Host Family Weekend: Daytona Beach

This past weekend, we had a rare two-day host family weekend. YES PLEASE! I'm quickly learning that Host Family days are a beautiful breath of fresh air because they give us time free of schedules and rigorous demands. I LOVE the days we spend together as a cast, but sometimes working straight from 8-5:30 is exhausting! I've loved the host family days I've had with the Piscia's so far, and this weekend was no exception!

Since we had two days off in a row, Edward and Jessica spoiled us even more! Sifan joined our host family the night before since her first host family couldn't host the entire staging period. We love having new family members! =)

 We had a lazy start to our Saturday, but eventually loaded up the car late Saturday afternoon and headed the 2 hours north to Daytona. We stopped at the grocery store to pick up some food to cook dinner at Jessica's grandma's, and then headed to go meet the infamous Grandma Ginny! It was nice being able to visit, and we had a yummy dinner of Ravioli Lasagna (great idea! Instead of lasagna noodles, you layer the raviolis!). 

from L-R: Sifan, Jessica, Grandma Ginny, me, Edward

After dinner, we headed to our beachfront hotel and enjoyed some moonlight walks on the beach!

Moon over the Atlantic

Then we headed to the Pier to explore a bit!

When I'm old and obnoxious, I shall decorate my house in seashell items like this gorgeous Shell-delier

We played a little Skiball, which made me SO happy!

Heck yeah, Skiball!

 

 

After we got some crazy flavored salt-water taffy and had our fill of the pier nightlife, we grabbed some dessert then headed back to the hotel to go hot tubbing! Sifan had never been before, and BOY did this hotel provide about the hottest temperature ever! She still enjoyed it...after we got over that burning flesh sensation!

 

After sampling some of our taffy (which was SO fresh you had to scrape the goo off of the wax paper!), we headed to bed to get ready for our early morning. 

We woke up to watch the sunrise!

Family and hot chocolate. Yay!

Then we headed to one of Edward and Jessica's favorite restaurants, Crabby Joe's, so we could enjoy made-to-order omelets out on an amazing pier!

My sausage, bacon, green pepper, cheddar, mozzarella omelet! Yummy!

Mr. Pelican came to dine with us!

After some relaxing time laying in the sun back at the hotel, we checked out and headed to Ponce Inlet Lighthouse to check out the first lighthouse I'd ever seen in person!

Then we headed home to have a yummy dinner and unwind! Perfect weekend, you ask? You betcha!

Check out the video I made! I like messing around with making short films...hopefully I'll continue to make more during my UWP time!

Highs and Lows

In UWP, we like to talk about our Highs and Lows as a way to process our very busy weeks. I thought instead of posting a ton about the details of the week, I'd simply give some highs and lows:

(We'll start with the lows so we can end of a high note!)

LOWS
- Our staging schedule keeps us SO busy that we don't have much downtime/free time to sit and talk and get to know one another. And at the end of our day, we're quickly ushered out the door as to not keep our host families waiting! So...I've often been bummed when I want to talk to someone or say goodbye at the end of the day and never have a chance to! In my ideal world, we'd all have an hour to hug and kiss and say goodbye.
- Vocals are taught VERY differently here. No sheet music, not much technique is addressed, and I'm going crazy trying to keep everything straight when it's not in a choral setting. Yikes. But, new challenges. I'm also working hard to keep my voice healthy and not overdo any talking and/or singing. Our schedule doesn't make this easy in the least.
- I'm learning that even though I can be a very confident individual, my self-confidence can tank EASILY when I become frustrated with new challenges. Dancing is making this VERY obvious to me. I've been so fortunate to be pulled out for quite a few dance line workshops, which are SO fun, but the steps are difficult and are taught VERY quickly. Since I don't have a dancing background, I feel like I flounder and don't dance as well as I know I could if things were slowed down. But, I'm keeping up as best I can.
- Along those lines, I have been feeling overwhelmed in general during this staging process. The schedule keeps going at the speed of light no matter what happens, so when I'm pulled out for singing, speaking, or dancing modules, I miss what the rest of the cast is doing. But then it's up to me to make up all that I missed. But then the problem is I don't have any spare time TO make it up! =P

