Wednesday, November 7, 2012

I came home and everything was there where i left it. It looked like I never left this place, but something is definitely different....I still try to figure out what. Perhaps it is English here in my lessons, which sounds different and not like that i would like to her again. Something changed and i guess it is just me.With new ambition I am looking forward too finally come back after school. The US is gonna be my destination after one and a half year hard work. And luckily i will have my driver license until then.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

It is strange to come back to our german school after 4 weeks in an american. Now I realized how different both systems really are and I begin to miss nearly everthing of the american one.
Our breaks are feeling like an eternety because of the short breaks there so the whole day went slowlier here then in the USA. First I thought the 5 minutes breaks would not work but now I think it is even better! Everthing was so funny, intresting and relaxed in the lessons in Charles City and when we went back to our school there is the old stressful day with hard lessons where you need attention every second of the class.
Furthermore I am surprised about what the exchange did with me. For example sometimes I can not think of a german word and have to say it in english which is weird but funny at the same time. I also get used to get up late during the week because the house of my hostfamily was just about 5 minutes away from school and here I need about an hour to be at our Gymnasium in Walsrode. What a great life in America!
Now we are back in Germany for a few days and it's really hard. I'm still tired and a little bit sick. But we have to go to school and have to work hard that we know everything we missed as we were in the USA. And still I'm missing my host family and Heather :( . And I hope they will come and visit me and my family someday ( hopefully next summer :D ).

First day of school back in Germany

This post is for Monday, the 5th November 2012, the first day of school after the Gapp Exchange and vacation.
It feels weird to be back home. I'm happy to have my family back of course but it still feels different now. Now that I'm back in Germany I have to deal with all those "normal" problems again and I have to deal with a normal day again. Everything was a lot easier in America, it was like a whole new start with new people in a new country. No one knew me and they were just so happy to have me there! Then you come back here and everything is just like it has been before (except all the new stuff they did in school, now I have to work really hard!). As I expected it's very hard to come back to your everyday life.
Furthermore I really, really miss my host family. I knew I had a wonderful time with them and an amazing family but I think I really realized how lucky I was/am that I got to know them and that I was able to spent such wonderful four weeks in America when I came back home. Thank you so so so so much Sarah, Emily and Julie for making it possible! I love you!!
I still have a horrible Jetlag and am always trying not to fall asleep during class or just saying a proper sentence. But I'm sure this is going to be over soon, so it's not that bad.
I really, really want to go back to America some day and hopefully stay longer ;)

Monday, November 5, 2012

3. November 2012: the first day after our GAPP exchange. At this morning I slept a long time, because the sleep at the plain was very short and the whole flight back very exhausting. But I was so glad to be home, I have missed my family and my friends the last days very much.
While I unpacked my suitcase I thought about the last 30 days and reminded me on all the nice things I had experienced there and all the people who had welcomed me so heartly in their country! :) I thought also about the differents between America and Germany and I realized that there are so many, for example the food, the people, the environment, the school etc.
When I thought about the exchange I noticed that I changed myself too. I got much more self reliant and independent, because I stayed so a long time without my family. Besides I noticed the kindness from the American people, which is different to German people, so I changed my way of thinking and I think I got more friendly about strangers and other people.
I had a very great time there and I am happy that I got the chance to go to America; it was so wonderful!
So all in all I think everybody should go to America once in a lifetime to see it and make an own picture of the whole country. This is an exciting new experience for everyone!


November, 3 2012

My first day back home! I am happy to sleep in my own bed, but I am still sad that our time in the USA is  over now. All over the day I felt tired and do not want to do anything, but the everyday- life starts now, so I did some shopping and watched TV, that is all I could. I hope everybody is doing well in America, I wish I could stay longer. I do not feel ready at all to go back to school. I had some great experiences and I do not want to miss one of them. I definitely want to go back !!!

Heavy suitcases bring memories back home, 1st November

In the morning of the 1st November we closed our suitcases very early and we already put them into the bus but we didn't go to the airport yet. Before, we visited the Adler Planetarium and an aquarium.
The planetarium was very huge and we also watched a movie in which a man showed us the night sky with all its stars over Chicago.

a map of the huge planetarium

After our visit in the planetarium we had the last chance to take some photos of Chicago and to buy the last souvenirs for our families and friends. Then we went to the airport. We all were a bit worried about the weight of our suitcases because we all wanted to carry home so many things that our suitcases got heavier than they had been when we arrived four weeks ago.


