My Americamp Adventure: Blog

AmeriCamp Leaving Party

Hey guys!

I'm currently trying out an app on my phone where I will be able to blog easier when I'm in the states! As some probably know, blogger is NOT made for posting on your mobile device, only on a laptop etc!

I've also officially finished first year! My last exam was last Monday! Since then, I have been on a day trip to London with my uni friends Emma and Amy! It was a very hot and humid but very rainy day in London to say the least haha.

(The flag is flying, queen Lizzie is home!)

So this weekend was the weekend I had planned since early February... my leaving party!

Okay so it was 10 days early, but the next week is going to be spent running around like a headless chicken getting ready for camp! I officially fly to America next week! Ahhhhh!

So Saturday was a success and was a really fab night. I wanted a leaving party as it's an ideal way to get to say goodbye to everyone at once! As there never would have been enough time to divide time to say bye individually.

Even Amy and Emma from university (Emma lives near Middlesbrough and Amy in Nottingham) came! Which was so lovely.

On Friday (the night before the party) my friends from uni arrived in Leeds, and Shauna and I met them and brought them back to my house where they would be staying for the next 2 nights.

It was the first time I'd had a "sleepover" at my new house, in fact, the first sleepover I've had in a looooong time! We watched Colateral beauty, ate Doritos and had a great catch up!

The next day, my parents took us all for breakfast and we shipped Amy and Emma off to Shaunas house whilst we went for our hair doing... and I'm now officially blonde!

When we arrived home I quickly got changed whilst my dad, aunties and friends set up the section of the pub we hired!

It was a great evening/night and I can't believe how many cards and gifts I received, couldn't believe it and i am so extremely grateful!

My parents also bought me a GoPro last week, so I've been messing around on that a lot! Not sure why YouTube has reduced the quality but hey ho! I was messing around with various GoPro apps on my iPad and managed to piece together an amateur video of my leaving party, feel free to watch (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ucNqtQ1IDrY https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ucNqtQ1IDrY ) I'm going to try and update a few videos on my YouTube channel during summer too!

This week is looking so hectic, i have attempted packing today... although not very lightly i must say. Tomorrow i will make more lists and get what else i need, wednesday i'm getting my lashes curled and HD brows done. Thursday my lashes are getting tinted, friday my mum has the day off so we're going for a long walk and a nice healthy picnic in the sunshine. Saturday, my parents and I are going to Manchester for the day. Sunday is the last supper up at the Raggalds with my dads side of the family. FINALLY, monday... monday is the day where i rush around frantically and nervously at the fact i move to another county for 4 months.

My next post will hopefully be either before we go on Tuesday, or after sightseeing around New York next week! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT IS NEARLY HERE!

Ciao for now!

Jade x x x x

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, by Jade Outram

America

AmeriCamp Orientation in Manchester!

Hey guys!

Hope you all had a great Easter bank holiday weekend - and have ANOTHER great bank holiday weekend haha.

I went to see Ed Sheeran in Newcastle on Thursday, and oh my gosh I forgot how amazing he is live! We managed to get 6 rows from the front. Anne Marie (the woman who sings Ciao Adios) was a support act, and she was also fantastic, I would definitely see her again.

Anyway, I came back from Newcastle on Friday night and set off at 9.50am the next day to go to Manchester for the AmeriCamp orientation.

It was really strange, I was just getting comfy on the coach and Robyn (a girl we met at the camp fair back in November, and also went to York with us in January) got on the coach. I don't really know why we hadn't communicated for some strange reason (as we both live in Bradford), and her and her lovely friend Amber were staying overnight in Manchester. It was a lovely surprise! We had a great catch up during the hour long journey. Once we got there we headed to Piccadilly gardens which was only a 3/4 minute walk from the National Express coach station itself which is really handy.

There we met Robbie, and also arranged to meet a girl called Beth from the Frenchwoods group chat! The AmeriCamp HQ (or the Invasion office) are actually in Salford which was only 10 minutes in an Uber and only cost around £8, which was sooooo much easier than confusing ourselves with trams.

