El Camino

Today is the 9st November and before I had never the time to write this. So now the last half day of America, the flight back, returning home and my review about this exchange:

I woke up at 6 a.m., washed my face and brought my suitcase and my backpack downstairs after brushing my teeth. Then I talked for the last time with my host family and soon we had to say goodbye to each other. It was unbelievably hard and I can’t explain how bad I felt leaving. I gave Piper and my whole host family each one letter and I gave them all one bracelet because I wanted to give them time they had given to me 🙂 ✨

The best thing about saying goodbye was that Piper and we could say to each other that we will see each other „soon“ again and we gave us a pinky promise to that and crossed our pinkie fingers for that! 🙂 ✨✨✨

Ms. Kaindl drove me to CrackerBarrels, an American diner, where we met Mr. Costa, Aleks and Marla. I ordered myself my last American Breakfast: pancake tacos – pancakes filled eith bacon, egg and with hash browns casserole and maple syrup! That was very tasty and culinary a very good end of this trip ✈️✨

We drove to the airport were we checked in and after checking in the suitcases we went through the security. We had some time left at the JAX Airport where we talked about our amazing trip. Then we took the plane to Charlotte.

There waited for the plane home for 4 hours. We bought the last American candies and I ate 2 protein bars before my sugar level increased and so I made a quick workout at the airport (jup, that’s me: don’t care what other people think of me!) and this made my positivity rising for a little bit. Then we hung out in our group and soon we stepped into the airplane and were on the plane back to Munich. I watched „the Bookclub“ and listened to some music. After dinner I tried hard to sleep but it wasn’t easy but I got a few hours of sleep. 😴

We arrived in Munich at 6:30 a.m. and we waited together for our suitcases! But I couldn’t help but notice that I was smiling and that my smile was there after hugging my parents and their sweet welcome and on the way back home. But it was only one part that I was happy to see my family again – I began to realize what for unbelievable amazing three weeks I had experienced. ✨✨

Now five days later after arriving I slowly understand and recap that this all wasn’t a dream and that it was reality and I saw this all in real life. I’m realizing that I had this wonderful host family, the best I’d ever imagined. I’m realizing that I stood at the bottom of rockets and the space shuttle in the Kennedy Space Center, I walked through the whole diagon alley, visited Hogwarts, Gringotts and rode a lot of rides in the Universal Studios, I was in a glass bottom boat and in a kayak at Silver Springs where I saw alligators, turtles, birds and Manatees and dived in another spring in this big State Park, I visited St.Augustine, I swam in the ocean of the Golf of Mexico, watched the most fabulous sunset there and had wonderful moments everyday. 🙂 ✨✨

I’m realizing that I was at the Homecoming Dance, saw my first football game, stood in front of a big size American truck with the biggest pizza in my hands, ate „small ice cream“ at WHIT’S in a size that is huge at home, lifted the first time in the gym (34 kgs), went on hikes through the completely different nature than here, went through enormous shopping malls (I just say Cosco) and bought so beautiful sport clothes (shorts, skorts,…) there, ate in famous fast food restaurants like Wendys or ChickFil’A, had the best American Halloween ever with an inspiring pumkin carving before, tried to not fall at the soap water tampoline game, watched all the performances of DA students that were overwhelmingly good, I took a lot of walks with Masie&Moxie, I was in the supermarkets Target, Publix, WinDixie and even stayed in the big gas station Buccees, had this passport drama and met so many kind people. :)✨✨

I am realising how blessed I was to had this amazing hostfamily where all were like real family members for me. I am realising that I experienced their allday life, met a lot nice friends of them and now we share so many memories together: The evenings where we watched Hamilton & TedLasso or just chatted and ate together as a family, Taco Tuesdays, painting the front porch, the whole weekend at the JAX beach where I watched the beautifulest sunrise and the airshow, where we did a biketour, ate really good sea food, celebrated Margots birthday, ate delicious fruits and swam on the other side of the Atlantic. :)✨✨✨

