My Last Day In America

Hello everyone,

When I woke up an approximately 7:45 this morning, I said to myself, "Wow, 24 hours from now I'm going to be flying to my new adventure." It's insane when I think about it. I saw one of my best friends, Elliot, for the last time in ten months today, how sad. :( He's been so much help to me.

My mom joked with me and said, "Geesh, Andrew, you're sure driving a lot today. I suppose because it's your last day you are able to drive for the next ten months."

So this is my last post in America, thank you once again to anyone & everyone who's helped me get to this point now. Because of you, I get to live my dream. Thank you all, so very much.

From the USA to Italy I go.

Wish me luck.

AF

Buon Appetito!

Ciao a tutti!

Today once I got home from church, I returned to my place of relaxation and fell back asleep. I really wanted to get rid of this illness! When I woke up at 3:00 PM to a light flicked on and my mother who came down to see how I was feeling (thanks mom), I said I was feeling a little better and that I wanted to make a homemade Italian spaghetti recipe. So, we went to the grocery store and then came home and started to prepare the masterpiece (not really) American-Italian tomato sauce. I took pictures, I figured it'd be more fun for you to look at pictures compared to reading text. Thanks for the help, Mom.

blanching the tomatoes

straight from the boiling water

skinless tomato

quartering the tomatoes

dicing the tomatoes and onions, washing the basil

adding the onions to the olive oil - smells delicious!

pomodoro e cipolla
(tomato & onion)

adding the noodles to the sauce
to soak up the flavor!

preparing the noodles to "al dente"
al dente is a little less tender (more firm)
the Italians love it this way
(and so do I)

the finished product!
of course I had to stage a photo
buon appetito!

It was delicious! Thank you Mom for your help!
This is where this post ends. Until next time, ciao.
AF

One Week

Hello to all my beautiful followers and blog readers,

I sit here tonight in my comfortable purple chair on the lowest level of the house writing my second post of the night. I am ill at the moment (better today than a week from today) so if I have any spelling mistakes, I apologize.

In exactly one week from now, I will be somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean heading for Italy, or at least I hope. Words can't describe the anxiety that I am experiencing and my excitement to get to Italy.

Now this upcoming week, I'll more than likely be searching the house top-to-bottom for things I think I'll need to take with me to Italy. Here is what I think I'll do on a day-to-day basis this week.

Monday: Start packing my second checked bag. Possibly make a tasty Italian dish for myself since everyone will be at school.

Tuesday: Continue and finish with packing my checked bag. Hopefully I'll hang out with Logan Goldhorn, the other Rotary outbound who's going to Italy. Cagliari, to be exact.

Wednesday: Hang low. Finish up a few final things. Maybe buy a few things I noticed I don't have when I was packing.

Thursday: Nothing. Just relax and finalize everything. Maybe go out to lunch with some people in my grade, if they're feeling up for it.

Friday: Try not to get too anxious and nervous. Hopefully see some friends for the last time. And then in the PM, go to Brookings with Elliot and meet Azmon to hang out with my two best friends on my last day in America.

Saturday: Wake up (if I can sleep at all) at about 3:30 AM, get everything in order, and then head for the airport at 4:15 AM to be in Sioux Falls in plenty of time for my 6:45 AM flight. Say goodbye to my family and other friends who might go for one last time. Board the plane, Italia bound.

Sunday: Land and meet my host family. Who knows what will happen from there but I am excited to find out!

This might be one of the last posts before I leave. I'll try to write at least one more before Saturday.

Thank you for reading my blog, everyone! Until next time, ciao.
AF

Going Away Party, Many Thanks

Sorry that I didn't post about this earlier, I've been procrastinating.

So first of all, I'd like to say thanks to everyone who came to my going away/welcoming party for the Madison inbound exchange students. It was a lot of fun and it was nice to be able to spend time with a group of people as a whole one last time before I embark on my trip to Italy for my junior year.

