Exchange Students

It is awkward when we are not the foreign kid anymore

When we go home

nor will they care about us being exchange student

For a month they might comment on it but our awesome stories will be forgotten to them,

we will fade in with the others at school.

Family gatherings might bring it up or the curious teacher,

but our eventful life will be forgotten

Except of us

The way we live life from the day we return is influenced by our host country,

with our self esteem boostet, confident amazing, humor wordly, and all barriers broken.

They may not see it but we will always be exchange students, 

kids who actually grew up and

SAW THE WORLD

Welcome back to Germany

Just to let you guys know i got home! And I had nice greets at my house! It was a really long and hard day and now i am  really sleepy, but i will try to stay awake until it is night time over here so I will got over this jetlag as soon as possible... 

At the airport in Alec i ve cried soooooo bad and i was crying the whole flight from Alexandria to Atlanta long (2 hours) and then i calmed down at the airport with the help of some Starbucks and some candies, so i stopped crying and three hours later i was able to go on my plane... after 9 neverending hours i finally landed in Düsseldorf, and guess what! it was raining and when we landed I started crying again because i realized that i cannot go back by now anymore and i missed the super hot Louisiana weather! 

But i stopped crying when I saw one of my best friends waiting for me and when i hugged them all i started all over again but this time because i was so glad to be finally able to hug them all again!

And y'all can see in the picture what was waiting for me at home! 

I really need to rest some days until i am getting to school again and then i will txt y'all again, love ya! ♥

The last hours!

Okay that is not the video i was about to put, but it is a different one which mariah and me recorded yesterday because she has a video blog! I just wanted to post it because it tells you some things about exchange and so on, hopefully y'all like it !

It is 6 o' clock in the morning, in a few hours i am already on my plane... last nght was really hard our best friend slept over and mariah made a video for me (not the one above here another one which i wont put) and i started crying and crying and crying. I am super excited to come back now and i am really ready to go, but it breaks my heart leaving my family and best friends behind me. I am definitely gping to keep writing this blog even i dont know about what yet and hopefully the video gave you a lot information about exchange and y'all enjoyed watching it! 

All my backs are packed i am ready to go! Bye bye America, thank you for the most awesome time in my life, I will come back to see the most of the people here again, at least i will give my best! Thanks for all the people who made me feel like they knew me for years, who helped me to forget about homesickness and other problems. There are not enough words that could describe how much i am going to miss my hostmum and Mariah and my friends, i still need to recognize that i am probably wont see them for a long time and that i am seeing some of them for the last time today! When i am at the airport it is gonna be terribe, i am already crying right now in front of this computer because i am just thinking about leaving here...

Flashback, just a few of thousants of pictures i took in the last 6 months!

My best friend is right beside me but still asleep, i am probably going to wake her up right now so we can enjoy our last hours together before we are heading to the airport, i will post when i am in Germany how my flight was and so on! See y'all later from the other side of the world! A loooot of love, Kati! ♥

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard"

And my last weekend has passed ! :( I am so super sad and i dont wanna leave at all! All i actually did was getting ready, started saying Goodbye, buying souvenirs and gifts for my friends and family and preparing myself to get home. Oh and i went swimming again, with Linzey and Mariah and i finally bought all the stuff i still needed. Here some pictures from today at the pool:

My room is a big mess everything is on the floor and i just dont have no clue where to start packing all this stuff, and it really makes me sad that i already had to say goodbye to some friends who already went on vacation. Actually everything makes me sad, leaving these people and this country! But at the same time i am really glad to see my friends and family again!
Today we recorded some really funny videos in the car, i wanna edit them and then i am probably gonna upload them but i dont know when i am getting to do that because i still have so many stuff left to do over here so i am probably uploading it when i am already back in Germany. I will post soon, probably already from an other part of the world... love y'all
♥




"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard" - Pooh

5 Days

Just 5 more days in America ! :( and just 6 more days until I see my friends and family in Germany again. I think you need to experienced an exchange to know how I feel and how thousant of other exchange students whose wonderful time ends feel. It is really hard to leave all this behind you, but actually you dont have to because this exchange has changed your life. The friends you met here will probably be your friends forever and you found a second home in the world! It is the most awesome feeling!

