Yes....No....Yes......but No........but YES!!!! Yes, it is true that it's already been a month in the States! I can't believe it really. The first month of my exchange experience has just been amazing! like out-of-this-world, unheard-of, full-of-excitement, full-of-new-experiences and lots-of-laughter-and-joy amazing!!
I still clearly remember the day the batch of 43 YES students left from Islamabad Airport...Among tears, smiles and waving hands, I saw the last of the people I love most in the world! And then, I was off! The first stop was Dubai International Airport...and it was just MIND-BLOWINGLY AWESOME!
My eyes were as big as lightbulbs as I absorbed the magnificent interior of the Airport building. There were hundreds of the most amazing shops I had ever seen. The time I spent there with my fellow YESians will forever be embedded in my memory as the most enjoyable time. But the journey wasn't over yet (sigh). Between us and Washington DC was a 15 hour long flight!! which needless to say was absolutely LONG! But what saved the day were the touch screen computers in front of every seat (God Bless United Airlines!) which really made the journey more enjoyable. And in no time, at all we were looking at the wet roads of Dulles Airport and the rain just made my arrival in the states so much more memorable! From the airport we went to the 4-H National Youth Centre, where we were going to receive our orientations (as if we hadn't had enough of those already!)...Just kidding. I was so excited to be in DC because I knew that we were going to meet other YES students from different countries; and meet them we did! There were students from Yemen, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Palestine & Ghana all in one place; and the sight of all these students together was just incredible! And the Centre itself was amazing. The food was amazing (although most Pakistani students would disagree with me) and the recreation room with the pool table, air hockey and the arcade games just sealed the deal of awesomeness!
Those three days I spent in DC were absolutely wonderful, for one thing, and resonated the fact that I definitely was now an exchange student. It was an amazing experience to go to the Smithsonian Museums and (the outer fence of) the White House! I made quite a lot of friends there and I will definitely mention my instructor Cynthia who was just the most awesome person ever! The orientations themselves were quite tiring since they were almost 9 to 5, but they were fun regardless of that. We learnt all the basic "tools" of being a good exchange student and the "do's" and "really don'ts" as well. All in all, the final event of DCOs was the Cultural Night and it was AMMAAAAZZIINNNGG!! Everyone representing their culture in the most subtle yet flashy way was just fabulous! Because of the fact that this was our (that is to say the Pakistani YES students') last night together for 10 months, we said goodbyes and take-cares in the midst of the strange sadness yet excitement we felt to finally meet our host families.
And so it happened. We woke up at 2 in the morning. The students who were going in the first group said goodbyes to everyone and boarded the bus to Dulles International Airport. I was definitely excited and also...SLEEPY! We got to the airport and there we again said goodbyes to students going on different planes to different places. Some Pakistani students were coming up to Chicago with me, so those were our last few hours of "togetherness". We boarded the plane and in a matter of two hours the plane started descending...and I saw my first ever view of Chicago...and my jaw dropped dooowwn! IT WAS BREATHTAKING! And I am not kidding! Chicago has to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world (I will talk more about the beauty of Chicago later on). We (Anney and me) were actually both AFS students and she was placed in Naperville (a western suburb of Chicago) which meant that now we actually will meet almost every month! And the we got here, we had a mini-orientation together too! It reminded of how she and I were the last ones when we gave our selection interviews (ah, happy memories). So it was final goodbyes to all of them and me and Anney were off with an AFS representative to the awesome town of La Grange! We had lunch at "Noodles" and he gave us some necessary information and as the clock's dials kept on going my heart beat got faster and faster and faster! Finally the moment came when we heard the doorbell which meant that....my host family were here! It was amazing. And I won't say no more.
