Up North to Traverse City

Last weekend my regional coordinator picked me and 9 other Grant students up and together we drove up north. 
Up North means nothing else than driving up to one of the Great Lakes in this beautiful state. :D (Yes, I am in love with Michigan)

So after we arrived in Traverse City, everybody was saving himself a good place to sleep and I was one of the lucky people who had a bed with view on the Lake. Not Lake Michigan itself, but it was still a stunning view with ice fishers, snow mobiles and the fresh fallen snow. 
Ok to be honest, we did not spend a lot of time in the bedrooms. :D

Well, on Friday Night we just talked for a while and while the four boys started to play soccer (aka Kicker), we started to play Apples to Apples. 
And of course we went to bed early, to get enough sleep for our trip on Saturday... 

Ok, ok, everybody who is shocked now (I mean, a weekend away and going to bed early... :D), we went to bed at 1 in the morning... :D 
The game was just hilarious and we had so much time, especially since we all met in Chicago a couple weeks ago and I can just start bragging and can say that we are #squadgoals... ;D 

I'm serious, before I went on exchange I didn't really think that I would have friends from all over the world and not only the US. 
I mean, only on this weekend, we were from Serbia, Tunisia, Kuwait, the Philippines and of course from Germany and the US. :D 

To not drift to far away, lets continue with Saturday.
After a quick breakfast we left the house at about 9 am and drove to a Native American Tribe. 
There one of the Tribe Elders told us stories about his culture and his life as a Native American in the US. 

Afterwards we all had lunch together and at about 1 pm we went snowshoeing at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. And yes, up north in Michigan are still free living bears. :D (Gladly they sleep during winter ;p)

We had so much fun hiking through the snow (and I don't mean a little snow, I mean snow that almost reached my hip :D) and we took so many pictures :D

After that we went back home, had dinner and then we went skiing. So yes, all in all we had a pretty busy day but when we came home we played Apples to Apples and BS... Until three in the morning :D 
(For staying appropriate in this blog, I do not write out BS... But I think everybody knows what I mean anyways... ;D)

On Sunday we went to visit an old Asylum in Traverse City and even though it is a big apartment complex today, it still had a scary touch... 

Afterwards we went shopping in downtown Traverse City and after we went into a store that was only selling cherry products, we got sweets for free because we told them that we are exchange students. :D

Then we headed to lunch in the "Bakery Café" and after we had amazing sandwiches we got Cherry Pie as dessert. (Yes, in case you didn't notice yet, Traverse City is famous for it's cherries. :D)

Ok and here I'll add some more pictures from our trip. 

XOXO

Alina 

P.S. Stay tuned, the Superbowl Sunday post is coming soon. :D

German Squad :D 

Germany, Tunisia, Germany (4x), Philippines, Kuwait, Serbia (2x) (from left to right :D)

It's all about time

Hey guys, 
I'm back. Yes, I know it's weird. You're trying to remember me, that kid that went on exchange and started writing a blog. The same kid, that was always complaining if new updates from fellow exchange students did not come fast enough or if my fellows even completely quitted.
Well, it sounds hard but with a shock I realized that I became such a person. 
(Ok, my dear friends and readers, this post is meant as a funny reminder and not as an attack on myself... ;D)

So, anyways, I realized that time is the most important thing in my life right now (ok, after chocolate, family and maybe school ;D)... 
You are asking why?
Well, if you read the former posts, you'll see that I sometimes even posted twice a week...
Why did I do this at the beginning of the year and now people have to beg me for another post? 
Let me explain it... 
At the beginning of your exchange year, everything is new. 
So, I always had something to write about and everybody was fascinated by it. :D 
Now I got used to my life, I found friends, do sports, go to school and all in all I am busy. 

Well, after some people back in good old Germany reminded me that my life here is anything than normal (for the average German teenager ;p) I try to write more often. 


So let's see, where did I stop the last time? 

Oh yes, my beautiful state aka Michigan. ;) (In case you didn't realize it yet, this is cheesy... So better run if you're not good with cheesy stuff :D)

Well, now that I celebrated half time with a big party, (jk, it was a normal day :D) I am looking forward for spring. 
Not because my time here will be almost over then, (God no, I don't want this to end!), but because there will be so much stuff going on in Spring... 

And (hopefully) there will be no more snow up here ;) 

Yes, my friends, the last 5 weeks I only had 4-day-schooldays due to snow. And believe me it is more than nice to sleep in on a Monday morning... :D 

So yes, I hope that you will enjoy the next two posts... :D

Helau, Alaaf

Alina 

Friendly reminder to myself: You have 130 days left... Make every single second unforgettable!