Once we arrived at AmeriCamp HQ, we found Cei (he also came to the Camp Fair and York). We all checked in and received a little name badge and sat in the high heavens of the Invasion office, it was bloody steep in there haha! Nevertheless, its a really nice and bright open office - I wouldn't mind that being my daily workspace. They had really good props dotted around the office, I particularly loved the huge minion and the HUUUGE Sully from Monsters Inc.

We then went around the room and introduced ourselves and the camp we were going to. Every time someone said the same camp we were attending, we had to shout WOOOO. Which was pretty funny when there were a couple of other girls going to Frenchwoods and there were Robbie, Beth and I sat in a row - I think people took the hint that we were going to Frenchwoods haha!

After the introduction, the team spoke about getting the visa and all the paper work. They spoke about the health check and the police form, I guess that bit was only applicable to the minority whom hadn't had their forms completed. It was actually very interesting to hear that on your visa if it has an "M" on it, it means you can have multiple entries on the J1 visa - so for instance if you went to Canada for a trip with camp, however, if it doesn't then it means you can only have one single entry into the US. We then had a break to take pictures with the props and mingle with other applicants.

That's where we met the lovely Kate and Olivia. Kate (on the left) will be working within drama, and Olivia (next to Robyn, third from the left) will be working as a vocal coach, although she is not starting camp until late June as she has university.

After the break we went through insurance policies - which was very helpful. We also heard a few horror stories about how some people have been "dismissed" aka sacked, from camp. We also heard nice stories about the day-to-day life at different camps, the AmeriCamp team shared their experiences with us which was really lovely.

We also were told about the Caxton FX travel money card (I had already heard about this from previous research I had done). This sounds like the best option, as it lets you have free cash withdrawals and use it for free within restaurants and shops which is ideal.

**ADDED** I FORGOT TO ADD A REALLY MAIN POINT... maybe a few!!!

1) Okay, so first of all, Tax. The money at the end of summer gets taxed, this is deducted from your pay and is classed at federal income tax - which is generally 15%. You do not have to pay Medicare, social security or federal unemployment taxes. You can get your tax back, although not immediately! You have to wait for a letter to come through (which will probably be around January 2018) where you can get your tax back.

2) There is a shuttle straight from JFK to Amsterdam Ave which is where the New York HI Hostel is situated! How convenient. We were told that a return ticket would probably cost around $18 each and the trip is about 30-40 minutes.

3) AmeriCamp recommended to take $300 a week for travel, however please allow yourself more if you're staying in New York for a period of time, as accommodation is more expensive there.

4) Remember all your forms for the airport, passport is a pretty obvious one. But remember the 2019 form which comes back with your passport after the Visa day. Return flight info, camp contact info and any travel plans etc if you're going to camp early.

5) If anybody is thinking of doing touristy things either post camp or before camp, I cannot recommend https://www.attraction-tickets-direct.co.uk enough! We've booked New York tickets before, and we've booked them for this time, we've previously booked tickets for Orlando and we are currently booking tickets for California and Vegas! You can get cluster tickets, where you can go to (for instance) 5 attractions for a fixed price. This often works out a hell of a lot cheaper than booking tickets separately. Also, you get extra things free with some of the packages. So we have a $10 voucher for Planet Hollywood, and Dine4Less card which basically means we can get up to 25% off certain restaurants EVEN MCDONALDS. We also got a voucher for 10% off Macy's and also a free travel handbook for New York.

For anybody whom still needs to attend the AmeriCamp orientation, they do provide anyone with a free J1 Sim Card. You pay $25 a month for unlimited texts and data, however, you don't get calls. To be honest, in this day and age with FaceTime, Facebook audio/video and skype, I don't feel it's really necessary for calls anyway. You can upgrade to unlimited international calls for an extra $15 a month if you feel it is necessary. It also may be worthy to mention that you should probably check with a returner that you actually get signal at camp - I know Frenchwoods don't get any signal so it would be pointless for me until I travel. Also, this sim card is powered by T-Mobile, so your phone would need to be unlocked.

