#64 Washington DC, Prom, Chicago...

Just to let you guys know, this trip was beyond amazing!!! I loved it so much and I'm sad that the time passed so fast.. I won't go too much into detail about what exactly we did but I will show you guys a bunch of pictures!! So if you ever have the chance to go on a senior trip with your High School, DO IT! It's worth the money even if it appears expensive at first. Actually, I don't have many pictures of the trip on my tablet yet so I'll just include some pictures of Prom too... YES! Prom already happened!!!

Prom was awesome! But I do have to say that I have the opinion that people make too big of a deal out if it... Some girls spend $700 on their dresses!!! Not even kidding! They also spend $60 on their nails and an extra $100 on their hair. Not to mention that we still had to pay $30 for a Prom ticket (if you didn't have a date). Ohh.. And don't forget about shoes!!
Thankfully I have awesome sisters who did my hair and nails so I didn't have to pay any for that. I also was lucky enough to find a dress for 60 bucks! :)
Prom itself was fun with all my friends but all it was was basically just dancing in a fancy building. Don't get me wrong, I loved it! I just think its too much of a thing here in America and I wouldn't spent a fortune on it. But now, enjoy some pictures!!

I made my corsage by myself (no date problem) and Cherry did too.
She actually made hers out of paper!

In the end, Cherry was my prom date.. I asked her on the day of Prom :D But that's a
long story.....

The monday after Prom was Senior skip day.. Yap that's actually a thing in the USA and its basically just a day where the seniors skip school. So of course Cherry and I took the chance and didn't go to school.. Better yet, we used the extra time to go on a road trip to CHICAGO! Together with two of our sisters, the boyfriend of one and 3 other exchange students from Italy and China, we left on monday morning in a van. Only that the van broke down in the middle of a highway somewhere in nowhere... So we spent some time with small town people (including 2 cops) in a tow office. It was like in the movies! Small town talk!! We actually made it to Chicago in a 2 hours delay and had an awesome day with speed sightseeing. Ever heard of Garret's Popcorn? If you get the chance to go to Chicago, try it!!!! Pictures will follow later :)) I also had the chance to go to Chipotle for the first time and goodness, its sooo good!!! One advise, if you don't like spicy, don't order the chicken.. Cherry, who hates anything spicy, was disappointed to find her meal that didn't contain any sauces to prevent it from being hot, spicy.. "It's a trap" she said :D

#63 Spring Break

Note: I started writing this post last monday and it's now tuesday, one week after it. So some time has passsed, haha :D

Last monday: Unbelievable... Spring Break is already over and I am sitting in class gain. Yaay!.. Notice the sarcasm. Even though I didn't go to Florida like 90% of every high school student, I still had an awesome week. I hung out with friends and my family, made German pancakes and soup with bread for them and I also went through a 4-day cleansing with one of my older sisters. That means: no food, only water and a special drink made out of lemon, water, pure maple syrup and cayenne pepper. I tell you guys, you'll get sick of that drink faster than you think!

Now (tuesday) Guys I'm sooo excited!!! It's tuesday, the day we are going to leave for the senior trip to Washington DC! I can't believe time passed so fast that it is already that time of the year. The bus will leave at 6pm today and we will drive overnight and will get to Washington DC around 4:30am in the morning. The week will be really exhausting, we will be on our feet all day until sunday.
But I am soo happy! Sadly it also means that we have less than 2 months left until I have to go back to Germany.. That is nothing :( America is really crazy and paranoid. We had to leave our luggage this morning in the school and they will use police dogs to look for drugs and will open every bag to search for weapons.. Isn't that a little too much?! I mean compared to Germany where they don't even check anything.. :D But okay, I don't have anything to hide so I don't really care.
We have so many baby goats at home right now, it's 7 cute little babies and 5 goats are still pregnant.
Cherry and I even got to watch a goat having her baby which was an experience. It's really cute when they try to take their first steps.
We have lots of things planned for the next months and time will run faster and faster. My emotions are all mixed up and I don't want this to end....
Oh well! That's all for now!