 
But luckily nobody's suitcase was too heavy and we all were able to check in without any big problems.
Around five o'clock we checked in at the airport and had to wait some hours for our flight. Most of us used this time to read the last few pages of the books we had to read for school at home.
 
 
Goodbye Chicago!
So I am back home for three days now. I miss America, especially my host family and the independence a lot. It is strange that I have to ask people for driving me and not driving with Lexy everywhere we want.
On Saturday i was reminded again on my great time in America. I was driving with my sister and it was like driving with Lexy. We had been singing loud and just drove where we wanted to. To McDonalds like Lexy and me did it sometimes. That made me cry because I miss her so much and that day was completely like a day we could had have together.
The first day at school was terrible. I was not just tired, I was sick, too. I hope tomorrow will be a better day!!

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Wednesday 24th October, 2012

On Wednesday all German students of St. Ansgar went  to a Menonite school in the first two classes. The Menonites sang some songs for us and we also sang one for them. After that we asked them a lot of questions about their life and found out that they have to work after school at home. But they get no homework from the school. In school they have got all classes with all Menonites together who are in different grades.
Afterwards we went back to the high school and had a meeting with a nice couple who lived for about six years in Walsrode (Germany). It was very interesting to hear their thoughts about Germany. In our last class two of our German students went with some American students (learning german) to the elementary school and taught them some basic German words. When I came home, Olivia and me began to bake a cake for the German café on thursday(25th october). In the evening we wen to a volleyball game and there was a "kiss the pig contest". We had a lot of fun!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

First day in Chicago

This was our first day in Chicago, we visited the Museum of Science and Industry. The museum was very interesting and it made a lot of fun in there. Afterwards we went into the city of Chicago for shopping and sight seeing on our own. There we searched for a special store and had to ask almost thousand people I think to find it. In the evening we stayed in our Hotel which is a bit outside of town and we did what ever we wanted to, that means e.g. watching movies.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Leaving is always hard, but leaving with the thought that you wont see eachother again is really hard.
Yesterday in the morning, we left Charles City and Saint Ansgar under lots of tears, hugs and the hope that we wont lose the connections and friendships that we have made up.
For me, it was a great time and one of the best experiences I have ever made. My hostfamily is great and they made me feel like I was at home. All the other students, if GAPP or not, were nice, open-minded and I will never forget them and the friendships that I have made here.
To bring our exchange to an end, we will spend the last days in Chicago. Yesterday, we left our second homes by bus and drove about six hours through the country, had a short stop in Dubuque where we went up a hill and had a great view over the Mississippi.
The second great view we had after our arrival in Chiago. The group visited the Willis Tower, one of the highest buildings in the world, went up over 90 levels with an elevator and got the chance to see Chicago by night from I high plattform. A short hint: If you ever got the chance to come to Chicago, go there by night ! The lights and the shining, skyreaching buildings next to the lake are amazing !
Although I will miss the Charles City Guys and I am sad that we had to leave them, I am happy that we get the chance to visit such a big city as Chicago and I look forward to the next two days !

Monday, October 29, 2012

Goodbyes don't have to last forever

Wow, It has been such a long time since I was last able to blog! I was having such a wonderful time these past 3 weeks with Luise, that there just wasn't any time to write.

I have learned so many things from Luise while she was here these past 3 weeks. I found it very interesting listening to her describe the differences and similarities between German and American culture. I also believe that my German speaking abilities have improved. I still have much to work on, but I hope someday to be able to communicate well in German. Maybe someday I could study abroad in Germany. I think this would be a wonderful way to use this language.

As I said earlier, our past 3 weeks were wonderful. We didn't let any of our time together go to waste. We were always doing something together. Some of my favorite memories together included ice-skating, teaching her how to make my family's secret pancakes, helping each other improve in each other's languages, carving pumpkins (we carved 4!!!!), shopping in the Mall of America, and just enjoying each other's company. Honestly, I loved spending time with her. I didn't really care about what were doing, but that we were just doing something together while she was here.
Ice-Skating!
I loved having these girls in my Lost Wax Cast Jewelry class!

