~Wonderfully Blessed~

~Pretty Days at Skool!~

1st of February '07

Well, it's been days since I've updated you. Quite a lot of interesting things happened this week at school! I'll try to remember everything and flash back. Ok, the first day of my second weeks was quite great! I know that it's because of my prayers the night before. Praise God! Anyways, I went to school and I ate in the cafeteria for the first time. I'm so grateful to have known Betty in Fellowship Christian Athletes. She's the sweetest girl ever. I think she's an angel sent by God to help me fit in at school. She showed me everything about the cafeteria and has a fix table in the cafeteria for us. I felt sooo happy^^ Then, the second day, I had a Diversity Meeting on my 3rd Mod. So, I went to the meeting and it turned out marvellous! I met lots of wonderful people who was glad to know about Malaysia. After school, I had a meeting with Chelsey to do our History assignments. Then, the third day, nothing much really happened but John was really funny in the cafeteria. Then, the fourth day, that's today, Mr. Longnecker said that I have an articulate writing but he didn't know that's me because I wrote the questions anonymously..hehe.. Then, Mrs. King said that my composition of the scales was good and neat. Wow! I love that. Then, during History class, something funny happened. We were talking about skyscrapers and a student asked, "What is the tallest structure in the world?" Then, Mrs. Hutzel said, "Well, I've heard of a twin tower that connected with a bridge in the middle." I immediately raised my hands and said, "That's in my country!" Lol, then, I showed them the picture of the Petronas Twin Towers. It turned out that many of them thought that I was a girl that migrated to America instead of an exchange student. They started asking lots and lots of questions! Wow, a taste of fame for a while! Hehe, then, I had a test during web-design. After school, I went to the auditorium for a drama meeting. It was a great meeting and the casts were all really friendly. I can't wait to help out! Anyways, I got to prepare myself for tomorrow's Winterfest in Ocean City! So, wait for my news! CIaoz...^^

11:00pm
1/2/07

~Busy! Not as Happy~

25th of January '07

Sorry for not updating you diary. I've been so busy and depressed lately. School is horrible and I'm not sure whether I'll get to like it or not. Everything is so blur and hectic. The people there are so different and some are 'weird' too. Not all of the students are warm. They usually stick to their groups and don't like accepting new friends. Today, I sat in the cafeteria with Chelsey and her friends, but it was awkward because I was a stranger to them. The group that sits next to us are the orchestra group. They're the ones that stick to their group. The girl who sits next to me in orchestra is so cold that she didn't really wanted me to sit with her on the first day but she said I could when I asked her. At last, they went without me! They're so cruel! Haihz, I dunno whether I'll be brave enough to buy food in the cafeteria or not. I pray and hope that some angel would come and help through all my problems in school. Anyways, I had a great time when my school did not start last week. I went shopping with Cassandra and Alicia and I bought all the nice and necessary things. However, every happy moment that I have is ruined by my crazy school life. They're so unreceptive of a Asians like me. There're too much discrimination in this school. How I pray that some leader will ban these discrimination from the face of the earth. I have God on my side and I know He'll help me through all these problems. "Lord, help me to remember that nothing is going to happen to me today that You and I can't handle together". Lord, help me and answer my prayers. Diary, please pray for me. Wait for my happy news. Might be a long time for now. I'm kinda dreading tomorrow's school day. God be with me!!

4:30 pm
25/1/07

~Being Independent~

15th of January '07

I woke up at around 9:15 am today. I'll be alone at home coz mom and dad are working and Victoria has gone to Phillip's and Nathanael's house. I went to the kitchen to get something to eat and mom actually prepared cupcakes and cereals for breakfast and sandwich for lunch. I ate cereals and cupcakes while watching TV. Then, I went to my room to write in this diary and tried mismatching my clothes and listened to songs. I was busy till around 4:00 pm when mom and Victoria came home. Mom told me that I'll be going out with Alicia to the mall. I got dressed and ate Taco's, macaroni, and asparagus for dinner. It was nice. Then, we went to fetch Alicia and went to the mall. We went to the Payless Shoes and a few other shops. We tried on several perfumes and I still smell like perfumes now. I bought two shoes at Payless Shoes. I got a sneaker and a boot which is beautiful. Alicia and I talked a lot and we shared a lot. Then, at 8:00 pm, we went to Alicia's house. I went to see her room which was great and we had a great chat with Alicia's mom about every movie that are nice. We talked until about 9:00 pm and went home. I changed into my nightgown and called my Daddy in Malaysia. We talked a lot and after that, me, Victoria, and Mom sat down to watch Friends on TV. After that, I went back to my room to write here. Hehe..hear from me soon! Muax =P

