Only one week

Ladies and Gentleman,
my year in the US is getting close to an end. Only one week is left.
It is crazy; the time flies. I still can remember how I said goodbye to my family, I still can remember how I met my host family at the airport. I seems to be so unreal that I have to leave in one week.
I don't know how it's going to be at home.
When you go abroad it's easy to say goodbye and hard to feel home in another country. But, if you find your friends and you finally think you are home, then you don't wanna leave.
I don't to leave. I have the best friends I can imagine, it's going to be so hard to say goodbye. I hope we stay in contact but it's never going to be the same if you are not able to hang. I learned so much this year. Mostly only little things, but together they're able to change a person. I changed this year; I changed a lot.
I have to thank so many people for not giving up on me, for staying with me, and help me so much.
Thank you to my host family, Crystal, Chris, Lyla, Lexi, and Liberty. I couldn't imagine having another host family. You are the best and you made my year awesome!
Thank you to my friends, Ariel, Sydney, Haley, Kazusa, Lauren, and to all the other people I had so much fun with! Just saying; but, tubing was amazing, guys!
I'm gonna miss you all a lot, and I will try to come back ASAP!
If I forgot someone, I am sorry, but there are just so many people who helped me and how deserve a thank you!

I can't even realize that I have to leave soon, I feel like so much time is left, but it's not.
Monday, I am going to start packing.

For everyone who is thinking about an exchange year, it's going to be the best year of your life! Just do it!
I will never regret this year! I know there were hard times; but in the end it's totally worth it!
This post is hopefully not the last one, just to let you know.

Prom 2017

Hallo meine lieben Leser,
da melde ich mich mal wieder. Mein letzter Post ist leider schon eine Ewigkeit her, aber nun kommt ein neuer. Neben diesen hier ist auch noch ein anderer in Bearbeitung, der allerdings leider etwas mehr Zeit beansprucht und ich diese momentan nicht habe.
Naja, vor einiger Zeit hatten wir Prom! Ich habe mich riesig darauf gefreut und es hat Spaß gemacht.
Ich bin mit meinen Freunden hingegangen, hatte also kein Date. :D
Um 16:30 mussten wir alle in der Schule sein für den "Grand March", das Einmaschieren in die Turnhalle die mit Eltern und allen möglichen Leuten gefüllt war. Unsere Namen wurden aufgerufen und dann mussten wir uns präsentieren; drei mal mussten wir anhalten, damit die Leute Fotos machen konnten und danach sind wir, total froh, dass es vorbei war, wieder aus der Turnhalle rausgelaufen. Danach ging es dann mit dem Bus, oder eher gesagt mit 6 Busen, nach Clear Lake, Iowa. Dort hat die Schule einen riesigen Saal gebucht, in dem wir erst essen waren und danach tanzen. Um 12 Uhr ging es dann aber wieder nach Hause...Und das war es auch schon. Leider konnte ich nicht mehr mit meinen Freunden zum Essen oder so ausgehen, da es schon ein Uhr war und diese arbeiten gehen mussten. :(
Es hat trotzdem total Spaß gemacht und das Erlebnis werde ich wohl nicht so schnell vergessen.
Oh, und übrigens...Mein Kleid war ZU LANG!!! Ich als große Person bin davon ausgegangen, dass mein Kleid zu kurz sein würde, aber nein, es war sogar in High Heels zu lang. Nicht das ich High Heels getragen habe, aber ich habe mit meiner Freundin Schuhe getauscht und somit bin ich für eine Weile in High Heels rumgelaufen. :D

Fotos könnt ihr auf meinem Instagram Account sehen. :)

My weekend in Chisago City

A few weeks ago, I was on a little trip to Chisago City (yes, it's Chisago...and not Chicago ^^).
To be honest, I was actually not excited or happy to go on this trip. My host mum and my coordinator talked me into joining the trip. Now, I am very happy they did that because I had so much fun!
On Friday after school, we went to Kwik Trip (a gas station), where a PAX coordinator wanted to pick me and a two other people up. We drove through the cities (if you don't know it, if someone is talking about the cities, they mean Minneapolis and St. Paul) and shortly after, we reached our destination: a huge cabin!
We were almost the last ones, so there already were about 30 other students. For our first supper there, we ordered pizza. After being done, we played a few games to learn each others names and so on.
Right next to the cabin was a huge lake, the South Lindstrom Lake. Of course, it was frozen; we are in Minnesota here :D. The ice was about 50cm thick and you actually were not able to see it's a lake! It is incredible to see cars and trucks driving on the lake like it's a normal street! Also they put huts on the lake for going ice fishing.
I found some really good friends, I definitely want to keep in touch with!
Actually, it is really interesting to meet people from so many different nations! On this trip we were from 15 different ones.
Yeah, that's actually all for now. Sorry, it's not really interesting; but it's my blog so I can do whatever I want. :D

