Finally!

I finally found out when I'm leaving! My host sister was actually the one to tell me and she said that I'm leaving August 14th. I thought it was kind of funny that my country officer emailed her and not me, but I'm just happy to know. Now that I know, I'm all the more excited. Just about all the calenders in the house have countdowns on them, I've started organizing the things I need to pack, things are happening! Things are REALLY happening. With every second that passes before me, I grow more and more ready for this experience. This will truly be life changing and I can't wait for what's to come of this. Before I know it, I'll be sitting on an plane headed to Sapporo, Japan and that's when reality is going to slap me in the face and leave a mark that will never fade. I'm ready.

Whoa!

A lot has happened since I last updated! So I finally got my hosting and school guarantee forms back from Japan which is a HUGE relief. Now that I've received the paperwork, they can finally start approving my visa and I can finally stop worrying. I mean, not receiving these papers could put hold on my exchange! But no worries, they're here now. In other news, I'm leaving earlier than expected! Instead of leaving during the third week of August, they're now thinking I'll be leaving during the second week of August because my school starts so early (August 17th). This is both very exciting and very nerve racking. As my departure comes closer and closer, I find myself feeling... Hm. I don't quite know how to explain it. I guess it feels kind of like when you're a little kid and it's Christmas eve mixed with standing in line to go on a roller coaster. You're so excited and you can't wait, but at the same time, you're getting more and more nervous and you have no idea just what things are going to be like. Speaking of being nervous, I was recently handed the assignment of giving a 20 minute presentation about my life here in Oregon to my Sponsor Club. JOY. Let me say, I am not one for public speaking. I'll just have to get over that, though. Anyway, yeah. That's about it. Now, I tried to upload a part of my guarantee forms because they had all these cool stamps from my school on it, BUT my computer's being difficult so maybe later. If I find anything else out in the near feature, I will be sure to inform you. Update you guys later!