I have so many people to thank for helping me get to this point. I cannot believe that in just a little over a week I'll be landing in Catania, Italy and my exchange officially will start.

Mom & Dad: You two are the greatest parents I could ever ask for. You are always encouraging me and challenging me to pursue my dreams. And, thanks to you, I get to start my dream in about a week. I'll be living in most beautiful country on the Earth, filled with culture and history. Thanks for all the financial support you've been to me because this wouldn't be happening if it weren't from you.

Both sets of G'ma's & G'pa's (Higgins and Fiegen): Thank you for always being there for me and being so kind to me whenever we're together as a family. You are four people that I will miss so much while I'm in Italy and be assured, I'll write to you often. You are all so kind to me and have been so supportive ever since I said "I want to be an exchange student" about 11 months ago.

Azmon & Elliot: You two are my best friends and I would not be doing this upcoming exchange if it weren't for the help of you two. Thanks for answering all the questions I had for you both (there were many).You are two people that I can always count on when I need something whether it is pertaining to the exchange or just something random. I will be spending my last night in the USA with you two. What a sad night that will be. Thank you both; I am forever grateful of all you've done for me!

My Friends: Whether it's past, present, or future friends, thanks for getting me to the point I've at in my life. There is something special about each of you that I will never forget. Thanks for the support you've been to me in my life and in my exchange process. And to my future friends, I'm excited to meet you. I hope I can develop solid, ever-lasting relationships in Italy so I can always have someone to talk to and people to visit.


Everyone who helped at the going away/welcoming party: You're the reason the party was a success! It was a very enjoyable evening and so I thank you from the bottom of my heart.


Roger & Nancy Moose: Again, without the support of you two, I would not be leaving for my Rotary exchange in a week. You're both so kind to me and you're always willing to help me with questions. Whenever I email or call either of you, you're always cheery and ready to help.

Madison Rotary Club: I feel as if I'm repeating myself. Thank you for being my sponsoring club and being willing to accept me into the program. I'll be sure to send a lot of pictures and write to the Club as a whole often!

Rotary District 5610: Thank you so much for sponsoring me as an outbound exchange student for the 2012/2013 exchange year. You are the reason this is happening and I will not every be able to repay you for this opportunity you've presented to me. I promise to keep up on my monthly reports. Thanks to the interview committee for selecting me, thanks to all the exchange officer who are in-charge of the paperwork and making sure everything gets set up. So many people to thank!

Rotary District 2110: Grazie mille! You are my host district and I cannot thank you enough for the chance of a lifetime that I am about to start on. I'm very excited to get to Italy so I can thank you in person for this opportunity.

My Host Family: Giovanni, Maria Grazia, Caterina, and Elena. Thank you so much for accepting me into your family. It is a great challenge for me to leave my family in the USA but I know you will take good care of me. I am so excited to meet you all. Words cannot express my gratitude for you four. I know that we'll develop lifelong relationships that cannot be separated, no matter how far away from each other we might be. Grazie, grazie, grazie.

To everyone I forgot to mention: I am sorry! I'm not one to typically make excuses, but I am ill at the moment and I can tell that I'm not thinking straight (even ask spell-check). Thanks to you all.

Me (USA), Kimberley (Australia), Sarah (Germany), Rasmus (Denmark), Moritz  (Germany)

Thanks for reading my blog! Ciao.

AF

Whichever Way You Look At It

Whichever way you look at it, I leave in:

2 Weeks,

14 Days,

336 Hours,

20160 Minutes, or

1209600 Seconds

The big day gets closer and close each and every day. I've been counting down the days since we bought my tickets (about 60 days ago) and I cannot believe it's this close. Thank you to everyone who's helped me get to this point. I am forever in your debt because without you, I wouldn't be taking on this new adventure in Italy.

Grazie mille!

AF

500 Page Views!

Hello to all you beautiful people out there who read my!
I would like to thank you for reading my blog, it actually means a lot to me to know there are people out there who care about me and want to see what I'm up to over the course of this next year.

