Hey!
 |
Driving from Newark Airport to our hotel,
passing through New York City. |
It's crazy how fast time flies! Already two weeks ago when I had to say goodbye to my friends and family and leave on another continent for one whole year. It broke a little bit my heart, but between tears and hugs was something very exciting waiting for me: My exchange year in the US!!
I want to take you guys on my biggest journey so far and hope you enjoy it!
After flying from Zurich to New York, the other exchange students and I had to take the bus to Boston, as I am going to spend my year in State Massachusetts. In Boston, we had a camp where we met other exchange students from all around the world and volunteers from AFS USA told us again the most important points from our upcoming year. The day after, I finally got to see my lovely host family (parents and four kids), who welcomed me with open arms.
 |
My American sister Mimi with the finished
delicious pizza. |
For the first few days, my host family planned a little trip to Nantucket, a beautiful island about 30 miles away from Cape Code. They have a little sailing ship, as they go there every summer to spend their holidays. My sisters and I slept on hammocks, which was pretty comfortable. Unfortunately, the weather was really bad, it rained a lot and the only thing we could do was staying on the boat and playing games. Even though we couldn't go swimming, it was a funny way to get to know my host family for the really first time. After three days, staying in Nantucket, we sailed back to Hyannis, Cape Cod, which took us about four hours. My parents had to go to work and I had to prepare myself for high school...
The next ten days, I did a lot of things with my two 14-year old sisters. We went to the mall for shopping (stores in America are great) and went hanging out with some of their friends in town. We baked a lot, as doing pizza, cookies and even homemade pasta, which was really delicious. I noticed, that Americans are really proud of their nationality and they want to show, that their country is the best. Everywhere you see American flags: On houses, schools, highways and even on small restaurants and stores.
 |
Walking out from South Station,
seeing beautiful buildings covering the sky. |
One day, my two sisters and I went to Boston to visit the city, famous for their beautiful parks and delicious food. We woke up at 8am, got ready and took the 30 minutes train-ride from Wellesley to Boston. From the very first moment, as I walked out of South Station, I fell in love with Boston! Everywhere you see skyscrapers and people sitting and laughing in beautiful green parks. You see small, narrow streets on every corner, which lead to an old, historical building. We ate lunch at Boston Public Market, which is a tinny and long hall, where they sell a lot of different types of Take-Away food. After having lunch, we went shopping and visiting Boston. In the evening, we went to Boston Common, a really beautiful park, from where you can see the whole city. It was such a beautiful feeling, laughing with my sisters while watching the sunset. As we were all very exhausted, we took the uber which took us right back home.
 |
| Beautiful day out in Boston |
Yesterday, I started Volleyball practice, which is very competitive in America. The whole team supports each other by saying :"Good job, we can do this!", "you go girl." or "nice try!". The only thing that matters, is to give always 110% and to support the whole team - Something, I have NEVER seen in Switzerland.
I hope you enjoyed reading and got an impression about my first few weeks in America as an exchange student. Looking forward to telling you about my first day at High School!!
Love, Martina
x