Part of the family :)

Today, Luise and the rest of the GAPP group left for Chicago. It was not easy saying goodbye to everyone because I have made so many friends. It was especially hard to say goodbye to Luise. In just 3 weeks she has become my sister. I miss her as I am typing this, but I know that we will see each other again soon this summer. I'm so excited to come and visit her in Germany, as well as my other German sister from last year's exchange. Knowing that I will see her again in person soon makes it easier to not be so sad. I am also hoping to stay in contact with everyone else too. So lets not allow for goodbye to last, and that we will meet again soon!
Although the morning was filled with tears, this exchange was the best! So, let's not say goodbye, because a goodbye lasts forever. Instead let's say see ya later. Usually, it's the Germans thanking the Americans for the excellent time. But, I want to thank Jelka so so so much for the great time. It was your great personality and warming smile that made it so great, really! Although, this time we had together is over I will never forget you. I never knew that I could create such a good friendship in such little time. The picture above definitely shows one of the wonderful times we spent together and the humor we share. You've now became apart of me, apart of my family and apart of my life. I'm looking forward to reflecting on this experience, and am going to use it to encourage others to get involved in GAPP.
I wasn't sure that I could make such a good friend in the short time Sara and I had together. Sara taught me many things. Not only with learning about Germany, their culture and language. She taught me to be more open with people and to be more confident in myself. She taught me to be a little silly sometimes and I'm grateful for the time we got to have together
I have made so many good friends through GAPP and I am so happy that Madi got to become better friends through hosting together. It is sad to see them go, but I am also excited to have good friends from far away. I can't wait to send and receive packages from each other, skype, email, share new adventures and to see how our lives progress. I am happy that I now get to be apart of a few amazing people's lives.
No matter how many times I say it, I can't say it enough. Thank you for being good people and being open-minded to every experience you were offered.
My door is always open to any of you that want to come back. :) (Sara, come back SOON!)


I LOVED your Squirrel video and was almost in tears with the goodbyes! Last night was hard. It hasn't hit me yet that you are all gone. To keep our mind off GAPP leaving we all carved pumpkins together after the Farewell Dinner. That was great! It was funny to see their reactions to the inside of pumpkins. I sent baked seeds with Sara this morning and I hope you all got to try some. I forced her to try pumpkin pie, which she loved. (Told you.:)) We had a cuddle puddle (see picture) and talked about some of her favorite times here.

I hope you have a safe trip back and I am SO EXCITED to hear about your lives in Germany after the exchange and if they have changed at all!
I can not believe that we are leaving tomorrow! I feel so sad about that. Today morning Lexy, her mum and me were sitting at the table, crying and laughing together. That was one of the most emotional moments in my life. Lexy is like a sister for me. We laughed, cryed, fought, relaxed,...together! And now I am gonna leave her. Not sure when I will see her again! That makes me cry!
I had the time of my life staying with her and her familie!! I felt immediately home when I arrived.
I want to say thank you again for everything. For the love you gave me, for the food and everything else!! I will never forget you and my time here! I will miss you sooooo much!!!!!
I love you! :)
Unfortunately that was our last evening spending in Charles City. We had a big pottlock this evening with all the families together. Of course the teachers and the principal were there as well.  We ate together our last supper and there were e few emotional speeches.  
The principal told us he is very happy that we were here and like Mr. Denefleh and Mrs. Humrich he said that everybody should support the program because it is a great opportunity for all of the students. Also the German students planned a small program with a video where every German tries to say the word "squerrel". And it was very funny for us and for the americans to see this because nearly nobody could pronounce it right (except Mr. Denefleh and Mrs. Humrich ) and you could see a few situations during the presentation where everybody is laughing because it sounds so great. 
Furthermore we made a power point presentation where every student has had a page and said a few words for saying goodbye to their family. Some students were very emotional and others made it in a funny way that everybody need to laugh.  But  I could not really enjoy it because in my head I just thought about leaving tomorrow, saying goodbye personally and crying when we have to make our final step into the bus tomorrow and wave our hands a last time. 
That is an awful imagination but hopefully we (my hostfamily and me) will meet in Germany or maybe somewhere over here again.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

My name is Lexy Sliger. I am Anna's host. Anna was not living with us at first, but was soon moved to us. My family was not able to spend the first week with Anna, but when we found out she would be staying with us we were so excited. We spent a few days getting to know each other, then we had to send her off to South Dakota.