They also mentioned that there will be a job opportunity open to AmeriCampers in the middle of summer to become a Campus Manager. This would involve conducting interviews for applicants. I will definitely be looking into/applying for this position, as I feel it is a really good opportunity to be able to reverse roles with new applicants and put them at ease as once, I was in the exact same position as them (and in a way, still am). It will also be good to actually acquire interviewing skills which is a lifelong skill that can be applied within various job roles.

After the orientation had finished, we all got our t-shirts and went outside for a group picture, and that was it! Everything had been completed on AmeriCamps behalf! HOW SCARY! The next step is to collect my health form from my doctors in Newcastle, then its time to get on that plane AHH!

Everyone very excitedly parted ways knowing that we would all be reunited in New York in a mere 5 weeks! Beth and I however decided to go to Nandos for some tea before our journey home. I had only met Beth around 6 hours prior, and here I was speaking to her like I'd known her for much longer. I cannot stress enough how amazing and lovely every single person I have met is.

It is exactly 5 weeks today, I can't actually believe how fast it has come around this year since I picked up my application! I mean, technically, I first applied in August 2015 meaning I have been waiting FOREVER, but since I got placed it has flown by. My leaving party is 3 weeks on Saturday, and HOPEFULLY Bradford City don't go to Wembley so my family including my own father - if he still wants a wife;) can attend. My last day at work is 2 weeks on Friday to give me time to do my uni exam and get packed and ready. Packing is going to be horrendous I already sense it, as currently my suitcase is already about 15kg, and that is not going to be half of what I want to pack.

No doubt that my next blog post will be either about my leaving party or about packing for camp.

Until then my lovelies!♥

Jade xxx

P.S look at who I came across at Quids In Leeds! Frenchwoods Dan! Haha.

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, by Jade Outram

America

Visa Day!

Hey Guys!

Basically spent most of the evening teaching myself how to edit all the codes and colours for my blog! As you can probably tell, I am by far the least technical person ever and now the whole of my blog seems to be one colour??? But shout out to Emma for helping my blog look pretty!

I had my visa appointment yesterday and I wanted to be pretty sharp on an upload as I know that a lot of people have their appointment tomorrow (9th) and also some people have their sometime late this month.

SO, where do I begin? Let's start with the coach journey down to London... Did I mention I was getting an OVERNIGHT coach to London Victoria?

At 11.30pm on the 6th March my friends walked me to the other side of Newcastle to catch my coach. All I wanted was a quiet coach journey with two seats to myself so I could at least try get some sleep. Needless to say, I did not get my desired coach journey. It was in fact quite the opposite.

A foreign exchange student from Bangladesh sat next to me. He started by asking me if I was married because I was wearing a nose ring? Which I thought was very peculiar, however, in his culture, many women whom are married wear a nose ring! Interesting, but NO, I am not married? He was then very intrigued about Western views on arranged marriages and having children out of wedlock. The more the conversation developed, the closer he moved towards me, the more I moulded into the coach window.

The next 6 hours of my coach trip consisted of being squashed facing outside the window, sitting as still as I could, trying to dissolve in the seat and wishing I was in London already. I had a sore neck all day, it was traumatic let me tell you.

At 6.40am we arrived in London Victoria coach station. I sprinted off the confined coach, however, I managed to leave my phone on the coach... great stuff. Thank the Lord, it was still on my seat. After an already traumatic day, I prayed to God the rest of the day would run smoothly.

I have visited London countless times from being a young age, and I must say, I did pretty well finding my way to Victoria underground station and actually getting on the right tube to Green Park! I then proceeded to find Emma's hotel to meet her so we could walk to the embassy together.

The embassy is so easy to find. From Victoria, it is only one stop on the Victoria line to Green Park. From Green Park it is literally a 10 minute walk to the embassy!