HIGHS
- I LOVE that the Mexican students influenced our cast culture immediately. Traditionally in Mexico, you greet someone by kissing on the cheek. So, what do we do every morning? We hug and kiss and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! =)
- My host parents are the ultimate best host parents ever! I love my time with Edward and Jessica!
- We got to celebrate Edward's birthday last Sunday!
- I'm forming some amazing friendships that just make me smile from ear to ear!
- The education workshops we've done have been a whole lot of fun, which (I will admit) I didn't think they would be! Our Leadership Roundtable was awesome this week.
- I've been so fortunate to be pulled out for some kind of workshop every single day, whether it's solo singing, dance line work, or speaking workshops for the Emcee role in the show. It's great to try a little bit of everything, challenge myself in new ways, and work more one-on-one with the awesome staff.
- The food continues to be great. An extra special bonus is having a frozen yogurt machine in the cafeteria!
- The workouts here are KICKING MY BUTT, but they are so great (Thanks, Miguel. We love you and we hate you all at the same time! haha)
- CULTURE JAM! Such a great night of sharing cultures represented in our cast! 
- I've had two new roommates in the last week. When Jolien left, I was temporarily an only child. But then we took in Barby (Mexico) for a couple of days, and now my new roommate is Sifan (China). Love it!
- I'm having the absolute time of my life here! As overwhelming as this whole process is, I'm loving being super busy and coming home exhausted at the end of every day!

Me and Diana (California). We're cool.

Hector (Mexico) was having a bit of trouble keeping his eyes open in previous pictures. So here, he made sure they were wide open! =)

Leadership Roundtable

Me, Sage (California), and Brian (New York)

Cast photo day! There we are! I'm in the back row, right under Caleb's tall extended arm. This is our crazy photo. There'll be a nice, formal photo posted later!

Wheel of Fortune: Uppie Style!

I have THE BEST host parents ever! When they heard I was going to be on Wheel of Fortune while staying with them, they invited the whole cast over for a viewing party! We had an absolute blast watching my episode on January 18th with about half the cast in attendance! Thank you (X a MILLION, Edward and Jessica!) Here are some fun shots of the whole crew smashed into our family room for the viewing party!

Host family with the sign Jessica made for the door: "Amy's Episode Party"

 Mystery wedge!

 

 Why'd it have to be a Bankrupt? Boo!

 

Happy Birthday Host Daddy!

Today happens to be my host dad's birthday! Happy Birthday, Edward! I couldn't have asked for a more amazing hosting experience. I love the time I've spent with the Piscia's and look forward to the rest of my time in Lakeland! I feel so at home and love this first extension of my soon-to-be HUGE family worldwide! =)

We had a small get-together yesterday for Edward's birthday. I baked him a cake (to the best of my ability without any of my normal cake decorating equipment! Yikes!) and we enjoyed some fun company and celebration!

With the Birthday Boy!

I got Edward a kitty Princess card. I thought it was appropriate! haha

That mixer's got power! I was shocked!

Edward and Jessica wanted to lick the beaters. Awww...they're cute!

Our night a few nights ago! Edward and I were Wii buddies with awesome 3D glasses!

Roomie Blog: Jolien!

So, I wanted a fun way to document all of my roomie experiences on Up With People, so I figured I'd do Roomie posts every time I change roommates. That's another wonderful thing about homestays in Up With People. We not only meet new families around the world, but we get to room with different members in our cast with every new city. It's a great way to spend more quality time with cast mates and learn more about them and from them!

My VERY FIRST roommate of UWP is Jolien (Betty Daisy) Roelandt from Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium (but she just says Brussels to make things easier). How great is it that her other two names are Betty and Daisy? haha. My host mom and I LOVED that when we learned that about her. Jolien is working for UWP as a PR (Promotions Representative) and is leaving Lakeland sooner than I am so she can go to future cities on our tour and set them up for the cast's arrival! Unlike most of the staff, Jolien is new to UWP and never traveled as a student herself. UWP likes to call these staff members "Rookies," but only two weeks into her new job, she's already a pro.
So, fun facts about Jolien:

Age: 22

Favorite color: Red

Favorite activity we did as roomies: In Jolien's words: "Do you even have to ask? Dis-nehhhhhhhhh" ... That's Disneyworld for those of you who can't sound that one out.

Other fun memories:
- Jolien is fluent in French, Dutch, Portuguese and English, and speaks some German. What a pro.
- Our host family always had fun giggling at Jolien's "Jolien-isms." She is known for always saying, "It's guuuuuuuud" (It's good) about food or plans for the day. Pretty much anything, Jolien answers with her traditional (hilarious) response.
- Come the end of the day, Jolien's brain is usually tired from having to constantly think and speak in English, so she'd say some pretty hilarious things like, "Oh great...now I'm gonna be the 5th wheel on the wagon?!" And we also loved learning from Jolien little differences between our cultures. Instead of packing her suitcase, Jolien "makes" her suitcase. Love it!

Have fun in Ft. Myers, Jolien! See you soon! =)

 

 This was Jolien's first time making home-made pizzas!