#62 You know you're from Indiana, when...

I just saw something like this on another blog and I thought it would be a great idea so I did my research and I found so many things that relate to my life :D It's awesome!!!

Oh yeah.. That's all they talk about. 4-H...

I thought its normal haha

hahaha so true :D

Delicious! Especially at cold football games

had one cancellation and at least 4 delays due to fog.. (last one just yesterday)

yeep. 

Yas! I learned it and everybody plays it.

perfect description. We can go from summer to winter in 2 hours.

#61 What it means to be an exchange student

I don't know about you guys but I am thinking about these kind of things all the time right now.
My year is ending soon (who would believe that) so I have a lot on my mind.
Today in my american studies class I wrote a little text about these thoughts. Even though I am still here and didn't go back yet, I thought it would be a good idea to post it.

It is hard to describe this feeling. People who don't know how it is to be an exchange student can't relate and others will know what you mean without any explanation.
But how can you put it in words to let your parents and friends back home know what is going on inside of you? How will they ever understand that you cry about going back to them?
My heart is torn apart an I'm divided by two countries I both call home.
Germany - where I've been born and raised. The place with all my childhood memories and people that mean the world to me.
Indiana - the state I fell in love with in such a short amount of time and the place where I met my second family that fills my heart with joy everyday.
It has become my life, my home, my everything.
How can anybody expect me to o leave that all behind? They say you can always come back but it will never be the same as it was before. You will be a visitor instead of somebody who is living there.
People have moved on, started to forget about the girl with the funny accent or the boy who rocked the soccer team.
And you will notice. And it will hurt.
It already started. The sadness that creeps up inside of you when people are making plans for the times when you are already gone. It's painful, not lying. Of course you will never lose the memories or the feeling of home but it comes with a side-effect - The constant missing of a life you will never get back.
In some ways it's like a breakup. A breakup with the person you've become during the year and who will stay behind in some parts.
You will come back to your own life, but not as a whole.
 I'm afraid that I will never get over it. But just as a real breakup, I know I will.
Only that there will always be that hole inside of you, even if it gets smaller with time, it will never disappear. You won't feel it everyday but from now to then, there will be something that brings back memories - maybe it' the flag of your state that you see in a movie or a song you used to listen to when you were away. And then the hole will start hurting again, and you will be sad. People around you won't understand and all you want to do is going back in time and hug those people that were part of your year.
Most of us don't realize what it really means to be an exchange student before we come here. We see it as a fun adventure, a short period of time compared to the rest of our lives.We all find out that we are wrong. Even if we don't expect it, we find ourselves lost in the new world, seeing it as our lives now. So it's not just an adventure you can come home from, it is a new life that you begin and that life won't just stop. So what people should know is that as exchange students, we give up parts of ourselves. We get all the amazing experiences and memories in exchange but in the end we will never get back what we have give. Change That is what we all do. We become this new person that had left parts of themselves in the new life and when we come back, we are different.
Your friends don't understand why you act so weird and what happened that you are not the same anymore. And you wonder why it feels so different to be home.
In don't know if it's just but it all feels more like a dream to me. Even when I was sitting in the airplane I still couldn't believe this was really gonna happen. And now - 7 months later that feeling hasn't disappeared. Sometimes I find myself thinking that this can't be real - but it is.
The time is running out. 3 months. That's all I have left. I try my best to make the best out of it but in someways it's like facing my death. The death of a life I love so much.
That's what we all have to go through, that's what makes us exchange students.
And it's worth it.

#60 Double Placement & Little states my opinion!