This past few weeks have been the time of my life, as well as hers I hope! We have been very busy with each other!! we have spent a great amount of time with Elisa and Kendra, her host. The first night Anna stayed with us we went to Paradise Pizza. We have gone to numerous volleyball games, football games, even UNI Homecoming football game. We spent a whole Saturday shopping at Mall of America with the group! That was a lot of fun even though not all of us bought a whole lot. Yesterday we started our day of somewhat early and went to Mason City to Buffalo Wild Wings!! That would be the second time Anna had that. She loves it (: Then, we were sent on a mission to find discount tickets to Valleyscare, AKA Valleyfair, our amusement park. We didn't find any in Mason, so we were on our way to Shakopee Minnesota. We met some really nice new friends from that area at Valleyscare. They showed us all the great haunted houses and around the park.

Today is our last day together...we both woke up really late this morning. Tired! We sat around the dinning room table and shared some laughs and tears..It was great. I will miss Anna so much. She is the sister I never had. And I'm so grateful to have her as a part of my life!

Today we will be resting for the first part of the day, our whole family has a slight cold, including Anna, which we are so sorry!! Then we will all be loading up the car and heading over to the Church in Charles City for the goodbye potluck.

I am going to miss all of the new German students I have met! Especially Anna!! We loved it! Thanks for sharing your students with us (: and thanks for reading! Have a safe trip home!
It makes me sad.We had that a great time here in CC and i still wanna stay, but finally there are no options to do so. If i look back at my family, our trips and the school, i just wish to come back one time and stay much longer probably as an au pair or something like that. This whole time here just passed by way too fast,but while being here i really enjoyed it and of course increased my english skills. Let's hope we will meet again.

Wednesday
On my last wednesday we hab school and I talked to my parents for a while and at the homeroom a nice old lady came with her husband to talk about Germany. I was really surprised as she told us in german that she knows where we come from. After school Kendra, Elisa, Heather and me wanted to watch the movie "Hotel Transelvenia " . But as we were there something didn't work so we couldn't whatch the movie. So we went to a mall and I bought some socks for my family in Germany. After that we went back home and made the cake for our german cafe on the next day. Also we made some Halloween cookies and decorated them. That took a while and we were really tied so we went early to bed.
Saturday, Oct, 27

Today was a very busy day.. In the morning I went with my host-sister, Elisa and her host-sister and Danny to the Spring park in Osage and it was beautiful! We had a little walk, then we all met at Hollys house for Supper. After that I learned something about architecture from Frank Lloyd Wright, a very famous architect. Many houses in Mason City are designed by him and his students and they are the most beautiful houses I've ever seen.. In the evening we went to a Mexican restaurant with the whole family, which was fun too! I know that I'll really miss all these people..
We watched the Saint Ansgar high-school play "39 steps" and it was very good! There where some amazing actors and som very funny scenes..Now I'm home and I'm exhausted! It was a wonderful last Saturday!

Saturday, October 27, 2012

The 39 steps

Saturday, OCT. 26, 2012
I went to St. Ansgar's drama club's play "The 39 steps" with Laura and Shirley and we had a great time.
It really is entertaining and hilarious...I was happy to have the opportunity to see your school's play and I hope today you will have a great audience again.
Thank you!
Kendra and I as Willy Wonks Nerds candy. We took first place for twin day during the St. Ansgar homecoming week of 2012!