One last goodbye to Anney and I am in the family's car with mom and dad and Allee and Katie! I'm all excited and they are all "How tall you are!" and "You are the exchange student?!" Haha, no they didn't say the last one. But they were evidently excited too! And so we journeyed through Downtown (they gave me a quick tour) and with the magnificent Lake Michigan always in the backdrop it was just amazing! I got to the house and my first impression was WHOA!! The house was huge and soooo fancy!, with all the artwork on the walls and the four floors and the compound with the swimming pool and the gym. I was speechless! The family gifted me a Chicago Cubs hat and a Chicago Bull T' as a welcoming gift and a Lollapalooza wristband (which I seem to have lost now, sorry mom!) and Harry Potter cards too!
The very next day Katie went to college and the family took me to Saddle and Cycle which was the posh club which featured a golf course, swimming pool, tennis court and ice skating arena! I swung the golf club for the first time in my life!! My dad taught me the basics of golf (frankly I'm not sure if its my thing but it was certainly great!) I had my first Chicago pizza and curly fries and went into the swimming pool too for the first time in my life and instantly knew that I LOVED THE WATER! And that I had to learn to swim! The next day was...EID! (Can you believe that!) Oh yea! I forgot, on the first night my host family, I gave them all my gifts too! Which included fancy shirts for my host mom and sisters, bangles and i mean a LOT of bangles, henna, a Kurta for my dad (Haha I have to add here: my host dad called it a "Kutta" when I told him what it was called and now its a personal joke around here. Whenever he refers to the kurta he's like," Are you going to wear you dog today?") So on Eid day, my family put on the Pakistani clothes and we were off to a mosque where I offered the Eid prayer (an amazing experience indeed) and then we were off to Devon!
And that THE BEST FEELING IN MY LIFE to see hundreds of Muslims all dressed up celebrating Eid! And felt like I was in Pakistan again! It was like being in two places at once! We bought some Halal meat (which is at the same rate as American meat in Chicago btw) and we walked around the Avenue soaking in the festivity of the atmosphere! We came back home and I made biryani for my family which they (sort of) enjoyed (as my mom and sister aren't used to spicy food but still liked the flavors a lot!). And the so the first three days were most amazing for me!
And the amazingness it seems was only starting! (I'll fast forward through what happened in the next few weeks now cause its 12 am and I have to go to sleep after this post!) The more significant events in the next weeks were: My first visit to Jewel (the eye-opening grocery store), My first swimming lesson, Visits to the Art Institute and the Millennium Park (Oh that was just incredible! I can't write about the awesomeness of Chicago city because it is absolutely beautiful! Much much much MUCH prettier even than the movies! Michigan Avenue and the shops and the street performances <3 everything in Chicago is incredible and most comparable to Islamabad in many aspects as well!), My first dinner with senior boys with Parker (my beloved high school!), MY FIRST EVER SAILING TRIP ON LAKE MICHIGAN!, Going to Susan's birthday, Going to the beach (the water in Lake Michigan is fresh and most amazing to swim in or to just sit in!), Going to dinner with Sue Yellen was incredible too, Going to Temple Sholom for community service (where everyone was awed by my chopping skills!), Going to Parker to get my schedule (I just fell in love with Parker, the first time I went there!! Its the most awesome school EVER!), Going to the farm party (where a very curious incident happened of which I wont talk about!!!) The Chicago SummerDance Festival, My first ever ride on CTA Bus (and landing one mile away from my house), Watching PDA all over the place! Not using Facebook for a whole fortnight!!!!!!!! (and that's saying something), The Husnains' Eid Milan Party! (And the Pakistani food..oh was divine!), Going to Ravi restaurant at Devon!! (whose tikkas were better than most Pakistani ones, and that's saying something too!), My first ever Chicago Cubs game (baseball!!) in Wrigley Field Stadium was amazing and then how can I forget! THE BRUCE SPRING STEIN CONCERT WAS OUT OF THIS WORLD!! I got to go in a fancy stretch limousine style PartyBus and it was just so so amazing at the concert. Hundreds of people, no wait...THOUSANDS of people were there and it was the most amazing musical performance I had ever seen! And apparently he is one of the most iconic singers in American history ever! So for me to get into his concert was seriously a once-in-a-lifetime awesome experience!
