm, though. So I went to bed as soon as we got there. Or tried to anyway, because I had the worst time trying to sleep.

The next morning (Friday) I went to my old school NDCL. Turns out I picked a good day to visit because it was a special schedule where classes weere only an hour long due to a pep rally. So Mrs. Hurt gave me the rundown of the schedule and told me where Nate's class was. I ran into the classroom and grabbed him in a hug from behind. He turned around and looked and then turned back to his computer screen. Then he turned around again, shouted, and jumped up to give me a hug. I think I surprised him :P

Anyway, then I followed him through the school and I ran into lots of people. Katelyn took me to see Stephanie and Alexa. As I walked through the halls, everyone was like "OMG ITS ANJE! HI ANJE!" It was really a nice feeling, y'know? Like I still belonged. Like everyone cared about me. I don't think I can explain how nice it felt to be greeted like that.

So after visiting Steph's class, I went to Madame's class (Nate was there) to say hi to her. She wasn't very nice, though and kind of said "hi, how are you?" and then kicked me out. So I wandered through the halls and eventually found Kathryn in her AP Government class with Colin. So I ran in and gave her a big hug and her teacher, Mr. Scott, let me stay for the whole class, which was nice. Even though the class was sooooooo boring. Then I went next door with Kathryn to her German class with Frau (which has only 5 people hahaha)! Frau was sooo happy to see me and it was nice. I talked with her for a little while and then she took a bunch of pictures of me and Kathryn and the class. For the rest of German class me and Kathryn looked at art, because they are doing some German art project?

So after that it was their lunchtime and we headed to the cafeteria, where I picked up some free pizza ;)
I sat with Nate and Christina for a bit, then went and sat with Alexa and Katelyn. Then I saw Garrett and ran over and yelled his name. He turned around and was like "wtf" and I yelled his name again and then he recognized me. He started to walk off, so I gave him a hug. I was sort of upset that he didn't seem excited to see me. Anyway, then Marian came over and I hugged her (lots of hugging going on here) and we talked for a bit, and then I went over to her table and sat with Dan, Kathryn, Garrett, Jenna, Marian, and Mary. Jeremy came over too.

After lunch was the Pep Rally, so I walked over to the gym with Kathryn, Dan, and Nate. I felt pretty out of place sitting with all the seniors in my different colored shirt, but it was fun. It was the usual NDCL pep rally, with bad cheerleaders, the dance team, and games. Then they announced the Homecoming court. Then there was this movie, which they always make for the Homecoming theme. I guess its a 70s disco theme this year. Anyway, in the movie they went around discoing everywhere, including the Geodome.

So after the Pep Rally, I said goodbye to Nate and I hopped in the car with Dan and Kathryn. And we actually just drove to the Geodome at the ASM Materials Park place. When we were done there (we saw a praying mantis and then Kathryn took pictures of us in this tube thing from Alaska) we drove to Chagrin Falls....just because. And we walked around for a bit. We started to drive to the metropark, but we went the wrong way and Dan had to go to work. So we drove back to NDCL and Kathryn dropped off Dan and then we drove to her house. We hung out there and ate ramen and watched the Korean drama Full House. At 6, my mum came to pick me up.

Mum and I went to this new Mexican place in Chardon and had dinner with two of her students. I didn't eat much because I was full from Kathryn's. After dinner we headed over to the Geauga theatre to see the play that Nate was in, Jekyll and Hyde: the Musical. We actually ended up sitting beside Mrs. Earley (Nate's mum). Anyway, the play was alright. It was a little long, but I liked the acting and most of the music. The singing was pretty good except I didn't really like Jekyll/Hyde's voice that much.

After the play, I said goodbye to Nate and mum and I went home to Lissa's, where we were staying.

The next morning, we got up and left the house at around 11. We then went around Chardon and did some shopping because America is cheap. We went grocery shopping at Marc's and then we went to Fashion Bug and I got a cropped sweater and an undershirt - both houndstooth :)
Then we had to stop at the barn to pick up mum's semen for her experiment thing. And I got to play with liquid nitrogen! That was fun. I had to dump it out and I froze the ground and had fun stomping through the mist.
We finally left the barn at 2 pm.

