GOODMORNING USA

I’m not proud of the fact, but I have watched every single episode of American Dad, bar none. There is something about it, and the US of A in general – that attracts me. 

don't even ask how this came about.

Perhaps and in part I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that other then Australia, it was the first country I ever visited.

And when I was there, I loved it.

The squirrels.

oh gosh, the cute.

The i-Hop.

funnel cake, i still dream of you.

The monumental monuments. 

mr. lincoln

oh hey.

american equivalent of parliament house.

The ‘this is like a movie’ moments.

yellow school busses, they exist.

forrest.

yes!

The ‘can he/she/it/that really be serious?’ moments. 

25c drink can? um, yes.

pizza - size of my car. with broccoli? mm.

30cm tall 99c drink.
sandwich: chips, sausage, surprise sauce.

Last time, I wasn’t there for long. I was a tourist, sort of – living with a family, and everything was weird and different, bizarre, surreal and strangely wonderful. 

unlike my cornrows, which were just strange - and not wonderful.

I was there on an exchange between my high school and a Baptist Church in Philadelphia, which turned out to be more of a semi-paid holiday and an excuse to have a home-stay and eat plenty of fried chicken. Seriously, so much fried chicken.

ok yeah, 90% of the photos I took were of food.

For months, even years after my trip I had an American flag hanging on my bedroom wall. It’s not there any more, I consider myself a little less loyal, and a little more a citizen of the boundary-less world. But, none the less my trip - I loved it, perhaps because it was my first plane trip, my first ticket into the travel world, but also for what it was, and who was there.

And now I’m going back.

This time for a lot longer. At the end of March I leave, and I’m taking a quarter (what a great word) as an exchange student at the University of Washington. I’m going to live there, I’m going to eat there, I’m going to exercise there and I’m going to do my best not to get fat there.

I’m terrified. I’m excited. I’m nervous. I don’t really know to expect.

The timing is terrible, and there’s a lot of things – I know – that I’m going to miss, and a lot of lessons I’m going to have to learn, and a lot of adjustments I’m going to have to make.

I’m scared of being me in a foreign place. Living with people who don’t understand my weird habits – like getting up ridiculously early, not being able to eat chocolate without water, my sarcastic sense of humour, etc etc.

I’m excited about being out of my comfort zone, exploring a new city, seeing American football, catching up with old friends, going to Mars Hill (determined!), American accents, adjusting and making new friends, being the Australian girl (struth bloody ocha mate) and studying and learning in a different place. 

borrowed this today.

I expect to struggle, to miss home, to love it, to never want to leave, to be frustrated with cultural differences (oh golly please say basil not bay-zil), to miss just about everything about my life here, to question why I left, to fall in love with things I never knew existed, to develop a strange yankie twang to my words, and to have a small crush on any guy who says absolutely anything in an American accent.

There will be plenty to say on the blog front I’m sure, so this is my way of announcing it, I suppose.

Any tips? Travelers, Americans, exchange students?

USA 2012. 13 weeks. Seattle. Colorado. Omaha. Chicago. Philadelphia.

Ready.

(almost).