 By now I am about three month in Florida and I can say I am
really glad and happy that I came here. There is only one thing that I really
dislike, the time flies much too fast. I cannot believe that it is almost
Christmas. I can say already a lot happened during my stay in Florida, but I
definitely keep on experience...
I left Germany August 9th and said goodbye to my family
and friends. This morning I was kind of nervous but got really excited to
arrive in Florida. After about 9 hours in the airplane I landed in Ft.
Myers. All I thought was: "Let's start the adventures." I sensed the hot
temperature and this awesome smell when I stepped out of the airport. I felt
very welcome by my family and Cyndi (my Chairperson). After a nice dinner in
an American Sports bar, we finally went home and I saw my new home. I can
say that I am really lucky and glad because my host family is awesome. I
love them. They are so good to me and treat me like their own son.
Fortunately I had some days vacation before I went to my new school for the
first school day in America.
My first week going to Estero High school was okay. The
most exciting thing was when I arrived at school with around 1000 new faces
out there. But you know what, that 's what I like. Those challenges make
your life exciting. So time by time I talked to nice people and made some
friends. Now most people know I am "the German" or how some call me
"Germany". Of course many students can at least say one German word and the
often ask me about my country. Most impressive for them is when I tell them
I am allowed to drink beer and go clubbing. The first days I got lost in
school because every corridor looked so much alike. However, now I know
where to go and I can laugh about the time I got lost and had lunch twice
because I had no idea where to go and what to do.
A few weeks after my arrival I went to the Inbound
Orientation Camp and met all the other exchange students in Florida. That
was one of the best weekends so far. It was so nice to talk with so many
people from different countries about their experiences and their home
countries. It just amazed me and would say everybody really enjoyed this
weekend. On my way back I went to Captiva Island in Southwest Florida with
Laura, Shinobu, Vivian and Bianca, who are Inbound students, too. We had
some good food, went swimming in the Gulf with big waves and enjoyed the
sunset.
I love to go to the beach so I really loved it when my
host parents went with me to Sanibel for some days vacation. We lived in an
apartment really close to the beach so I spent a lot of time at the beach
and in the water, although there was a tropical storm and the beach was
pretty much gone.
The following weeks I did a bunch of other stuff. Just to
mention a bit, I went fishing on a boat for the first time, I went to my
school's Football games, saw a Baseball game, and more and more and more.
And by the way I won the Spirit award of Bishop Verot High school, which is
not my school, and took a nice picture with the cheerleading team. Being an
exchange student has some big advantages. ;)
End of September I visited, with the Inbounds of my
District 6960 and District 6930, the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.
And I can tell you they have some weird and crazy stuff there, really
interesting and of course a lot of fun with all the other people. Did you
know that a suit, that an astronaut wears, costs some million dollars?
I went to a Miami Dolphins game with my host dad and some
friends, went to Orlando for three days to cheer for friends at a swim meet,
see the city and go to the Halloween Horror Nights. The Halloween Horror
Night in Universal Studios was amazing, kind of scary but a lot of fun with
around 10 people.
Finally Homecoming week started at Estero High. Probably
the funniest week of school I ever had. I just wanna mention that I was
dressed up as Spiderman one day, with a whole body costume and mask. So
pretty much nobody knew who was under the mask but everybody was like, "Hey
Spiderman!" :D At last we had the Homecoming-Dance on Saturday. I had dinner
with three nice girls and went to the Dance with them. People called me
'Pimp' and told me that it is not allowed to have more than one date. But
firstly I am German and secondly that was the only Homecoming I ever went
to. ;) I had so much fun and am happy to have experienced it because we
don't have something like Homecoming in Germany.
Just one week later the next big event was waiting for me.
Halloween. First real American Halloween. So I dressed up as Joker from the
new Batman movie and went with Vivian and Bianca to Shinobu's and family
Kobbie's house. Everybody was dressed up pretty good and they had awesome
decorations around and in the house.
Some weeks ago I went to Orlando again with my host mum to
visit my host brother in College. I had the chance to walk around and get an
impression of a college with almost 50,000 students. I was only there for
some days but I am sure, it is amazing to live there on campus. You are just
with young people and you have everything you need on Campus. I would love
to live there. Why isn't there something like this in my home country?!
This week I went to Ft. Myers Beach with my parents for
Thanksgiving break. We stayed straight at the beach in our motor home. I
love this place and everyday was just beautiful. I fell asleep with the
noise of the rushing sea and woke up hearing the rushing sea. One step out
of the motor home and I stood in the sand. This was my first Thanksgiving
ever and I loved it. We made some pie and food for the big dinner with the
whole family. Of course we ate a lot of turkey. During the sunset we took
nice and funny family pictures, all dressed in white shirts. I was kind of
sad that we had to leave on Sunday because it was a nice week at the beach
and I knew on Monday I would have to get up at 6 a.m. and go to school.
You see I feel pretty comfortable and good. Unfortunately
I am not allowed to be part of any Sport team in my school which is kind of
weird but not everything can be perfect.
Now I am really looking forward to meet all Inbounds in
Magic Kingdom. It is going to be an amazing and unforgettable weekend with
the big Rotary Exchange Family. Like I already said in some weeks we will
celebrate Christmas and soon the year 2008 is over. I do not really feel
like it is Christmas time. I am used to have bad and cold weather with snow
and rain but here it is still warm and the sun is shining. How cool is that
sitting under the Christmas tree in shorts and t-shirt. This year, time is
flying, I can exactly remember how I wrote my application and dreamed about
being an exchange student. Sometimes dreams come true...
Thanks again to everybody who makes my stay so nice and
awesome. I cannot thank you enough. I am grateful to be in Florida to live
the dream being an exchange student.
|
Philipp Valentin Weiner
