It's the day after the Germans have left and depression is already setting in. After having an exchange student living with me for three weeks it is extremely strange knowing that I won't see my new best friends till the end of the school year. But looking back on the past three weeks we did some pretty fun stuff, like paint balling, going to the ocean, and showing What a professional American soccer game is like. These are memories that I'll never forget and I'm sure that Maxi won't either. But now I can look forward to our trip to Germany where I am looking forward to visiting my exchange family, and playing soccer with Maxi's team. And I'm sure we will make even more memories and friends during our time out of the country.
- Foster
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Today I said a loving goodbye to my host sister, Nadine. I am so thankful to have been matched with someone always up for anything and full of laughter just like me. Even though I will see her in only a little over two months, it was hard for my friends and family to let her go. I think some of them began to prefer Nadine's company to mine and who can blame them? When I got back from the airport my home seemed a little quieter, much more boring without her bright smile. My cats were confused and upset to learn their favorite bunk mate would not be returning for a while.
On Nadine's last day in America we made one last trip to the school for lunch to say our goodbyes. In hindsight it may have been easier to just watch 13 Reasons Why until we left for the airport but sometimes a little heartache is necessary and ok. I will miss our late nights, loud music and endless trips. I know from the faces at the airport today that I am not the only one missing their sister or brother tonight. I wish the Germans safe travels home. For the Americans I just wish that June would come faster. Thank you all for showing the love and kindness of our country to those foreign and those from down the street, exchange pt 1 is done. - Hunter Piper... waiting for your blog post!
Today's activities started with our first trip to the Kettle, which we have yet again rediscovered that American serving sizes are much larger than ones in Germany. The rest of the day included seeing Urinetown (the musical) yet again because once or twice is of course never enough!! This was of course after getting to sleep in because of such a weird school schedule. Leah enjoyed walking to school and getting to see everyone perform in the musical again! After school we took Leah around town to look at a few stores including the antique shop and the store across the street to buy her an Enumclaw sweatshirt :) took Leah to her first visit to Avalanche Delight which we enjoyed some delicious froyo and then later went and bought ourselves a dinner from Oshio's teriyaki for yet too much food compared to a german serving size. Ending our day with some T.V. and ice cream of course after Leah had finished her packing.
-Halli Today they took a trip to Seattle to see the space needle, they went up to the top of the space needle to see the whole city. Next, they when to eat some food after that they went to the EMP (experience movie project)* for a couple of hours, looking at the exhibits that were showing there at the time.
- Fulton Note from Frau: The Experience Music Project is now called the MoPop (the Museum of Pop Culture). We returned home from a great weekend in Seaside Oregon. We really lucked out with the weather, and even had sunshine at times (as well as slight hailstorms.) Flo had a great time walking the beach and eating salt water taffy for the first time. We took a drive up to Cannon beach to haystack rock and spent the afternoon playing catch with a Frisbee on the beach. On the drive back home, we stopped by the Astoria Column to soak in the panoramic views of the mountains, and the estuary between the Colombia river and the Pacific Ocean.
Upon returning home from the weekend, Florian had his own classes at the high school and we ended up having German together. After school, he went over to Foster's house and hung out with him and Maxi, and as well as several other Germans that went to the soccer game. Then we went to the airport to pick up our other exchange student! His name is Zac and he is from Australia, and came back to visit me and my family, after being my exchange student last January. I am excited for the next few days to be able to make memories with my two amazing exchange partners! - Travis Today was an exciting day even though the boys were exhausted from motor cross last night! As soon as we all managed to drag ourselves out of bed, we were off to brunch. The poor cooks couldn't refill the french toast fast enough.
Afer we got home, Simon and Lukas left to go hangout with some friends and got to go kayaking on lake walker. They both surprised me by staying upright the whole time. Meanwhile, Andi got to do the thing he wanted most. "This is why I came to America." He whispered as he put on the dirtbike helmet. Please note that he did not ride the bike in the picture, but instead, he rode a tiny red 140 my neighbor got when she was 8. Even though it was too small, Andi tried his best to jump it and keep up with everyone else. When we finally headed home after a day full of mud and near crashes, everyone was ready for bed. -Tessa *Note from Frau... please get a permission slip from your exchange student's parents before letting them do anything dangerous! (Like dirt bike racing) ;) Just in case... Elias and I spent the day skiing at Crystal Moutain with my Dad and Brother. It snowed 8 inches the night before so the snow was great. Sadly into our fourth run my Brother fell and broke his collar bone, but Elias and I finished out the day. Afterwards, we came home had some pizza and saw Urinetown at the high school. We thought the play was very well done and very funny.
-Dylan Today the Germans presented about Germany. Luis and I went to McDonalds for lunch. There was a bonfire at Garrett Reed's house after school and it was pretty cool. Before the fire was started, a bunch of us played a quick game of Dungeons and Dragons. Lindsey and Zack (and Leon) were there too. We had hamburgars for dinner, and made smores after that when the bonfire really got going. It was a fun time.
-Dakota On April 6th, Ina and i went to have brunch in the space needle! It was so neat. We had fancy glasses, and one thing from starters, main course and the dessert menu. All were so filling and so much food. I would definitely go again. The elevator up was so fast and the restaurant was rotating. We were in the ring of the space needle. Ina says that the waiters/waitresses were a lot nicer than in Germany. That they really try to have a conversation with you. I am so glad that Ina enjoyed this experience with me. I hope that one day, she will come back to America.