And so these two weeks passed by in the most awesome blur ever! And finally came my first day at Parker! And it was simply mind blowing.
Everyone is so friendly at Parker and they are so eager to know about me too, so its great being here! I remember the first day that the 80 or so seniors all introduced themselves to me, and I could hardly remember 5% of the names by the end! But one thing was obvious: I was excited to be there and they were excited to have me. The teachers were amazing and the classes are amazing! (See how I'm transitioning between past and present tense?) And I can never ever forget my first Maths homework assignment.
I WAS FREAKING OUT! I couldn't understand a thing and I was just terrified that my best subject was going to be my worst. I took a while to calm myself down and then it dawned on me, that it is just MATHS and I AM good at it! So it worked out fine! I love all my subjects and teachers too. I'm taking Functions, Anatomy & Physiology, Latin (oooo), US History, Fiction and Poetry Writing (Ms. Gibson is just awesome!) and Modern Muslim World (which is the most "interesting" class for me)...I also went to Armani Jain's house because her mother Prinita had invited me over. That was an amazing experience too because she had cooked all these amazing Indian things! Poori, Aalu ki Bhujia, Palak Chanay, Chicken Korma and Halwa!
The past week has been great too! I tried out for Fall Play and got in!! I'm so excited for that because I watched the school's Fourth Wall production's play "The Importance of Being Earnest" yesterday and it was MINDBLOWINGLY AMAZING! I had my first Model UN symposium yesterday too and that was great! I am so proud of the fact that I survived a whole week of school because I was absolutely exhausted the first few days of school but now everything's just amazing. I also went to Des Plaines Theatre today to watch "A Tribute to Bulleh Shah" theatre performance and that was incredible too!
So now I am about to begin my second full week at Parker and to enjoy all it has to offer. I think I did a pretty good job at writing the whole one-month tale of awesomeness and I'll try to write more regularly from now on! Wish me good luck for the rest of my experience because I am so getting in exchange student mode!!!
P.s. the photos are in completely random order! :D
I still clearly remember the day the batch of 43 YES students left from Islamabad Airport...Among tears, smiles and waving hands, I saw the last of the people I love most in the world! And then, I was off! The first stop was Dubai International Airport...and it was just MIND-BLOWINGLY AWESOME!
My eyes were as big as lightbulbs as I absorbed the magnificent interior of the Airport building. There were hundreds of the most amazing shops I had ever seen. The time I spent there with my fellow YESians will forever be embedded in my memory as the most enjoyable time. But the journey wasn't over yet (sigh). Between us and Washington DC was a 15 hour long flight!! which needless to say was absolutely LONG! But what saved the day were the touch screen computers in front of every seat (God Bless United Airlines!) which really made the journey more enjoyable. And in no time, at all we were looking at the wet roads of Dulles Airport and the rain just made my arrival in the states so much more memorable! From the airport we went to the 4-H National Youth Centre, where we were going to receive our orientations (as if we hadn't had enough of those already!)...Just kidding. I was so excited to be in DC because I knew that we were going to meet other YES students from different countries; and meet them we did! There were students from Yemen, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Palestine & Ghana all in one place; and the sight of all these students together was just incredible! And the Centre itself was amazing. The food was amazing (although most Pakistani students would disagree with me) and the recreation room with the pool table, air hockey and the arcade games just sealed the deal of awesomeness!
Those three days I spent in DC were absolutely wonderful, for one thing, and resonated the fact that I definitely was now an exchange student. It was an amazing experience to go to the Smithsonian Museums and (the outer fence of) the White House! I made quite a lot of friends there and I will definitely mention my instructor Cynthia who was just the most awesome person ever! The orientations themselves were quite tiring since they were almost 9 to 5, but they were fun regardless of that. We learnt all the basic "tools" of being a good exchange student and the "do's" and "really don'ts" as well. All in all, the final event of DCOs was the Cultural Night and it was AMMAAAAZZIINNNGG!! Everyone representing their culture in the most subtle yet flashy way was just fabulous! Because of the fact that this was our (that is to say the Pakistani YES students') last night together for 10 months, we said goodbyes and take-cares in the midst of the strange sadness yet excitement we felt to finally meet our host families.