There are many diffrences about the lifestyle and life in America compared to Germany and I’m for example happy to have the possibility again to use the public transport or my bike but I also realised that many things are very similiar. And the people that I met in JAX and on our trips were very kind and open minded. For sure there are diffrences between the cultures but I think it is more about seeing how other people live rather than valuing what is the best or worse. 🙂

I can’t explain how thankful I am that this was reality and not just a dream. Now I can tick off this point from my bucket list with the most beautifullest pictures in my mind and especially my heart. I also think that it is fantastic and really crazy that in my youth it is normal to communicate with people all over the world through our phones and then have the ability to see them in real life – through exchange programs. And I’m very grateful that this dream became true and I saw everything I read in books or saw in series/movies by myself. It is so wonderful that our school gave me the oppertunity to make this exchange and that our teachers organized it so well and even drove us on all our trips! 🙂 And it was encouraging and fascinating to see that I can understand a language and that I can communicate with another language.

My thankfulness for my hostfamily, especially Piper and this whole exchange is so huge that I can’t explain it with words. I just know that I learned so much about a culture, a language, a country, a state and espacially about the people. And the fact that on every part of the world there are wonderful people who often exist without us knowing. I experienced so many diffrent things in 3 weeks as I never had in my whole life before – and it wasn’t overwhelming, it was just wonderful and that I will never forget this!✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

I stood up as normally, made myself my last oatmeal with peanut butter and banana and enjoyed every single bit of it! I got a DA hoodie as a present from my host family and it is the best hoodie I’ve ever had!!!✨✨✨ 🙂 Then I continued organising my suit case as good as possible and I started one new bracelet with a new knotting technique.

After that Patrick drove Piper, Molly and me to the orthodontist where the both had an appointment. It was such a big building and there where many orthodontist students from the JAX University and the ones who took care of Piper and Molly where so nice and we talked a lot about the US and this exchange in general. We stopped short at home again (on the way I saw also the JAX Football stadium 🏈) and then Patrick drove us to school where we first had lunch. In the first part of Lunch & Learn Piper talked to her math teacher and I hang out with Annemarie, Laura and Maggie. Piper and I spent the second half of lunch and learn together!

I had my last theatre history lesson afterwards and I will miss this class – it was so relaxed and they wrote a quiz about their lecture and the funny thing about it was that they talked (while writing it) about the answers and questions they had! Afterwards we just chilled in the classroom and I finished my first bracelet of the day and we played really cool ‚clap games‘.

My last period were in Chemistry where we talked about decays and I understood a lot of what they were talking about! I alao finished my second bracelet and that’s a new record!

After school I said goodbye to all the students I will never probably see again – it was a sad atmosphere and even if it felt weird I said „Have a great life!“ to a lot of them because I might never see them again! We drove home with Celia and on the way Piper went out of the car as usual to her soccer practice at Riverside. I had to say also farewell to Celia and I was very sad about this too!

In the next hour I went on a long walk with the dogs, walked to the river and listened to my favorite songs and appreciated every single moment!

Sarah drove Molly, Margot, Piper and me to Bolles and we went a last time over my favorite bridge. While Molly and Margot went to practice track and field Sarah drove Piper and me to Target – unfortunately there was a big work traffic but I was so happy when we finally arrived there and so I spend the last minutes of my last afternoon here at this pretty big supermarket with Piper and found the perfect water bottle for me – I love the color and it’ll remind me forever of this exchange and all the experiences here.

On the way back home I saw the Skyline from JAX at night and that was really beautiful. I finalized packing my suitcase, weighed it on a scale (was happy that it wasn’t to heavy) nad we all made pizza night together – with the delicious dough of Sarah everyone made their own pizza and after the baking we ate it at the back porch together and talked and talked and talked. I wanted this evening to last forever and it felt so familiar to me just to sit around with my host family that now feels like a part of my family! When Patrick got back home we hang out a little bit longer all together. Sarah, Piper and I made face masks together and everyone of the family put one sticker on my new water bottle and that was a wonderful celebrated moment. appreciated every single second of this time we had left together! 🙂