10:20 pm
15/1/07

~Beautiful Sunday~

14th of January '07

I woke up at 8:15 am today to prepare for church. We attend Gateway Ministries which is the biggest church in Maryland!! Wow... they even have their own song album and their worship team rocks!! It's like the ones I watch in all the music videos. I'm happy to be a part of them. I met a lot of people and I met Cassandra from the Phillipines. We worshipped God together and often go for shopping sprees. Then, we left church, went home, and went out again to celebrate my host dad's mom's birthday in a restaurant. I ate an 8 oz. sirloin steak which was huge! I didn't finish my mashed potatoes and macaronni and cheese. I almost fell down twice at the restaurant which was quite embarassing. Anyways, I had a great meal and I didn't have to eat dinner coz I was too full. Then, we went home and had a nap for about 2 hours. After that, we went to our Sunday night service. It was as great too^^ Their worship team is marvellous! I met Alicia in church and we got along well too. I met her mom and we made plans for outings together. After church, we went to McDonalds to eat some fries. Sharon, Phillip, and Nathanael, and their dad with mom's sister-in-law and daughter Elisa, was there too. Tommy, Tamsen, and little Alden was also there. We saw some family pictures and had a nice laugh. Then, we went home and watched Shall We Dance. After the show, I had to get to bed coz I was tired. Tomorrow will be another day! See ya!!

15/1/07
10:07 pm (delayed diary)

~3rd Day of... Oops! It's Outdoor Day!! Yeah!!~

12th of January, '07

Today we woke up and we got into our beautiful costumes! What a great start to a fun day! We pampered ourselves to look beautiful. Then, we went to meet the officials from the U.S Department who sponsored us. We had quite a great time there and we each got the YES pin and took lots of pictures of our costumes. After the meeting, we rushed to our rooms to change for our trip to Washington D.C !! I felt great and I was back to my normal energetic self! We saw the White House, the Pentagon, the Monument which is a tall straight block. We went to a mall to eat. It was great because everything was free! The food and deserts. I had a corn dog and ice-cream. We went up to the clock tower to view the whole Washington D.C. I was in a bad time, my camera's battery went dead! Jeez, no more picture snapping for me. =P. So sad, anyways, I had a fantastic time and we went back feeling satisfied. Before that, we went to another mall to learn how to shop with $10 and budgeting. When I went back, I took a shower and went room hopping. We played Truth or Dare which was not really fun for me. But we stayed up THE WHOLE NIGHT! I didn't even sleep a wink! We said goodbyes to Lisa and Arthi who left at 3:00 am. I cried because Lisa would be going. It was a sad moment. Then, we went back to Truth or Dare and waited until everyone had to leave too. I said my goodbyes barefooted outside. It was freezing cold!! Especially my feet. They were all so nice to me. I'd miss them terribly much. How I wish we could be together for this 6 months=(. Anyway, I went to my room to wait for our turn to leave. Trisha and I had a wonderful chat in the room. We shared lots of things together and it was nice. Then, we went down to eat breakfast, which was kinda lonely for us coz everyone's gone. Then, we went to the Recreation Room for a while and I slept for a little while. When it was time, we went back and took our luggages down. Today is the 13th of January, '07 anyway. When I brought my luggage down, my foster family was already down there waiting!! We hugged each other and it was a happy meeting! I'm glad that it started well. We talked a lot in the car and we went to my mom's sister's place and met Phillip, Nathaneal, and their parents. Then, we reached our home which was beautiful. My mom loves decorating and my room is wonderful with bright colors! I unpacked my bags and ate dinner. Then, I watched the movie, Sleepover. It was a nice ending to a nice day. I slept really well and I wanna thank God for everything. Thanks Papa^^ Muax

15th of January, 07
3:47 pm (delayed diary)

~2nd Day of Orientation in Washington D.C~

11th of January, '07

Another early morning again for orientation. I was awaken by the sound of the telephone ringing. Timothy was doing the morning wake up call. I went to the bathroom to get ready and took a quick bath. Did I? Lol, no lar..I didn't bath, it was freezing cold! Then, we went down to eat breakfast which was bacon and all the nice food! At last, I can eat comfortably. Then, we had orientation which was kinda hard for all of us coz we were all struggling to stay awake! The jet-lag was really kicking in for all of us. I was not really feeling well coz my throat and eyes were so dry. My head was throbbing like mad. We had a lot of open discussions and our friendships grew stronger each day. After all the sessions and lunch and dinner, we went to the Recreation Room. I went online to check my mails but I didn't reply any coz I was too tired and I went back to sleep straightaway. The next day will be the most interesting! Stay tuned! Ciaoz^^

