AFS Returnee Camp

On the weekend of the 30/31st August I travelled to Wellington along with around 30 other recent returnees to attend the AFS Returnee Camp. The group of us had all met the year before at our pre-departure camp and were super excited to see each other again so that we could share the experiences that we’d had the past year.

Tayla (went to Chile), Lilly, Emily, Rose (went to Belgium)

Going to the camp I’d expected that we would be talking about our exchanges, sharing stories and learning about which things we could have done differently during the year but the camp turned out very differently. The first day we did talk about our exchanges and share stories as we had all expected but the following days were very focused on our futures. In our free time and in the evenings we shared stories and learnt new things about other cultures and countries most of us could only dream of visiting, however the organised activities were focused around university, career, voluntary and leadership options that we were all now going to be faced with. I thought this was extremely useful because after returning home from a year away I think many of us had changed the ideas that we had for our futures and needed some guidance.

Lilly, Emily, Hamish (went to Venezuela) 

During our last evening in Wellington we had a bonfire complete with marshmallows and smores. For me this was one of the highlights because we had time to spend together as a group who although in reality didn’t spend the year together as such, shared many experiences and learnt similar lessons alongside each other.

- Emily

28 days left!! It is so crazy to think that next month we will be in Italy! 

Since our last blog post we have been very busy getting our visas sorted, practicing Italian, sorting out travel cards and getting things ready to take. We also had a chapter meeting at the end of last month which was a mid Christmas dinner! This is a photo of some of us students who were there at the meeting. We took the photo just before we left so many students were not there when the photo was being taken. It was our last chapter meeting before we leave! 

From Left: Charlotte (going to Norway), Belén (from Spain), Felix (from Germany), Lilly (Me), Marc (from Spain), Emily and Roman (Felix's host brother).

Emily and I also decided to create our own separate blog. We thought this will be easier for people to keep up to date with each of us. We will both have different experiences and it will be interesting to see how it will differ. Emily will be in the north and I will be in the south of Italy. 

CLICK HERE for Emily's blog

CLICK HERE for Lilly's blog

We will still be using this collab blog of ours too so if we post on our separate blogs we can make sure to update you that we did on here! 

Time is passing by so quickly, can't keep up!! Our host families are waiting for us and it is just so exciting! 

Until next time!!! 28 days to go!

Pre-Departure Orientation Camp

On Queens's Birthday weekend (31st May-3rd June) we travelled to Wellington for the AFS orientation camp. We went on the plane with two other boys from our chapter, but there was around 60 of us in total at the camp. This was the first year they did the nationwide camp so we were really lucky to get to go to it. It was great because not only did we get to meet everyone going to Italy with us (about 8), we got to meet everyone going to other countries around the same time! 

At the camp we did team building activities, games and learnt heaps about our exchanges. They taught us about things like culture shock and communication styles, some of that stuff was kind of boring but we knew it would be useful in the long run. We also did a lot of activities in our host country groups which meant we got to know everyone going to Italy better and talk to a volunteer who came back from Italy a couple of years ago. It was awesome talking to her because she had so much useful advice and interesting stories to tell us about her exchange in Italy.

All in all it was such a fun camp and we met so many amazing people! Watch the video for more about it -->

We're hopefully going to be doing another post soon about visas and everything else that we're doing now in preparation for the exchange, so keep your eye out for that :) 67 days!!!

We have flight details!

Today we got an email with our flight details! We leave Auckland on the 5th of September with Emirates flying to Dubai where we stay for about 4 hours and then fly on to...ROME!! YAY! We come home on the 6th of July 2014.

Now that we have our host families and flight details this is so so real!! Soon we should get a list of all of the other students going to Italy and then we'll meet them at the orientation camp in Wellington which we're going to at the end of May. We're planing on making a YouTube video at this camp so stay tuned! :)

I have a host family! :D - Emily

So today I was at school when I got an email from AFS to say I HAVE A HOST FAMILY!! :D They sound so amazing and I'm so happy they're going to be my family. I can't wait to talk to them! They live in Cesena which is in the north of Italy in the region Emilia-Romagna which is one of the places I really wanted to go to in Italy!! I have two sisters one who's about 6 months older than me and one about 6 months younger, a Mum and a Dad... oh and a pet hamster which is so cool because we don't have hamsters in NZ!! They honestly sound so perfect!! SO HAPPPPPPYYYY!! :D

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In the newspaper again!

