The Background

Woah! I just posted my first post! Wooo hooo (memo to self: you need to get out more.)

So, now for the backgound. I come from a HUGE family. Yes, Catholic (my parents that is, I have left the flock). And at 17 I struggled with my parents and tried to deal with teen angst. I had always thought that going abroad would be cool. So, at the start of my Jr. year of high school, I applied to be an exchange student through AFS.

AFS stands for American Field Service. They started after WWI to promote cultural understanding in the hopes that there would never be another war. OK, so they failed at that part, but they've been around for 90 years and my school always managed to have 1 -2 students go abroad for the summer as well as hosting 1-3 students from abroad for the entire school year.

I kept passing on to the next level. I went to a camp for a weekend where we were evaluated, I guess, and so forth. At that time, I had no idea where I would be sent. Today, kids get to pick where they want to go. Of course, it cost $1500 for my summer abroad and the cost has grown since then too (my fee was financed by 1/3: myself and 2/3 scholarships from our local chapter and the national organization).

Then the end of my Junior year in high school came and I still didn't know exactly WHERE I was going. I knew that I was guaranteed to go abroad. I may have even known that I was going to Europe, but I didn't know specifics.

Until 2 weeks before I was to depart. Then I finally found out exactly where I was going to!