USA Tour 2016

Monday 14th December 2016

Sarah 

Today was the day that we had to say goodbye to our Ursuline sisters in New Rochelle, and unfortunately today marked our last day in the USA. In the morning, a lovely breakfast for the host families and us all was held in the library. After mingling with each other, we presented bits and pieces of our presentation as we didn't have a lot of time. We sang 'Mary had a baby/Joyful Joyful', 'In time of silver rain', and 'I still call Australia home'. For our finishing act, we sang 'For Good' from the hit Broadway musical Wicked, which brought some people to tears. After our presentation, we said our final goodbyes to our host parents, as most of them were leaving for work straight away. It was a little emotional, but we all kept most of the tears in. 

After the breakfast, we went down to the gym (Sports hall) and sat with the rest of the school as we watched a presentation from a psychiatrist/actor. His presentation was about people who were different to everyone else in their lives, and were discriminated against because of their difference. He told us their stories, and his as well, and his presentation brought up some tears because of how real it was. The rest of the day went smoothly and mainly involved us going to our host sisters' classes. At 12:00pm, the retail shop was open for us to buy jumpers and shorts and even pyjama pants! We then headed down to the theatre to get changed and check our bags one more time. Lunch included most of us chilling in the cafeteria, eating and waiting to head down to the theatre for our final goodbyes. All host sisters were called down so they could say goodbye to us, but it didn't really feel like a goodbye. More of a "See you soon!", as most of our host sisters are to come to us next year in April. So we finally, but with much difficulty, hopped on our buses and waved goodbye as we were driven away. 

Genevieve had already left with her mum to extend their holiday visiting family so she didn't join us as we left for the airport. After an hour or so of driving to the JFK Airport, we arrived and checked in our luggage. We then had an hour and a half to chill and look at the shops that were around our boarding gate. Most of us, for food, decided to go to Macca's (McDonald's), as we hadn't had it in so long! So that was good, but we were all excited to finally board the plane that would take us to our next stopover, Los Angeles. 

The flight was about five hours and forty-five minutes, but for most of us we found it quite quick. Some of us decided to sleep, including Ursie. She was snuggled up with Maggie, with a blanket over her to top it all off. It was quite cute! After settling down in our new destination, we all just had a wonder around. This is also where we had to leave Michaela, as she was being picked up by her Aunt for a holiday in LA.  We were ready to board, but the plane was delayed.  After an hour we were up in the air again for a thirteen hour flight to Brisbane.

The flight, to me, felt really quick. Most of us, including the teachers, slept most of the way, Bridget and Chloe sleeping nearly all of the flight! When it came time to an hour left of flying, we were all eager to land back home. When we did land, we all were saying "We're finally home, yay!". I know I definitely couldn't keep the smile off of my face as we walked off the plane. 

Some of the girls were picked up at the airport by some very happy parents, the rest of us took the bus back home with the teachers. The bus ride didn't feel too long; one minute we were in Brisbane, the next we were entering Rome St in Toowoomba. On arrival, we were greeted by big hugs and some tears from our families, and we were so happy to finally be home again. The past two and a half weeks have been life-changing experiences that all of us will carry with us wherever we go. We made many new friends and became part of many new families while we were over there, and we shall never forget them. Being one of the youngest on tour, I have definitely learnt knew things that I can bring back to our school community for the next two years. The girls and I can't wait until our New Rochelle sisters come over next year, and I hope the exchange with Dallas keeps happening. I wish the next lot of girls on the tour all the best, as it is a wonderful experience that they'll never get again.