The Football stadium of JAX 🏈

Today was my last full day here! I will made a resume tomorrow in the airplane but I can’t tell how grateful I am for this day, for this three weeks and especially for the best host family on this planet, in the whole universe 🌌✨✨✨✨

I stood up as normally and ate my breakfast. Today Sarah and Patrick drove Molly to Fishweir and then Piper and me to DA. There we had our presentations of the project about Sophie School & Douglas Anderson – our group as lost the poster and so (for me a miracle happened) the drawers of our group just painted the picture on an A4 Paper in less than 1 hour and it looked incredible – for me it was like a miracle because I couldn’t understand how they did this sooo fast✨✨ And so our presentation went pretty well and the ones of the others were also amazing! 🙂

In the second period Piper and I had Dance with such an inspiring teacher that was very motivated! She taught the class a choreography to a song from Billy Eilish 🙂 It was very fast. The warm up I did with the class and we all ended up just dancing and laughing with each other while jumping through the whole room ✨ In the beginning I tried the choreography with the others and they said I did it quite well (but I wasn’t this great) and it was really hard to remember all the steps so fast after one another! In pictures and in the video I took of them it doesn’t look nearly as good at in real life! 🙂

I forgot my lunch so I had to wait in line with a friend of Piper from Musical theater who as the Students ID with them. So I had plenty of time to get to know Anna better, a wonderful girl who reminds me a little bit of my friend who is sailing across the Atlantic not just because of her name!✨:) So I also tried the school lunch from DA and let me say it like that: The cheese pizza wasn’t bad but I like to bring my own lunch with me better!

In the third period we had acting and first when everyone practiced their monologues I read my book. After that we were the audience and looked at the nice performances of the DA students! 🙂 In the last period we had English lesson and they read a lecture and had to answer questions about it! So I tried to follow the lesson and at some point I worked on my knotted bracelets.

Sarah picked us up from school and Piper went to soccer. After a small snack I went for a walk with the dogs and that was so much fun. I walked down to the St. Johns River and then continued at the St. Johns Street where really big houses stand and it was interesting to look at them all and how they prepare for Halloween. That brings me to the next topic – Halloween in the US is much more celebrated than in Germany! ✨

In school we all dressed up in costumes and some students wore really special and impressive/interesting costumes – and their principal has a laser sword fought with one student in the lunch break! 🙂 When Piper and I got home we dressed up and 2 friends from her soccer practice stayed with us for Halloween. We made tacos together because it’s Taco Tuesday 🌮 (I love Taco Tuesday!)!! We also played a little bit soccer in the back yard and just chatted a bit. Around 6:30 p.m. we left the house and started walking around the neighborhood and Trick or Treating! 🎃 We met Audrey, Elena and one friend of Elena in front of the stores at Park Street. Together we made funny pictures, talked and walked around the neighborhood and I looked with big eyes on the huge and impressive Halloween decorations many houses had – and on the amount of candies we’ve got now! – Molly and Margot got even more than us and compared to Germany it was way more crowded! 🙂 ✨✨

So as this day is coming to an end I have to say that I had never such a crowded, nice and special Halloween as today! When I sat with Molly, Margot, Piper, Sarah, Patrick, Maisie and Moxy on the front porch at 9 p.m. I didn’t want the moment to end because at this time it felt like the time has stopped and that this wonderful evening and experience last forever! What for a fantastic day with the best memories I’m so glad and grateful now to have! ✨✨✨:)

Today I stood up around 7 a.m. and made my favorite breakfast – peanut butter oatmeal with apples – and enjoyed it! Then I packed my bagpack and swimming bag 🙂

Patrick drove Piper, Celia and me to DA and Molly to Fishweir Elementary School as every day and there we changed car and Mr.Costa drove my group and me to the Silver Springs State Park.

First we made a glass bottom boat tour there and that was so impressive and the clear water is so gorgeous – it seemed more unbelievable beautiful! The captain showed us all springs of Silver Springs and many were also used for filming a lot of movies. ✨ We saw many turtles, water birds like the „snakebird“ and also one Manatee! I had my delicious cheese cucumber bagel as lunch and then we put a lot of sunscreen on for the next activity – a kayak tour!

