Max

2011-12 Inbound from Germany

Sponsor: Rotary Club of Ebingen, District 1830, Germany

Host: Rotary Club of Flagler Beach, District 6970, Florida

Max's Bio

My name is Max. I am 15 years old and I´m living in Flagler Beach in district 6970 now. Originally I´m from Albstadt in the south of Germany. I have an amazing family back home in Germany. My sister is 12 years old and maybe wants to be an exchange student some day as well.

The best thing about school is definitely meeting my friends. I love meeting my friends. I also enjoy playing soccer or playing sports.

Being an exchange student is amazing! It is awesome to see a different culture, meet new people, see another school system, and see all these amazing places. Before I came to the USA, I always thought that there wasn´t too many differences between America and Germany, but there are! It is so much fun to compare both countries and their different cultures.

I think this year is going to be amazing. I´m really looking forward to see the country with all it´s wonders and I think that this will be an experience I´ll never forget.

I thank Rotary, my family and my host family that they are making it possible for me to spend a whole year here in Florida.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Journal 1
Am I really in Florida? Am I really there for a whole school year? Did I really go? That were my thoughts the morning I woke up here the first time.

I actually can't believe that I've been here now for two months. I remember the day I left Germany and came all the way over the Atlantic Ocean to America. It was really hard to say goodbye to my family and friends and it was a long flight, but when I got off the airport in Orlando I actually felt really good.

The first few days here were awesome. I went ocean kayaking with my host brother and I had an amazing weekend at the Inbound Orientation with all the exchange students. It was really cool to meet all the different students from all the different countries and we all had a very good time there.

My first day in my new High School was crazy. There are more than 3,000 students at my school and I only knew my host brother. Compared to my school in Germany this is a really big school and it was hard to find the different classrooms the first days. During my second class I noticed that I've been in wrong classes so far. It took me a while to get used to the different buildings, but now I'm used to it and it's easy to find my classes. At the beginning school wasn't that easy because I didn't know anybody. People don't go to you and ask you “Hey are you new?” the point is to go to them and tell them that you are new because in my school there are hundreds of new kids every year. So I first wasn't actually recognized as an exchange students. But I started to talk to everybody and I told them that I'm an exchange student from Germany and suddenly I know a lot of people here. When I walk down the hall way now I talk to a lot of people and I see a lot of students I got to know.

A very difficult part was to find a sports club here. When I arrived here I wanted to continue playing soccer and I joined a soccer club but the practice was far away and they have games every weekend and I decided that I want to see other things of Florida than only the soccer fields. Than I decided to join the High School swim team. I did that for two weeks and I really had fun there but than the coach told me that my Physical Form was missing and that the deadline for getting it was already over. But now the soccer season starts at the school and I already practiced a couple of times with the team and I really had fun.

I already did great things here in Florida. My host family is amazing and I already did great things with them. We went out with a catamaran, went to Tampa and saw a Greek Town. We always have great fun. I also went to my first American Football game in Jacksonville and I went to the Universal Studios in Orlando. At the weekends I often meet other exchange students. It is so much fun to meet with them and it's always funny.

All the Rotary people I met so far are really, really nice and I'm so happy that I'm here with the Rotary Club.
Of course I miss my family and my friends in Germany. We talk sometimes to each other about things that are going on in Germany and I tell them about America. I also have friends that are exchange students somewhere else and it's fun to compare the different places. I also miss things that I have never thought I would miss. For example I miss public transportation and town centers. When I thought about public transportation in Germany I've never thought about it as an amazing thing but when I think about it now I think it is a really good thing because here I'm very dependent on my host family or rotarians if I want to go somewhere.

The meetings with the Rotary Club and the exchange students are always a big highlight for us and we are all looking forward to our trips to Disney World and to the Florida Keys.

In the end of my first report I want to say thank you again to the Rotary Club, my parents and my host parents for giving me this great opportunity .

February 17, 2012

Crazy how the time flies! It is already February and I've been in America for six months now!!!
A lot of things changed since my last report and I also experienced so many incredible awesome things that it is actually hard to believe that all this here is real.

One of the best things I did so far was a Cruise trip with my friends Martin and Bill. We left Port Canaveral on a Disney Cruise and stopped at some beautiful places, for example St. Martin, St. Thomas and on one island of the Bahamas. It was truly an amazing experience that I will never forget.
Also really amazing were the trips I did with Rotary so far. In December we all went to Disney World together. It was a crazy and very funny weekend that I'll also keep in memory. We got to see all of the four theme parks and we did almost every single ride. Not only the parks were amazing, but the feeling of being surrounded by all your new, amazing international friends. It is so funny and exciting to walk in a group of 15 people and each of them is from a different country. We also had a weekend down in the Florida Keys at a place called sea camp. This weekend was also really interesting. It was a mix of fun and education about our oceans. We learned a lot of interesting and scary facts about climate change, our rising sea level, sharks and a lot of more interesting topics.

Also a lot of things changed ! I changed my host family for the first and last time this exchange year. After living with them for 4 months I really have to say I'm more than lucky!!! They are so nice and they're treating me very well. It's like I am a part of their family. They come to every of my games and support me, we watch movies together, talk and in general just have an awesome time. I played soccer for the varsity team of my High School. For me as a big soccer player it was a great opportunity to see how soccer is practiced and played in America. I've been playing soccer since ten years and I practiced a lot in Germany but what I really liked about High School soccer was that we had practice every single day! Before I came to America I never thought that soccer can be such big deal here in America. It all started with the Try Outs. After School I walked back to the soccer fields and saw a huge crowed of kids warming up. I first thought something e lse is going on there but than I saw the coach and I wasn't at the wrong place. There were just so many students trying out for the soccer team. Over 90 people tried out for the team and at the end of three try out days the coaches told us who made varsity and who made the JV team. The season was pretty good for us. We started well and in the end of the regular season we had a record of 13-0-2. The team and my coaches were just awesome. It was probably one of the best experiences I made here so far. Before our games we would always meet up for your team dinner. We ate together and talked about the game. Sometimes we watched a soccer game on TV. Now the season is over and I have to say I miss it! But now I'm playing for a club team which is coached by my High School coach.

School is also going well. Compared to Germany it is a little bit easier here. I have less different classes and less homework which isn't always a bad thing. After school I often spend time with my friends. It is crazy how fast I got used to my American life! In the beginning everything seemed so new and different but I think it is completely normal that you can get your money or medicine at a drive thru. Now I also listen to a couple of new American music artists who I didn't know before and I prefer watching movies in English. I can also hear the difference between the American and the British accent now. Before I came here I never really heard it.
There are still times in which I miss my family and my friends but I have to say I'm actually used to not seeing them now and more than half of my exchange year is already over so I always tell myself to enjoy it and not to worry about things like that. It was also strange to celebrate Christmas without my family. For the first time I was away for Christmas and my Birthday! But my host family made it a really good day for me and for the first time in my life I went swimming in the ocean on Christmas Day. New Years Eve was great fun, too! I went to Jacksonville with a couple of other exchange students and we all had a great time together.
The Rotary Club is a truly amazing organization. I luckily had the chance to go to 100 years Rotary Club Jacksonville celebration and to meet the president of Rotary International. It was an amazing day and it showed me again how amazing all the Rotary people are.

I'm really looking forward to the next few months since my host family is taking me to some quite amazing places. Soon I will be seeing New York and Dallas!!! It is going to be so much fun.
Hopefully my exchange year keeps on being that awesome!