I think it's time that I talk to you guys about double placements. If you are an exchange student for 2016, you will get your host family soon and some of you guys might end up in a double placement.
I know that for some it doesn't sound very appealing but let me tell you something.
Having another exchange student from a different country in hour family can be a really good thing!
When I met Cherry, my sister from Thailand I was so happy yo have her with me.
Of course I had some doubts at the beginning too, I mean, what if she doesn't like me? Or what if they like her better than me? But mostly I was just excited to meet her.
And now, over half a year later I still have that excitement.
Cherry and I are roommates and I have somebody to talk to about everything. Somebody that is going through the same experiences and that gives me a feeling of safety.
I know that it is not like this in every case but we are getting along very well and I can trust her. I had some stuff going on and I was so glad I could talk to her about it.
I don't know how this year would have turned out if she wasn't there. She is just a part of this just like my other host siblings and I love her to death! And now I have a friend in another country!
So please, keep an open mind and think about it before you may turn down a family just because it would be a double placement. Give it a chance and there is a possibility it will make everything even better. When I told other exchange students that I have a roommate, they looked at me in pity but I love it. Before I came here I was hoping I would get my own room but really that changed.
I don't feel alone at all and when I am sad it is comforting if somebody else is next to you.
See, it is really important to keep your expectations down. Like most of us, I was dreaming of a perfect host family with a big house, my own room (maybe even with my won bathroom), nice siblings, pets that I can play with. Traveling all the time, doing exciting stuff.
I can tell you something. That is not gonna happen. You will not get the perfect host family because it doesn't exist! When you read blogs, you don't read everything about them and even the best looking host families has its issues.
So yes, my host family is not perfect. I have disagreements with my siblings and my parents, I don't like some of the rules, I have chores to do, if I like it or not but that is how it's supposed to be! You want it to be real and that is how a real family situation is like! I mean. think of your family in your home country. I bet it is not perfect and there are things you don't like, right? So try to keep down your expectations and realize that perfect doesn't exist. I love my family here and everything about it.
And I am happy that I have chores, that I have to do dishes and help in the house like everybody else because that means they see me as a part of the family and not just as an exchange student.
I wouldn't trade my host family for anything.
So now to the area. Yes. I would have loved to go to California or even Texas but I ended up in Indiana. I bet it's not high on anyone's favorites list of you guys. That's okay. It wasn't on mine either. Hey, I'm not even living in a city! You want to know how many inhabitants in my town live? Well, I don't even live in a town. I live in the middle of the country. Everything I can see from outside my house is cornfields everywhere and the long Indiana roads.
My school is small. Only 600 students and it is hard to describe it. People always ask me why I would pay so much money to come to a school like Tippy but they don't understand that I love it! Everybody knows everybody and the country life is jut my thing. So even if you don't get placed in a state like California, Arizona, Texas or Florida, your year will be just as amazing!
So yeah this is just my experience and opinion about double placements and little states.

#59 Crazy American Life!!