I am using Elisa blog because for some reason we could not get mine to work. My name is Kendra Nerad.
The first day that we picked the girls up at our school was extremely exciting!! It was bout nine o'clock at night, and I got a text saying that the Germans were here! FINALLY! I picked Elisa up, and took her to my home that was out in the country. I knew right away that she was going to like it here with me. It has been 22 days since that day. Where has time gone? In less then 72 hours she will be leaving me, and making her way to Chicago. Man oh man am I going to miss her!
In my house it is only me, my dad and his girlfriend, so it has been incredibly amazing having someone here to finally talk to and come home and have fun with every day. She is like a sister to me, and I am going to miss her sooooooo much. I sure hope I don't ball like a baby. 
Elisa and I have done so much together! We have gone to see the Amish, gone out to eat at Paradise Pizza, had fun at school during home coming week and even won twin day!!! We dressed up as Willy Wonka Nerds! We have also gone to the school play which was completely awesome, went to football games, both Saint Ansgar football games, and a UNI football game. We have gone shopping, which was obviously fun, because it was at the Mall of America. We literally "shopped until we dropped!!" We also ate at HuHots Mongolian Grill with Sommer Beland and Emily Debower. It was New for both Elisa and I!! It was delicious! We have had a lot of fun times at home as well, baking, and cooking new things. Baking german cakes, failing at some, and succeeding at some! We have shared some good laughs from saying silly things, to watching American comedy movies, and just surfing on the internet.
I love having this girl around. We share a common interest, which makes things even better. We both want to be doctors, and we love to sleep in on the weekends. But what teen doesn't?
But our fun doesn't end there! Tomorrow we are going to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings, which i'm excited for, and after wards we will be heading to ValleySCARE!! Yay! I can not wait to show Elisa what Halloween is all about. Haunted houses, scary costumes, fog, screams, ghosts and goblins, I just can't wait! Then on Sunday comes a sad day. Our last full day together....   :(   We will be going to church and sing in the choir, then we are going to a Orchestra concert in the Austin, Minnesota High School to watch Frau Larson. That takes up half of our day. The other half will consist of a good bye pot luck in Charles City. I am not looking forward to that at all. Only because that means that the next morning I will finally have to say good bye. I hate good byes, but I know someday we will meet again!  
Till it is time to say good bye, her and I  are going to have a blast, but typing this very long blog post is taking up a lot of precious time, so here it is. Good bye, and thanks for reading!! 
-Kendra Nerad  :)

Thursday, October 25 2012

Today was the day we went to Charles City. Jelka, Merle, Falk and I went to the Washington elementary school and taught the fifth graders about the alphabet, numbers, and colors in the german language. We participated in the gym class and ate lunch with the little children. After the lunch there was a thirty minute break which was outside. I played kickball for the very first time! Then we were picked up by our teacher and around four o'clock we went to the German Café. We then got to eat from a choice of a lot of different german cakes and bars. I think that I ate to much! After most of us finished eating Kendra, Lexy, Frau Larson and Frau Humrich arrived and we all talked and laughed and had a fun time.
While I was at the cafe I met a lady from Minnesota that spoke really good German. I found out that she lived for ten years in Germany in Hamburg and Kiel. She told me that her daughters are now studying in Poland and Romania. It was very interesting to learn that. 
After the cafe a lot of us went to the YMCA, and played some basketball, volleyball, and worked out on the lifting machines. It was a lot of fun! 

Friday, October 26, 2012

Last day in an American School

Today is the last day of school, the last day with all these amazing, nice and funny people. I'm going to miss them all soooo much, especially my two hostsisters Sarah and Emily! They are both amazing girls, so much fun and so nice. I love you two!!
In the first period we went to the art gallery in Toeterville (the village where Sarah lives). The pictures in there were drawn by Atlanta Sampson who spend her whole life drawing and got discovered when she was already 87 years old. It was very interesting to see all those beautiful pictures she painted in her lifetime and it was sad to see that a talent like her only got discovered when she was already so old. But at least she got discovered and had her own shows - which is what she always wanted.
After this trip we returned to school and Elisa Mohr and I had to go to a Middle School Class (7th Grade, my hostsister Emily is in there) and answer them questions about Germany, the USA and us. It was a lot of fun.
Then we had lunch and sat in the cafeteria the whole time talking to Skylar and Alec, two nice guys from the St. Ansgar Football team.
We returned to the library in third period and I wanted to get started with my blog post - wondering loud what I could write about since nothing exciting had happened so far. In this moment the fire alarm went off! Not a "nice" sound as in Germany but a loud and shocking sound. Miss Humrich told us to leave our stuff in the library and get out of the building. We did as we were told, leaving our warm winterjackets and our bags in the library and left the building. It was incredibly cold outside! We were freezing so much we cuddled to stay warm (as you can see on the pictures).
We saw smoke coming out of one of the doors so we wondered if this was really just practice or if there was a real fire. A few minutes later another alarm went off, this time it was the fire alarm in town to let the firefighters know that there was a fire in school. Another Minute later they arrived and helped to get the smoke out of the building. As Sarah just told me they made a smoke bomb go off in the building, like every year! I was shocked to hear that! She was totally calm and told me that it was normal. I'm used to the German firealarm practices: The alarm goes off, we leave the building and walk to the gym. No smokebombs are used!
Finally we could get back into the building and into the warmth. But of course we had to take a few pictures with the firefighters! ;)














