Lake Superior

                                                               Soo Greyhounds

7 days later

I cant believe i have been here for a whole week already, time is deffinently going fast. im having such an amazing time already. ive been to a rotary meeting and meet some really nice people, it was interesting to see how there meetings are different to the ones i went to back home. i was lucky enough to get the chance to be driven in and around town by someone who knows the area very well, so that was great to hear so many things that i never knew before, i got to go to an edge of lake superior and got my photo taken then ran back to the car before i got frost bite. ive been to where i will attend school meet with some of my host sisters friends who are really nice. i meet with the guidance counsellor where i got my classes i will do grade 10 foods, grade 11 cosmetology and parenting and grade 12 gym, so that will be interesting and gives me the chance to meet a lot more people. ive been shopping and got some more clothes ones that will be suitable for this weather. i had the chance to go to a hockey game the Soo Greyhounds which the players are hoping to be drafted for the NHL so that was really cool i liked that alot, i also went to another ice hockey game the North Stars and that was pretty cool also, lots of fun. ive tried many different type of foods and myself and my host family are finding many words that we say different which is interesting as both countries speak the same language. with 7 days up ive had a great time, and have seen alot, ive also been catching up on sleep as im still so tired from the trip over here. ill write again soon :) xx

When it all begins

So i left Australia on Saturday 21st of January, to find myself on the way for the best year of my life. i flew from Sydney, where i almost left my passport money and basically my life at customs after my braclet flew into the customs area, but lucky an officer called out to me and asked if i would be needing this, then we had a struggle finding the correct gate to fly to Auckland we got on the plane and could not find our seat anywhere, we asked denise and turns out we were standing right next to it, then an 11.5 hour flight to LA as we landed the plane lost power so we had to wait to be towed so we could get out, kinda scary, once we were out of the plane we got to go to a Hotel where we spent a few hours, we then flew to Vancouver, we got lost in the airport and had this officer come up to us and ask why we were going the way we were going, she then told us where to go, we had to get a Canadian Visa when we got to customs they were filming a movie we waited about 20 mins before someone came over to us by this time we had an hour and a half until our next flight left, the officer deffinently took her time in coming back with the visas we were freaking out as we now had half an hour to get to our flight, we then realised we had our bags and they hadn't been checked in so we had to run through the airport to get that done then run to the gate, but we made it with time to catch our breath and talk to these Canadians who thought our accents where quite strange, we then flew to Toronto, this is where i said bye to Lourissa and Veronica and was all alone, with a 4 hour stop over, this is when i discovered how amazing Tim Hortons was which is like a little cafe shop, really good :) i then found my way through the airport and to my next gate. then i saw all of these people out side with all these really thick coats and hats and scarfs and big boots, i then realised my t shirt and canvas shoes were not going to be suitable the minute i stepped out on the gate, they described the temperature as below freezing, i had many thoughts running through my mind and the major one was that i don't think there is one thing in my suitcase that im going to be able to wear. i made it to the very small plane and was freaking out that we would not make it, of course i was next to the door and the person that goes through all the safety routines asked if i agreed to sit next to the door and showed what to do in case of an emergency, i said yeah i think so and the whole plane laughed and said so do we, as the plane started i was sitting next to this girl, who became my exit buddy, she knew all about where i was going and we had a great chat basically everyone on the plane found out about me and we were all talking, as we were flying over Lake Superior i thought i should really read the instructions on how to get this door open, with the noise of the plane i wouldn't even be able to hear them announce to me to open it, i had planned with the girl next to me about our exit strategy. that took the whole 1.5 hour flight until we finally landed where they announce that it was -3 degrees everyone on the plane thought it was so funny that i was not wearing one thing that would keep me warm, they described to me how to walk on the ice as i got off the plane so that i would not fall as my shoes had no grip at all, i finally got into the airport and was meet by Rotary people and my host family, they had mittens for me which were put on straight away and a Canadian flag, we talked about how i have realised i don't have any clothes suitable and we planned to go and get some in a few days and that -3 is not even cold compared to what its ment to be, we got to the car and i saw all the snow and thought of what an amazing time i am going to have for the next year. driving to the house on the wrong side of the road is deffinently something that is going to take some time to get used to :) xx