Time Flies

     Only seventeen more days here in Oklahoma. I can't believe time has flown by this fast. It seems like yesterday that my friends in AFS Japan had posted something along the lines of "250 days until we leave," and now it it February 27th, 2013 and seventeen days away from my departure. I can remember back in August of 2012, looking at my balance of $13,200 on my application and wondering how in the world was I going to manage a feat of 13K in seven months. Well, with the help of generous donors and Global Leaders, I have chipped that mass down to $0.00. 

     As of today, I'm officially going to Japan. My domestic ticket is booked, my yellow AFS luggage tags came in the mail last week, and I have my host family and host school information. I will be living in Ibaraki City, in Osaka prefecture. I have a host mom, dad, grandmother, and two host sisters who are fifteen and sixteen. My school is Mishima High School, and I start April first. I can't even begin to express how ecstatic I am. This has been a dream of mine since I was a little child of ten. If things had not worked out the way they have, and I was not able to go to Japan, I would have had no qualms about getting wonderfully lost in another country through AFS. It would have been quite an adventure to have gone to, say, Turkey or Norway. However, my ticket is booked for Japan this year, and I'm going to delve into their culture like a fish whose been out of water for far too long, and it has been.

     What has really surprised me is that by going to Japan, I would learn about other cultures like French, German, Norwegian, Dutch, and Paraguayan. These are just some of the people who are embarking on the Japan exchange with me. I've made friends with people around the world just by wanting to go to one place in particular. Now I have every intention of traveling the world with these friends. I hope that in the next twenty years, I can be sitting at a little cafe in Paris with my French friends, or a museum in Germany with my German friends, or watching the snow fall outside of a warm house in Norway. Perhaps I will be living in Japan, and my American friends may join me. We will be reminiscing of our life in Japan as a group of brave and adventurous teens who were ready to brace the world.

     There's a quote that I've heard since elementary school, "Be the change you want to see in the world," and at that time I didn't have an inkling as to what I could do to live up to that quote. How could a little ten year old me do anything to have an impact on this world? Six years later, and as of March 20th, I'll be putting that phrase to the test. With the ample opportunity that AFS USA has given, and with more than 175 young individuals my age from all around the world, we'll be that change.

AFS Japan Facebook Groups

* AFS Japan 2013-2014 Year Group

http://www.facebook.com/groups/280217615414626/

* AFS Japan 2014-2015 Year Group

http://www.facebook.com/groups/129962473832762/

* AFS Japan 2013-2014 Fall Semester Group

http://www.facebook.com/groups/271215156330165/?ref=ts&fref=ts


     Those are all of the groups for this year and the following year trip. If you're going on one of the above programs, follow the link and request to join! 

New Members!

Bonjour! Hallo!

    Today our group added two new members, a girl from Germany and another girl from France! I'm so excited to meet all of these people from around the world. I never realized that I would be meeting people from other countries by doing an exchange with Japan! I'm trying to learn how to say basic phrases in everyone's native language. Dutch is new to me! Here's what I've learned so far:

Hallo, mijn naam is Sarah. Hoe gaat het? 
(Hello, my name is Sarah. How are you?)

     Hey, it's a start! Anyways, I will be leaving for L.A. in sixty-seven days. In about ten weeks, I'll be in Tokyo! All of this just completely flabbergasts me. Time flies by so fast. It was only six months ago that I was added to the AFS Japan 2013-2014 group on Facebook. Now the members are all my good friends. On the AFS Japan (general page) I spoke to the exchangers who went on the 2012-2013 trip to Japan and I learned a lot of useful information. I can't wait to join the kyuudou club (archery) if my host school offers it. If not, I'd love to take shoudou (calligraphy) or maybe I'll get brave and take a whoopin' in kendou (wooden sword fighting.) 

    

New Group

AFS Japan 2013-2014 Academic Year PARTICIPANTS

    Hey guys! There is a new group for those who are participating on the 2013-2014 academic year to Japan. So far we have found eleven members including myself. I was told by my volunteer that there are only thirty spots available for the year trip, so maybe there are more going that we don't know about! If you're going on this trip, follow the link provided and either I or Riley (the admins) will add you to the group! 

 http://www.facebook.com/groups/280217615414626/

     We have two members from Paraguay, one from France, and one from the Netherlands! So cool! The rest of us are Americans. I created an even for the gateway orientation with the date, time, and the address and phone number of the hotel where the orientation will take place.

Tuition Update

Chipped the Ice!

     I have $9,770 left to pay on my tuition. We've come a long ways since a foreboding total of $13,200! I have three months left to scrape up this amount, due on the first of March. I'm hoping I can make it. Spending money and uniform can come later, I just need this tuition cost to go away. I'm perfecting my letter that I'm going to send out to my local civic groups. 
     I got my flight itinerary in my email a couple of days ago. I'll be leaving March 19th at 12:15 PM (12:15) from LA and arriving in Tokyo on March 20th at 4:10 PM (16:10). I'm so excited to meet my new friend that I've made through the AFS Japan 2013-2014 Academic Year PARTICIPANTS group on Facebook! There are thirty spots available on the year trip to Japan, and I already know seven of them! It's amazing. Two are from Paraguay, and one girl is from France. I'm learning some Spanish in addition to French. I started learning French three years a go, but it's so cool to actually get to use it with a native! My state has a large Hispanic population, so I'm familiar with Spanish, but by no means fluent. I can't wait to get more members from around the world!

Additional Paintings

"Miao Hmong" 24 X 48, acrylic with lanterns, $500 each

"Diao Chan" 8 X 16, acrylic, $150

Art Exhibit

"Kkot" 16 X 20, $250

                                   Jane Champlin Art Exhibit

"Maiko" 16 X 20, $250

I was given the opportunity to feature and sell my artwork at an art exhibit where I live. It was amazing! I did eight paintings for this exhibit, all acrylic and all depicting Asian women of various nations. I had four paintings sized 16 X 20 and priced at $250, two paired paintings sized 24 X 48 and priced at $500 each, and two 8 X 16 paintings priced at $150 each. None have sold quite yet, but it's really helped get my cause out into the public!   

"Chain" 8 X 16, $150

"Kasa" 16 X 20, $250

"Girls in a River" 16 X 20, $250