 Hey, I finally get the time to write my journal. I shouldn’t have
waited so long, because now it’s kind of hard to think back and remember all
those things…! But well, I came here on the 24th of July, even though
I was supposed to arrive a day earlier, but that story you can read up in my
bio. The day after my arrival, at 7 o clock, my host family sent me to a Young
Life Church Camp in North Carolina, called Windy Gap. It was a long bus trip and
I was still pretty tired, but now I’m really happy I went there. I met a lot of
new people, learned a lot about Jesus and America and I really had a lot of fun!
I spent there a week and we were doing all kind of activities, like climbing,
swimming, volleyball, singing, dancing, horse riding, and then there were those
extra activities like car racing, a big Zip line over the lake, and a lot more!
All in all, I loved it! When I came home to Jacksonville I got to know my host
family a little better. There was one week left till school started, so we had
to do all kind of organization and we spent a couple of days at the beach. I saw
about 20 dolphins very close to the beach, but I was too scared to swim out
there, even though everybody else did…=) The Saturday before school started my
host family had a Welcome party for me, with all my future host families (I have
4) and some other friends. That was really great.
Finally school started and I was all
excited. I go to Paxon High school for Advanced Studies; it’s a big public
magnet school. The school is really big compared to mine in Germany! The
whole system is different, and at the beginning it was a little hard for me
to get used to that. I choose some really hard classes, so I always have a
lot to do (AP Chemistry, AP US-History, AP French 5, Pre-calculus, English,
Team sports and Chorus).
The next exciting event was of course my
first Rotary Orientation at camp Montgomery. I really enjoyed it! It was a
great feeling to meet some people who may have the same problems or
feelings. It was interesting that I wasn’t the only person who had some
problems to find friends at school. But I’m getting better at that
now…Americans are a little different.
Another great experience was Ichetucknee
Spring! I went there with 2 of my host families. It is a small river in the
middle of the nature and it’s awesome! You ride on an inner tube down the
whole river. The water is pretty cold, but we had great weather! I really
enjoyed it, if we forget that I was scared of alligators and snakes…=)
Then of course there was this Hurricane
Frances coming towards Jacksonville. I actually didn’t believe that it was
going to hit us, because there were all those other hurricanes, which were
supposed to hit us too, but they never did. Well, Frances did hit us. We had
no school for 5 days (Friday, and then from Monday to Thursday) and our
power was out for 4 days. The whole neighborhood looked really bad because
there are so many trees. But compared to some other regions of Florida we
were lucky. I don’t like hurricanes that’s for sure.
There have been a lot more interesting,
exciting or weird experiences I made, but I can’t talk about all of them.
Like when I ate gator tail for the first time in my life, my first American
date =), Savannah (an old town in Georgia) and a lot more. All in all, I’m
having a great time!!! Next weekend I’m going to a wedding in Missouri with
my third host family, and tomorrow I have a big Chemistry test, so I better
go and study a little…
Of course I miss my family in
Germany…greetings to ya’ll! |
| I just can not believe it. I’ve been here for 6 months now and
I’ve experienced more than in my entire life and I’ve been having just an
awesome time here. At first of course as a lovely greeting we had 4 hurricanes
rushing through Florida, followed by power outs and the positive thing the
school out. Then we had this wonderful first Rotary meeting at camp Montgomery,
where I got to meet all these great students from all over the world. I might as
well say the best thing ever happened to me. They really made it possible for me
to survive.=) It is a lovely group and I’ve met some great friends. Then I had
this lovely adventure to the Ichetucknee Springs which really showed me the
nicer part of Florida, its nature.