Then when we were driving, we kept going by these vinyards. So we got a craving for grape juice. So we exited the highway and went in search of grape juice. The first place we stopped at was all out. The second and third places we stopped at didn't have any. And FINALLY, the fourth place had some grape juice. And OMG it was sooooooo delicious! So we wasted another hour on our quest for grape juice.

So we drove on and eventually made it home at 10:30 without any major excitement. And that was our trip to Ohio.

THIS IS THE HOUSE WE ARE STAYING IN FOR 10 DAYS.

( For those who are lazy, pictures and a description here )

I guess the guy who owns the place is actually Canadian, haha!
Better yet, he's a vet from Ottawa. Just down the road!
Anyway, he's currently living in Miami (Florida) and he seems pretty nice 'cause mum was laughing with him on the phone and stuff.


I think I will like Costa Rica very much.

Right, so, there was an Italy trip meeting today. Mrs. Viau said it was no problem that I wouldn't be "enrolled" in school. So here's the info!

( under a cut because there's lots of info! )

OMG AUSTRIA TOO!?!?!
(Okay, just Innsbruck, but STILL!!!!!)

I'm so going. Screw it if the others won't go.
(As for their status, Alisha still wants to go and is considering saving her money (ha) and is going to talk to her parents again, Kaitlyn just has to get a passport but she doesn't seem very motivated, and Tanicia needs to get a job.)

YES!
Our flight (me, mum, and oma's, that is) is OFFICIALLY BOOKED for LIBERIA, COSTA RICA!
Hello Christmas down south!

We are driving down to Toronto on December 15th, staying overnight, and then catching the flight on the 16th. We then return on December 24, stay overnight again, and drive to Grand Bend for Christmas avec the family on Christmas Morning.

Yay :)
Life is complete.


P.S. We currently don't have any place to stay XD
We want to rent a little house out for the week, so at least we have a destination to aim for now, rather than the whole country.


Oh, and school is going great.
I love spare. Best time of my life. Having a break is so nice.
Alisha and I went out for breakfast today at Broadway's. OMG. SO FULL.
We had chocolate milk and I had a belgium waffle with berries and whipped cream and Alisha had banana pancakes. Yum. I splurged a bit. NO SPENDING MONEYS, SELF!!!
Religion is amazing as usual; Mr. Hurd is so funny. Chris Scott had this random video he + others made for his presentation....About Man Rape XD! It was pretty funny. Especially the scene where Kevin was raping Teddy in the bedroom XD! Wow, I love my school.

SO!
Alisha, Tanicia, Kaitlyn, and I went to the Italy trip meeting today.
Only...This year they're going to Italy, Switzerland, and Germany.
AND OMG I AM SO GOING.
Its during March Break. So I emailed Ben to check if he can tell me when exactly I will leave for Japan.

BECAUSE DAMMNIT, I MUST GO!




Also, Paul Juneau is amazing. There were all these grade nines clogging the hallway and staircase and he just came bursting through and pushing kids aside screaming "I'M A FUCKING GRADE TWELVE, GET OUT OF THE WAYYY!!!!!" and we just followed in his wake. It was pretty funny. I love being the oldest :D


Now to write that English essay on Steven Truscott T____T

Well, it's been a while.
This is because
a) Mum went to Ohio and took her laptop and
b) My laptop decided that right at that moment it could no longer work and I had to bring it into the shop

Anyway, haven't been doing much. Procrastinating practicing driving, watching movies, being bored out of my mind, working, etc.
DRIVING TEST IS IN TWO DAYS!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
My doctor was like, "It's okay, I failed three times before I got my liscence." XD

Um, mum and I were looking at going someone warm for Christmas this year (Most likely Costa Rica), and than Oma decided she wanted to come too, so mum and I have been madly researching cabinas and hotels that we can go to. But than we learned that Opa & Oma are trying to convince Aunt Saskia and Cousin Sarah to come with us too so now we have to look for a whole house to rent!
I think it would be fun, like a Family Girls Vacation. As long as we can all be civil, etc.

Mum and I also looked at volunteer vacations and there was an awesome one to Thailand that was only 500$ or so, but the plane ticket is a killer. 2000$ to fly there! Grr.

Oh, UCV is coming up soooon!!!!!!!!! This Saturday, to be exact. Excited for that. I hope they put me at Loucks Farm. I will be upset if they didn't. Nothing beats Loucks.