Yesterday and today Mariah and me have been at Meagan's because she has a big pool and i wanted to get tan before i leave, and it actually works until i got sunburned... haha so i need to fix this sunburn because sitting hurts and i still need to sit a long time on the plane on my way to Germany! 

Today is Friday and so my last Weekend has started and it definitely has to be awesome! and then after this weekend the fun ends, I need to start packing and buy some stuff. I will tell you on sunday how my weekend was, but now it is late over here and I am gping to bed, goodnigh !                                   

The last Week has started!

Today is Wednesday and exactly in one week at the same time i am already in a plane on my way to Germany! Sometimes i think about why I did that, why did i come here? Because actually an exchange is a stupid idea, you come here alone and you will find friends and a family and in the end you have to leave them? So actually the whole thing will make you sad at the end. So i seriously wondered the last few days if it was really worth everything, of course i had a wonderful time, honestly the best time of my life but is that worth the feeling i have right now, this feeling to leave everybody? I am really sad, but when i think more about it it becomes pretty clear, coming here was the best decision i ever made, alone the experience i got here is worth everything. And i found friends i will keep in contact my whole life. Even the next week and especially next Wednesday will probably be very hard it is still worth it! I would always do that again and I can advise everybody to apply to an exchange program! Like many exchange student say, It is not only a year in your life, it is your life in a year!

I will post soon and probably every day this week! Love y'all ♥

Achja und ich bin gerade dabei die Playlist ein wenig zu bearbeiten ich werde ein paar Lieder einfügen die sich um Abschiede handeln um das ganze ein wenig tragischer zu machen, hahaha :D
Zu dem Lied called graduation Song, hab ich so lange angehört und nur geweint weil es so passte, dann hab ich es meiner Gastschwester und meinem besten Freund gezeigt die dann einfach nur mit mir geweint haben... (okay my German is so bad I will keep writing in English! )

The city where the people get crazy - New Orleans !

The city I went to this weekend is the biggest city in Louisiana, New Orleans is known for crazy people, mardi gras and music! After a 4-hour drive we finally arrived there and we saw this awesome skyline of New Orleans ! We have seen so much and i ve taken so many pictures that i dont even know where to start telling y'all about and what pictures i should put here...

   
Yeah, the first thing we saw in New Orlean was alot of fish. Because we went to the 'Aquarium of the Americas'. It was really awesome and i took a bunch of pictures but when i looked at them at home i had to figure out that the most of them are pretty bad because you werent allowed to use your flashlight and that is why most of the pistures were indistinct. But in the end i ve found two to post !

Then we finally could check in to our hotel, and after we all took a good nap we went to Bourbon Street. It is a street where alot of crazy people are, it is where all the clubs are at and where the people go at night time to party. And it was really fun, and i definitely know now why everybodyy says the people in New Orleans are crazy! After we walked along the street, got into some stores and get to know how the poeple here are like we went to a really, really good restaurant! A seafood restaurant, i don't know if i have ever told y'all that but Louisiana is known for their seafood, and i can tell it is really good! And guess what!? I ve tried Aligator! And I liked it, it was actually really good!

After a good breakfast at the hotel at the next day we went to the french quater, we looked around and walked along the river and got to a market and shopped a bit, but the real shopping part (for what i was looking forward the whole time) came after that when we went to the Lakeside Shopping Centre! It is the biggest mall i have ever been to. Unfortunately we didnt have so much time becaause we still had to drive all the way back to Alec, but i still could go shopping and spend some money ! ;)

It was really an awesome weekend and there are just 9 days left! I really dont wanna leave this country i have fallen in love with everything here, except of these country music, camouflage and rednecks, hahahaha...     I will post whenever I can, but as soon as possible! ♥

Louisiana Sun

Yes, that's actually all i did the last few days ! Laying at the pool trying to get tan but not sunburned and just having fun with my best friends ! No words how much i love them all!

It is freaking me out that i am so white compared to all the others haha, but i got tan that day !