Update School and other things

Hello,
it's me again. I know I didn't post for a long time and I am sorry. So many people asked me when I will post my next Update; so, here it is!
About two weeks ago, I had my semester finals. I was really afraid because you get tested on everything taught during the semester; but I survived it! Actually most of the finals were really easy because the teachers here love multiply choice. Nevertheless, my Algebra final is bad...Algebra is definitely my least favorite class. But actually, in the other classes, I passed with A's. :)
Now, the third quarter started and I really love me current schedule. Creative Writing, US History, English, Drawing, Concert Choir, Chemistry, Algebra and an open hour (which is kinda stupid because I am not allowed to leave the school, so I have to wait an hour and after I can leave). But the time flies by really fast so that school is nice at the moment.
My English is getting better and better and I am not using my translator much anymore. My current problem is that I am forgetting the German words and don't know the English one either.
Moreover, I turned in my classes I will take next year back in Germany. I am kinda afraid of the next year because school is very different here and I forget parts of what I learned last year. I will see...
Today, the Juniors have to take the OLPA-test (a math test for the state) and the exchange students don't take it so I am sitting in school with nothing to do because my classes are cancelled. The good thing is that we have early release today so that my friend and I can go to the mall today.
On the weekend I will go on a trip to Chisago City with other exchange students. I hope that I have the opportunity to take photos because till now, I don't have that many photos taken.
Another thing I want to talk (or write) about is my birthday. It was kinda cool to have birthday in America, I didn't celebrate or something but on my birthday when I went down the hallways in school so many people said "Happy Birthday". I was really happy! Moreover I had a beautiful birthday cake (double chocolate cake). After eating cake, we ordered pizza at "Pizza Ranch" (oh my gosh, I love Pizza Ranch so much...It is amazing) and so we had some yummy desert pizza and chicken bacon ranch pizza...That are definitely the most amazing pizzas ever. Okay, stop...Too much advertising...But it's good though...
Actually there is nothing very interesting. My life here is totally normal and uninteresting.

If there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, I am sorry, but I don't wanna check everything. My laptop is still thinking everything I am writing is wrong.  Just changed my settings...It's English now.

I think I said everything I wanted to say. I will probably post an update next week after my trip to Chisago. :)

2016 is almost done...

Hey you!
Right, I am writing in English. My English is definitely not perfect but this time I will try to write my first post in English!
2016 is almost done. It is incredible. I exactly remember the day, I came here. It is like it was yesterday but it actually was over 100 days ago...
Christmas was a great experience and I really enjoyed it. The day before Christmas, Christmas Eve, my family and I were at the parents of my host mum. We ate a lot and the kids got their presents, I got some too :). We also were decorating a few cookies with frosting and brought them home after. Santa is coming in the night, so we opened Santa's presents in the morning of the 25th of December. Unfortunately, I told my host sister Lyla, she can wake me up in the morning...and that means, she woke me up at 4:40am...Great...Everyone was sleeping except for Lyla and me. A little bit later, when everyone else was awake too, we were allowed to open our presents. I really love my presents and I hope they will last for a very long time. Now, you are wondering what I got, right? I will tell you: I got an American cook book including measuring cups and spoons. Moreover, a really cool t-shirt where the German and American Flag is combined into one flag. Santa brought candys too, of course...(I got a few more presents but I won't tell you now...) :D Actually, I got way more than I expected...Are you wondering if I got some things for my family too? Of course, I got a few things. My host sisters got pencils and little books to color in and my host mom got a candle. :)
Christmas day was a lazy day to be honest...All we did was opening our presents, eating and watching movies...The day after, we got sick again...After many times of having strep, we got a little flu with fever, throwing up and so on...But after three days we were good again.