Hello guys,

sometimes it still amazes me how different and crazy America is. I mean a couple of days ago I saw a woman with a tail at Walmart!! A tail! And then the day before yesterday I walked into one of my classes and there were two monkeys!! Real, living monkeys! I mean, how often does that happen in Germany? It was awesome because the woman that the monkeys belonged to told stories about them and one of the monkeys was so amazed by a teacher that came into the class during break that she didn't want to leave so she just called her class down into my classroom :D Just plain crazy!
It is really true that Americans love guns. In my area at least. One time I heard two people of my family talking about people banning guns and how crazy that would be. They actually believe that guns bring safety to their country and I'm not sure how I think about it. I mean, friends of mine have handguns that they carry around all the tome (Legally!) and they are shooting guns in their free time.
It could be the country life but I learned to have a more open mind towards gun and I kinda share the excitement they have even though I can't shoot them.
In our school we get a free snack and juice at the end of every day now. I don't know what they were thinking but they say it's cause some people may don't get enough food a home. To be honest, more people here are overweight and there are no students that are too skinny because they don't get enough food! But hey, I won't say no to free food :D
Oh how I will miss this life full of surprises. The strange but friendly people you meet everywhere and the endless opportunities you have. Time is still running down and it stresses me out. I still don't want to believe that I have too go way to soon. When I came here over six months ago, I was a stranger. The host family was people I don't know and I didn't belong to them. But now I am a part of them. They feel like home and family to me and I act like I am one of them. I tease with my brothers, have playful fights and arguments. I talk to my parents, tell them what's on my mind, ask for permissions to do something just like their own children do.
Yesterday someone knocked on mine and cherry's door when we were wrapping a gift for one of our sisters so we said: Don't come in? Who's there?" And the response was: Your mom. It felt so good. It felt so good! She doesn't see us as exchange students but more like one of your children.
Of course I still have my real mom in Germany and that doesn't change how much I love her and I'm still so excited to see her again soon.
In school I feel so much more independent. I mean in Germany you have the same class you spend the whole day with and here I walk from class to class alone and it doesn't even bother me. I have people I know in every class and I don't feel insecure anymore.
So now that the time is running I realize that there are millions of things on my plan that I didn't do yet and that I really want to do. The last three months will be so packed and it scares me a little. I'm still freaked out about the whole getting all my stuff home situation.
The Washington DC trip is coming up, spring break (which is only one week) and we are still planning road trips to Chicago, Michigan and other places we wanted to go before Cherry and I have to leave. I am thinking of leaving on June 18 and that means I only have three month and 8 days left. Wow.
But let's go back to happy stuff! Tomorrow we don't have school and my sisters and I are going to visit another sister of us and we will go shopping, to Panera Bread ( a restaurant I always wanted to check out) and just to have a good time. I'm really looking forward to it! I was able to manage to be an A student for the third 9 weeks. Yay!
and guys, I wanted to give you a tip if you are going to be an exchange student soon. I am writing a diary everyday and it really helps me keeping track of what I did and it will help me remember everything when I'm back to Germany. I am writing it in English so it doesn't collide with my english improvement. Also, now I am really sad that I started with it so late (end of November) because I can't remember much of the first week I was here! Everything was so new and it seems like a dream and it never happened. So make sure to write some notes about your first days, especially your feelings and everything!
That was all for now :)

#58 Winter Jam, Snow days & life itself

Heyy guys :) I'm sitting in my american studies class and we have a five minute break so I thought it would be a good time to update my blog. I didn't abandoned it, even though it might look like it. There is just so much going on in my life and I don't really have time to go on here very often.
Lately I have the routine to watch Netflix in my study hall if I don't have any open assignments or tests to learn for and I read a book in VS. No boredom anymore :D But now back to the topic. A lot happened since last time I updated. First of all: Winter Jam! You guys probably don't know what it is.. Winter Jam is ten famous christian bands that go on tour in winter. It is soo huge and you should hear the music! You might not believe it is good, cause it's christian but let me tell you there are rappers and rock music as well. It was my first concert ever and I loved it so much. When we got there, the line of people waiting was almost a mile long, I'm not even kidding. Thousands of people.
I really had a great time. The only down-side - we came home around 1 am and I had school the next day... Yesterday and the day before yesterday Cherry and I didn't have to go to school because of snow that made the country roads dangerous to drive on. Yay! We took the opportunity to play in the snow and we went sledding with Cherry. It was a first time for her cause it never snows in Thailand.
We also had a goodbye party for a former worker and friend of my host dad at our house and we were 46 people. Many of them were in my age and I hang out with some of my friends. But not only that, this whole party atmosphere was perfect! I felt like I really was a part of it and like I belonged to them. I can't describe that feeling but I just felt so good and had so much fun. There was also the baby of a friend and I got to hold her and play with her. In Germany I don't get the opportunity to see little kids very often. Soo cute! *-* I could start crying right now because I have to go back so soon. I'll miss the feeling of being a part of a group so much and all these nice people that just accept you for who you are and who don't judge you by your looks or something. We were hoping we would have a cancellation again today but then we only got a 2 hours delay. Close enough I guess. But hey, it's friday!! I really try to focus on my american school right now to stay an A-student. It is hard for me to keep my American Studies grade up though and it goes back and forth between A and B.
I can't believe that February is almost over already! Why is time flying by so fast?