The next exciting event was a wedding in
Natchez Mississippi. The REAL South I’d say….=) In between of course I had
small trips to St. Augustine, the Beaches, Savannah…. . Then my birthday was
coming up and it luckily fell on one of our Rotary meetings with all the
other students! And in the evening as an extra special there was the
homecoming dance from my school. It was just a wonderful 17th
birthday. The time till Xmas break was filled with Halloween events,
Thanksgiving, study groups, a failed camping trip and the best thing ever,
our trip to Orlando!!! All the Rotary exchange students from 6970 and some
other groups from Miami, New York met together at the Allstar music resort
in Disney. The first night we had a pizza party to get to know each other,
it is always amazing how well these students get along. We are all in the
same situation and even if you’ve only known them for a weekend, you feel
like you’ve known them your entire life! The next day EPCOT. That of course
was a lot of fun to see how your own country represented itself. I must say,
Germany did a pretty good job!=) (they had an imitated “Oktoberfest” and
Haribo Gummibaeren, and my favorite German choclat….I mean, who would not
love that place?) Next day Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom and at night we
watched a fantabulous (No, I really mean it that way; mix between fantastic
and fabulous) firework! The last day, but not least the MGM studios. We all
were pretty tired. I just remember seeing this really sweet “Beauty and the
Beast” show which made me cry. I think I had the best time so far down there
in Orlando! It was just a big party!
By the time we got back X-MAS season had
already started. We went to get a tree (thankfully a real one) and decorated
the house. I even made some German cookies (Hildabroetchen) and I was so
proud of myself! The whole atmosphere was a little different though, I mean
going X-MAS caroling in shorts and a t-shirt? and also I only got to open my
presents the 25th instead of the 24th…=( Oh well I
said, you’ll see your snow soon, because right after Christmas my lovely
second host family, the Hearns, took me up to New York, yes, New York! First
thing of course, buying a t-shirt with I (heart) NY!=) New York was just
amazing! I still can’t believe it! We had snow and the city looked so
pretty, all decorated with the lights, advertisements, etc. I got nothing
else to say, but amazing! I did as much as I could, statue of liberty,
empire state building, times square, Chinatown, 5th ave, and a
lot more. I could have spent a whole month longer up there though. I came
back right on time for new years! Another great Rotary event. All the
students got to march with their flags in the Gator Bowl parade and we went
to the Jacksonville Landing afterwards, where we found nothing but a huge
fun party. We all danced and had a lot of fun! It came even better. After a
while it got a little chilly downtown, so we all were invited to a party at
a Rotarian's house. We had a lot of fun there too, and that is where we
actually cheered in the New Year and all spent the night!
After winter break I changed families to
the Voss’s. Lovely people! First thing to do to welcome me, they took me
down to Disney for two days where we had a great relaxing time. They also
took me to a great I-MAX show called Lewis&Clark the explorers of the west.
It was a really good show and of course helped me for my AP American History
class. At the end of January an awesome trip waited for me. Again, all the
students with the Rotary, this time in a bus, all the way down to the
Florida Keys! Even though it is Florida, it hasn’t been too warm up north in
Jacksonville, but down in the Keys, we felt like in the middle of summer. So
we all got to stay at this place called “Seacamp” and where all of us got
the chance to go snorkeling in the ocean. The 4 days down there were just a
lot of fun, like it always is between us exchange students. We had a dancing
party, we visited Key West, and we actually learned something about the
biology in the oceans. We learned about coral reefs, global warming,
fisheries, and a lot more. It was a lot of fun, but also very interesting.
Next big event for me personally were
the tennis try outs at my school. I’ve been playing in Germany and I was
really hoping of being able to keep up with it. Also it would give me an
opportunity to meet friends and get regular exercise (what isn’t too easy in
America, I try to go running every now and then and I took a volleyball
class in school). Well, good news, I MADE IT!!! I am really so happy about
it and it was a lot of stress and pressure. Well now I’m a proud Paxon high
school varsity tennis player and I’ve met great friends through it! I met a
really great friend there, Lucy, who also got me involved into other things,
like church Youth group, bike riding or just “hanging out”. She is planning
to take me out on the boat and we want to go kayaking, biking, and hiking
together. I’m really excited and thankful.
Another amazing thing I shouldn’t forget
is the SUPER BOWL!!! I just could not believe it! Not that I’m into football
or anything, neither did I care about who was playing, but this big party
around was just amazing! It gave me a really different picture of
Jacksonville. I mean standing their on the river walk and watching the
fireworks over downtown, or walking over the blue bridge and watching the
crowds of people, there were over a million people partying downtown and I
am so glad I got to be part of that. Jacksonville looked so pretty in the
dark with all the lights and everything was perfectly arranged. I just feel
so special that I get to be here this year, that the Super Bowl was held in
JAX for the first time, and not only that, there are just so many things
that happened this year (also the election) which have been part of my
experience and I am so happy for that. And it really isn’t all about those
“big” things I was talking about earlier, different host families, friends,
little experiences are all part of the whole and they have really changed
me.
