AFS Orientation(s)

Well, I am now writing this from Rome, Italy, where I will leave in about two hours to go to Mestre, my host town. For the past four or so days, we've been having orientations, first with all the American AFSers in New York and then with the rest of the kids going to Italy in Rome. After hearing a bunch of different stuff, I have to say, it's been a pretty awesome few days. From just the short bit of time we've spent together, I feel like I've become close to a lot of different AFSers who I'll keep in touch with and visit during these next 10 months. Yes, the activities were very lame, from singing songs to playing musical chairs-esque games, but it's been nice just doing them with all of the other people. I've talked to people from so many backgrounds, so many countries, who spoke so many languages, and it's just been amazing. While I don't feel like this has done too much to prepare me for going or anything, this has left me with great excitement for what is to come.

Last Day in the USA

Wow, I can't believe I've already gotten to this point. It wasn't until the past few days that this really started to feel real, and now I'm at fewer than 24 hours until I depart for this crazy adventure. Seeing what is going to be all of my possessions for the next 10 months packed up in my bags really makes this real in a way that I hadn't felt before. I still am looking forward to this, I still am so excited for the new experiences that are sure to come, but it also makes me reflect on just what this whole trip will mean.
For me, I'm going to come back and all of my friends will have graduated high school. They (and hopefully I if I can keep myself motivated) will all be accepted into college and will be planning where they are going. This is just a really crazy capstone to my pre-college life, from moving to Montclair from Atlanta and moving from Montclair High School to Montclair Kimberley Academy. I've got regrets, I've got things I'm proud of, but I really just can't believe it's all done after this.
I've got a day and a half orientation in New York, then we'll fly to Rome where we have another two-day orientation, and then I'll take the train to Mestre to start my new Italian life!
It's 12:50 AM right now, and although I have absolutely no inclination to sleep, I should pack, so next time I update this I will either be at the New York orientation or in Italy! Ci vediamo presto!

Introduction

        Ciao! My name is Alex B., I'm 17 years old, and as of now I live in Montclair, New Jersey. I went to Montclair High School for freshman and part of sophomore year, and have been at the Montclair Kimberley Academy from sophomore year on. My senior year, though, I have decided to spend as a year abroad. I applied to AFS, American Field Services, in December to do a year abroad, was accepted into the general program in February, and in May, was placed with a family in Mestre, Italy, which is in the northeastern region of Italy.

        Since then, I've been working hard to prepare. I've taken Spanish since elementary school, so I have a basic foundation in it, but Italian left me completely baffled. Over the summer I did over 25 hours of work on Rosetta Stone, an online language-learning program, and have read and worked with an Italian tutor. Thanks to all of this, I now feel only mostly baffled. As for other preparations, my parents helped a lot with forms and paperwork, and tomorrow we will be going to the Italian consulate in Manhattan to get my student visa. After that, all I've got to do is pack, bid my friends and family "Arrivederci!" and I'll be off!

       So now for the interesting information, what my trip is all about. From September 6th to around July 7th, I will be living with a family in Mestre, in the region of Veneto. I don't know too much about the whole situation there, but I know I will be with the Bovo family, who have two sons and two dogs, until at least the end of January, and then I may switch to another family. I will be going to Liceo Stefanini, which is a local, public Liceo Scientifico (a science-based school). Besides that, all I know is I will be living the life of a normal teen in Italy.

        I will definitely try to keep this blog updated as much as possible with pictures and posts, and will make sure to post at least every 2-4 weeks.

Until then, arrivederci a dopo!