And so it happened. We woke up at 2 in the morning. The students who were going in the first group said goodbyes to everyone and boarded the bus to Dulles International Airport. I was definitely excited and also...SLEEPY! We got to the airport and there we again said goodbyes to students going on different planes to different places. Some Pakistani students were coming up to Chicago with me, so those were our last few hours of "togetherness". We boarded the plane and in a matter of two hours the plane started descending...and I saw my first ever view of Chicago...and my jaw dropped dooowwn! IT WAS BREATHTAKING! And I am not kidding! Chicago has to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world (I will talk more about the beauty of Chicago later on). We (Anney and me) were actually both AFS students and she was placed in Naperville (a western suburb of Chicago) which meant that now we actually will meet almost every month! And the we got here, we had a mini-orientation together too! It reminded of how she and I were the last ones when we gave our selection interviews (ah, happy memories). So it was final goodbyes to all of them and me and Anney were off with an AFS representative to the awesome town of La Grange! We had lunch at "Noodles" and he gave us some necessary information and as the clock's dials kept on going my heart beat got faster and faster and faster! Finally the moment came when we heard the doorbell which meant that....my host family were here! It was amazing. And I won't say no more.
One last goodbye to Anney and I am in the family's car with mom and dad and Allee and Katie! I'm all excited and they are all "How tall you are!" and "You are the exchange student?!" Haha, no they didn't say the last one. But they were evidently excited too! And so we journeyed through Downtown (they gave me a quick tour) and with the magnificent Lake Michigan always in the backdrop it was just amazing! I got to the house and my first impression was WHOA!! The house was huge and soooo fancy!, with all the artwork on the walls and the four floors and the compound with the swimming pool and the gym. I was speechless! The family gifted me a Chicago Cubs hat and a Chicago Bull T' as a welcoming gift and a Lollapalooza wristband (which I seem to have lost now, sorry mom!) and Harry Potter cards too!
The very next day Katie went to college and the family took me to Saddle and Cycle which was the posh club which featured a golf course, swimming pool, tennis court and ice skating arena! I swung the golf club for the first time in my life!! My dad taught me the basics of golf (frankly I'm not sure if its my thing but it was certainly great!) I had my first Chicago pizza and curly fries and went into the swimming pool too for the first time in my life and instantly knew that I LOVED THE WATER! And that I had to learn to swim! The next day was...EID! (Can you believe that!) Oh yea! I forgot, on the first night my host family, I gave them all my gifts too! Which included fancy shirts for my host mom and sisters, bangles and i mean a LOT of bangles, henna, a Kurta for my dad (Haha I have to add here: my host dad called it a "Kutta" when I told him what it was called and now its a personal joke around here. Whenever he refers to the kurta he's like," Are you going to wear you dog today?") So on Eid day, my family put on the Pakistani clothes and we were off to a mosque where I offered the Eid prayer (an amazing experience indeed) and then we were off to Devon!
And that THE BEST FEELING IN MY LIFE to see hundreds of Muslims all dressed up celebrating Eid! And felt like I was in Pakistan again! It was like being in two places at once! We bought some Halal meat (which is at the same rate as American meat in Chicago btw) and we walked around the Avenue soaking in the festivity of the atmosphere! We came back home and I made biryani for my family which they (sort of) enjoyed (as my mom and sister aren't used to spicy food but still liked the flavors a lot!). And the so the first three days were most amazing for me!