The last day at school...our quick field trip

Toeterville, Mn: The Unionhurst gallery
ATLANTA SAMPSON



Ms Humrich's favorite painting

Michelle's favorite painting



 














one of latest her works: a collage made in New York




Atlanta Sampson was born in Minnesota in 1896 and started painting with watercolors at home.
She studied arts and earned an art degree, she taught art and lived for a very long time in New York in a tiny apartment were she stored all her numerous paintings. She worked hard on having her own show. And finally at the age of 87 she had her first big show in New York.



Only 3 days anymore! The time is running and I am missing that all here already now...:/
But the last days and weeks were so wonderful, that i will remember all the great things and persons I have got to know here!
Yesterday we had a german café at the public library with typical german cakes and coffee, were a lot of people came to, even some of the mennonites. Some people brought a lot of things they had about germany, for example old newspaper cutting or postcards in german etc. These the german students tried to translate, what was sometimes a little bit difficult because some of the things were written in old german and hard to read. But the most things could be translated. Although some cakes didn't result as they should had result, all people had fun and a lot of new contacts were made :P
After the café a volleyball game took place in the gym of the CC high school, were a lot of people and family members went to watching it. The one half of the platforms was manned by the students and teens, who performed a traditional dance during the break in the game. It was very funny to act like them if you don't know the dance, but the feeling to ceer on their team is so great and so different to german school games; it's amazing! The Charles City team won, what was not that surprising, because this team is really good! :)
And this morning Mr. Denefleh brought a cake into the homeroom, which is looking really great! In the german lesson we are going to eat this; I hope it will taste delicious! :)

amazing time

Last day in school and I am sitting here by mr. McGrew. He is great teacher.All of the teachers were very friendly to us. And not just the teacher, all of the students were so kind to us. It made no difference whether they are exchange partner or not. All of you are nice. We will go to the bonfire at night today: I am so excited to see you american guys all together on one point. Thtat will be fun. It was a amzing time here. I am so glad that you americans made this exchange to one of the best time in my life. We will leave charles city on monday and today its friday, but im already sad now. I dont want to leave you. I have learned a lot from you all. You were all so open minded and from day one I felt like it is my new home here. I have found new friends here with such amazing character and some person, which I would not find in germany like these. I just want to say thank you all for that awesome time here.Especially to Jennifer, Tobias,Jeb and the best boy off  whole America. Nolan Crawford. I will never forget you.



October 22th, 2012:
Today I had to wake up at 6am because Sara and I had to give a speech for the Kiwanis. At 7am we met at Dave's Restaurant for the speech. First we had install a projector for our powerpoint presentation and then they told us when we had to do it. They sang a song and talked about some requests. Then Sara and I held our speech. In the beginning we were excited but after a short time we really had fun. They asked us some questions about the differences between Germany and America. When we had finished we had breakfast with Mr. Denefleh and one of the Kiwanis.
Later we went to school and we had a normal school day. After school I went home with Alicia and we did some things for school. After it we talked and ate supper.
We got a pen as a gift from the Kiwanis
I think this GAPP exchange was the best experience of my life. We got to know many people and we have seen many amazing things like Mount Rushmore. The way that the American and German groups fit together is wonderful. Everyone is happy in their family and I think some people would be glad if they could stay longer here, like me. Sure, I want to go to Chicago but I really love my host family and the people I got to know in this time. Everything I do with my family is fun and I have gained a lot of insight that will help later on. Alicia is like my sister and I really love doing things with her. Thank you for the great time Alicia!

Alicia and I at the footballgame


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Today in the morning we went to a Mennonite community half an hour away from Charles City, which was very interesting and new for us. We visited a Mennonite school and watched the kids for a while during classes until they started to sing songs for us. After they finished we also showed them a German nursery rhyme called "Auf der Mauer auf der Lauer sitzt 'ne kleine Wanze".
The Mennonites still live a bit like in the past, they do have electric constructions, running water, telephones and cars but they abstain from computers, televisions and radios because they want to keep out the "evil" of their lives.
They also dress a bit different than we do, the girls all wear dresses and braids, the boys shirts with suspenders.
The Mennonite community we visited includes about 120 families which may not sound that big, but most families have more children than we normally have. So it isn't extraordinary if a child has about 7 siblings.
In the break at school, we played baseball with the kids but they were a lot better than we were... we were already happy when we hit the ball and didn't miss it... For the others who only watched the others trying to hit the ball this was very funny ;)

Be at the bat... 
...hit it...
...watch the ball...
...and then...
...RUN!!