I guess that's about it. I'm missing some stuff, but it obviously wasn't important enough that I remember it.

Yes, I haven't really updated for a whileeee....

Well, last Tuesday I went to Guelph to use up my train tickets/visit friends.
Spent Tuesday and most of Wednesday with Amy...Doing nothing XD
We are lazy.

Then I went to Phoebe's on Wednesday evening, spent Thursday there (YAY SHOPPING!!!), and was supposed to leave Friday morning....
Yeah, that didn't happen.
Some aboriginals were angry about land disputes or something, and decided to block the train tracks...Thanks, guys.
So I was stranded in Guelph until Saturday morning and as such I missed Friday and Saturday work.
I was happy that Blair didn't kill me or anything, though.

Then Sunday was CANADA DAAAAY!!!!!!!
Mum had volunteered me to help with the cotton candy, but then the cotton candy machine broke. So I ended up being the "official" photographer. Which was fun! I liked it a lot. I hope I got some good shots.
Anyway, here's a picture of the fireworks!!
(My favourite one)



So last night mum and I went to an SCA meeting/small gathering thing.
Actually there was 6 of us, including me and mum. *ahem*
Anyway, that was because of the ren faire thing mum is wanting to put on. I think it will be sooo awesome :)

Coming up on my schedule is my driver's test on the 17th (eeeeeekkk!!!!) and then UCV starts on the 21st!! YAYYY!! :D

So on Friday, Mum and I drove 4 1/2 hours up north to Bracebridge to visit Aunt Pauline (My godmother) because she just moved there.
On Saturday Mum and I drove Aunt Pauline to Exeter to pick up her new car. Then Mum and I continued on to Grand Bend to visit Opa & Oma for their 50th wedding anniversary.
Fun stuff! Muskoka and that whole region is beautiful. I wish I had taken more pictures. Honestly, when we got to Haliburton I was like, "CIVILIZATION!!!!!!!" :P

( Les pictures! )

Just in case anyone cared, my feet are dieing.
Why did I volunteer to work all day today? WHY.

Oh, right.

Bigger paycheck XD
Which means more money for Japan/Potential New York Trip.

OH YEAH
I don't remember if I wrote about it already or not, but Mrs. Girard is actually seriously planning a New York trip. HECK YES.
If it's not too expensive, I am so going. New York + Art class = amazing.
Those people (read: Dustin and his beavers) rock my day.

Umm, Mum's out of town to Massachusetts this weekend doing horseshow stuffs. She's coming back late tonight and then leaving again on Tuesday or Wednesday or something for Guelph. Then she's gone for 2 or 3 weeks doing who-knows-what.
But Ellen (random student person who is cool and lives in Ottawa) is looking after me and Mary Jane and Helen/Thomas/Paul are too :)
I have apparently been invited over for supper with Helen/Paul/Thomas? Yay?
Speaking of which, they came in to work today XD
And then Thomas stayed and entertained me for like 1/2 an hour o_o
He was "going to ask Blair about the job he applied for".
*cough*

Also! KYMTC's september musical is called something like "A Walk Down Broadway" and it's comprised of a bunch of songs from all different musicals.
"Featuring songs from Les Miserables, Moulin Rouge, Rent, Hunchback of Notredame, Wicked, Hairspray, The Aristocats, Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, The Little Mermaid."
It should be neat. I'm going to try and get Kaitlyn to get me a job backstage. I really want to be a bigger part of the show. Oh, how I wish I could sing D:

Umm, called up Nathan the other day. :)
It felt good to talk with one a friend from "the old home". I miss Ohio a lot.
I am glad I came here, because I've grown up a lot, changed a lot, gained lots of insight, and started to create my own philosophy (I LOVE YOU MRS DAVIS) and I have a life. I have a job, I am planning an exchange, I take driver's ed. I have gained confidence. I am happy with myself.
But I don't need to stay here now. I understand it was an important part of my life to come here, but I also understand that I felt the most at home in Ohio. It's weird, because I'm Canadian, but when I'm in America I feel home.
Also, I'm idealistic and live in the 19th century.

BUT NEVERMIND THAT.

So I guess that's it for now, since I've run out of things to say :P

Oh, I've been watching some Firefly lately because I am lacking in a power cord currently, so I really shouldn't be using up my precious computer battery, but I have re-realised my love for Firefly. Also, commentary rocks.