Some of our friends at school told us the other day they had seen us in the newspaper again! This time it's about the donation that the Lion's Club kindly gave us.

Time's going so fast and soon even we'll be in Italia :D We've been told we should get flight details this month which will make the whole thing seem so much more real! 149 days until September!! BRING IT ON! :)

Generous donation from the Lion's Club!

At the end of last year we wrote a letter to the local Lion's Club telling them about our exchanges and asking if they could help in any way. A couple of weeks ago they phoned us with AMAZING news!! They said they would give us $500 each towards our exchanges! :D Today we went along to one of their meetings and were presented with the cheques! The Lion's Club is such a great charity who help so many great causes. We are so, so thankful they chose to help us out, it's going to make such a huge difference! :)

I have a Host Family!!!!!!! - Lilly

I found out yesterday that I now have a Host Family 

I wasn't expecting to get a family this early already but I am so so excited!!

I will be living with a sister (shes my age), an older brother, a mum & dad. I have already had contact with my host sister, her and the family are so lovely. I couldn't be happier, which is soo great!

I will be living close to the city of "BARI" and is a very stunning place beside the sea!

I could post a lot of photos of the place because it is amazing but 

you can Google more images.

I can't believe that I will actually be living here, Woah.. Bari is also across the waters from Albania and further down there is Greece, which is really cool (:

I honestly could of ended up anywhere in the whole of Italy but I will be in "Bari, Italy" which is an incredible place (to say just by looking at photos and reading about it all) and I am still trying to take this all in!

Words just can not explain!! ahh <3

Raffle Results Up!

The other day we drew the raffle that we've been running since November.  Thank you SO much to everyone who supported us by buying tickets and CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THE WINNERS! :) :)

1st Prize: Waitomo Caves Family Pass (worth $115.00, donated by Tourism Holdings Limited) 

WINNER: S. Torrington

2nd Prize: Barkers Gift Tub (worth $75.00, donated by Barkers)

WINNER: L. Neunz

3rd and 4th Prize: Flossie.com Gift Vouchers (worth $50.00 each, donated by Flossie)

WINNERS: Barbara and Suzzanne

5th, 6th and 7th Prize: Killinchy Gold & Whittakers Ice Cream Vouchers (worth $29.97 each, donated by Emerald Foods)

WINNERS: H. Varcoe, J. Johnson and Aussie

8th Prize: Chelsea Sugar Prize Pack (worth $20.00, donated by Chelsea)

WINNER: Min Park

9th Prize: Collective Dairy Prize Pack (donated by Collective Dairy)

WINNER: A. Snaith

10th Prize: New Zealand Natural Gift Voucher (worth $10.00, donated by New Zealand Natural)

WINNER: P. Sinclair

Raffle Update!!

• Update on the Raffle!!

Thank you SO SO much to everyone who purchased raffle tickets and we are very excited to be giving away many prizes (with all thanks to our sponsors)!!
-RESULTS WILL BE UP ON the 6th of FEB
and we will get in contact with the winners on this day.
Emily is away on school camp and so we have decided to draw the raffle together when she is back.
sorry for the wait,
Good Luck to all who bought a ticket!
- lilly :)

In the Newspaper!

Yesterday we found ourselves in the Newspaper :)
Thank you to everyone who has supported us!!
Here are photos from the article~

Spud the Patriotic Kiwi Chip

While munching through a packet of chips the other day we came across this chip with a hole the shape of New Zealand in it! We named him Spud (: Using our Kiwi Entrepreneurship we have decided to list him on Trade Me as another fundraiser for our trip! Please check him out here, he would truly appreciate it and so would we (: Also completely off the topic of Spud... 221 days until we leave! Ahh omg so excited!! Thank you so much to everyone who has helped and supported our dream so far!