For example, just today I did something
I would have never thought I could do! It may sound silly to some of you,
but well, here I go. Today I went on a horseback ride with my 4th
host mother Alberta Hipps. To start out I’m pretty tired, because I went to
the JAX symphony the night before with a friend of mine, what was really
awesome. Now, don’t get me wrong on this, I have never really been on a
horse and here I go driving out into the country somewhere with this very
nice person and meet up with about 20 other people all real cowgirls and
cowboys. I mean it, with hat, spurs and the accent. They are all farmers
from all over the place and they came to Jacksonville, with their own
horses, to meet up for this “horseback ride through the forest”. I wish it
was.=( at first I got a horse, a young horse with a lot of spirit (in this
case: NOT good) well off we go over a field towards the forest, of course
I’m still in the process of learning of how to ride the horse I’m sitting
on. Well, of course my high spirited horse starts going off all of the
sudden and throws me off…=( well good start, isn’t it? Well, brave as I was
(I like to say that) I get back onto my horse and there we go again. Now
into the forest, but not on a trail! Through the woods we tramp, and I
couldn’t believe my eyes, a river right in front of us and they’re all going
through. It didn’t look very deep, so I went too, but of course my horse
decided to take a bath and all of a sudden laid down, me still on it. Well,
I didn’t want to get wet (even though I already was half wet) so I listened
to this one guy who told me to pull it up (it was hard to hear, since
everybody else shouted get off) well, believe it or not, on my first horse
back ride, I pulled that horse up.=)(right theerre (only to Pierre=) ) I
thought that was going to be it, but no, jumping over holes, running through
the trees, to where you can’t see nothing and then I couldn’t believe it,
the next river. And this one was deep. I was right behind my host mom’s
horse which decided not to go through, and so did my horse. Everybody
stopped, until one horse made it and jumped right in. It had to, because
there was a tree fallen down right on the side of the river. Well off we go,
all the horses jump into the river. I MADE IT! It felt like I was riding
rodeo, and it looked like that, too. And it wouldn’t stop after that, more
rivers, holes, jumping, running, taking off, but now I had that horse under
control. After about three hours of this adventure we got back to the range.
God, I was (am) sore and wet! But even if it sounded kind of bad it was a
great experience! And I am so glad I did it, because if I had known what it
was, I probably would never have done it, well I had a great experience and
I definitely learned how to ride a horse! I also learned a new word, I had a
real outward bound!!!=)
There are just so many things you
discover, learn about yourself and other people and things. It’s not just
all about the language, I’m so glad I have so much more to it. I really
don’t know who and how to thank anyone for this, I guess occasionally I
would like to thank the Rotary committee (who had to have a lot of patience
with us crazy students) of the youth exchange program, they are doing a
great job and then I would like to thank Rotary for having this great
program! It is the best thing that ever happened to me, so thanks to all the
people mentioned throughout my journal. Especially to: My friends here,
Rotary members (in Germany and here), host families (you are the best!), my
family (of course, best one of all…=) ), my best friend Sonja in Germany (vermisse
dich), the horse I rode today =), Jacksonville, and everyone who made this
possible for me!
THANK YA’LL!
Luisa Truemper, Germany =)
|
Luisa Truemper
So,
I shall tell you something interesting about myself. here I am…at last I
arrived safe and sound in JAX, but it was a hard trip…my flight to
Jacksonville, I was supposed to take, got cancelled and so I had to wait
till the next morning to get to my host family…if there hadn’t been a very
nice man who helped me to rebook my flight, get mine and his luggage back,
brought me to a hotel, drove me to the other airport in Washington in the
next morning and ate breakfast with me…I think I would still be sitting in
Washington Dulles not knowing what to do!=) when I arrived in JAX I was
pretty tired as you can imagine after maybe 30 hours of traveling…but my
host family didn’t care at all (just kidding) the next day they sent me to a
Young Life camp in North Carolina (windy gap) but I thank them for that, it
was really cool, even if I was still tired! now about me in Germany ...