Close-up of the glowing bracelet from the greatest night of my life.

I will see Coldplay live in concert once again.
Thanks again everyone. I'm currently working on my song-by-song breakdown of the Coldplay concert.
Until time time, ciao.
AF

The Greatest Night Of My Life

WARNING: The man behind this blog has yet to jump off cloud 9; he is recovering from a Coldplay concert.

Hello to everyone,
Last night was everything I expected Coldplay to be, plus a million times more.
I'll give you a little rundown of how yesterday (the greatest day of my life) went down.

So the day started out with my mom taking me to my friend Greg's house. Greg made a delicious Italian pasta dish that we enjoyed and then hit the road. Twin cities bound!
The ride up to the cities was a fairly slow ride for it only being a 3 & 1/2. I think this was probably because I was so anxious to see Coldplay live!

Once we got into the cities, we had some extra time so Greg gave me a mini-tour of the university he attends.

This is the venue that the Coldplay concert was held. It was very nice outside so Greg and I waited outside for some of his friends that were also going to be at the concert.

These are two pictures I took of the opening band, Charli XCX. They were a decent band. You could tell they're new to performing and don't have much of their own material. The lead singer is quite the entertainer. I don't think the crowd overall was pleased by their performance (or at least I wouldn't think so considering all the laughter going on once they finished).

Here are two pictures that I took of the second opening band, Marina & The Diamonds. They were decent as well. I had heard a few of there songs before I had come to the concert: Primadonna, I Am Not A Robot, and How To Be A Heartbreaker. This band has one goofy drummer!

They were right when they said the wristbands are "a part of the show"!

The shirt I bought before the concert!

The stadium was super full.

Getting the stage ready for Coldplay!

So by this time, I was really anxious for them to come out and perform!

The preparation time is killing me! 

This place is alive! Show time!

All the colorful lights down there are the wristbands like I had on.

 CLICK HERE TO SEE THE OPENING SONG MYLO XYLOTO! AMAZING!

Beautiful picture of the crowd.
"We'll run wild, we'll be glowing in the dark."

Here is the set list in the order the songs were played. Yes, I kept track.

1. Mylo Xyloto
2. Hurts Like Heaven
3. In My Place
4. Major Minus
5. The Scientist
6. Yellow
7. Don't Let It Break Your Heart
8. Violet Hill
9. God Put A Smile On Your Face
10. Lovers In Japan
11. Princess Of China
12. Up In Flames
13. Warning Sign
14. Viva La Vida
15. Charlie Brown
16. Paradise
(encores)
17. Us Against The World
18. Speed Of Sound
19. Clocks
20. Fix You
21. Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall


The concert was absolute madness. We had great seats to see both the stage and the crowd. I want to go back to a Coldplay concert if I ever get the chance. It was so great. Cloud 9.

So I guess this post does have something to do with my exchange.
As a Rotary Youth Exchange Student, I have to both collect and give out pins to others I meet.
This is a pin of Coldplay's new album, Mylo Xyloto, which is definitely going on my blazer.
20 days.

I'm going to post a video that I took last night of the song "The Scientist" which is my favorite.

Thanks for reading my blog. Until next time, ciao.

AF

August

Buongiorno a tutti!

If you were unable to guess from the title of this post, I will be talking about the month of August. This month is going to be a great ending to my American life until I return in July of 2013. I've been getting very anxious about leaving in 25 days, so this month being filled with fun things should keep me occupied and not fretting everyday about la mia partenza per l'Italia (my departure to Italy).

Okay, so I'll start talking the things I'll do in August. One: It's something I've wanted to do for a very long time. It involves listening to a group of musical geniuses. This group happens to be my favorite band on this green earth. Can you guess it yet?

"so we'll run wild we'll be glow in the dark" Can you guess who sings these lyrics?

