Blog

Today was a light day. We started by going to the Capitol Building and did a tour there. Then we went for lunch and I had a Philly Cheesesteak. Afterwards the gave us the whole afternoon to go to the Smithsonian museums, but it still wasn‘t enough time to really explore them. Then we drove by the White House, but we couldn’t get to close because it was on lockdown. We got to our hotel early, had a pizza party and enjoyed the evening talking and socializing.

Today was our first day in Washington and even though it was a short day, it was packed with things to see. We started at Lincoln Memorial. Then we looked at the Vietnam and Korea Memorial. Also, we saw the big „pool“ and the Washington Monument in the far. Afterwards we were at the Jefferson Monument. We were able to see the White House from there. Then we looked at the Martin Luther King Memorial, which was my favorite, together with the 2 War Memorials. I had Taco Bell for lunch and we were allowed to shop for a little bit. Then we headed to Mount Vernon and looked at George Washington‘s birthplace. It was a really pretty place but you weren’t allowed to take pictures. Then we had dinner at Mount Vernon, which was really good with an even better apple pie as desert. By 7:30 we were back at the hotel and had time to relax. First, I worked out for a while and then I joined the others at the pool. It was a really great day.

Today we spent our day in Philadelphia. We got up late and went straight to Philadelphia. I had an amazing lunch of 2 grilled cheese sandwiches and I wish I could’ve stayed there forever. We were at the Constitutional center and learned about the Declaration of Independence etc. Afterwards we had a City tour. We learned about Benjamin Franklin, visited Liberty Bell. We also visited the stairs starring in Rocky. Of course we ran up the stairs. Then I had a philly cheesesteak sandwich for dinner. Now we‘re on our way to Washington D.C.

Today was a packed day. We started out early in New Jersey. We took a ferry to Liberty Island. We took a lot of pictures there. Then we had time at Times Square to shop and have lunch. In the afternoon, we were at the United Nations and had a tour. We had dinner in a pizza restaurant and we all got stuffed. Then we went to Broadway and watched the Phantom of the Opera, which made no sense to me. It still was a great experience.

Today was a pretty exciting day. We started out early to go to the Empire State Building, but we got stuck in traffic. Afterwards we had lunch at Grand Central Station. Then we did a City Tour along Wall Street, 9/11 memorial and Brooklyn Bridge. 9/11 was especially interesting and I was fascinated by the little facts our tour guide gave us. In the late afternoon they gave us time to do some shopping in SoHo, but it was very expensive and I didn’t really want to buy anything. For dinner we had Chinese in Chinatown, with a bubble tea afterwards. It was pretty good.

Today was our first day that we actually spent in New York. We went there really early and did a City Tour. We saw Rockefeller Center, Central Park to name a few. We had lunch in Greenwich, which was pretty good. In the afternoon we were at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Unfortunately, we only had about 1.5h, so we kind of had to rush through, but we managed to see almost everything. Then we had a Hip-Hop lesson. Even though I hate dancing, I really enjoyed the time. We had dinner in the Hard Rock Cafe at Times Square.

Today was a long day. I got up at 5:45 and prepared some sandwiches and a breakfast. As I was waiting for our transit to pick me up, I got called by Doug that something went wrong with the shuttle and they are driving us now. I slept a little on the way to the airport and saved 70$ by not taking that shuttle, so I was happy. Everything worked without complications at the airport. We had a little delay on the flight. I slept almost the whole way to New York. At about 1 we were at the hotel. We got our room at 3 and before that we hung around the lobby and got to know each other. I relaxed a while before going down again to socialize. I had a really big dinner and the Belo-Team is very nice. So far I feel like it‘s going to be a great trip.

Today was a good Friday. School went by very quickly and the only bad thing was that I didn’t get to work out in school. After school Julie and I planted some tomato plants before I went to my workout. My workout was awesome and I almost didn’t want to stop. After I was done we had pulled pork for dinner. I used the whole evening to pack up for my trip to New York.

Today’s bus ride was mental torture. On top of getting up at 4:40, my bus driver was blasting the radio really loud. I had two jackets on and I was still freezing. Then the guy next to me was coughing the whole time very loudly, like he was about to die. On top of that at some point he had his feet on my seat?! School was good today, I was working on my clean and jerk. After school I was rushing to my workout. I made a mistake though. I put pre-workout powder in my protein shake by accident. It tasted like cherry coke mixed with milk. My leg workout was great though, I was pretty fast and had good weights on. Now, I’m home alone because my host parents are out meeting friends. I’m watching Overwatchleague now.

Today started out badly. I did catch my bus although after 20 minutes it broke down and we had to wait 30 minutes to get a new bus. Also it was freezing cold on the ride. I was picked up out of school right before lunch. I went to a rotary meeting and it was good. One of my fellow exchange students held her presentation. After we got home I hung around a little before going to my new gym. I really didn’t like the gym but it‘s all that I got. Also, I was super quick on my workout today for some reason. I talked to my parents for a while. Then we had friends coming over for dinner. It was a fun time, but right after they left it was time for me to go to bed.