And now?

My dear readers,

I have to apologize to you for not writing in forever. And that's actually the reason I'm writing this post. I started most of the past posts with similar words. I was never consequent with writing regularly, I always had to force myself to write. Most of the time it was fun to write, once I started, but unfortunately I get into writing mood too rarely. Also, I had trouble drawing a line between things I could tell the entire world and things that were too personal and private to write about.

So... I came to the conclusion that this will be my last post on this blog.
I want to thank you, my readers, who encouraged me to write and supported me throughout the time.
I won't delete this blog for right now, because that I wrote some stuff that isn't bad.

Sincerely,
your Alex

The Last Day of School

The last time my alarm rang at 5:45,
The last time I made myself a peanut butter-jelly-sandwich,
The last time my sister drove me to school,
The last time I went to the library before my classes to study,
The last time I stood up for the Pledge of Allegiance,
The last time hearing "hi, Alex" on the hallway,
The last time eating lunch with my friends and 600 other people,
The last time taking a multiple-choice test,
The last time seeing all of my teachers,
The last picture in front of my locker,
The last time walking through the hallways,
The last time I walk out of the building,
I look back, I remember the hundreds of ours that I spent here,
The last "good bye", 
The last time the door closes behind me.

A huge "THANK YOU" to all the people who made this school year so special and unforgettable.
I will miss you!

Introduction to the Lobster

Spring has finally arrived to Wisconsin and it brings a lot of fun events with it. After such an awefully long winter with snowstorms, icy roads and temperatures below -40°F and illness it is such a wonderful feeling to be outside and do some physical work. Have you ever thought that banning wild Parsnips out of a raised bed could be so much hard work? Well, even those, apparently poisenous, creatures could not destroy my exitement about having a garden. My abandoned dream of having a garden with flowers, vegetables, fruits and herbs is coming true.

Now, let's get the Lobsters involved:
I don't know if I ever told you that I am a vegetarian, and until a couple weeks ago that meant no meat, no fish. Since my German parents are rather lazy cooks, they don't touch fish or meat at home, so I never really had any problems being a vegeterian. But life usually brings changes and after being sick so often this winter I thought about making a change to my diet. A couple weeks ago the decision fell: Iwould start eating fish and seafood again, after five years of strict vegetarianism (I must admit that I could never give up eating Gummibärchen). Though I can't tell if eating fish and seafood is improving my health, I have certainly enjoyed eating it.

On Friday I had a special experience with seafood:
Every year the special needs program at my high-school has a huge fundraiser, which is "Lobster Boil". The special needs kids, their parents and many volunteers cook hundreds of lobsters and prepair a delicious meal for their guests. In addition, there is an auction.
Since two of my host brothers have special needs it is a Lobster Boil is a tradition in my hostfamily. I didn't volunteer because I originally had something else going on that night, so I ended up eating the first Lobster of my life, and definitely not the last one. It was an outstanding experience with wonderful people because my family invited their relatives from New Jersey and friends from St. Louis. So I was sitting in between my host aunt and a family friend and both were helping me to crack the technique of cracking the parts of the lobster open, which was much hader than I had expected.

 My host daddy cooking lobsters.

This was a great beginning to one of the most special weekends of my exchange year...

Composition Page

One of the uncountable number of things that I learned to appreciate since I came here is writing.
I think the most important part of it was the Advanced Composition class, which I took during my first semester. So I decided to publish my best essays, because they show how fast your language can improve when you are surrounded by it every single day.
Look: On the right side there is a Composition bar! Klick on it if you are interested in reading my essays.

Just another rainy afternoon?

Probably this is the first rainy afternoon this year, normally it would snow, but maybe spring is finally coming. Hopefully, it does and brings a little more happiness with it.
Yes, my dears, the last weeks were not easy for me and my host family. A lot of unfortunate and unexpected things happened.

Let's go back in time:

Just minutes ago my dear host sister got rejected from her dream college and from her second choice in addition. Everybody was hoping, but also knew how low the chances are to get into the best school in the United States.
I think I need to give her a little shout-out here: You are the best sister I could imagine and no matter what happens, there is always another way to achieve your wonderful goals. Go Anna!

