Three down, seven to go

November is almost over which means that I’ve been here for three months or a third of my year, and it doesn't feel like that at all. In a way the time went by so fast and it's not before now I'm able to slow down and realize what's happening around me - the first two months was just overwhelming and filled with impressions and new things all the time. But on the other hand when I think about it seven months it's still seems like a long time, but if it'll go by as fast as my the first three it isn't that long. 

Anyway, as I wrote I’ve settled down, got used to the routines, the people, the place, the language and finally the weather starts to actually feel like some kind of fall. I’m still not wearing my jacket but like the San Diegans says, November is “sweater-weather” so it's getting a little chilly, and if you stay out for a long time you might actually start freezing. But a raincoat or umbrella? Not necessary… I’ve only seen rain three times since I arrived in August and if it actually should rain someday I don’t even need to go outside – everything, like soccer practice, gets cancelled if there’s change for rain J

October 19 I was in Los Angeles with my organization. We were around 20 exchange students visiting Disneyland, California Adventures, Universal Studios and Hollywood and had an amazing trip. Of course it was really fun to be in all these amusement parks and tourist places that I’ve heard so much about, and we had so much fun, but the coolest part was to be together with people from all over the world! I really enjoy spending time with the other exhange student, because even though we all are from different countries, we have so much in common. I can now say that I have a friend in Germany, Japan, Brazil, Italy, China, Slovakia, Belgium, Thailand etc which I think is pretty cool! 

Else I’ve been visiting Meme and I I’s (my host grandparents) ranch, which I also attached a little picture of, a couple times and I can’t say anything else than that place is lovely! I’ve been driving around on the golf cart (we’re Americans after allJ ) to pluck avocados and oranges from the trees, go in the little pool or hot tub, or just walk around between the trees and bushes. The ranch lays around an hour drive away from where we live but for an American that's just a short drive, so we're often going there in the weekends.

At school the winter sport season has started, and I’ve been to tryouts for the soccer team, which seems really fun and I definitely need the exercise. I'm on the JV-team, level 2 out of 3 and we have already had our first game. I'm at practice three times a week and have one or two additional games, so a lot of my time is spend with soccer. The school is going well – I’m able to keep up and understand 95 percent of what’s going on in class and my teachers and classmates are nice. I still have the same three classes - art, government and math - and we won't switch before January.

I've experienced two big American traditions the last month - Halloween and Thanksgiving. On Halloween I dressed up with my siblings and we went trick and treating with some friends around in the neighborhood. It was amazing how some people had decorated their houses with gigantic spiders, gravestones, mummies and skeletons, and the streets were filled with kids with cool costumes and huge bags of candy. Every store was selling Halloween decorations and there was pumpkins everywhere, but as soon as Halloween was over, we started on the big Thanksgiving decoration instead. And now when Thanksgiving just ended EVERYTHING is about Christmas.

I celebrated Thanksgiving together with my dad's family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, so we went all the way to the east coast. It was a really nice trip and the weather in Pittsburgh made me feel almost like home - cloudy, a bit rainy, cold and the leaves were off the trees. I got to meet a lot of new people, because my dad has ten siblings (!) and they were all there for Thanksgiving. But even though it was a bit overwhelming and I still only remember half of their names, I had a great time and we had a real traditional Thanksgiving with turkey, mashed potatoes, a lot of cake and pie, and we watched and played football and went to museums and I got to see the city. I had never heard of Black Friday before I came here, but it's a big sale day after Thanksgiving that starts at midnight and people go crazy. They camp outside their favourite store in lines, that makes BILKA's on a bad day look like nothing, to be there when it opens. I didn't go because we where on our plane back from Pittsburgh, but I saw on TV how people where stealing things out each other's shopping carts, started arguing and eventually start fighting.

(The picture on the right is of my 10 year old sister Caroline and me on Halloween, and the pic above is just a house in the neighborhood that really spend some time - and money - on decorating their front yard)

Christmas is coming up and I have to admit that it feels wrong not to be home this time of the year! I already miss all the Danish traditions and the people that keep them alive, but on the other hand it's going to be exciting to experience an American Christmas and waking up December 25th and opening presents like in movies :-) 

Merry Christmas and happy New Year!

Almost two months!

So it is October which should mean rainy, cold and grey weather with sweaters and big boots, but here in San Diego I’m still wearing my sandals and tanktops and regret every time I forget to bring my sunglasses. I’ve only seen rain a single time since I got here and that was yesterday. But except from the weather I’ve started getting used to everyday life here. The days are just passing by and starts looking pretty ordinary. I already feel that I’ve improved my English a lot – I’m not that much better than when I arrived, but I’ve learned to just talk without thinking about that I’m actually talking a foreign language, so thumbs up J

The school is also going pretty well. I haven’t really found anybody yet, that I could call a true friend, but I try to keep up and take everything with a smile and then just believe that it’ll come someday.
In class I’m actually doing well. I’m proud of how much I understand and my grades are not that bad – even though it’s not really important to me this year, I’m still happy about it.