Yea i am pretty proud of myself because i posted everyday the last 3 days, and now i am not sure if i can keep doing that, because tomorrow i am probably not home and I don't know yet if i have time tomorrow night to post about my day. And then Saturday morning we are gonna leave early to go to NEW ORLENS! I am so excited and i am pretty sure i wont have any time to post while i am there, probably at night when we are at the hotel room and they have some free Wifi. But i promise i will post a bunch of pictures on Monday or tuesday after i came back! See y'all ♥

Facts about america

• 'All Americans are fat' this prejudice is actually true. Not every American is fat but in the average they are alot fatter than people in other countries
• Most of the American have iPhones !
• The traffic lights are on the other side of the street
•  Americans think that the cars in Germany are driving on the other side of the street
•  Almost all candy bars have another peanut butter- version
• In Louisiana everybody is crazy about crawfish
• teacher here don't care about the class and do not teach at all
• the street and the traffic is confusing!
• the cars are all automatic and so alot easier to drive
• the air conditioner are everywhere and even it is freaking hot outside you are freezing inside !
• americans drink her soda with ice even in winter
• american Tv sucks !
• Americans eat alot! Three warm meal a day are normal
• Many Americans are really religious much more than we are used to be in Germany 
• Americans never use a bike or walk they even use the car to go to their post box
• most of the streets here glow in the dark, that is pretty cool !

I probably gonna add some more later on ! 

15 days until Germany !

So today there are exactly 15 days left for me in Louisiana and i am still not sure what to feel. I still wanna do so many things but there is too less time left! But i am about to go bowling in Alec with a few guys and i have some good news ! Me mariah and Candance are going to New Orleans this weekend! That's gonna be awesome. I am really enjoying all the time i have left but I am so excited to see my family and friends!

And now i have to hurry up because i am going bowling with these awesome girls and Lars ! See y'all later ;)

All what is left... // bilderflut

Now i am sitting here and think about what is left. What is left from the 157 days? - just 16 days! The first month i always looked at my phone and i couldnt wait until i can see my family and friends in Germany again. And now? Of course i still cannot wait for them i cannot wait to hug them all but now there is so much what is holding me here. In 5 month i found friends that are like friends i have known my whole life. It was not easy i came here with alot of issues with the language and without knowing anybody, without friends in another country with another family at another school. But with the time the foreign language becomes normal and easier than your home language haha, strangers become real friends, the other country becomes home, your hostfamily becomes your real family. And your friends and family let you forget that you are actually supposed to be homesick. Oh yeah right point, some people have sent me some messages and asked me if i really hadnt been homesick at all and i can honestly say 'no'! I really dont know why, maybe because i had no problemes with nothing here, everything was so perfect, no problems finding new friends, no problems in school or with my hostfamily. I was really lucky! :)

So i need to say that again, there are 16 days left, that is so less ! I gonna try to post something more often so u have a great view how my last days here are going!

i just picked some random and unshown pictures, cuz i thought the post was too short !

 Fun in Walmart

 She's probably gonna kill me for posting this picture but whatever. Skyping with german friends ! ♥

I can tell, summer began!

It is hot! Really hot and while i am complaining about 35 degrees the people here keep telling me that this wasn't even close to how hot it will get! How am i suppose to survive when it is getting over 40 degrees here!? But luckily most of the cars and the houses have an air conditioner! So since school is over there isnt much to do because most of our friends still have to go to school because just the summer break for the seniors has already begun and it is too hot to do anything, and now there is a new rule that u cannot go to the mall after 5 pm when you are under 18, but it is a kinda fun going there and hiding so the cops wont catch us haha. Actually i just wanted to make you jealous because i heard it is a kinda cold in germany right now, and there is nothing much more to say. Accept of that i finally have the date i will leave america, it is june,12... It is so sad and i ve already told 1000 times that i really wanna stay longer. but i cannot change it :(
i will post something in the next days, love y'all

Last school day, summer break began

So last Thursday was my last School day and with 2 finals it was probably one of the hardest and longest day at rapides High! I had so much to do that i couldnt even think about being sad, but i finally was able to sign Mr Lee's flag  ! and i am proud of myself because even i knew i probably won't see some of these people again i didnt cry at all.
At the right you can see the German flag in Mr Lee's room i signed, at least he is not gonna forget me !

And on Saturday we celebrated that our summer and our summer vacation finally began! Mariah, Me and Jacob went wave boarding and it was alot of fun even Mariah and me couldn't even holt ourself at the water surface. just see and laugh ;) 

 How it actually has to look like, jacob is a prof ;)

 My favourite picture, haha even i couldn't board like Jacob i had alot of fun hahaha!