Now, these disappointments are big, but looking back to the last weeks, they are just the top of a pile which seems to rather be a huge mountain,

Three weeks ago, on Tuesday, March 4th, the roads were not salted due to a salt shortage in Wisconsin. So Anna and I were driving to school and started fishtailing, luckily Anna gained  back the control over the car. But in the next curve the car started fishtailing again, we crossed the left laine and crashed into a telephone pole. The air bags came out, a steam reached my nose and a couple seconds later I stood outside the car, in the snow. I was shaking and I had not realized, yet, what just had happened. Anna was barely able to give me her phone so I could call mom, but afterwards she was able to call 911. After five minutes our mom came, and after 20 the Sherriff finally arrived. I don't remember what I was thinking, but I calmed down fairly quickly, trying to make it easier for Anna, but she had to fill out forms and call the insurance on the way to the hospital.
I was slowly realizing that my sister and I had just survived an car accident. The car didn't, but it could have been so much worse and probably it was the luckiest day in my entire life.
In the hospital they did x-rays on us, but we got away even without a single broken bone, so we went home. Obviousely, we didn't go to school  that day and the shock did not wear off in a couple hours.
A few days later we found out that we had concussions, and unfortunately we still aren't recovered. In fact, my head aches have been getting instead of better and Anna is not doing great either, so we will see a concussion specialist next week.
I hope that this is as bad as it can get, because I can't imagine how it can possibly get worse.

Well, if we go back another week there is another sad event. One of our dogs had cancer in a long while and one of our cats was 16 years old and was loosing his orientation, so we had to say goodbye to Natasha and Orion and put both of them down.

Who would have thought that my exchange year would have so many unexpected turns? I never got the typical exchange student desease: Homesickness! I guess, for me there had to be some special surprises.

Before I came excited for an adventure, but also to start a new life. I hoped to let the worries and difficulties of my life in Germany behind. I wanted to to start from zero and create a perfect life, but obviously there is no such thing as a perfect life. Those were childish thoughts and expectations. But the next step is to accept that and learn to learn the lessons life offers you.
Though the events of the last weeks were not enjoyable ones, I am thankful for every single moment of this experience.

Let's be strong!
Your Alexandra

How do you know the world, if you have never been an exchange student?

Fall State

As I wrote in one of my previous posts, I am a member of JSA (Junior State of America), which is a debating club.
Last weekend, I went to Madison to debate in the Capitol with and against other students from the Mid-West.
We left early on Saturday and debated the whole morning and the whole afternoon, after having lunch.
There are different types of debates. The two most common are normal debates and thought talks.
In a debate, there are two main speaker and multiple subsequent speaker.
In a thought talk everybody is allowed to share their thoughts and opinions.
All these debates were on political issues. Examples for prompts are:

• "Resolved, that social security programs no longer be made mandatory through the implementation of an opt-out clause."
• "Resolved, that the United States has an obligation to protect its foreign economic interests using force."
• "Resolved, that gender roles are important to the stability of the society."
• "Is religious faith a prerequisite for being elected to high political office?"
• "Resolved, that youth have a voice in today's government."
• "Resolved, that the National Security Agency's leaked surveillance actions are justified."
• "Resolved, that Congressmen be required to serve in the military before running office."

In the evening Anna and I went to a Sushi place. It was delicious.
The night activities were mostly fun debates.

I went to a debate on: "Resolved, that freshman aren't people." And we came to the resolution, that freshman aren't people.
There was a dance afterwards, but since it was a very long day and American teens dance really strange, Anna and I decided to go to bed.

The next morning started with another three blocks of debates, after a quick breakfast.
I was not brave enough to say anything during the whole weekend. It's so hard, when you didn't live in a country your whole life. You are not familiar with the history, government regulations and laws and on top of that your language isn't as advanced as the language of the other students.
At first, you have to understand the prompt, than the speeches of the other students and ,at last, you have to phrase your own speech, question or argument.
But finally, in the last block Anna and I went to a thought talk about:
"Do the motives of the United Nations coincide with the goals of our government?"
I was so nervous and I kind of messed it up. I didn't say, what I actually wanted to say, but at least I opened my mouth one time and it was a good end for this weekend.