Selling Raffle Tickets!

We set up a small stall outside The Warehouse selling our raffle tickets on Saturday. We had many generous people giving us donations as they walked past as well as people were interested in buying raffle tickets which was great! All went really well and better then expected!
Some photos:

Thanks again to all who kindly donated us goods for our raffle, as well as to all who have purchased raffle tickets, bought cookies and/or given us a donation! Thank you so much :)

Trade Me Auctions Up and Running!

We have just listed the donations we have been given so far for auctions on our Trade Me account (for those of you outside of NZ, Trade Me is our version of Ebay). We wanted to have an account specifically for the fundraising but you have to be 18 so they're all listed here :) Please check them out and help spread the word! We've started them all at low prices below their RRP, grab a bargain for Christmas! Here are some of the awesome auctions we have at the moment:

Fundraising begins!

A couple of weeks ago we started emailing companies asking for sponsorship/donations for a raffle and auctions. We were so surprised at the response we got, even companies that weren't able to help us emailed us back with lovely emails wishing us luck with the exchange! The companies that have donated are on the right side of the blog so make sure you check them out! :)

Today was the first day of the raffle that we have put together. We had a stall at a market in Orewa and sold raffle tickets along with boxed Cookie Time cookies which were kindly donated.

This is our stall at the market today, the man next to us Paul was selling his book called 'Shanti the Grass-Eating Lion' , it's a great read for a great cause so check out the website! His wife told us about when she went to Italy to a place called Cinque Terres, it sounds and looks so amazing! We were both searching it up when we got home gahhh can't wait!!

Cinque Terres

Everything in our raffle has been generously donated and the prizes are:

1st Prize: Waitomo Caves Family Pass (worth $115.00, donated by Tourism Holdings Limited)

2nd Prize: Barkers Gift Tub (worth $75.00, donated by Barkers)

3rd and 4th Prize: Flossie.com Gift Vouchers (worth $50.00 each, donated by Flossie)

5th, 6th and 7th Prize: Killinchy Gold & Whittakers Ice Cream Vouchers (worth $29.97 each, donated by Emerald Foods)

8th Prize: Chelsea Sugar Prize Pack (worth $20.00, donated by Chelsea)

9th Prize: Collective Dairy Prize Pack (donated by Collective Dairy)

10th Prize: New Zealand Natural Gift Voucher (worth $10.00, donated by New Zealand Natural)

PLUS Spot Prizes From Cookie Time (donated by Cookie Time)

We are drawing the raffle on the 31st of January 2013! If you're interested in buying tickets please contact us on em.and.lils.italian.adventure@gmail.com :)

While at the market two lovely ladies, Angie Pangie Designs and Narnie Knits, offered us some handmade donations to help with fundraising as well! We are going to start up a Trade Me account to auction off these, along with some other items! Thank you so much to all of these businesses for their kind donations!

We're both so excited, every day we get closer and closer to Italy and the experience of a lifetimeee ♥

Chapter Meeting 28/10/2012

Here are some photos from the chapter meeting we had yesterday.
It was Halloween themed so we dressed up. Emily went as a Ninja & I went as a Princess ♥
We carved pumpkins as well as listened to speeches done by exchange students here from places such as Finland, Switzerland and Chile! - lils

New Zealand Style Jack'O Lanterns. Ours is on the left!

Emily with our Pumpkin

Me (on the left) with Jess, who is going for an exchange to Chile for a year!

Obama casually sweeping the floor. 

our groupyyy :) we are all the newly selected students in our chapter and we all met each other when we had our Interview Day! From Left back row- Aiden, Graeme, Michael, Jess, Me (lilly), Charlotte, Bryar

Left bottom row - Warrick, Emily and Isabelle. 

Rebecca - she wasn't at the chapter meeting :(

Group Photo of all students who were at the chapter meeting!

First Video Blog!

