ONE YEAR ABROAD 2017/2018

dear exchange year where did the time go? so many times back then, when i wanted to be back home and was so sad, thought i missed out on all the things that actually didn't happen. to all those times, i'm sorry, it's not worth thinking about this when you actually have the time of your life. you're in piece, nobody is bothering you and you live your life to the fullest, this is what all of this is about. this past year i learned all the more about being independent and doing what is right for myself, for my soul and body. all the minutes i spent alone at home, all these minutes are the ones which teach us the most. sometimes you are alone and that is fine and it's what made me as a person stronger. every exchange year is unique and different and just because mine wasn't like my friend's, it's not stressing me because i used my time wisely and made progress. my own progress. expectations weren't fulfilled and don't be scared when you leave you...

My unforgettable trip to California Hi guys today I will tell you about my UNFORGETTABLE AMAZING trip to CALI!! One week before the trip, I signed up because there were some spots open and I'm beyond grateful that I could go and my parents paid for it!! It was an unbelievably good trip! My host mom drove me to the airport on March 3rd around 4 pm... but I woke up so easily because I knew where I'm off to :)! I made myself coffee and when we arrived at the airport I was on my own but that was no problem since it hadn't been my first time travelling by  plane alone. I got my ticket and went to my gate and first waited there for an endlessly long time.. you know I just wanted to be in Cali as fast as possible:) I arrived after a loooooong time finally at the international airport in San Francisco and was looking for the group. I've already met some people at the airport and they were amazing!!! We spent two days in San Francisco and the rest in Los Angeles. ...

Hi you guys It's me. After a long break of not posting anything. Yes i have a lot to do and to be honest I was not really in the mood to write something or upload anything. I wanted the memories to stuck in my head and writing everything down is sometimes just an affliction. BUT I mean I wanna write it down to remember so I'm back now!!  Anyways, I had a blast the last months and there weren't a lot of spectacular things that would be interesting to share, but of course for me there were. Just living here is crazy and living this life. I must say time really flies and I will go back and 25 days. How crazy is that?! It feels like I just came and now it's almost over. Beginning of April, Hannah came back, yes she surprised us and I was totally blown away and could not believe she is real! Together we surprised the other girls the next day at school and none of us really believed it at first. We spent two-three days together and did the normal things like going to ...

Hi guys, I know I'm almost two months (i already wrote this but never uploaded it until now..) too late but my days are just really busy here and that's the reason for not uploading this post ealier! Wow it's crazy how the time flies for me. Seven months here and that means I'm in the very last two months soon. It was a really normal months so there isn't a lot to tell you but let's see what I can find:) We had a four days weekend and I was at my friends home for the whole weekend, because my host-family went cross-country skiing and I'm not very into it, so we decided I will stay in Louisville. It was an amazing weekend, we went to some stores and got a lot of material to start our book about the exchange year! We printed pictures at Target, ate at Panera Bread, got a ton of stickers (we definitely felt like four year olds) and for dinner we ate in a restaurant and got burgers. It was a lot of fun.  On February 23rd during my US History class I got a m...

On February 10th was it half year down. It's a long time since I've seen my family and my friends and it's a long time I've spent here. A time with so many different and awesome adventures and a time I'm not gonna forget so fast. I feel good at this time of my journey but I really look forward to go back too. This month was a busy one. After school started again I had some changes relating to my schedule and some things changed in general. Let's start with school: I had some issues with dropping my English LA Course. First of all you probably ask yourself why would she drop English? So, LA means Language Arts so you don't "learn" English like I used to in Switzerland. It's much more like a class where you read and analyse texts for example we read Lord of the Flies or short stories. I don't think I didn't learn anything, I surely did but I had issues with the people and the periods were just so boring. Thus, We, exchange students inclu...

Don't give up at half time. Concentrate on winning the second half. Make good use of your time, it flies fast. wow tomorrow is the day! already five months down! time flies over here and I wish you all a happy new year! I had a great start in 20I8 and I already experienced a bunch of things in only a week:) School started today and I have some new classes, I dropped soccer again and spent a lot of time with my family and my friends. So I want to tell you guys about my fifth month: This was probably one of the best months so far because it was the months of Christmas lights, tea and spending time with your host family. The end of the first semester in High School and thus my first finals ever in my life:) I spent much more time with my friends and we went to the mall, to dinner, to Denver and much more. It was the months of baking cookies, going ice-skating and appreciating and looking back to an amazing 20I7, celebrating New Years eve and go snowboarding in the great huge Roc...

Hi guys Today is December 25th and that means Christmas!!! I was looking forward to that day for a long time. In America everybody opens presents in the morning of the 25th. My host sister was so excited, she wanted to wake at e ight o'clock, so we went up the stairs and there was a bunch of presents. We opened all of them and we got spoiled ... I got even presents of my host parents parents and aunts and uncles. We ate a big breakfast and went skiing. It was amazing to experience an American Christmas for once and I'm positive I'm never gonna forget that day:) It even snowed on the 23rd and so we had white Christmas!  I think even if there are people who do not spend a lot of money during the year. At Christmas everybody gets a lot of presents and what I heard of other exchange students it was the same in there host family:) It's a great experience and it's great to experience Christmas in America instead of going home.