 Finally summer - Selfies !

Ein rießen Haufen Bilder mit all diesen Leuten, die ich sooo seeehr liebe!

das sind zwar 1000 % noch nicht alle, aber ich werde morgen an meinem letzten schultag versuchen ein Foto mit jedem zu machen den ich mag, haha und werde die dann all posten also macht euch auf was gefasst. Warum ich auf Deutsch schreibe? weil meine deutschen freunde und familie sich drüber lustig machen wie schlechte mein deutsch geworden ist, aber es ist garnicht mal so bad! aber schreiben ist auch noch viel leichter als sprechen, also ich muss auf jeden fall noch ein wenig üben bevor ich wieder mit guten gewissen und ohne mich zu blamieren in den deutschunterricht in deutschland kann, ohmann das wird peinlich, haha

ok by the fact that i am still in america and i gonna post pictures of some people and i dont want them to think i am talking bad about them i will keep writing in english or probably a crazy mixture of both!

 

These two guys i loooooove aloooot!!! how u can see we have alot of fun every day in my favourite class. I met them like in the first week i was here and they are one of the people i will miss the most !    

                           

   Jacob is one of the people i ve met the first day i was here, he threw the Prom-After party and it was the best party i ve ever been here in america (eigentlich nur weil amerikanische parties auf ihre eigene art und weise lahm sind ;) ) and he lets me drive his truck, no i am a liar i force him to let me drive the truck and he always thinks i gonna crash it but actually he knows that i am an awesome driver and he's just jealous, cuz he isnt such a good driver!

Even when he doesnt show it to me the whole time he loves me alot ! and i love him and gonna miss him so bad!

Oh ja Alle diese bilder sind von heute und ich trage mit absicht keine schminke mehr weil ich weiß, dass ich total anfangen werde zu heulen spätestens morgen, also bitte ignoriert diese Hässlichkeit meines ungeschminkten gesichtes hahaha ♥

 Another picture in the truck (ja ich mache bilder während ich das auto fahre, weil ich so ein begabter fahrer bin!) People are scared when i am driving, but they don't have no reason!

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Haha okay erzähl ich euch mal von einem Jungen, Esteban... Er ist ein wenig junger than me aber einer meiner besten und engsten Freund hier, er wollte umbedingt dass ich über ihn etwas schreibe und ihn in einen meiner posts erwähne also mach ich das mal aber ich werde es nicht so machen wie er es erwartet hat, denn er erwartet folgenes:

Hopefully he still loves me after i ve posted this picture! Okay let me start there is a boy, he is an awesome mexican (aber nur weil der rest der mexikaner sucks, hahaha ok just kidding). Esteban is super handsome, i dont know about his ass, but i doubt that it's so nice like he thinks. I rather look in his face than at his ass cuz he has pretty awesome dark brown eyes ;)  Oh yeah and he is super nice to me since the day we met at a baseball game, and at the first day we talked he gave me his jacket (diese rote jacke die ich auch auf den rest der Bilder hier trage) and he told me i can keep it and i really love it! I dont even have a picture of him but i will take one  tomorrow and put it here then.

okay morgen ist mein letzter schultag :( ich werde einen haufen bilder machen und alle posten und ich werde wahrscheinlich richtig scheiße aussehen weil ich den ganzen tag vorraussichtlich nur weinen werde. aber naja i love y'all alot! ♥

PROOOOOOOM!

Heey!
I ve promised you to post a bunch of pictures from Prom, and here they are! hopefully you like them!
But first I wanna tell you how my night was, because it was pretty awesome! Adrianna and Linzey, two friends came to our house to help me to get ready and so on and then we waited for my date. When he came we went outside to take some pictures, it was fun tho!
Then we went too alec and ate and then we had to come back because i forgot the tickets, haha... but we were still in time and arrived at prom at around 10. It was pretty good but not the highlight of this night, because that was definitely the after-party, at my friend jacob's house. I can say i had alot fun last night!