Man, I miss NDCL.

I was looking at the class of 2008 group on Facebook and I saw Pat Rahill was on there.
OMG.
In freshman year, for some reason, there was a rumour started that I was Pat Rahill's cousin?!
I have no idea who started it, but it was the most annoying rumour ever XD
Everyone was like, "OMG ITS PAT RAHILL'S COUSIN!!!" and didn't believe me when I said its impossible because I was Canadian XD

Good times, good times.


Anyway, I'm off to Guelph to visit Phoebe today with Thomas and Helen XD
This should be...interesting.

The field trip today was interesting, I guess.

We had a tour of the pottery and visual art rooms and did some studio activities. We played with clay in the pottery room and then we did some gesture sketches in the visual arts room. We drawed these very flamboyant dramatic arts students XD
The one guy was really awesome, though, and he kept doing these funny poses like he was God or something, jaja XD
(Darn you Cultures Shocked, now I say jaja instead of haha)

We had lunch soooo late and everyone was going crazy because we ate lunch like 2 1/2 hours later than we normally do. I gorged myself on pizza and pop and made myself sick XD Typical.

We also had to watch this really corny slideshow.

Anyway, it was a good waste of a day.

I got my school recommendation form back from Mr. Dion today, and he filled it out with all excellents and goods XD
Yay!

Now all I need is the program deposit and to finish the host family letter in Japanese. I think its pretty much done, I just emailed it to Asami-Sensei once more for proofreading.
Yay!
I'm so excited! Mailing off the application tomorrow!!!!

Mum and I are itching to travel, so we've been looking up warm lovelies to visit.
Mum wanted to go to Costa Rica, because she loves it there. But its a bit expensive to fly there.
I voted for Columbia, which seemed AWESOME and fairly cheap, but then Mum found a travel advisary on the internet about terrorist groups or something o_o
So then I looked up Hawaii, which was lovely cheap and I found a nice backpacker-type place to stay at for cheap, but it would cost about $3,000. That's 3K less to go towards my trip to Japan.
So FINALLY I suggested we just drive around in the states until we found someplace warm and that we should stop in Virginia to go to Colonial Williamsburg on the way! Surprisingly, Mum liked this idea, since it would be about 1/2 the price and we would have our own car.
Also, we're definately hitting up New York, New York because I've never been there, and hopefully Savannah, Georgia, if we manage to get down that far. Because Paula Deen lives there XDDD

Oh, this is all because apparently Claude's mother is ill, so he's going to France to visit her and he can't go to Colorado/Arizona.

Also, my hair has grown long enough that I can pull it into two cute little pigtails that stick up at the back. It's adorable and I love it!
Short hair is the best thing ever <3

I am having an awesome week.

Sleepover was fun :)

Kaitlyn's grandpa picked us up from school, we stopped to get pizza in Spencerville, and then went to her house. Which is a very nice house, I might add, with a HUGE kitchen *dies* @__@;
We spent most of Wednesday lounging around in the basement, eating and watching things like So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol (OMG PEANUTBUTTER JELLY TIME!) and SYLVIA BROWN!!! XDDD
And then we watched Ice Age 2, John Tucker Must Die, and part of the Lion King. By that time we were asleep (At like 2am) and I kept wanting to sing along to the music from the movie, so I turned it off and went to sleep XD But then the stupid kittens kept meowing and got themselves stuck upstairs, so I had to deal with that. XD And then I woke everyone up at 8:30am.
Thursday, we watched the Lion King again and then went on the computer and watched funny videos. Then we were making lunch (At 4pm XD) and my Mum came and picked me up.
T'was fun, though.

And I really like Arielle Kebbel's hair when she plays Carrie on John Tucker Must Die. I'd love to get my hair cut like that when it grows out a little more, but it might not work because my hair is SO DAMN THICK! DDD:
I hate my stupid thick hair. It's so annoying :/

At home, we had Claude over for supper. Claude is Mum's coworker and the guy who has the cabin in Colorado. He is cool because he was born in Algeria and is French and has travelled to cool places like Israel and India, but he freaks me the hell out. O___O
Seriously. I just get this feeling. He kept being creepy and saying things like, "So, what does a 16-year-old girl think about?" and then he was calling me "Sweetie" and "My dear" all the time. .__.
So I "went to bed" XD
I was so creeped out. (But actually I just went upstairs and played on the internets until he left)

So yeah, I'm not going to Colorado/New Mexico/Wherever with him. Firstly, because he is old, and it would be kind of awkward to hang around with like 50-year-olds. Secondly, because he creeps me out MAJORLY. Thirdly because it seems I was not invited anyway! D:

OH! And the math exam was actually not that bad! O_O
I think I did pretty well. I only had a few problems and I knew everything else. I feel really good about it, especially since I was finished before 10. Good, good!

