 Hello everybody! My name is Carmen Schuessling and I am an
exchange student from Austria. I am 18 years old and I lived with my sister
Petra, who is 20, and my 24-year old brother Klemens and our parents in the west
part of Austria near the Lake of Constance. But now, I am living in Florida,
Palm Coast and I am really excited because I am sure that my year as an exchange
student will be a great experience.
I always wanted to live in another country and get to know
a different culture and I wanted to improve my English. I have a lot of
friends (Austrians and former Inbounds in Austria) who went on exchange with
Rotary and they all told me what an unbelievable year it was to be on
exchange. I really heard just good news and positive stories of Rotary and
so I decided to apply for a Rotary exchange year too. I am so happy that
Rotary made it possible for me to do what I always wanted to do. Thank you!
In my spare time, I like to do a lot of things. I like to
meet friends or get to know people, I like having a good time just hanging
around and I like to see something new. My hobby in Austria during the
winter time was skiing and snowboarding, that is the reason why I am a ski
instructor too, but I think that I will do a lot of swimming here instead of
skiing. Furthermore, I like cooking. I love to cook any kinds of meals and
also desserts. Of course, I know how to cook some Austrian specialties and I
hope that my family will like what I cook =)
I am really looking forward to an exciting year and hope
that I will be able to tell my family a whole lot of adventurous stories
when I will finally go back. |
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Wow, today I took a look at my calender and I couldn't believe
it. It has already been two months since I got here. I remember my first days
when I recognized all the differences between life in Palm Coast and life in
Austria, but now I just live life how people here live it and it sounds funny,
but I already feel kind of American.
However, one thing that is really really different is
school. First of all, the entire school system is different. In Austria, we
don't have credits, we don't have to wear IDs and we are allowed to go to
the restroom during class. Also the periods are shorter and every student in
the same grade has the same schedule. So, 25 students build a class and they
stay together for the whole 4 years of school. So, in the beginning it was
very interesting and new for me to be in a school that is so different from
what I am used to. And I thought that it would be harder to make friends in
school because there are other students in every class, but actually, it
makes it easier to make friends. Why? Because you get to know more people
who all want to talk to you because they know that you are an exchange
student. School is not very hard for me here, because I already graduated
back home and I think that it should be easy, otherwise I would not have
done a good job in Austria. Still, I have to do a lot of homework and
studying during the week and the teachers keep me occupied.
Therefore, I try to do a lot of different stuff at the
weekends. For example two weeks ago on Saturday, I went to a marching
competition with band and colorguard class which was located in Leesburg. I
really had a great time there, because it was my first marching competition
(we don't have marching band or colorguard in Austria) and all the people
from band and colorguard are really nice to me. Of course, we also did our
performance there and in the end, we got 2nd place in our group. We also saw
some of the other bands which were good too and personally, I think it looks
amazing. I really like it. On Sunday, my host sister Natalie and me went to
a carwash and we had a lot of fun too. It was my first carwash in my entire
life and it is a lot of work to do, but there are a lot of people you know
and you don't even feel like you are washing cars because you are talking
and everybody has a good time. That was really a great weekend.
The last weekend, I was invited to stay at Mr. and Mrs.
Bevel's house, who are Emy's host parents.
Arthur was there too and it was just great, it was
one of the best weekends ever. Friday evening we all went to see FPC's
football match and they won 52-0. Emy was doing the halftime show, because
she is in colorguard too and she did a great job. Then, we spent the whole
Saturday with Tom Hury, who is really nice too. (Everybody is nice in
Florida, really. I don't know why, people are just so friendly.) We did a
lot of different things on Saturday. First, we were walking at the beach and
took some nice pictures and then we did kayaking in a river. We had planned
to go surfing but the waves were too small. So, we did kayaking with Mr.
Hury and later we went on a boat ride with him. It was really amazing, there
were dolphins right next to our boat and we tried to take pictures, but they
were just too fast for us :)
Then, we did bike riding at Mr. Hury's house. But it was
not a normal bicycle, it was a really old one, which didn't have chains, but
two different sizes of wheels. The front wheel was really big and the back
wheel was really small. It was so much fun to try to ride this bike,
although getting on and off the bike was a bit challenging, especially for
Emy and me, because we were too short to reach the piece of metal to get
off. Later, we went back again to the beach.
On Friday, the turtle police (I'm sorry I don't know how
it is called correctly) found 16 baby-turtles in a nest, they couldn't get
out of their nest because there were too much shells and sand above them.
So, the turtle police took them out of the nest and home to let them rest
for one night before they should make their way to the sea. Mr. Hury knew
that they would let them go on Saturday, so he took us there and it was
really great. The turtles looked so cute, they were really small, but
unfortunately very weak too. So, we saw the turtles crawling to the ocean
and we were told that just one of 1000 turtles survives. So, I keep my
fingers crossed and hope that perhaps one of them is going to make it.
In the evening, we had a delicious dinner at Mr. and Mrs.
Bevel's house. We had crabs, corn, and salad, and I have never eaten crabs
before. It tastes really good, if you know how to get to the things you eat
*haha*. I had no idea how to open them and so the others had to show it to
me. This weekend was really super great. I can't say it in words how much
fun it was.
To come to an end, I want to say that I really enjoy my
stay here. It is the best choice I have ever made to go to a different
country and live there for a year and I am so thankful for this huge
opportunity. I don't want to miss one second. Thanks to everyone who made
this happen!
Turtles |
On the big bicycle |
Eating crabs |
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Carmen Schüssling