- Taylor Today, the German students are enjoying their first full day in Vancouver, we however are living our normal, boring lives without them. I am going to talk about our last weekend. We started off by cramming into the Suburban and driving to Covington. There, we went to a doughnut shop called Legendary doughnuts. Our exchange student, Anna was surprised at how much sugary doughnuts Americans could eat. After that, we took off and left for Seattle. Our first stop after the long, traffic filled journey, was the Fremont troll. The troll is a large statue made almost entirely out of concrete that lies underneath the Fremont bridge. Next we walked out to the piers and looked at some of the floating houses that are outside the rowing club. After that, we went to Beth's Cafe, where all 6 of us shared a 12 egg omelette and all you could eat hash browns. We left for home after that.
The next day we all got up, put on many layers of clothing, camouflage, and grabbed our paintball guns. We headed for KC Crusaders, a small paint-balling place in South Prairie. We each got our 500 paint-balls, and the fun began. Anna was having a "blast". We played for a few hours before we ran our supply of paint-balls out. Everyone was EXHAUSTED. We pulled off the layers of clothing covered in paint and crawled back into the suburban.We ate a lot of snacks on the way home. It wasn't enough to stave off the hunger brought on by hours of dodging, squatting, and rolling that paint-ball entailed. We went home and ate a very american dinner, Americanized Pizza. And that sums up our exhausting, but totally worth it, weekend. - Garrett The germans left at 5:30 in the morning it was really boring that day after they left but I wanted to know if they liked canada and the experiences there and if canadians really said Eh after every sentence.
- Mason Today was mostly chill, we all met in the commons at EHS, headed for the bus just outside and then loaded up and drove to Seattle where we had to get on the ferry to Banbridge. Unfortunately we missed our ferry by about a minute or two so most of us just walked the 10 feet to Subway got our breakfast and then waited. After that, the ferry showed up, we got on, and went to Banbridge. When we got on the island we where given a scavenger hunt for around the island and then sent off. After about a hour and a half we all met up back at the ferry terminal and head back home where we all went our separate ways for the rest of the day.
- Zack After settling in at my dad's house in Florida, Kathi and I went exploring around the beaches on the panhandle! First stop was Perdido Key Beach, Florida. Kathi woke up to a peaceful morning with calm waters, a light breeze, and sunshine! As the rest of the household woke up, we went on a walk down the beach to the FloraBama, the bar marking the state line between Florida and Alabama. Then we drove into Orange Beach and Gulf Breeze, Alabama for brunch.
After that, my dad surprised us with a helicopter ride over Gulf Breeze! Kathi was very excited, and took lots of pictures from above. She couldn't wait to do show off what she got to do. (: - Alayah Today was so hectic! We woke up at 8 so we could start the day early. My mom took both my sisters, Lara, and I to go to the Zoo. But, today is April Fools day so we thought we should do something big. We ran into Wal-Mart, two different Targets, the Hobby Lobby, and a restaurant until we found a fake tattoo! My mom and sister were getting real tattoos so we thought we would toss in some fun. My mom dropped my younger sister, Lara, and I off at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium so we could have fun. We went to all of the exhibits and showings of the day which included watching sharks and polar bears get fed, seeing a clouded leapord and lynx up close, and getting to ride the camels! After seeing everything in the Zoo, my mom picked us up after she and my older sister got her tattoo. We applied the fake tattoo to Lara and put Wal-Mart bought plastic wrap over her arm and took a picture of course. After that, we went out to dinner.
My mom thought it would be so cool to take Lara to an authentic German restaurant so we went to the German and Polish restaurant in Black Diamond. The owner spoke a little German so he and Lara had a small conversation that none of us understood. When our food was delivered Lara was shocked. She said "No wonder Americans don't like German food!" Apparently, on a scale of 1-10, it was a 2. If it was in Germany, she said it would have been a 10. It was still great for us American's and we had a fun time. Overall, it was a great day and everybody had so much fun! Not many pranks were pulled but oh well; another year. The pictures below are of Lara and us at the Zoo and then at the German restaurant. - Savanna Today, Lara and I woke up bright and early to go have an amazing day! My mom drove us and my older sister to downtown Tacoma for an appointment that we made with my grandpa who was very kind to squeeze us into his busy schedule. He is a very skilled tattoo artist who gave my mom her first tattoo at the age of 15 so we thought that we should offer the same courtesy to Lara. We want to give her the full American experience, of course. It took 2 hours and Lara took it like a champ even though she picked something girly. My sister got a huge owl on her back (which she cried about) and my mom added more onto her growing sleeve. We all really appreciate the generosity of the Old Tacoma Tattoo Parlor for giving her this. She absolutely loves her new tattoo and we all had a good day. Glad we could help make her time here so great! Also, below is an attached photo of the three happy girls with their new tattoos! Congratulations and Happy April Fools! ;)
- Savanna Just a quick note to say that many of the exchange students, their host families, and Frau were to be found at the Seattle Sounders soccer game in Seattle Friday night. Even though it was a draw against Atlanta, we all still had a good time!
- Frau Holmquist Today the exchange students shadowed Enumclaw students outside of the exchange program.
This evening there was a bonfire held at the Bosik's. It was a lot of fun, and there was a lot of snacks. We roasted marshmallows, made s'mores, and cooked hotdogs on the fire. The dogs joined in on the fun and were given a lot of attention. Hunter and I spent the end of the evening on the trampoline with her exchange partner, Nadine, and a friend that she had brought. The larger of the two dogs spent most of that time demanding partner to play fetch with, and the demand was happily met. The night was a fun time, laughs were shared, and the fire kept going. The food was very good. The Germans loved the puff Cheetos, and now I have a good idea on what to buy Lea (: -Lindsey Kat... we're still waiting for your blog post!
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AuthorThis blog is moderated by Frau Holmquist, Enumclaw High School German Teacher. It is written by the participants of Archives |