Tomorrow (Dec. 31), I will experience the family tradition of playing Bingo. Everyone has to buy two presents and they are going to be the prices for the winners. Later, we are hanging out with my best friends family. Today I made chocolate chip cookies to bring them over. :)
It is amazing that my 2017 will start here in the US. I am still so happy and glad about the opportunity to stay here for one year. Till now, I was not homesick at all and I am sure it is because I have the most amazing host family you could imagine. Truth be told, I was really afraid of Christmas fist, many exchange students are getting homesick during Christmas break, but I have no reason to be homesick. I am still waiting for my German "care package" which will arrive...I don't know when, it is still stuck in Frankfurt/Germany. My (real) parents planned that it will be there at Christmas, but, no...I still have to wait for it.

Oh, I almost forgot, we had two Christmas Concerts at my school too! It was just incredible! I really enjoyed the concert. Concert Choir is just beautiful. :)


That's all for today. :)

Meine Sammlung der Versprecher...

Wie ihr schon im Titel lesen konntet, habe ich mir bereits auch schon ein paar Versprecher geleistet...
Meine Gastfamilie hat glaube ich schon drauf gewartet, dass ich etwas komisches sage...Sie waren schon ganz überrascht, dass ich mich so lange nicht versprochen habe, aber nun, fangen wir an:

Cottage Cheese und Cotton Cheese...Oh ja, ein Neologismus...
Ganz ernst habe ich meine Gastschwester gefragt: "Lexi, are you eating cotton cheese?!"
Dabei habe ich das so ernst gesagt, dass wir mindestens eine halbe Ewigkeit gelacht haben...
Wahrscheinlich werde ich jetzt mein ganzes Leben Cotton Cheese sagen... :)

Und mein zweiter Versprecher war, als ich und meine Gastmutter über McDonalds geredet haben...Kennt ihr McFlurries? Ja? Nein? Ich kannte es zuvor nicht wirklich und habe es daraufhin McFluffy getauft... :D

Weitere Versprecher folgen bestimmt...Sind leider (oder glücklicherweise) noch nicht viele. :)


And now the whole thing in English. :)
As you could read in the title, I already had a few verbal errors...I guess my host family already waited for me to say something totally strange...They were surprised I didn't say something completely wrong for a long time, but now: Let's start!

Cottage Cheese and Cotton Cheese...Oh yes, a neologism...
Very serious, I asked my host sister: "Lexi, are you eating COTTON cheese?!"
I really thought it is called cotton cheese so my whole family laughed for a really long time...
I probably will call it cotton cheese forever, just because I like this name better!

And my second mistake...I talked about McDonalds with my host mum. Do you know McFlurries? Yes? No? I didn't know it before so I didn't said McFlurry, I said McFluffy.... :D

Thanksgiving und Black Friday

Am Donnerstag war Thanksgiving!

Auf den Tag habe ich mich total gefreut. Mit der Familie zusammenkommen, Truthahn essen und sich den Magen total vollschlagen. - Naja, so sah es bei mir nicht wirklich aus. Am Dienstag bzw. Mittwoch zuvor war meine komplette Gastfamilie mit Halsschmerzen beim Arzt - Diagnose Halsentzündung. Perfekt...Das hieß, dass wir an Thanksgiving noch ansteckend waren, weswegen wir das Familienessen absagen mussten. Stattdessen saßen wir alle zuhause und haben "Macy's Thanksgiving Parade" angeschaut, eine sehr große Parade durch New York. Am Abend haben uns die Eltern meiner Gastmama noch einen Teil des Thanksgivingessens vorbeigebracht, sodass wir doch noch ein bisschen Truthahn essen konnten. Der darauffolgende Tag war dann "Black Friday" - der mega Sale! Da wir wieder halbwegs fit waren sind wir ein bisschen shoppen gefahren, sodass ich ein bisschen Black Friday erleben durfte. Am Abend ging es dann noch zu den Eltern meines Gastpapas zum Essen - Wenn man eine große Familie hat gibt es ein paar mal das Thanksgivingessen...Und am Samstag dann noch ein Thanksgivingessen. 

Was war mein Lieblingspart an Thanksgiving? Natürlich war es für mich sehr interessant mehr Verwandte und Freunde meiner Gastfamilie kennenzulernen, allerdings war auch das Essen wirklich sehr gut, insbesondere das "Stuffing" liebe ich total. 

Nun ist Thanksgiving vorbei und alle fangen spätestens jetzt an sich auf Weihnachten vorzubereiten. Bereits jetzt spielt das Radio extrem viele Weihnachtslieder. 

Ich bin sehr gespannt, wie Weihnachten wird. :)