Guarantee Forms and Summer Vacation

       About a month ago I received an email that my guarantee forms were in the mail and would soon be in my hands. (For those unfamiliar with the Rotary exchange process, the guarantee forms include information such as where I'll be living and where I'll be attending school.) About three weeks ago I finally received said forms. Kind of. On May 24th, I graduated high school and shortly after the ceremony I was heading over the all night grad party. I realized that I hadn't checked the mail that day so I called my dad asking if the forms came and he said yes. I demanded to know what the forms said, but it was difficult not having them in front of me. Most of the party would have been agonizing had I not been teetering on the edge of sanity due to sleep deprivation. But I made it through and upon returning home at 5:00am I finally got a hold of those forms.
       I learned that I'll be living in New Taipei City in the Xizhi District and that I'm hosted by Rotary District 3480. My proposed departure date is August 17th.  New Taipei City surrounds Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. The district that I live in borders Taipei, which is great considering that I'll be attending school in Taipei at the Taipei Municipal Nangang High School. The blue area in the picture below is where I'll be living, the gray area is New Taipei City, and the white island amidst the gray is Taipei.



     
       A few days after getting my guarantee form, I got an email from my host sister Florence who is 16. I learned that while she is going to be in Seattle all year, I'll have another host sister Justine (14) and a host brother Timothy (7) to keep me company. Also with the arrival of my guarantee forms was my visa application. The majority of the paperwork for the visa was easy and I've already sent it in, but the medical tests are the biggest pain and I still need to get those taken care of and turned in. 
       So I have about two months left at home before I leave and I'm trying to make the most of the time I have left here. I'm attempting to cram in as much time with friends, family, and american tv  that I can.  I have my last outbound orientation this weekend which should be fun and I'm happy to see the other outbounds again. Last week I went to the east coast with my dad and we visited New York City, Philadelphia, and D.C. and managed to pack a lot of sightseeing in two days. My cousins are coming into town soon for a few weeks then I think I might be heading over to visit them, which will eat up 3 weeks of the remaining 8 weeks I have left. 
       It's only just hitting me now that I'll be living in a foreign country for the year, and I probably should be more worried about that but I'm more excited than anxious at this point. 
       That's about it for now
       -Abbie

Youtube and Orientation

       So I can already foresee myself wanting/needing to upload videos so I've created a youtube channel to help further document everything.
So watch and creep on me here
Oh I also have my first outbound orientation on the 24th and 25th, and I honestly think that it won't come soon enough. Hopefully I'll learn what district I'm in but we'll see.
I'll keep updating

-Abbie

Not Much of an Update

       Well there hasn't been any new updates directly concerning Taiwan so for the most part I've just been attempting to be patient for more news. As difficult as that is.
        Whilst attempting to patiently wait, I've been connecting with more of the outbounds and working on my Chinese.  I've been taking classes twice a week after school with a small group of other students from my high school. I've also been put in contact with a personal Mandarin tutor from Taiwan who I hope will be able to teach me more. It seems that since I've learned of my placement I've been meeting people who are from or frequent Taiwan often, so far I've been put into contact with 4 people with Taiwan connections. It's also been great getting to know the other outbounds and finding out that they are just as excited as I am. On Facebook I'm part of 3 or so groups dealing with Rotary Exchange.  I have an upcoming orientation for my district's outbounds in March and it will be nice to meet people face to face.
        But for now it's primarily just waiting and constantly refreshing my email.
       
        -Abbie

Taiwan

你好
So it's official. I'll be going to Taiwan next year! I have no idea where I'll be placed so basically anywhere on the island is a possibility.
Here's a map of the districts



My departure date is going to be sometime between August 19-24. There's an orientation on August 25th that all the students are supposed to attend.

I'm so excited to be going to Taiwan and to learn Mandarin!!!!

-Abbie

Official

So,
an update!
I got a message today saying I was officially accepted by my district to be an exchange student for the '12/'13 year. I have no idea where I'm going at the moment, but I was informed I would get a placement in hopefully 3 weeks. It's just exciting that everything is coming together,even though it still feels really far off. Maybe after a few more days it will really sink in.

I'll be sure to update again when I get more news,
Abbie

Obligatory Introduction

Hi,

My name's Abbie. After I graduate from high school this year, I'll be doing a gap year with Rotary. Well that's pretty much it for now, I'll be sure to keep updating.

-Abbie