Maximilian "Max" Hofmann

2007-08 Inbound from Austria

Hometown: Vöcklabruck, Austria

Sponsor: Vöcklabruck/Attersee Rotary Club, District 1920, Austria

Host: South Jacksonville Rotary Club, District 6970, Florida, USA

School: Bishop Kenny High School

Max's Bio

Hey Guys!

My name is Max Hofmann from Austria (Europe) and I’m 16 years old. I come from the little city of Vöcklabruck, forty minutes by car to Salzburg, which is the home town of Mozart. Our capital is Vienna. These are our most famous towns in my home country.

In my free time, I really enjoy playing soccer with friends. That’s the most popular sport in Central Europe. My other hobbies are playing tennis, swimming in one of the many lakes in my area or just hanging out with friends. Another hobby is music. I like to hear it, to sing (but I am very bad)… Once a year, my friends and I always make skiing/snowboarding holidays, which is always great fun. Skiing is definitely the most popular winter sport in Austria. If an Austrian is not able to ski, you can compare it like a duck that can’t swim!

Now I get to live one year in Jacksonville, Florida, staying with two wonderful families and attending Bishop Kenny High School, that is so amazing that I still can’t believe. When I began to fill in all different forms, I never thought that I get the chance to spend one year abroad. I just said “maybe I have good luck and my dream becomes true.” Lots of people want to make holidays in Florida. For everyone would it be a particular trip… but I am here for a whole year. I would really describe me as one of the happiest people in the world.

I am here now for two and a half week and what I have experienced in this very short time is awesome. I’ve got to know so many new people and have seen so many things! Palm trees every day, very close to the ocean and this temperature I only know from holidays. In Austria, we think the US is different. No it is not… it is VERY different, EVERYTHING is different. Hearing that people sing their national anthem every school day, to see how the American system of high school is, with their sport teams and their after-school-clubs… but it is also very interesting!!!

When you have to decide to go or not, you should not think what you miss all in your country - you must think what all teenagers miss when they don’t get the chance of such an exchange.

Sure, I am sad, that I can’t hang out with my friends at home and I am sad when I hear that there was a party, but especially since the first Inbound Orientation I don’t worry about them. I met so many interesting and great people from all different countries all over the world. What’s better than having friends in India, Brazil, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium….friends for ever!

The impressions that I’ll make this year give a particular richness, which nobody can take away from me and will have a big impact on my life in the future!!

September 19 Journal

Seid gegrüßt!

Six weeks, the beginning of this big adventure is over and it is unbelievable how fast the time has gone since I am here... After these 6 weeks my statement about this exchange is still the same - a great time and I am very glad that I have done this step...I have to say it again and again!

These first six weeks were full of new impressions, and I have never had seen so much new and different, and have got to know so many nice and interesting people, all at once! For myself it is very interesting to see the differences between the people. How they greet, their behaviors and reactions. You always must be very sensitive and be attentive what you do, when you do not know how it is usual!

Another interesting thing is the opinion of US Americans, their thinking about my country, their questions, and how interested they are! I only must travel 4 hours to come to another country with a complete different culture and in the USA, many people my age, have not seen something outside of their homeland. I found out that Austria is not so nameless here as we think. The older generation thinks of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sound of Music,...the younger one's think about our German beer. (Or they immediately think of kangaroos). I always have to explain, that the movie "Sound of Music" in Austria nobody knows and is 70 years old, and so we do not wear Lederhose every day anymore, but of course it is a big part of our German culture.

I really have a perfect exchange - I am (for my opinion) in the best destination of the US - everybody dreams about holidays in Florida - and that I am not in a real tourisic area is great. My two host families are wonderful, and I don't really feel like an exchange student, I feel like a part of their family, I really love them! It is also very great I can practice soccer at First Coast until the soccer season at BK, my school, begins and I really look forward to it!

Another thing is that I improved my terrible singing in Chorus, a class I have taken. They said I sing like a bird...a dying bird...but like a bird! =)

Last, thank you so much again to Rotary, my host and sponsor club and all the people who made it possible to spend this great year!

December 14 Journal

Servus miteinander!

It is unbelievable, I count 4 and a half months, I am staying here in the USA.

After this long time, which has passed too fast, I can say that I have gotten used to my new life. The only problem I have, right now, is that I can not believe that Christmas is coming up very soon, and everyone's preparing for it, since the weather gives me the feeling of a warm September time. Only the many lights on the streets, and the nice decorated houses let me remember that we are in the advents season.

At this point I want to express my thanks to my host family, making it easy for me to be not homesick. It is probably the most difficult time. Honestly, nobody of us wants to celebrate Christmas not with the own family. It is natural to get a little bit homesick, I would questioning if not, but through their kindness it will easy to endure this celebration, far away from my real family.

