Sunday was the day!! In some oddly roundabout way, I found out that I got into AFS-France (finally), and will be participating in their year long program for my entire junior year.

If you'd like, I will tell you a story (Paraphrased quote from the Book Thief):

So Sunday afternoon I was simply sitting in my living room relaxing and enjoying the free day when my mom brings in the mail. She opens up a few, discards a few, the average mail check, right? Wrong! As she opens the next letter, she says "Hey Carly, we just got an invoice from AFS."
"Quite odd," I thought, "Seeing as I haven't been formally accepted yet." However, being as knowledgeable of the AFS website as any hopeful foreign exchange student is, I went to the "Next Steps" page, in which exchangers can click on options such as:
-I am thinking about applying
-I have sent in my full application
-I have been accepted into AFS-USA
-And so on.
So I clicked on the step entitled, "I have been accepted into a program", and it specifically stated that after you have been accepted, you receive a bill of the remaining tuition to pay at your earliest convenience.
To double check, I emailed somebody and at the moment I am waiting for a reply. However, I think it is safe to assume that I will be going to France next year... :):):):):):):):)

I am so excited I don't know what to think...

I wouldn't have gotten to this point if it wasn't for everybody around me being so gracious and supportive, and I can't give you enough thanks.

Sincerely,
Carly Houk

Update: Oh my god, I can finally remove the "possibly" from my blog title!!!!

Finally.... Hehe

Well, first of all I would like to say that I am sorry for completely forgetting about blogging for the past month or so. But that aside, I would also like to say that I got a message from AFS a couple of weeks ago stating that my application was in France for review. I didn't really think it deserved a blog post, because I thought my application already was in France, but hey, now I know for sure. So there you go...

I am less spastic lately, and I have gotten used to all of the waiting. I am currently trying to focus on the present, because next year will come eventually, but I will never get to have this year back. That being said, I still haven't lost any ounce of interest in AFS or France. I am ecstatic!

Talk to you soon!

-Carly.

P.S. I think I should have more structured blog posts....

P.P.S. ChipIn still open!

Drum Roll Please!

Well, right now I think you will have to bear with my possibly bad grammar and stuff of the sort. I am sorry if this blog entry is overly peppy and insane, but I just got a very happy email from AFS... I sent my local chapter volunteer supervisor person, named Victoria, a message yesterday. Today I got a reply!

*Drum roll*

I got in to AFS!!!

*Wha-pow cymbals*

I can't even start to explain my excitement right now. I *kinda* expected it, but it is such a relief and a joy to see it written down. I am ecstatic. I'll keep this entry short, so to see you off I'd just like to say thanks to everybody for their support and kindness throughout the past few months. And the patience. And the generosity!

Sincerely,

Carly Houk

P.S. If you are willing, any donations would be fantastic!

Anxious!!!

*Beware.... whiny post*

It's been some time since my last post about AFS happenings, so I think it's time for me to say at least a little. Right now, I am waiting for my application to be accepted and sent off to France. I am almost positive that I will be getting into the program, but I would like to see it for real. It's been a little more than 2 months since I sent it in, and I got one email from AFS since then... It came about a month after I sent it in saying "Thank you for submitting your full application, we are sending it to more AFS - USA people for further reviewing." I hope that's a good sign... But the waiting is killing me. On the bright side, I can't believe that another month has gone by so fast! I'll keep you posted if anything else interesting happens!

The Results are In!

I just wanted to make this post to say a sincere thank you to both Uncle Dirk and Aunt Lori and Aunts Chris and Lee for donating to my blog! Thanks so much!

On another note, I got an email from AFS on Tuesday that said my application has been sent to AFS-USA for further reviewing... I've made it passed the first level! Hooray!

Thanks to everyone for being so supportive in every way about this! Can't wait for more news.

-Carly