Leaving for Australia!

WOW! I can't believe I've been back for almost 2 weeks now! The time has just flown! At first... I was really excited to be back.. to be in my own bed again and see my friends and family. I've been with friends ALMOST every day and just having a blast catching up! And it is exciting.. there's so much to talk about.. foods you've missed.. people you forgot about.. catching up on gossip! I run into people in town that I forgot about.. or haven't thought of in a year. And you always get the same basic questions: "AH! How was... Belgium?" DENMARK was great, thanks! and they say "You must be so happy to be home!" You can't say "Ummmmm No not really.." So I've learned to just tell them what they want to hear: "Yeah I'm so happy to be back!" Which works, because no matter how interested they seem in your past year.. they actually don't want to talk about it. Or maybe they are genuinely interested, but they don't want a saga of your experiences.
It's definitely difficult. The initial excitment of coming home is gone, leaving my longing to return to Denmark, my Fyn family, my real life. I hate to say that.. I feel like I'm betraying my family here .... my friends here. But it feels like I'm stuck in the middle (as Mika says.. hah!)... my family here.. my life here.. and my REAL life in Denmark. And no one understands.. they expect you to be thrilled to be home.. and moving on. Moving away from your life in Denmark, because in their eyes, Denmark is NOT your life. Alaska is your life. And it's not for me..

Yesterday I was making food in the kitchen and the radio started playing "You've Got a Friend in Me" by James Taylor. And seriously... I just started bawling! Because it reminds me so much of my Fyn family.. my exchangies.. Bjarke and Solvej. And I miss them so much. I love them more than anything.. and being away is... well at first it didn't seem so horrible because it wasn't quite REAL. But now it is because they're so far away... and I just want to go home.

Anyway.. tomorrow my family leaves for Australia! Which is great! I AM excited.. but I'm also just getting settled here.. and I hate thinking about taking another plane.. packing again. GAH.. but I know once we're there it will be great and I'll really enjoy it! So I'm just sucking it up.. knowing it will get better.

Thanks guys for reading.... as always.. I love knowing someone on the other end cares about what's going on in my chaotic brain. So TUSINDE TAK! Keep it up team!

First week at home..

Hello my avid readers! I keep hearing that people are waiting to hear what I've been doing!!
I've been CRAZY busy! Hanging with friends.. running errands.. and yesterday was my 17th Birthday! HURRA! Heather and Courtney (two of my good friends) went to Alaskaland Park for a picnic and that was wonderful! Then we went back to Heather's house.. as I was ordered to stay away from my house until my mom gave me permission to come back. Whooooooooo....
We had a grill outside with chicken and salads, and a lot of our family friends and my friends, and some of my brother Elliot's friends, came over and that was really great! And.... honestly I didn't expect anything for my birthday. I figured after returning from a VERY expensive year in Denmark, I would not be getting a gift.. and actually there is nothing I wanted. My mom left me flowers by my bed when I woke and that was amazing.. I love flowers! But later at night my mom and dad gave me a giftbox.. in it was a brand new water bottle.. which I love! And... Car Keys. To my Black SUV in the yard with a HUGE bow on top! I was SO SO SO surprised!!! It's wonderful.. I went for a long ride with my pals, Heather, Courtney and Mamie.. and I just love it! It's got character this car.. it growls when you shift.. and I love it! (Pictures coming soon!)
Pablo called me yesterday! Which was wonderfully amazing! I miss my exchangies so much.. and it was so nice hearing his voice! And of course Bjarke and Solvej called me too! And I loved talking to them.. hearing their voices! I miss them so much.. Today I got a postcard from my very best pals Bolette and Katja (in my class) who are in Brighton, England for a language school this summer! THANK YOU GIRLS!

Sunday night at went to my A Cappella rehersal for my group.. called "Hello, Bella!" We've been singing for 3 years now.. entering our 4th year! Currently there are 6 girls including me. Emily, Breanne, Kira, Hannah, Kathleen and me. I missed Bella so so much! And of course the girls are excited to have me back and help me catch up with the music.. but I still feel like I missed a year. They have a lot of stories from this past year about performances.. and songs they learned.. or songs they threw out. And it really makes me feel left out, but I know I will be joking alongside them again in no time! I missed singing with my girls and performing.. and I'm totally stoked to get back into it! I will keep you posted with our performances and "News"!

And now I am focusing on our 3-week Australia trip starting next Tuesday! My mom and I still have a lot of planning to do! But we are all very excited. The only thing is.. I'm not excited about flying again because I'm just getting settled back here.. but I know once we get on the way I'll be really excited to see our friends Down Under, including Kyla!!

My green suitcase is still missing.. Northwest Airlines has no idea where it is. Which is fucking scary.. because all my papers, all my letters and postcards from my friends, my class picture, my presents for my family and friends, a TON of clothes and all my shower things are in there. And... well the clothes, the scarves, the presents.. I can live without. But my papers? My letters? They are irreplaceable. And some airline moron lost them.. I was so upset last week. I am trying to accept that I will not get these things back. But I still have hope.. and I am filing paper work and making a list of everything that was in my bag and it's worth to file a claim. But.... it's definitely made this "settle in at home" thing much harder when I can't stop thinking about my suitcase!

Anyway.. I will keep the blog updated! Thanks for reading..
love francine

HOME IN ALASKA!

I'm FINALLY home in Alaska!! After a very very long trip... with plane delays and lost baggage (which still hasn't been found.....) I was SO relieved to finally be home Wednesday night.. at exactly 8 pm. My friends surprised me by coming and making welcome home signs!! And my mom was ON TIME! haha.. I feel a huge relief.. a weight off my chest being home. But even after only being gone for 3 days, I realized how much I miss Denmark, and my friends and family there, so much. And I'm dealing with that now... I'm still on a high though being with my friends! And rediscovering things that I've missed all year long! Like having ice cubes in the freezer... and Americanos at Starbucks... and Walmart!! (Heather and Courtney took me yesterday!) and Taco Bell! It's a whole new wonderful world...
Me and my friends have been discussing school which we start in just 6 weeks! And I was given my summer homework.. GAH! And I'm getting back on the road again.. which I WILL admit is nerveracking!! I need practice! hah... And now my family is going to Australia in a couple weeks for holiday!! We are so excited!

I will try to write more once I get my old laptop up and running again.. I hope all my exchangies made it home safe.. I've heard from some of them and I already miss them a crazy amount. Thank you guys, thank you Bjarke and Solvej, and my class for such a wonderful year. For taking such damn good care of me.. I miss you guys already and I expect you to WRITE to me! Hundreds of Hugs and Kisses back to Denmark...
love Francine