One month in!

Update, update, update.

And ya'll think I wouldn't stick to it. WEll I'm trying my hardest.

Im not sure where I left off from, but I'm still doing great! Still living at the same house, with the same family, going to the same school. Happy and relatively healthy.

The latest exchange thing, minus the mayor's welcome thingy last night, was going to Bendalong! BENDALONG WAS A BLAST. I learned two things at that trip

1. I suck at surfing
2. Those black sharp pointy things on the rocks are not for touching.

Nicky, Bri, and I all drove down (about a 3 hour trip) to Bendalong stopping at this very scenic, incredibly beautiful hill side and watched the people in parachutes and cliff hangy things fly around. If only my insurance would let me! We took some pictures of course and then drove to a place called the Kiama Blowhole. Its this rock formation next to the ocean and the waves come bursting up through it! You'd have to go there on a day with rough waves to see anything though. There was a lighthouse and some birds flapping about. Very east coast like. Mom would like it.

We got to our five-star shack (ha not really) in Bendalong and went down to the ocean. Seriously, I could live in a hut all my life if it meant I could wake up to the ocean every morning. It's incredibly beautiful. It just streches on forever.

We surfed the next day with a 7 or 8 year World Champion Surfer, Pam Burridge. She was a great great lady. We got suited up in our flattering wet suits, grabbed some boards, and then she took us down to the beach. We all learned how to lay and stand up on them. We did some surf yoga and then we had to test the beast ourselves.
The waves were gentle, although I probably swallowed my weight in sea water. Pam, and these other two nice ladies helped the group ride the waves and how to get up effectively. I tried sooo hard! I just kept going and going. I got up on my knees, then one knee. By this time, everyone else had gone in, but I was still out trying. Nicky gave me a sign saying "one more time" and I knew that this one last time had to be it! AND I DID IT! I stood up! Granted, it wasn't for very long, but I was soo happy! I started screaming and jumping up and down. Needless to say, I was pretty proud of myself.

After surfing we just messed around on the beach and wrote things in the sand. I took lots of pictures and me and Jenny managed to get closer over the weekend, so that was good! She is a lovely girl and we have lots of things in common. That night we had a cupcake decorating contest in which me and Eric won and we even saw a kangaroo! You can imagine what the Americans reaction to that was! It was ssoo cute! And speaking of animals, a possum crawled up on our porch one night and we fed it apples. They are pretty calm creatures, or at least this one was, and very curious. I just love little animals. :D Bendalong was fun. It was a nice, relaxing beach get away weekend. Next up is the liasion trip to Nelson Bay I think. :) I am excited for that.

School is going okay. I find i dont really like the curriculum all too much. At least in English. This may come as a shock to you, but I like Math more than I like English right now! WEIRD!!

I am trying to get more involved in things. I am going to Jazz Dance tuesday nights and I want to do some more Yoga with Bec. I am also contemplating on a sport! Any suggestions parents?? Cross country, soccer??? Let me know!

I have a Drama assessment and a Dance Assessment coming up soon. My scene for Drama sucks, (the play is shit) but Dance is interesting. It's hard but its not too out of my limit. I learn a lot too!! I found that Modern Dance is a lot more fun than ballet. It's very free and easy. Not as disciplined as ballet.

I might also join debate so we'll see how that goes! I think I would be great at that. Dad would agree with this.

I am making more friends and becoming accustomed to everything. Slowly but surely the weird American girl is fitting in. People are still bombarding me with questions. I even got the question "Can you take a train to Hawaii?"

Yes! We have these underwater trains now! :/

I am also looking into maybe a volunteer opportunity. But I have to make sure I can balance everything.

OHH THe Mayor's thing. I almost forget. To sum it up, I wrote a speech, only half of it saved, so I winged the last half. I put on my uniform, I talked in front of people, smiled for the camera, ate this amazing cake, got more photos, and tried to represent America, and Lakewood specifically as best I could.

Got some nice compliments, and the mayor liked my speech. Job accomplished.

Anyways, keep checking on Facebook for updates, and I'll continue to post pictures. If you want more info, or think Im not including enough in my blog, SPEAK UP!


Au Revoir


Evan


P.S. I'm jealous of your snow!!