Thinking...

            This coming Tuesday is the Rotary Student of the Month Luncheon at my club. It's also the first time I'll be in front of my club as their sponsored youth exchange student. I know I'm not going to be there because of that, but it's still a little...nerve-wracking? That write-up I posted last time is going to be read, and there are going to be students from the other schools in the club's area there, too. But I'm going to be "The Youth Exchange Student." Probably even the crazy youth exchange student.

            Watching the news lately has been scary, too. Looking at everything that's going on in Libya and Japan...I'm thinking about one of the girls from my district who's going to Japan, thinking about the family that was maybe going to be her first host family, thinking maybe she won't be going to the district she was originally going to go to because of the flooding. On a more ridiculous level with Japan, I'm thinking about Makoto Nagano - an all-star on G4's Ninja Warrior. The one who my mom and I cheer for every time we watch the show. 

            I'm thinking about school and how awful I'm being. It's really hard to think about how to find the pH of a solution of .10 M acetic acid titrated with .025 M potassium hydroxide. It's also really difficult to actually sit down and work on comprehension questions for English, when I could be doing research on Schwetzingen, or Sankt Wendel (check them out, they're insanely gorgeous). 

            I want to know where I'm going. But chances are, I probably won't for at least a couple months. See, with Rotary, there's this thing called a Guarantee Form. It's this paper in the application that the outbound (an Exchange student who hasn't left yet - me) and his/her family has to sign. Then it gets submitted with the rest of the application, sent to the country and district (distrikt, for me) where we're going to to be signed by the distrikt president, the club's youth exchange officer, the first host family and a school administrator. I probably got at least one of those people wrong, but you get the idea. There are a lot of people who need to hold that form, who need to sign it. And though my first host family is going to see my email address, my mailing address, there's nothing to say that they're actually going to use it and contact me before I get the form back. I'm hoping they will, but I'm prepared to not know my specific placement until a month before I leave, maybe less. 

            It's really nice to be able to write all of this out. I know it's probably boring, but all of this stuff is floating around in my head constantly, no matter where I am, no matter what I'm supposed to be doing. To write it out, to make it tangible is relaxing, stress-relieving. It's good. 

            If you're reading this, awesome. Thank you. I really appreciate someone sitting down and reading this crazy ranty-blog.