One Year in the
States
Memories that won’t fade away
It seems like yesterday, when I got on the bus in Nürnberg. There I started my great adventure: 10 months as an exchange student in Vernonia, Oregon, USA.
From the very first morning, when I awoke in my new bed, I felt at home: There was the smell of coffee floating through the house, sun rays creeping through my bedroom window, birds singing and open arms waiting for me downstairs. What else could I have wanted? Soon school started. I chose easy and fun subjects, so I didn’t have to spend my afternoons on homework. Since sports are very important in the US, I started to play volleyball; not only to keep in shape, but to make friends and to be on a team. Participating in a band and a choir helped me to get to know people better, too. Of course, it is hard in the beginning: being on oneself, trying to make friends, getting to know classmates and teachers and then there are the language difficulties, but my hostparents helped me and I could rely on them in any situation. There was nothing I couldn’t ask them about and they explained to me all the differences I had noticed. During the ten months I also played basketball and softball, went on an overnight trip with our band, drove to two choir festivals and participated in all the events at school (dances, homecoming, prom, ...).
With my hostparents I went on two big trips (I don’t want to name the small, local places we visited): in the fall we drove to Texas, to attend my hostcousin’s wedding and during spring vacation we drove to San Francisco to visit my hostgrandparents. On both trips, I saw a lot of countryside and met many new people. I also went on a senior trip with my classmates in May. We invested a lot of time and effort to raise the money needed for the trip and then went on a 4-day-vacation to Los Angeles. That was a very nice end of the year.
I would like to encourage every one of you to go on exchange. It is an experience that you can only make once in a life-time. This year, I proved to myself that I can stand on my own two feet and live a very happy life several thousand kilometers away from „home".
Please come to me for information or if you have any questions
Mareike Siebenbürger