And the amazingness it seems was only starting! (I'll fast forward through what happened in the next few weeks now cause its 12 am and I have to go to sleep after this post!) The more significant events in the next weeks were: My first visit to Jewel (the eye-opening grocery store), My first swimming lesson, Visits to the Art Institute and the Millennium Park (Oh that was just incredible! I can't write about the awesomeness of Chicago city because it is absolutely beautiful! Much much much MUCH prettier even than the movies! Michigan Avenue and the shops and the street performances <3 everything in Chicago is incredible and most comparable to Islamabad in many aspects as well!), My first dinner with senior boys with Parker (my beloved high school!), MY FIRST EVER SAILING TRIP ON LAKE MICHIGAN!, Going to Susan's birthday, Going to the beach (the water in Lake Michigan is fresh and most amazing to swim in or to just sit in!), Going to dinner with Sue Yellen was incredible too, Going to Temple Sholom for community service (where everyone was awed by my chopping skills!), Going to Parker to get my schedule (I just fell in love with Parker, the first time I went there!! Its the most awesome school EVER!), Going to the farm party (where a very curious incident happened of which I wont talk about!!!) The Chicago SummerDance Festival, My first ever ride on CTA Bus (and landing one mile away from my house), Watching PDA all over the place! Not using Facebook for a whole fortnight!!!!!!!! (and that's saying something), The Husnains' Eid Milan Party! (And the Pakistani food..oh was divine!), Going to Ravi restaurant at Devon!! (whose tikkas were better than most Pakistani ones, and that's saying something too!), My first ever Chicago Cubs game (baseball!!) in Wrigley Field Stadium was amazing and then how can I forget! THE BRUCE SPRING STEIN CONCERT WAS OUT OF THIS WORLD!! I got to go in a fancy stretch limousine style PartyBus and it was just so so amazing at the concert. Hundreds of people, no wait...THOUSANDS of people were there and it was the most amazing musical performance I had ever seen! And apparently he is one of the most iconic singers in American history ever! So for me to get into his concert was seriously a once-in-a-lifetime awesome experience!
And so these two weeks passed by in the most awesome blur ever! And finally came my first day at Parker! And it was simply mind blowing.
Everyone is so friendly at Parker and they are so eager to know about me too, so its great being here! I remember the first day that the 80 or so seniors all introduced themselves to me, and I could hardly remember 5% of the names by the end! But one thing was obvious: I was excited to be there and they were excited to have me. The teachers were amazing and the classes are amazing! (See how I'm transitioning between past and present tense?) And I can never ever forget my first Maths homework assignment.
I WAS FREAKING OUT! I couldn't understand a thing and I was just terrified that my best subject was going to be my worst. I took a while to calm myself down and then it dawned on me, that it is just MATHS and I AM good at it! So it worked out fine! I love all my subjects and teachers too. I'm taking Functions, Anatomy & Physiology, Latin (oooo), US History, Fiction and Poetry Writing (Ms. Gibson is just awesome!) and Modern Muslim World (which is the most "interesting" class for me)...I also went to Armani Jain's house because her mother Prinita had invited me over. That was an amazing experience too because she had cooked all these amazing Indian things! Poori, Aalu ki Bhujia, Palak Chanay, Chicken Korma and Halwa!
The past week has been great too! I tried out for Fall Play and got in!! I'm so excited for that because I watched the school's Fourth Wall production's play "The Importance of Being Earnest" yesterday and it was MINDBLOWINGLY AMAZING! I had my first Model UN symposium yesterday too and that was great! I am so proud of the fact that I survived a whole week of school because I was absolutely exhausted the first few days of school but now everything's just amazing. I also went to Des Plaines Theatre today to watch "A Tribute to Bulleh Shah" theatre performance and that was incredible too!
So now I am about to begin my second full week at Parker and to enjoy all it has to offer. I think I did a pretty good job at writing the whole one-month tale of awesomeness and I'll try to write more regularly from now on! Wish me good luck for the rest of my experience because I am so getting in exchange student mode!!!
P.s. the photos are in completely random order! :D