15th of January, '07
3:26 pm (delayed diary)

~D Day Of My Flight!~

9th of January, '07

Pheew... today was the most hectic day of my life! We ate our dinner at the restaurant as fast as thunder! Then, we went to KLIA, we were one of the earliest to be there. It was only around 7:15 pm and we were supposed to be there at only 8:15 pm. Lol, anyways, it's better to be early than late. After waiting for everyone to arrive, I gathered all my group members which were Siyan, Zizi, and Wendell. We checked in our luggages and said our goodbyes to our loved ones. It was really a bittersweet moment. It was hard for all of us. Can you imagine it? Six months in America!! It's kinda mind boggling. Well, after saying goodbye, we walked and passed all kinds of checking points and finally boarded the plane. I sat with DJ and Burn which were teasing me almost the whole time. They were very friendly though, a bit crazy like me. Haha. We were kinda noisy but we don't really care. Keke, bad eh? We're kids, we can't really help it. =P. The flight was great but it was hard to sleep. Normal flight effect. We stopped at Paris airport. The Charles DeGaull Airport, which was horrible! We're almost dehydrated and we've got to wait for 6 hours! The people there weren't as nice too. Anyways, I bought a cup of water for 2.80 pounds! Which is about RM10! Jeez, I hate Paris. Then, we boarded the United Airlines aeroplane. I've got a lot of things to say about this flight because it was the most horrible flight I've ever flew on! I HATE THE STEWARDESSES! They're plain rude and cranky. They can actually let their passengers go dehydrated. They sneer at you when you ask them for water and they slam the food on your table so loudly. When I'm old and powerful enough, I'd sue that airflight and get rid of those rude people. Afterall, my middle name is SUE. Haha. Jeez, I'm boiling but I won't keep any grudge against them. I will still treat them nice and smile eventhough they're rude to me. It's their loss coz I won't lose anything. I didn't do anything wrong and they surely did. They should be feeling guilty. When we reached America, it was around 7:30 pm. We went to the 4-H Convention Centre by bus. I was feeling really nauseatic because of the cheese I ate at the airplane. We had a late dinner at the 4-H Centre and I didn't eat much. We were SO tired and sleepy but we still had orientation. I can't really remember what they talked about but I was kinda dozing off. We got out room keys later on and we carried our heavy luggages up to our rooms with the help of Adam, our group leader for PAX. Then, I showered and chat with my roommates, Lisa, Trisha, and Huda while waiting for my hair to dry. We watched some TV too and we slept at 1:00 am. It wasn't really comfortable coz my nose was so irritating but I got a little sleep. Hehe, I have to flip on the next page for tomorrow's happenings! See ya! Muax^^

15th of January, '07
3:01 pm (delayed diary)

~D Third and Last Day~

7th of January, '07

YAWN... today is kinda like a groggy start for me. I woke up at 7:30 am and I slept at 5:00 am yesterday. So, around 2 hours of sleep only. Hebat leh, but amazingly, I was really awake during orientation. Today's session was not as serious because we went through all the serious sessions on the first and second day. We listened to all the volunteer's experience and was asking lots of personal questions. During the end of this orientation, we had a vote on who's the funniest, laziest, fiercest, friendliest, nicest, overall, etc. We had a fun time electing and it ended with everyone satisfied except for Nambee I think, coz he got two awards for being the laziest and useless. Keke, poor Nambee, but he might be the next leader for the AFS alumni, he's trustable^^ Then, we had photography sessions. We took lots of crazy pictures and had a great time exchanging contacts. We went to take our luggages and paid for the T-Shirts. Later on, we went downstairs to eat lunch. Food was great today and I sat with Wei Liem, Tim, and Trisha. We had a great chat and I was later greeted by my parents. They were talking to Jillian and it was nice that she met my parents. I went to take my luggage bag and said my goodbyes to almost everyone of them. I'll miss all the volunteers and hope that we can meet or work together someday. Well, here ends the diary of my orientation! Wait till you hear about my flight tomorrow! Gotta sleep now. Nitez diary..Muax!^^

8th of January, '07
1:22 am (delayed diary)

Second Day of Pre-Departure Orientation!