 Ein Kuss- Bild ist das absolute Muss at  Prom ! hahaha

I am ready for summer

It is getting really hot here in Louisiana, while i am sweating and complaining about 30° the people here tell me that it will get alot hotter! So i need to prepare myself, i already bought alot of sunscreen and some new sommer clothes. Oh I have so much to tell but too less time! The only reason I found time today is that i am skipping school, because there are many tests and then we are actually not doing anything in class, that's why mariah and me just stayed home today and probably tomorrow too. 

The next weekend is Prom weekend!!! I am really excited and yesterday my dress finally came in! and i love it, it is pink and long, and normally i look really weird in long dresses but i really like this one! I will show you a picture of it after Prom, because my date is not suppose to see it before. I still need to buy alot of stuff and there is just too less time until Prom, there is just too less time until i am going home! :(

I still wanna do alot of stuff but i just cannot find enough time, when school is over i will probably have a bunch of time to do everything. I dont know if i ve already told you but after school has ended i am going to New Orleans and probably to Houston too! I cannot wait, and i cannot believe that i just have 8 days of school left, i just dont feel like saying goodbye. But i think i ve already shown you that i really dont wanna go. So instead of complaining about leaving right now i am just enoying my time and i will try not to think about it.

I am pretty sure i will post a long post after prom because it's gonna be amazing! 

♥

99 days

It feels like yesterday when i got out of the plain and finally realized 'Here i am, in America, 5 months, alone'
Everything was so new, i knew nobody and i couldnt understand most of the things the people told me, and now? I found a new home, a new sister a lot of new and awesome friends, best friends. And my english? I don't wanna say it is perfect because it really isn't but when u compare it with the 'English' i spoke when i came here it is alot better!!!
Just everything is better than i expected it before, I thought it would be the hardest thing in the world to find new friends at a new school, but now? I found the best friends in the world and i totally love them! I was scared of not getting along with my hostfamily, but candance is like a mum even when we have arguement sometimes, and Mariah is like a sister or a best friend, it would be boring without her and my exchange wouldn't be so awesome without her! I thought i would get homesick, but i am really not, i am the opposite i really don't wanna go home like i already said i thausant times in other posts.

I wanna tell you more about my school. Rapides High School in lecompte. It is a pretty small school just around 400 High School students and 200 Junior High Students, but perfect for exchange students. I dont know exactly but i think the most of the people there are black or mexican, but that really doesnt matter because they are all nice even when you are white and german, haha..
The worst thing about a small school is the sport, our school doesn't offer so many different kinda sports than maybe a school with 3000 students. But I really like the aspect that everybody knows you and you know everybody... Bad things about schools in Louisiana are the school uniforms, but you really get used to it and i started seeing some good things about it for example i don't spend hours and night to find some nice clothes for the next school day and every friday we have a day out of uniform!
Another thing which is totally different to Germany is that the teachers are so close to the students, they talk about the private life the whole time and know everything about each other. I am actually pretty happy with my school , even it is small ;)

& now look what I draw in Art:

How do you wanna say you know the WORLD when you have never been an EXCHANGE STUDENT?

