Carolin Janssen

2009-10 Inbound from Germany

Hometown: Hillesheim, Germany

Sponsor: Dauneifel Rotary Club, District 1810, Germany

Host: Titusville Rotary Club, District 6930, Florida, USA

School: Astronaut High School, Titusville, Florida

Bio

Carolin's Bio

Hey, my name is Carolin Janssen , I am 15 years old and I come from Germany. There I live in a small town named Hillesheim, which is about one hour away from Cologne in the Eifel. I have two little sisters, Eva (14) and Hannah (9) there, and I live with them and my parents in a nice house in our small village. Here I live in Titusville, Florida near the beach in a nice house with my host sister Emily (17), my two brothers Gabriel (15) and Kyle (13) and my host parents.

Here I go to the Astronaut High School in Titusville, and visit the 11th grade. School is very different from Germany. I have four quarter years, and can choose four subjects, that I will have for one quarter year. So I have every day the same schedule and only four different subjects. In Germany I had a lots of subjects and every day another schedule and school only up to 12:50 pm. Here school goes up to 3:30pm. I like the school here, and the pupils are all very nice and helpful.

In Germany I enjoyed to play tennis with my sister and friends, and I was a member of the scouts. I like to spend my free time with friends, and I like to go swimming, bowling or to the cinema.

In this year I will learn to be fluent in English, get to know a lot about the American culture, get to know new people, and discover all the new places that Rotary offers me.

This year is going to be the best year in my life and I will make unforgettable experiences. I want to thank Rotary so much for everything they offer me. I am so glad to be here.

October 17 Journal

Hi, I have been in Titusville since July 31. The time has gone by so fast and I still get to know something new every day. I really enjoy my stay!

I could see and experience so many things here. In the beginning of my year, we went on an orientation for one weekend, got to know all the other exchange students, and get to know about all the rules and about the awesome trips Rotary offers.

I went to Islands of Adventure, with a friend, and her mom, which was really great. It was a theme park, way bigger than the parks we have in Germany.

I also like to go to the beach here, with my friends or my host sister. The beach is really pretty. Up to now I have been to three different beaches, and I saw a shark in the sea, and two really big jelly fish? which was a bit scary.

One weekend my Counselor, Marcia, took me to Michigan. Her family has a house there at a big lake, and they invited me to stay there with them. It was a great weekend, and the people were all really nice. Also I could see a other part of America, and it really was different up there. We saw the sand dunes, that was so much fun.

I also saw a Gator game in Gainesville, with two Rotarians. It was so much fun, and the stadium was the biggest I have ever seen. We sat in the third row, behind all the football players, that was awesome.

I am going to play a lot tennis with my friends, so that we all can sign up for the tennis team in January. In Germany I used to play a lot tennis so I hope I can continue with that here. I am also in the German club at my school.

I like school here, because it is way easier than in Germany. I only have 4 different subjects, in Germany I had 13, and the pupils are all very nice, and I was surprised about how open they are, so it was easy to get to know a lot of new people and make friends. What I don't like about the school is that it is on to 3:30, so there is not much time to hang out with friends in the week.

But at the weekends I like to hang out with all my new friends, and go a lot shopping. The shops here are so cheap and I go nearly every weekend shopping in the mall in Titusville or Orlando. I am also a lot on pool parties, go bowling, watch the high school football games, or just hang out watch DVDs with my friends.

December 28 Journal

I live in Florida now for almost a half year and I really have to say that I love this place! The time just seems to pass by so fast I can't believe it. One year seemed so long when I was about to leave from Germany, and now it seems like yesterday when I said bye to my family and friends and left. I know that this year really IS the best year of my life, and I am so glad that Rotary made my dream, to live for one year in America, come true. Every day is getting better and better!

I have done so many things since I am here that it's really hard to pick out the best.

Over Thanksgiving my host family invited me to stay in New York at their grandmother's house. I really enjoyed the time there and had a lot of fun with shopping in New York's malls, going to the beach at Long Island and having a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

I start feeling more and more home here, and I already know how hard it is going to be, when I have to say goodbye to all the great people I got to know. I made a lot of good friends here, and I have a really good time here - it's just amazing.

I am going to change my family soon, and even though I really enjoyed my stay with my first family, and don't really want to leave them, I think it's great that Rotary offers me to get three different experiences. My second host family is going to be the house of a friend I made in school, so I am looking forward to stay with them. But I also know that I am really going to miss my old host family.

Rotary also took all exchange students that live in Florida to Disney World. That was one of the most fun weekends I have ever had. I made so many friends this weekend, and met so many great people. We stayed at a hotel in Disney and were able to visit all 4 different parks. I am more than thankful that Rotary sponsored this trip for me.

School is also getting easier and easier for me, and I am really excited about my new schedule that I am going to have. In my first block I have cooking, so I am learning how to cook traditional American food. I am also going to have German, which should be pretty easy for me, American History honors, and English 3 honors. I start getting used to have school for so long, and it's more fun, because I understand everything the teachers are saying.

My District also made a trip to the Kennedy Space Center, where we could see a space shuttle launch very close. It was an incredible moment and we all had a really fun time. I have never seen something like that before and it was a great experience.