Aleks and I shared one and I sat in the front and she in the back. On our way we saw many turtles, again many interesting birds, one Manatee really near to as (and this time it was even bigger!) and I saw my first alligator in real life 🐊! 🙂 ✨It is so interesting how diffrent the animals here are and it was soooo exciting to see it all so near!

The end at Silver Springs were the Juniper Springs were we were able to swim and dive to a spring under water! 🙂 The water was so clear (!) and about 22°C warm and I loved staying in there for a bit – they also had little fish I knew from Italy that nibbled on our feet. ✨

On our way back we stopped at a gas station because we needed to use the bathroom but the toilet was broken so we had luck that the next gas staion was only 100 meters away! At 6:25 p.m. we arrived at DA and Sarah and Piper picked me up – Piper drives so good! We had a very delicious vegetables soup for dinner Sarah had made and wonderful homemade bread! 🍞🍲✨🤗

JAX Skyline in the morning

The view outside the window

Glass Bottom Boat Tour

Kayak Tour 🛶

Even if it is hard to see, this is a picture of an alligator 🐊

And look at this beautiful Manatee ✨✨ 🙂

Juniper Springs✨🦋

I also tried the „fantastic fudge“ a non typical sweet from Sarahs sister – it was really (!) sweet and for my taste a little too sweet but it was definitely worth it trying because it tastes very special and is unique! It also looks like parmesan 🙂

On the way home I sat in the car with Mr. Costa and the other students and we listened to a lot of music. When they played „Ich war noch niemals in New York“ („I’ve never been in New York“) I felt such a strong emotion deep in my heart: With this exchange one of my biggest dreams is coming true and I appreciated every moment of this day and this whole trip until now. It was a feeling of gratefulness and happiness that was so overwhelmingly wonderful that I think I will never forget this moment ever again. And I can’t explain how happy I am that this all is reality and not longer a dream✨✨✨🦋🦋🦋:)

Today I woke up around 8 a.m. and then Sarah and I went to Win Dixie, a huge supermarket where we bought the groceries for the week and everything we needed – I bought some presents for my friends & family too! Compares to Germany the fruits and vegetables are more expensive here but there are also things like gas that are cheaper here! And in the normal supermarkets they pack everything in plastic bags for you but we reuse is for the dogs poop. At home we had the nicest waffles with maple syrup for breakfast! 🙂

After that Piper, Margot, Molly, Patrick and I drove to Ortega a borough in JAX on the St. Johns River where really big houses with nice views are! There we went to a Catholic church and bought our pumkins for Halloween – it was a pumkin farm as I imagined and it was so cool that everybody could pick the one they liked the most ✨:) On a short drive to Publix I got another free cookie (I’m on such a high sugar level here compared to Germany but I mean they have free delicious cookies here!) and we bought stuff we had forgot in Win Dixie.

At home I decided to go on a walk with Maisie and Moxy. I walked to the river and then just around the neighborhood and the dogs and me had a lot of fun! 🙂 After that I took a shower and that was really refreshing. Then we ate Sarah’s great chili for lunch with a wonderful salad and the best tortillas from Win Dixie!

With the new gained power the other girls and I helped Sarah and Patrick paint the front porch – the color matches the house and the door so good and it looks so gorgeous now! 🙂 We also craved our pumkins and that was so much fun and I made it look like a skeleton inspired by Pinterest 📍! I also looked to the Halloween Parade of the neighborhood where all children dressed up in their costumes and it was a wonderful atmosphere there 🦋! I finished carving my pumkin and watched a bit TV with Molly 📺!