We arrived at the embassy at around 7.15am, AmeriCamp hadn't arrived yet so we decided to have a walk to calm our nerves. When we got back, AmeriCamp still hadn't arrived and Emma's appointment was at 8am and mine was 8.30am. However, we were told that these times are only provisional times to ensure a big clump of people don't turn up all at once which will create delays.

Once two people from AmeriCamp arrived, we collected a form and signed and dated it. We then joined a queue together outside to have our documents checked, then joined another queue to have our passports checked and made our way through airport style security.

I have previously heard that people couldn't take their bags in, however, we did.

On entering the building, a couple of barcodes were scanned and we were given a waiting number, and sat in the waiting room.

I was very shocked at the layout of the room, there was a massive screen at the front with various waiting numbers popping up. Rows of chairs were covering 3/4 of the room and on the right hand side were booths. Emma, a girl we met outside and I were only sat for around 10 minutes. They reminded me of a bank when you go to the counter, there's a piece of glass separating you from the person at the other side. The man was sat on a chair and I was stood on the other side, with two walls either side of me for privacy.

The man checked over my paperwork and registered my finger prints. I was then sent to another booth around the corner. This man was American, he checked my fingerprints and documents, I was never asked for any proof that I was returning home. The man only asked me how long I was planning to stay in the states for, then told me he hoped I had a good time in America and that my visa was approved!

What was I even worried about?

By this time, it was only 8.40am, we had been in the embassy a mere 15/20 minutes! We caught Fran and Robbie outside the embassy waiting to collect their forms (Robbie's interview was meant to be at 11am and Fran's at 9am, however they were both done by 9.30am too!

Whilst Fran and Robbie were waiting for their appointments, Emma and I took a walk to Buckingham palace to visit Queen Lizzy for a cuppa and bumped into her parents on the way. We then got the call that Fran and Robbie's visa had been approved and they were in Starbucks near the embassy. By the time we reached Starbucks, it wasn't even 10am and i had already hit my 10,000 step goal for the day.

Emma then ventured out to meet her fellow camp friends, and we met a bunch of people whom are returning to camp this year, and also people in the same situation as me and it's their first year too!

We then all took a 12 mile trek to the "nearest" Weatherspoon's, Fran nearly collapsed from malnutrition and Robbie nearly passed out from being delirious with his little trolley dolly case by his side. We had a lovely time in 'spoons and had such a laugh. I must have been laughing for 3/4 of the day.

It may also be worthy to mention that I am in fact going to camp with a Wizard (FACT). Ben, whom has been to Frenchwoods for a couple of summers is a genuine magician, I swear! He was showing us some card tricks, and I'm not sure whether I witnessed some kind of sorcery? But Ben definitely received his Hogwarts letter.

P.S BEN, I will check for that tattoo under your watch.

All in all, it was an amazing day. I met some lovely people and couldn't be happier to be spending my summer with them. It was also so great to see Fran and Emma again! I cannot believe it's been almost a year since we met!

I have met the most incredible people over the last year, I can't believe how fast it is all going! Only 82 days to go!

AND, if your visa appointment is tomorrow or late this month GOOD LUCK! Do not worry, it is not scary at all!

*FUN FACT* After walking 10 miles yesterday around London on 0 sleep, Miss Brain Box here thought it would be a fab idea to walk 6.5 miles today. My friends and I had a pleasant long walk to Jesmond Dene. I felt like I was walking on my genuine bones. Jesmond Dene is a beautiful place, so close to the city too. There were also animals kept there which were so cute! My poor little feet are paying for it now though and I am in pain.

Now I am hopefully going to catch up on my sleep and catch up on 10000 hours of lost sleep!

NIGHT!

Jade♥ xoxo

P.s - If anyone wants to take 5 mins out of their time to complete my Psychology study for my final first year lab report that would be FAB! Thank you https://nupsych.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ePOUxIyQkacKqNL?Q_CHL=social&Q_SocialSource=facebook

Pp.s - If anybody cares, here are some pictures from Jesmond Dene today and the cute animals! MUM I WANT A RABBIT!