I get to see Coldplay live in concert exactly four days from today! AHHH! How amazing! One of my friends posted that he had an extra ticket and he asked if I wanted to come with. That didn't take much thought to answer "YES!"

That concert will be absolutely insane. I'm going to dance like crazy, I cannot wait!

Two: In a little over a week, an exchange student from Germany is going to be staying with my family while I live in Italy. I'm disappointed I don't get to stick around to get to know him better, but I'm ecstatic that I get to meet him before I leave.

Thee: In two weeks (or so) I will be having a going away/welcoming party for the boy from Denmark, the boy from Germany, and myself. It will be nice for me to be able to see my friends all together one last time before I take off headed east.

Four: I'm sure you can guess this one too. I'll be leaving the country on September 1. It's going to be a sad day knowing I'm leaving me family and friends, but also an exciting day. I'll be starting a brand new adventure and learning how to better live on my own. Can't wait.

But, until I board the plane on that Saturday morning which will take me to Italy, I must do as this poster above says" KEEP CALM AND EXCHANGE IS COMING".

This is going to be a great month. Thanks for reading my blog. Ciao ciao.

AF

Munich Bound

Two posts within a half hour of each other? Wow.
This blog post in dedicated solely to a best friend of mine, Azmon Meyer.
Dude, you're everything I look for in a friend. I can still remember the first day we had an actual conversation. You sat at the same art table as me, right next to me. I knew that you were nice, but I had never actually talked to you before in a real conversation because we are two grades apart from each other. Anyway, back to day one. You sat down at the art table and I am a pretty friendly guy so I decided to start a conversation so I said, "So, you went to Rome? How was that?" That's where our friendship took off. That's why I am writing this today. That's why I'm leaving the USA in 27 days. That's why I'm going to Italy. Because of you, Azmon. You told me about your year in Rome and about the Rotary Exchange Student Program. It didn't take more than a week to have my interest captured. I wanted to be an exchange student as well. Yes, I'll admit I was thought it'd be extremely fun and a great experience to be an exchange student when I was younger; I never thought it'd be possible for me to do something like this though. Back to the story, sorry. We continued to talk at the art table (not accomplishing as much work as we probably should) about your year, the program, the application, the interview, the visa, everything! We started hanging out on the weekends either playing a game on the Xbox, going to Brookings and Sioux Falls to watch movies (ROONEY MARA!), or anything else that we could think of. You helped me with the application, prepare for the interview, answer my questions when I'd ask "How do you say _____ in Italian?", and anything else that I needed. Fast forward to now. We're still best friends. I didn't get to see you much this summer because you were busy with work and studying but that didn't affect our friendship. We texted the entire day today while you waited in the airports for your next flight, I'm sad that I might not see you until this time a year from now. You're probably somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean right now. Next stop: Munich, Germany. You're going to have an awesome time but most important, you'll learn a lot!
This is where I cut off this post but our friendship will never, ever die; I'm sure of it.
Thanks for all you have done for me, Azmon. You're the best.
AF

The Packing Breakdown

Hello to all you beautiful people out there,
So I've been pretty lazy about not updating my blog very often (not that you probably care) so I'd like to say sorry for not posting very frequently. Nothing too exciting has been happening to me the past week; I have been working in the mornings, spending an hour (or so) studying Italian most days, hanging out with some friends, playing soccer, playing basketball, or anything else that comes up during the day. Tonight I packed bag number 2 of 4 which includes my cooler weather clothing like pants, long sleeve shirts, etc. because I won't need them (or I sure hope not) before I leave for Italy. I'll also put my shoes in that bag too. Bag number 1 has the gifts that I will give to my host family, friends, and others I meet in Italy. That bag is packed full. Thanks for the help, Mom. :) Bag number 3 will include all other clothing that I choose to take with me. In bag number 4 will have my computer, books, DVD's, and other electronics that I take with me. I am excited to go, if you can't tell!
Thanks for reading my blog everyone! I promise in 27 days I'll start posting more often because I'll have more to talk about.
AF