Then I decided to do a workout because I love my YouTube Workouts and I’ve never made one here yet so I just did it. It felt a little bit like my all day life in Munich because there it is one of the main habits of me. I love it to be sweaty after it and just the feeling of how strong and how powerful our bodies can be 🙂 ✨

We looked at our finished pumpkins as the night began and it was so cool to see the end product of a lot of work from today 🎃 – also how amazing the front porch looks like! At the end of the day we continued with Hamelton and I’m really excited how it’s going to end! ✨

Molly made a small coffee shop! ✨🦋

Today I was a little bit sad becauss slowly this trip is coming to an end. But I talked with Piper about it and we both were clear: We should enjoy every moment we have left together and don’t worry about how long it might be – because we can’t chance this fact anyway ✨✨✨🤗🤗🤗

Today I woke up at 8 a.m. and after a bit reading I had the typical American breakfast – it is so funny that after more than 2 weeks that seem so familiar to me – the pancakes with sausage! 🙂 Then Sarah dropped Piper and me of at the Riverside’s Art Market where we met Laura and Maggie and her mother! The RAM was so impressive and huge – I loved the art and the food that was sold there. And the location at the river is amazing 🙂 ✨

After that we went to Hawkers, an Asian restaurant, where Piper and I shared Chicken Lo Mein and we also tried sweet french fries that were sprinkeld with cinnamon. We also walked through the shopping street there and went into the ‚Midnight’s Sun‘ that’s kind of a hippie store but I loved it. Especially my younger sister Laura would have loved it because there were so may healing stones!

We chatted for a bit at home and then all the girls (Molly, Margot, Moxie, Masie, Piper and me) went on a walk first to the river and then to the ‚Encanto house‘. This house in the neighborhood is decorated like one movie every year for Halloween. We done a small treasure hunting and that was really funny! Afterwards we went to Whits where we got again really good and soooo much ice cream!

We watched one big football game that was today in JAX on TV and that was really interesting. I also called my best friend Nele. She lives in Oregon for 10 months and is now 2 months there and we talked about America and what was going on in each others lifes and it was wonderful to hear from her again :)!

I walked the dogs for a second time because I had so much energy and then the whole family drove with me to a huge book store with old and new books – the Chamblin! And there was an Halloween special because a big part of the store was dark and we could only see something with flashlights – that was unique and funny! I found so many books I love there – Eragon and also the book about the most popular Camino movie „The way“! 🙂 ✨

On the way back we stopped at the Encanto house again and this is so unique and in the dark even more beautiful! The rest of the evening was also nice because we started watching ‚Hamilton‘ (the musical) and I liked it a lot and it is one of the most famous musicals in the US! 🙂

An amazing day is coming to an end! I loved this relaxed weekend day with my host family and I think it’s really funny that even if I’m „just“ 2 1/2 weeks here it feels like it has been so much longer! It feels literally like a different world here – but I love it and I try to enjoy every single moment of the time I will spend here and I’m so grateful for✨✨✨ 🙂

Today I woke up at 7:50 a.m. and finished my blog from yesterday. Then Laura and I dresses up and packed our bags for the beach. Then we drove to the ‚Metro Diner‘ where we got a long table and had a nice waitress. Annemarie and me ordered 2 dishes and shared them – Cinnamon Pancake Rolls and an Avocado Egg Crumble Bacon Bowl! It was so delicious and a lot – my stomach hurt a bit after eating this all 🙂 ✨

After this wunderful breakfast we drove to the beach were we spent our day! The weather was so nice and the sea was calm, salty and warm! Ana and me made a long walk to a castle/hotel at the beach and swam a lot in the ocean. One pelican flew one meter beside me and we had a lot of fun in the sea! I also collected two more shells and the day was really relaxing! ✨

After we went to Publix and bought our dinner we swam a last time in this clear ocean and saying goodbye to it was a little sad. On our way back to JAX we had a lot of traffic but it wasn’t this bad becauss the whole time we listened to music in the car and sang to it! At 8:40 p.m. Sarah, Molly, Margot, Piper and Elena (Pipers friend) picked me up at DA and after a nice shower I’m hanging out with Piper and Elena and than I’m going to bed! 🙂

Today was a wonderful day at the beach and everything seemed as on a perfect vacation day. ✨✨

The biggest breakfast I’ve ever had! ✨🦋🤗