Final day in the United States!

Bonjour!

Today was my last full day in the United States! I started it off with my last Tacoma Narrows Rotary meeting (at least for a year) in the morning. They have truly become another family. I am so thankful for this opportunity they have given me and hope to repay them somehow. After the meeting, I went home and attempted to repack my suitcase (which I initially packed yesterday). About an hour later, I went with my YEO to pick up the German girl that would be taking my place in Tacoma. I met her first host family and they are AMAZING! She is very lucky to have them! We met a few other groups who were there to pick up students, including a woman who was picking up the girl from my host district! Sadly, I did not get to meet her, but I am sure I will eventually. 

After about three hours, our student came up the escalator! She is so sweet and we exchanged our pins first thing. Hers are adorable! They were bottle caps and corks painted with red, yellow, and black stripes with red, yellow, and black braided yarn for hair. I love them so much. They are my first real pins from a foreign student! I gave her a district pin and one of my USA ribbon pins. Then the group gathered for various pictures. We also exchanged chocolate. We traded Hershey's for Kinder....I personally think I got the better end of that deal ;) 

After returning from the airport, I repacked and had to sacrifice a few items in order to get under 50 pounds. Packing is annoying. It's not that I don't like the idea of leaving, because trust me I LOVE that, but I hate having to play real life Tetris over and over again. Oh well, it got done eventually. I only have one large bag, my mandolin, and a small briefcase-type bag! I feel like that's a major accomplishment. Of course I have a collapsible duffle bag in my suitcase for the return, but at this point I have 3 bags to take care of (well 2 and an instrument). 

Tonight my mother is preparing one of my favorite meals. It's French, but I don't see a problem there ;)
After dinner, I have plans to skype with a few of my friends (some exchange students, some not) and will probably not sleep very much. Big day ahead! Hopefully all goes smoothly and I can arrive on time in Lyon to meet my first of three wonderful host families! 

Until I have arrived, au revoir!

Amelia

P.S. I will have a blog for all my photos on tumblr. The url is: la-france-en-photos.tumblr.com
but there will not be any uploads for a few days! (Also, you do not need a tumblr account to view it!)