Hi guys It's December 23rd, so tomorrow is Christmas Eve!!! I'm so excited and since November in Christmas mood 24/7! After Thanksgiving we already got a Christmas tree and decorated it. While we were doing that my host dad put on the Christmas lights outside the house. It looks amazing and it's something I will miss back in Switzerland because not every house has decorations up and it just doesn't look that beautiful. During December I walked a few times home when it was dark and it's wonderful how the houses are literally shining and it feels like a big beautiful "Winter Wonderland" I got all Christmas presents in November, so I wasn't in a hurry at all and could just enjoy the most beautiful time of the year. I made a advent calendar for my host family and I loved to see that they really enjoyed eating something sweet everyday:) I can't wait to give my presents to them and it's different for me this year because I'm used to ...

MY AMERICAN SCHOOL DAY My school day starts at 5.45am. My alarm rings and I really don't wanna wake up but I have to because I can't leave later than 6.40am. I wake up and put on some clothes after that I usually take my devices like my computer and my portable charger and put them in my backpack. I put most of my school stuff in my backpack the evening before because I want to sleep as long as possible. At 6.00am I try to go upstairs and take my lunch out of the fridge and prepare my breakfast. Everyday I eat something else, sometimes eggs, toast, rice cereals, smoothies or my favourite cereals Honey Nut Cheerios:) I prepare some snacks for the day and make myself coffee or tea to take on the way. When I'm done with that I go back downstairs and brush my teeth and check again everything and do some last minute things and my first alarm goes at 6.35am. It's the one to remind me that I have to go soon. I'm most of the time the only person who is awake so I really n...

six days until I'm here for four months... wow the last month past so fast, it's crazy how fast the time passes over here. My November was amazing especially when I had one week off and we went for some days to Winter Park in the mountains where I even went snowboarding two times! Later during break I celebrated my first American thanksgiving and had a great time with my host family. We played games, we went on walks in the snow and had just an awesome time. Thanksgiving is such a great holiday because you really think about what your thankful for. I made my first thanksgiving turkey on my own and went to Ikea. It's unbelievable how many things I already did since I'm here and I'm so excited for more!! The first semester of school is almost done! Two more weeks and one week of finals and that's it. What? Where did the time go? I learned so many things and even if I can't always agree with the American school system it's really cool to live that life fo...

Heimweh gehört schliesslich dazu und hätte man es nicht, wärs auch komisch.  Anfangs hatte ich keine Zeit um mir Gedanken über die Schweiz zu machen, weil alles neu war und ich total überwältigt war mit all diesen Eindrücken. Nach einer Zeit, als dann auch die Schule angefangen hat, habe ich mir zwischendurch wieder Gedanken über die Schweiz gemacht und das Heimweh hat angefangen, nicht stark aber einfach diese Sehnsucht nach der Heimat, den Freunden und den kleinen Angewohnheiten. Meine Gastfamilie ist total lieb aber anfangs war es halt doch nicht mein Zuhause und ich habe das gespürt. Vor allem wegen der Zeitverschiebung war es relativ schwierig für mich, weil der Tag in der Schweiz schon fertig war, wenn ich aufgestanden bin und ich dann Kontakt mit meinen Freunden hatte. Es brauchte eine Weile bis ich mich nicht mehr darum gekümmert habe und mein Leben hier leben konnte und die ganze Zeit and die Schweizer Zeit gebunden zu sein. Jeder Tag ist ein neuer und vor allem im ...

1ST AMERICAN HALLOWEEN My first American Halloween started way earlier than the 31 October. It's tradition that most of the families decorate their houses. So we decorated our house maybe one week before Halloween and I started to fall in love with Halloween decorations and all that creepy stuff:) It's so pretty to walk along the street or if you drive pass all these little American houses and you see a bunch of cute decorations and pumpkins all over the places. To be honest I wasn't a big fan of Halloween before but now I definitely am! It's just because everybody is in that Halloween-Vibe:) When it gets darker the fairy lights are on and it's sooooo pretty!!! The weekend before Halloween two of my friends and I went to a big farm near our town and on this farm they had one of the Halloween attractions. It's called "Terror in the Corn". Basically you walk through a cornfield and there are people who are dressed up as creepy people or clow...

soon three months down six days until I'm here for three months. I think the time passed pretty quickly and I didn't have one day where I thought about how slowly everything goes. Three months full of new impressions and a new culture, new people, new family and new school. Of course there are days where I would love to go back but than I just think about that this time here is never going to come back and that I have to enjoy as much as possible and thanks Colorado for being such a beautiful place to stay! My host family is still awesome and even if the puppy is a crazy puppy I love her! The first semester of school is almost done just six weeks left...it feels like the time flies away. It's already November and the days are getting colder and shorter.  I got a ski-pass for a huge part of the near Rocky Mountains and so I'm really excited to snowboard soon. I just rent my snowboard, boots and helmet. It already snowed three times but just for one day and t...