Please watch and don't forget to like and subscribe :)

Italy babbyyy

The last 2 weeks have been waiting... waiting... waiting, but on Friday we got confirmation that we are going to Italy September 2013! :D YIPEEEEEE

Other Auckland AFSers have been posting in the Facebook group the last couple of days saying they got phonecalls so we've been on the edge of our seats, especially since it's school holidays here at the moment. On Friday morning one of our friends, Jess who is going to Chile this February, said she had gotten the confirmation in the mail so we were both real excited for when the postman came! The big brown envelope arrived in the postbox and we quickly got on the phone to each other we were so crazy excited!! We opened them up on the phone and we both got Italy which is absolutely amazing :D In the pack there's some more stuff for us to sign and tshirt order forms which makes it seem so much more real! We're both busy researching Italy even more now that we actually know we're going next year. Here's some interesting facts about Italy we found ;)

1. Italy has three active volcanoes: Vesuvius, Etna, and Stromboli.
2. Italy is often called the Bel Paese, which mean beautiful country.
3. Italy has 20 regions and 6 islands.
4.Italy speaks a national language, which was based on the Tuscan dialect, but each region still speaks its own dialect.
5. The piano hails from Italy.
6. With almost 40 million visitors, Italy is the fourth most visited country in the world.
7. The average Italian consumes 26 gallons of wine a year.
8. The vespa scooter was invented in Italy in 1946.
9. Italy has the most hotel rooms of any European nation.
10. Everyday 3,000€ gets tossed into the Trevi Fountain.
>> 11. Italy’s national flower is the Lily!
12. Sixty percent of the world’s art treasures are in Italy.
13. Italy has won the World Cup four times.
14. The average consumption of pasta in Italy is 25 kg per person per year.
15. The violin and the cello were both invented in Italy.
16. Italian pizza originated in Naples during the 18th century.
17. Italy holds the Guiness record for having the most elevators.
18. Italy has more famous fashion designers than any other country.
19. Italy has hosted the Olympic Games three times.
20. The espresso machine was invented in Italy.

...interesting right?! hahaha

^when we visited the bookstore the other day :P

Home Interview time!

We both had our home interviews on Wednesday and other than some awkward silences they went really well haha :)

Emily:
My home interview was at 7:30 and I had an exam at school in the afternoon so I rushed home after to get ready. I know everyone says you should just act normal when the interviewers are there and you shouldn't tidy any more than usual and everything but yeah, like I'm sure every other past AFSer has done my family and I were cleaning and tidying all over haha. Two ladies came to my house, one was a past AFSer (NZ to USA) from 30+ years ago and the other was a Mum of an AFSer! It was pretty cool hearing about their experiences, especially since the lady's daughter who went on an exchange went to Italy! She told us heaps of stuff that I didn't know like don't think I'm stupid but I had no idea there was a massive Italian Mafia?! Everyone seems to know that now when I tell them but anyway...

My Mum wrote down some questions she wanted to ask them about me visiting England to see family while on the exchange, scholarships, contacting family etc. They seemed to know the answers to them all so it left us feeling like we knew a lot more about it all. They had a sheet of questions they had to ask me as well, it was things like are you quiet or loud, enjoy school or not etc. Then they had questions to ask our whole family like what we like to do together, who's the dominant one, formal or informal etc. I also had to choose my final top three countries for my exchange. Originally they were 1. Italy 2. Switzerland 3. Portugal but one of the ladies said that Switzerland is very academic orientated and I would find it hard not speaking German so I changed it to Norway. I'll be happy with any of these countries but I've really built myself up for Italy so fingers crossed that both me and Lilly get it!

If anyone reading this is a future AFSer don't worry too much about the home interview! Prepare questions before so there's not awkward silences and make sure you're left knowing everything you need to know.  It was pretty much just like a big chat and they stayed for just over an hour :)

Guess who just got accepted?!

So big news... WE GOT ACCEPTED!!

We have a Facebook group with all of the Auckland AFSers that were at the selection day and on Monday night 4 or 5 of them got a phone call to say they were in! We were both sitting by the phone freaking out but we didn’t get a call :( On Tuesday night people started posting in the group saying they were in and the freaking out started again but this time WE GOT A CALL!! We both have home interviews on Wednesday so we’ll write another post after that but we’re SOSOSO excited!! This is actually happening :D