6th of January, '07

Today started with a wake up call. It was freezing cold in the room but I forced myself to take a shower anyways. Then, we went down to take our breakfast. I forgot what I ate but it was not bad I think. After that, we started our sessions and played a few games. Oh yea, we played "Blow Wind Blow" yesterday and today we played that again. We had lots of group discussions today and Iifah was in my group. It was fun learning from her and I felt happy to able to learn a little sign language to communicate with her. I was able to communicate a little with Iifah and Shannen. We had tea and more sessions and later on we ate dinner. Dinner was great because we had a great laugh and conversation while eating. I was almost late for the next session because I was busy talking..lol..After the session, we had time to discuss about our cultural performance. We elected Nick as our event manager and he did really well in controlling all of us. My group was the Dikir Barat group which consists of me, Nick, Lisa, Shannen, Timothy, Burn, E-day, Iifah, Huda, Azreen, Liza, Faisal, Trisha, Wei Liem, Jonathan, and Jilian. We had fun and we left the conference room at 12:45 a.m. I went back to my room and took out my lenses successfully. Then, I went to Room 311 again. This time, we had a FANTABULOUS time because we saw pictures of the volunteers in America and we had a great chat. We played Truth or Dare and I was dared propose marriage to Divan! I was rejected twice and her rejected my proposal! Buhuhuhu.. so embarassing..hehe.. Timothy caught me on video and if he post it in YouTube, I'll kill him.. I even have a "doggy style" picture of me in the bathroom captured by Trisha. I had to dry my wet buttocks because I sat on the floor which was wet. I stood on a chair and faced my butt to the dryer in the bathroom. I looked exactly like a dog peeing. What an embarassing day..lol.. It was actually a good memorable day and I appreciate everything that happened. I wouldn't mind repeating everything that happened. When we got back to our rooms, it was already 4:45 a.m. I brushed my teeth and changed my clothes AND had to write my Dear Me letter and complete the survey in the bathroom because Azreen and Vanessa were already sleeping. Poor me, but I can think better in the bathroom. Those who know me will know how attached I am to the bathroom..lol.. I'm a weirdo! Anways, I got to pack my luggage bags for America now. I'll write about the next day when I'm free! See you journal..wait for my update! Ciaoz...

January 8th, '07
1:54 p.m. (delayed journal)

First Day of Pre-Departure Orientation!!

5th of January '07

I reached Hotel Singgahsan hotel in Petaling Jaya at around 2:30 p.m. Once I entered the hotel, I was looking for someone that I recognized. While I was at the same time looking for a bathroom, I met my first familiar faced person^^. She's Lisa Khoo whom I've met at the US embassy during the Visa interview. I also met her parents whom were pleasantly friendly. Next, I was practically rushing to the bathroom for my nature call ><. After relieving myself, I went upstairs to register myself. I met Kak Gee and Wendell. At first, I thought that Wendell was a facilitator as well but her turned out to be one of my program buddies. After taking my name-tag which I wrote SUE ANN (duh..), I went downstairs to dabble around with the other YES program students. I saw a few friends and quickly went to greet them (Sim, Lisa, Wei Liem, Burn, Joyce). Then, we started introducing ourselves. Finally, we roughly knew each other and we asked each other where in America they'll be. Lol.. we're all so anxious for our exchange journey. I found out that Sim will be at Maryland as well. She'll be living in Baltimore and I'll be at Williamsport. After all the introductions, it was time for us to carry our luggages up to the conference room. We put our bags at the back of the room and started our Q&A session for the parents.  We sat down and listened while giggling like mad kids because Lisa was making fun of the background music that was playing in the room. After the session, we had another session with two American ambassadors. They were both really funny and they showed us pictures of America and the high schools over there. Then, we had tea and a session with all the AFS volunterrs. We punished all late comers by making them spell "MISSISSIPPI" with their buttocks. Lol.. nice butts though. We had a couple of serious sessions after that till my neck and butt hurt after the sessions. We learnt a lot and made lots of friends. Then, they gave us our room keys and I was in charge of Room 206. My roommates were Azreen and Vanessa. When we got into the room, we rested for a while. We went down again later for another session. After the session, we went back to our respective rooms. I went into the bathroom to take my lenses out. I was so noob at it that I dropped it into the sink. I didn't know it was in the sink, so I almost cried because I thought my lenses went behind my eyeballs. However, I found it in the sink later on. That was a big relief and shock for me. I said a billion thank you's to God for helping me find my lenses. Then, Arthi, Jilian and a few others came into our room to discuss our cultural performance for our American trip. After the discussion, we went to room 311 to have a nice chat with the volunteers. I was so happy that the day ended so nicely^^. Well, our first day was mainly filled with sessions. Continue reading to find out about my very personal experience in the U.S! Nights.. Muax^^

January 8th, '07
12:45 p.m. (delayed journal)