The Mennonite school we visited includes 8 grades, so after grade 8, you are done with school and start to work on your family's farm or in your family's business. The Mennonites are famous for their wodden workings, for examples cabinetry. A lot of people in and around Charles City have cabinets that are built by Mennonites.
You can also become a teacher after school: the teachers who taught the kids today weren't much older than we are, one of the teaching girls was only 19 years old.

Last week we spend our time in South Dakota. We took a jeeptour to see the bisons. Next day we went in the Windcave National Park. After it we saw the Mt. Rushmore. The Weather was really strange because it changed in 10 minutes from sunny into snowing. 10 minutes later the sun was shining again. Our last day for visiting we spend in the Badlands. It was so windy so that Falk lost his hat. Friday Sara & Madi came to our house and we watched "PS: I love you." Saturday we saw the Homecomingparade and it was the UNI-Footballgame, which was one of our highlights during  our time in the USA. After the game we took photos with the players on the field. On Sunday we played Soccer and after I caved pumkins with Jennifer and Luise. That was the first time I did it on my own.  










Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Belated diary entry, 21st of October

Finally i was able to sleep a bit more than usually on that night, but I still was very tired when we arrived at high school to get our bus.
I also figured out that getting up 10 minutes before leaving is not the perfect thing to do so I missed my breakfast. Fortunately the bus drive was not very long so we watched the homecoming parade, where I got a t-shirt in !!S!! and a chain (maybe souvenirs for my sister :D), before we went to my rescue: Subway.
So after having lunch we went to a mall that had every sport-thing, but still I found nothing to buy, especially I did not find a new hat, after mine was blown away as a sacrifice to the badlands.
In the evening at last we visited the UNI dome, to watch the Panthers win their game against the Jacks and I most of all admired their fantastic marching band. Unhappily i forgot my camera in the bus, so i were not able to take any pictures, but nevertheless I enjoyed this day very much.


October 16th 2012

Today was the first day in the Badlands. We arrived at about 2 p.m in the Reunion Cabin, it is just fantastic, I have never seen anything like this. After we arrived we had to hurry up because our jeep tour through the Badlands began at 3 p.m. What a impressive view over the Badlands. I never saw a bison that close and the prairie dogs were so cute! After driving several hours through the Custer State Park we finally stopped at a lodge. When we came in a man started to sing some songs and to play the guitar. Most of the songs were country songs but I liked them a lot. Back in the Reunion Cabin everybody was very tired but despite we played some card games together before we went to bed.
I really like the Badlands.

22.of October 2012

I had an awesome day today. At school met first period with ms. Humrich to talk about the things we are going to do this week. Then i did handicrafts with Elisa O. and Michelle. In my last class, German, me and my group went to elementary school to teach the kids saying the german names of some colors. At home Lexy and me bake the cake we will bring for the 'German Cafe' in Charles City on Thursday, to see if it looks and tastes good. I think it tastes really good! We were watching 'Pretty Women' for me was it the first time and i like it. By the way: Thank you Lexy for that awesome pillow fight!! :D


I loved America and the people from the first day on. I can't belive that we will leave in about one week. When I think about that I feel sad, because I love my host family so much. I already have in mind to visit them again and invited Lexy to come to Germany. THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!!
I realised that american people are much friendlier even if you do not really know them.
When I come home it will be very annoying for me to ask my mother to drive me somewhere. That is much easier here, because they can get a drivers license with about 15 years. I want that in Germany too. You just can drive somewhere and do not have to plan how you get home, because you can drive by yourself!!
All in all I really feel home here and do not want to leave! But on the other side I miss my family and friends very much and be happy to see them in about one week! :)
Our GAPP 'dinosaur' ;-))
Mr D. explains American history

Mr D. at Mount Rushmore after talking the group photo

Mr D. tells Mt. Rushmore's story

...and he is smiling as usual















Mr D. in the storm in the Badlands firm as rock