Often I wish that the fast running time, would pass a little bit slower, so that I can assimilate my impressions a little bit better, and that I could savor some certain moments longer. Although a wonderful time I experience, it is also stressful very often, especially during the week when I come home in the evening, after the soccer practice on the afternoon and weekends are often already planned.

The recent weekends I spent in Rotarian matter. Last weekend we all exchange students had a great and breathtaking gathering at Disney World, with overnight stays in a hotel in the resort. Not only the awesome fact to be together with your international friends (also another district was being with us) and exchange collected experiences, but also the exploring of 'World's Happiest Place" at Disney World, makes it a totally magnificent weekend. This weekend is entirely paid by our hosting Rotary Clubs; I really appreciate that, as well thanks to our great committee for the work they are doing for us, thank y'all (I learned that in the South) so much!!!

The weekend before, some exchange students met in Palatka to support our committee, to find the outbounds of the next year. It was a work we all had much fun in, and demanded our best English.

Yes, I am already very excited about the next couple weeks. Instead of "Christkind", Santa Claus will coming around. Now I understand why people in hot Florida have chimneys. Instead of snow white streets and roofs, we will celebrate it "between palms". About that I will tell in my next journal, coming up soon. I finish now and wish everybody I will not see to Christmas anymore, a merry, merry Christmas and a happy new year!

See y'all later

Max

January 16 Journal

It happened a lot since I wrote last. I celebrated a very nice Christmas with my American family and could see how Christmas works without snow – for me not possible until I saw it.

It followed a great New Year’s Party and of course an incredible Gator Bowl Parade, an event I probably won’t forget. I had just a great time, holding red-white-red in my hands and wearing my typical German Lederhose.

At late hour when the clock said 12 we had a great view of the fireworks of Jacksonville downtown and enjoyed being together with friends from all over the world. I think there was nobody who slept more than 4 hours, unless I did not.

I did not bring my sleeping bag with me – for party animals like Austrians there is normally no sleep in the night of December 31 – so I decided to snooze shortly on the sofa. A couple hours later, I guess I was one of the last one’s at breakfast, I entered the room and everybody began staring and kind of calm laughing about me. Apparently, the sofa made all different kinds of extreme patterns in my face…was funny….but not for me.

That’s how my new year began.

But it continued like every year, I made lots of resolutions, a day later I had already forgotten them, but of course it was not the begin of a new year, like annual.

Soon the second semester of school started and I was filled with joy and ambitions. The soccer team started with a great success, too. We played incredibly well and fought until the end and longer and finally lost 6-0. (The wind blew against us.) In “the game of tears” we almost won against Episcopal – I do not want to incur. It followed with a game against Paxon High School whose butts we really kicked far over the St. Johns River.

Now I am really looking forward to Seacamp and also to meet the other Exchange Students again, who we have met at Disney World in December.

Prosit Neujahr.

Max

January 29 Journal

I just want to report that the last weekend was awesome.

It was Thursday, very early morning, 6 o’clock when the first part of Exchange Students including me, left Jacksonville and drove by bus in direction Florida Keys and the beginning of a new experience. It followed an endlessly seeming drive along Florida’s whole east coast. But actually, the time passed quickly and when we got out of the bus for DolphinsPlus, we came from a “cold” Jacksonville to a warm and subtropical weather. After a nice dinner with view on the sea we finally appeared on the Big Pine Key, where Seacamp is located. It was great meeting my friends from the other district, who we all have met at Disney World, again. Also a good amount of students from Michigan joined us, very nice people as well, where I had the possibility to make the one or the other friendship, but unfortunately also too little time to spend more time with those to get to know each other a little bit better.

I would describe the weekend as a good mix of gathering, fun and informative “workshops”. Although I had snorkeled before, I really enjoyed it, having this different perspective of the water, and how many creatures there are in, is not to imagine. I liked going out with the boat and the Keys with its many little islands is just a neat place. Another thing I really enjoyed was the Round Table Discussion. I loved it to prepare a presentation and talk in front of all people, about Global Warming, an issue I am very interested in, and which must be more often activated, for my opinion.

When I write this text I am passing the last few days in my head and so fast this text was written, the Seacamp was already over and it turned Sunday, day of departure. It is hard to say goodbye to very nice people you would wish to spend more time and you do not know if you will see them again, but I am trying to stay in touch.

Before we ultimately left Big Pine we made a detour to Key West, a place famous around the world. Regrettably we had only an about two hours stay there, way too less time to see the town, the famous beach…maybe even the sunset and what I would have loved to see – the Hemingway house. So we almost hurried through the center to see as much as possible. A funny annotation is that almost all of us met together at the Hard Rock Café, without arrangement before though. So over noon the Café was internationally filled by us.

After a quick stop at the US’ most southern point we rushed back to the meeting point – and with the bus back to Jacksonville where we finally arrived at 12:30 at midnight.