Well, the T&T exam was about 5 times easier than I thought it would be. I think I did really well.

I hung around at school with people until my Mum came, because this morning she decided that it was too cold for me to walk home XD

ALSO!
One of my Mum's coworkers has this cottage in the mountains in Colorado, and has invited Mum to go there for March break o___o
OMG I BETTER BE ABLE TO GO TOOOO~!

I reeeally need to get out of this town. Going to the mountains and staying in a cabin would rock. Totally.

Anyway, I hope that works out!

I have tutoring at 1 this afternoon and again tomorrow afternoon in preparation for the exam. I should be spending the rest of today studying for APS, but I won't :P
I will study a bit, though.

So! Fieldtrip today!

Got to school, hung out upstairs avec les amis until I felt I should go out to the portable. Went in. NOONE THERE. Informed Jaimie, who was at the foyer doors, that there was noone there and met Tyler on the way. Then a bunch of other people came out, so I went with Tyler inside. And people started arriving after that :3

Sat with Stephanie on the way there, Jenny and Bianca were behind us.

Got there, were divided into 2 groups. I was with Jen and Stephanie and Katie and some other peoples.

First we went to the hospitality section, where we got to see the travel & tourism stuff and then all the kitchens. And the guy even made us cherries jubilee and we got free food :D Rock on!

Then we went and saw a whole bunch of other stuff, seriously, we were soooo tired by the end of it we could hardly stand. We went and saw mechanics, a little bit of police/paramedic/firefighter, a bunch of electronics/laser stuff, media, art (cartoons), dentistry, massage....etc.
And we wanted to see the dorms, but the key wouldn't work, so that sucked. But the dorms seemed kinda nasty anyways.

Then we had this sweet lunch. Dude, college cafs rock. I had a huge slice of pizza and frozen yogurt with kiwis and raspberries. Mmm, so good. And they were also making belgian waffles! And had so much awesome food! :D

Then we got back on the bus and me and Bianca annoyed Tyler all the way home :D

The end!

So Mum and I left for Toronto on Thursday. We got there in pretty good time and then I had to spend the rest of the day sitting around at the University of Guelph booth upstairs with the little kids program.

(Phoebe won't stop laughing wtf loser.)


And Kayla and Kaitlynn never found me either :(
And the Royal kinda sucked this year. I miss the butter statues and the dead pigs hanging from the cielings :(

So anyway, then we went to Morriston and stayed with Jill.
And headed off to Ohio on Friday morning.

We got there a little late, so I didn't get to go to school. :(
Mum drove me over to Stephanie's house and I stayed overnight.

Then, on Saturday, Steph and I went to this awesome mall and walked around for a bit while we wasted time before the movie.
We saw The Prestige. I liked it. I read tea's post on it, though, so I kind of got the whole weird cloning thinger early on. But yeah, there were a lot of clues. I still liked it though, the movie wasn't bad. I liked how both Angier and Borden were portrayed as the "good guy" and the "bad guy" and I couldn't decide who I liked better :D

So then Mum & Jill picked me up and we went to the hotel, were Nate picked me up a little later.
We went clothes shopping and to Petsmart XD
Then we called Kathryn and met her at Bell's Diner in Burton and had supper. And we stayed there talking until 9pm and then the waitress informed us that they actually closed at 8pm XD!
So then we drove to McDonald's (Mr & Kathryn belting out We Didn't Start The Fire) and hung out there until I had to go back.

Then today I went to the college while Mum & Jill did the horseshow thing and I finished Phoebe's book :D (The Lives of Christopher Chant)
Then we drove back to Guelph and now I have invaded Phoebe's house :D!

Going home tomorrow, getting there around noon, but I'm not going to school. I have to do all my homework still! o__o!