The past month I haven’t been doing any big revolutionary things, but it had been a good time though. I have settled down and got to know my family better, which have only been positive. I’ve been at my first baseball game ever, which was a huge step closer to become a true American, because what is more American than baseball? J Else I’ve been going to the beach a couple of times – yes it’s still possible until the end of September! – visited my grandparents at their wonderful ranch and next week my organization, CHI, have planned a trip to Los Angeles. I’m so excited! We’re going to Hollywood, Universal Studio and the beloved Disneyland, which is a place I’ve dreamed of since I saw the first commercial of the place,  as the intro to “Aristocats”.

People have asked me a lot of questions about Denmark – some more intelligent than others. For example did I get the question “Do you have cars and television in Denmark?” and another day I said as a joke that I still believed in Santa Claus, which ended with, that a girl came and asked me if everyone in Denmark did that… Irony and sarcasm isn’t really an American thing. The most asked questions is “Do you like the States so far?” which I can only answer with a yes. Then it is always followed by the question “Is it very different here?” which I need to answer with a no, because even though I’m almost at the other side of the Earth, life is actually pretty similar.

A big difference, though is the food. The Americans have some different eating habits, which was something I already knew, but it’s still doesn’t make it easier to eat salad and peas without a knife. We’re also often going out for dinner and are eating burgers, hotdogs etc. It’s funny to go to some of those fast food places – I can tell that SmashBurgers is pretty good – and then find 80 years old ladies eating their dinner here. And then the dinner isn’t important as it is in Denmark either – if nobody isn’t really hungry we just skip dinner or eat an apple… And then at last everything is pre-made or “package” food – after all I’m in America.

Some other differences are:

• ·         We drive A LOT more here. If you want to get somewhere, you drive. I’m the only, kind of crazy peron who tries to bicycle San Diego.
• ·        People are actually looking forward to rain!
• ·       You can get refill on almost every restaurant
• ·         All walls are painted. A wall is not white, but yellow, blue, red or whichever color you like.
• ·         1/3 of my class speaks Spanish at home and comes from Mexico.
• ·         People have the funniest last names. My personal favorite so far is Giggleburger.

I hope you’re all well, back in Denmark!

Love Marie

The first days in San Diego

New address, new family, new school, new people, a new country and a new culture. I don't think I really realized it yet, even though I've been here for almost three weeks now. But hey, here I am and I'm still excited about everything.

When I decided to spend a whole year of my life in California, I didn't really know what I was going into. I wasn't able to imagine how it would be, how I would feel etc. The only thing I was sure about was that I wanted a year full of experiences and get a look into the American culture - And that is a thing that I know will come true! I've been planning this trip for almost two years and now it suddenly happens

I arrived at August 19th (I've figured out that I travelled for almost 18 hours!) and so much have happened since. I've moved in with my new lovely family, started school and meet a lot of new people!

I spent the first week after my arrival together with my new family. We went to the Zoo, the beach, I experienced my first horse race, celebrated my birthday and meet the other exchange students from CHI (I'm the only and lonely Dane) I did and still do feel really welcome and my family is so open, nice and welcoming and they're so easy to be together with. I feel really comfortable in their company even though I'm still on the "settling in"-level. 

For almost two weeks ago I started at school. I'm in High School as a senior which means that I'm the youngest in class but I don't feel like it matters. I'm entering a different kind of high school so it's without the football team, cheerleaders. In the beginning I felt like I missed the change to experience a "real" American school, but after being at High Tech High International - as my school is called - for two weeks, I totally changed my mind. I really like the place! The teachers are great, the building is comfortable (even though the Californians have a very special relation with their air-conditioning) and the students are so nice and out-going. It's a little weird though, to only have three classes and the same schedule each day. My schedule the first half year is Multimedia (which actually is an art class, and I have it for two hours every day. It feels like a lot of art, but it's a really cool subject and I like it) followed by Government (which back in Denmark used to be my favorite class, and here in the time before the election I couldn't imagine a better class) and the day ends with Calculus (math), which is really, really hard. 

So status quo for the first three weeks of my American life is extremely positive! I like the place, the people and the environment and that's how I'm going to end my first post!

With a lot of love and Californian thoughts,
Marie

(The view from our terrace - Downtown San Diego in the background)