It was frigid outside…

Ciao.

Max

PS.: Nearly I forgot to tell that we also had a Party on Friday. Was a lot of fun – and I was very hot. ….I just mean the air was very warm and the temperature in this room, filled by 80 crazily dancing people, was not able to breath anymore, but however…a lot of fun.

March 4 Journal

Honestly I think the time is getting a little bit calmer, at least for me, at this time. The last third of the school year has begun and I am already used to everything what is happening, I don’t have any language problems anymore and that which had been so new and exciting when I first got here has became normal. Also all these little things, which just crack me up, have gotten part of my daily routine, the butter spray for instance, … although it still totally cracks me up every morning when I make my lunch.

My host father didn’t like my saying that the time has gotten calmer too much. “How can you say that while living at the Gamba’s?” Well, it really is oppositional, because the Gambas always know something to do and are always in action. Since New Year I have been living with my new host family and it has continued how well it worked out with my host family before. Another cool thing is that it is also spoken Spanish at home, what makes me talking Spanish sometimes, too, and it is a lot of amusement and jest and my vocabulary is expanding continuously, so I know more than only the bad words now!

My soccer season at school ended last month and I am proud on myself, because I got a trophy for “the best defensive player” of the season, a letter and a signed ball as a captain. I absolutely don’t want to boast but I think it needs to be mentioned, because I am really happy about it.

Also, although I primarily didn’t want, I have signed up for the Western Tour yet. Finally, I am really happy that I changed my mind, because this will be a great and dignified ending of the exchange year, and the opportunity to meet a big bunch of other Exchange Students, throughout North America, that I should grab, also that I am able to spend two more fabulous weeks with the Exchange Students from our district is splendid. The planned program is amazing; in only two weeks we are going to see so many different parts of the West of the U.S.!

Alright, this journal has come to his end. But you’ll hear from me again soon!

Max

May 20 Journal

I’m starting into my final phase for school. Tomorrow and the day after are my only two regular days of school anymore and next week I have four days of finals. It’s a good feeling getting that done and unusual for me finishing school in May.

I have had a great time the last passed months. My parents visit made me very happy and got me new energy for the months left in this adventure. I had fun showing them around, let them see my new environment I have been living in for nine months now and introducing them to all the people who are supporting and assisting me this year as host families, Rotarians, and friends. For the half of their visit we went up to New York. I haven’t found out why it is called the “big apple”, but I had an amazing time, and this apple is really big. Not only the double size of the population compared to Austria impressed me but also to see all monuments and famous things I have known out of from many movies.

I think after these seven days spending in this enormous city I have seen a great amount of Manhattan, and everything tourists can think of. The Central Park was not that green I would have expected but such a park in the middle of a metropolis is incredible and the beauty and the piece of (soon-)green must be treasured by New Yorkers even more when the trees are getting their leaves. I think it is a place of little peace where people go since the city is very busy all around the clock. I saw the Financial District and all its huge skyscrapers, we went to Staten Island via the Ferry and had a decent view at Lady Liberty, perhaps like new immigrants got to see her when they first came to the States. Afterwards we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge and following came to Chinatown, probably my personal favorite. All in all I think we spent two days just there and in Little Italy. Imagine you are walking down the Broadway, passing extremely high and modern buildings and you make one turn and you think you are in a completely different world, that’s what it is! From one on the other second, there is a big amount of Asian people, talking in their native language and the signs have changed into, I guess, Chinese symbols. There is one foreign store after the other and you can buy Rolex’s and other noble brands of watches, etc. for only 5 dollars – awesome.

And shortly after you have smelled the butcher and you saw the chickens and other non-attributable (??) animals plucked hanging in the window you turn again and the street is decorated in green-white-red, then you know you have landed in a place called “Little Italy”.

Every day we passed by Times Square and this place was amazing. Video screens are put up on house fronts and this bling bling effect, how Americans seem to like it, really comes into its own at night, definitely worth seeing and very unique.

On the last day we decided to check out Harlem, and also that was pretty interesting although the placed, we believed how it looks like, we didn’t get to see.

It was right after we got back from New York when the Rotary District Conference took place in Jacksonville. It was a very nice event I have a very positive memory of. Our walk with our national flags while the anthem was played was simply impressive and I think very nice to see for the Rotarians.

I think it was three weeks ago, when I went to the prom of my school. Although I am sophomore (some Exchange Students think that is funny) I asked for an exception to finish school with a great event in the style American high school tradition, a permission I finally got and I am very thankful to my school Bishop Kenny High School. I went with Alina Walker, who is going to go to Thailand next year, and we had a good time. (Look at the pictures we are looking majestic, marvelous, splendid, great, awesome…)

I would not know what else I can write about. I only can repeat and repeat that I am really looking forward to the Western Trip in the middle of June!!!

Take it easy Max