Ich bin ein AUSTAUSCHSCHÜLER
Wie willst du wissen was ein TRAUM ist, wenn du nie einen erreicht hast.
Wie willst du wissen was ein ABENTEUER ist, wenn du nie Teil in einem warst.
Wie willst du wissen was eine QUAL ist, wenn du doch noch nie mit Tränen in deinen Augen von deiner ganzen Familie und Freunden verabschieden musstest.
Wie willst du wissen was VERZWEIFELT SEIN bedeutet, wenn du noch nie alleine an einem Ort angekommen bist und kein Wort von dem, was die anderen geredet haben verstanden hast.
Woher willst du wissen was VIELFALT ist, wenn du noch nie einen ganzen anderen Teil der Erde erlebt hast.
Wie willst du wissen was TOLLERANZ ist, wenn du dich noch nie an etwas gewöhnen musstest, was du nicht einmal magst.
Wie willst du wissen was SELBSTSTÄNDIGKEIT ist, wenn du noch nie ganz auf dich allein gestellt warst.
Wie willst du wissen was ERWACHSEN WERDEN bedeutet, wenn du nie aufgehört hast ein Kind zu sein, um etwas neues zu starten.
Wie willst du wissen wie es ist HILFLOS zu sein, wenn du noch nie jemanden umarmen wolltest, es aber vom Computerbildschirm verhindert wird.
Wie willst du wissen was DISTANZ ist, wenn du noch nie auf eine Landkarte geschaut hast und gesagt hast 'ich bin so weit weg!'
Wie willst du wissen was VATERLANDSLIEBE ist, wenn du noch nie als Ausländer zu deinem Land stehen musstest.
Wie willst du wissen was die WAHRE REALITÄT ist, wenn du bisher nur deine eigene Welt kanntest.
Wie willst du wissen was eine PERFEKTE GELEGENHEIT ist, wenn du noch nie eine ergriffen hast.
Wie willst du wissen was STOLZ ist, wenn du noch nie stolz auf dich selbst warst nachdem du bemerkt hast wie viel du leisten kannst.
Wie willst du wissen was 'NUTZE DEN TAG' bedeutet, wenn du noch nie Zeit wie im Fluge vergehen gesehen hast.
Wie willst du wissen was ein FREUND ist, wenn du noch nie in einer Situation warst, die nur wahre Freundschaft standhält.
Wie willst du wissen was eine FAMILIE ist, wenn du nie die Grenze deiner eigenen überschritten hast, um zu sehen was auf der anderen Seite ist.
Wie willst du wissen was FANTASIE ist, wenn du noch nie über diesen Moment nachgedacht hast wenn du wieder nach Hause kommst.
Wie willst du die WELT KENNEN, wenn du nie ein Austauschschüler warst?


Ich habe diesen Text im Internet gefunden und mich total verliebt. Er war erst auf Englisch, habe ihn aber dann übersetzt weil selbst ich ihn ein wenig kompliziert fand (was mit meinem schon fast peinlich schlechtem Deutsch etwa 2 Stunden gedauert hat) Ich hoffe er gefällt euch! ♥

Time!? stop !

What about 60 days left? That cannot be, it still feels like i've just arrived yesterday! Make this time stop please! Much happened, we have written the ACT test for the ones who don't know what that is it is a test and when you passed it you officially can go to college. Actually seniors take it, i am a senior at my school but actually i am a freshman and i am just a senior because i am an exchange student, but anyways i had to take the test and i think i am the youngest person ever taken this test haha, but i did actually pretty good, got 20 points, and with these points i can go to college, i did awesome good in the Math and English part (i am wondering why i am doing better in the english part as an exchange student than the most of the american students haha ) But i was really bad in the reading and science part, but i think it is understandable that i cannot read that fast like americans can and that is why i could not finish this part and all these complicated words in science just were too much for me...

I just told you how much happened but i already do not know what ther is to have been told, Mariah and me are just having soooo much fun, we are going out everyday every weekend every free second we are spending with the awesome people here, because i dont wanna waste nomore time nomore ( that was Super-Slang ( 3 times negative hahahaha ))
I can just keep repeating how much i love everything here, most at all the people and Mariah, she ist an awesome hostsister like a real sister or your best friend.. I love baseball game and generally all school games, and the spirit and the classes, yes even the classes. Before I came here i haven't thought that it is gonna be so excited like going out every day and so on, but know it is like a way better like i expected.
when i think about other exchange students telling me that they would like to go home and they cry because they are homesick i am just awesome happy with my situation, because i start crying when i think about going home, of course i miss my family, but it will not ruin my time here just because i cannot see my family and german friends for a bit..
okay ich werde versuchen mich mal ein wenig schneller zu melden und euch nicht so lange auf den nächsten post warten lassen. Ich liebe euch ! ♥

Happy Easter yall!

Happy Easter, it was a really great weekend, we went to Candance's family and it is great feeling to be a part of it. They prepared a 'small' BBQ-easter dinner, it was really awesome!
The day after easter we spent the night with our friends because it was our last day out of school :( Tomorrow the second part of the semester starts, time passes too fast!





After we ate dinner, we had an awesome dessert, it consisted of cakes, lots of big and colorful cakes, haha. They were real really good and these two were the best of the whole day.

popping some bubbles with Katelyn

I love y'all so much ! I just have about 70 days left, cannot believe how fast the time passed! ♥

Spring break started

Look at my report card, just A and B's.. Being proud of myself :) !

haha, what we found in Walmart, I love this country but i am still scared of all these guns everywhere !