Beginning of Summer

School is (almost) over. The fortunate seniors’ last school day was May 18th, the day of prom, while us underclassmen still have half a week of exams to go before enjoying the sunshine outside. It is going to be great to be done with school and have plenty of spare time to do whatever. I am planning on making the beach my home the next weeks.

Friday was the Seniors’ graduation at the school. It was weird seeing everyone in their cap and gowns knowing that they won’t be attending SAHS next year. I am sure they are all relieved to be done and ready to go to college or on exchange next year. Congratulations everybody! We celebrated Orion Saturday with a party at our house, which was a lot of fun. Brennan, Julien, Will, and I went kayaking while the sun was going down. I still can’t believe how beautiful St. Augustine is!

Prom here was so much fun. I met up downtown with a quite large group and we made sure to take a bunch of pictures before eating at Yamato. Prom was very much like homecoming except that prom was only for seniors and juniors, which made it that much more fun (no offense freshman and sophomores). I have finally become used to the American style of dancing, which took quite a while.

I almost stepped back into another time in my exchange when I went with the Paxtons (my first host family) to North Carolina. It was an absolutely amazing weekend consisting of lots of relaxation, playing pool, jet skiing, tubing, and homemade ice cream. It was really nice spending a long weekend with everyone again. The lake is such a beautiful place. I really want to go back and visit!

Julien and I celebrated both our birthdays with a party at the fountain of youth. Balazs brought water balloons to the party so we all ended up being soaked. It was lots of fun!

Our final exchange student get together was in Fernandina beach. It was great to see all the other exchange students again. Throughout the year, we have all become one big family. Miri (a girl from Japan) and I stayed at the same host family from Saturday to Sunday. Great experience to tell a new family about how it is to host and maybe create the possibility for them wanting to host in the future. The two younger girls in the family were so nice! Besides from all meeting up one last time, the purpose of the weekend was to prepare us for going back to our countries. It was weird already having to talk about that – the feelings regarding that subject are so complex. I am trying just to live in the moment and enjoy my time in Florida. It was quite hard leaving the weekend, since we had to say goodbye to those, who are not going on the West Coast trip.

Birthday, BVI, and Beauty and the Beast

I had never thought that I would be spending several hours everyday rehearsing being a spoon. No, it is not some weird special kind of obsession. I was so fortunately to pass the audition in order to be participating in the musical, Beauty and the Beast. It is hard work, but spending everyday at school ‘till after dinnertime suddenly becomes fun when you are with a bunch of people working towards the one big night: The premiere on May 3^rd. The cast is on about 60 people, so it is a big show that we are putting on. We slept at the school last weekend to rehearse until 2am. Going to bed? No way, we played dodge ball in the gym instead. Dodge ball is so much more fun here. No one even knows what handball is and we played with volleyballs, so no need to fear getting injured.

During the spring break I saw some of the most beautiful sceneries I have ever seen in my life. My family and I went to the British Virgin Islands where we lived on a 44ft catamaran. We flew in to St. Thomas (which was actually previously owned by Denmark). I got really excited when I saw three flags standing beside each other: the American, the Danish and the Virgin Islands.
I’ve always thought that those picture perfect postcards you see have been photoshop’ed in one way or another, but I have now witnessed it myself: Yes, water can really be that clear and blue. Not only the surroundings were like taken out of a movie. The whole vacation was. I enjoyed every single bit of it. The snorkeling in Hawaii suddenly looked average compared to the BVI. Many hours were spent just relaxing on the boat, listening to music, and reading.

My birthday here in America was a very big experience, especially since it was during the musical lock-in at my school. Some of my friends almost tricked me into believing that I had got in trouble before singing Happy Birthday with the entire cast. My mom had made a beautiful birthday cake with red sugar, so it looked like the Danish flag.
The day after Brennan and I went to the Floridian (a really good restaurant in St. Augustine) with many of our friends to celebrate our birthdays – hers being the 22^nd. It’s a weird feeling sitting in the hot tub in April as if it’s the most common thing in the world.

There is only one thing that I haven’t learned yet here though. I keep forgetting to bring my bikini when I go places. 

Seeing the World!

The fact that it has been more than a month since I’ve written a blog post illustrates perfectly what is going on in my life: A lot.

The tennis season at my high school started about a month ago. Compared to my tennis club in Denmark, it is far more intense here. We have practice 5 days a week, 2 hours each day. We play several games a week, where I usually play both a double and a single. So far the Yellow Jackets haven’t been doing too well, but it is so much fun anyways.
It has taken some time for me to get used to the weather conditions that we play in. Despite the fact that tennis started in January, I was overwhelmed by the heat during practice. The bugs are really annoying, but I guess it is something you get used to. I can’t wait to play more. Sports are a very good way to create new friendships.

I changed family more than a month ago now. I now live with the Mortons on Anastasia Island in St. Augustine. My new host mom and dad are Laurie and Tom, while I for the first time in my life have a brother, Orion. Besides that I have two other siblings, but they don’t live at home anymore.
It was a very mixed experience to move families as I had expected. It was of course very sad to leave the Paxtons, who I still consider as my family. It is incredible how much and how fast a new family can feel as your very own family. I have developed a new attitude towards moving: I am not changing families, but adding.
I must admit that I was kind of nervous the week up to moving. Even though I knew the Mortons very well, I was once again being ripped out of my comfort zone and had to adapt. I quickly realized that I really enjoy the adapting part. It is so interesting to see how families are different. I absolutely love it with my new family.

The last Rotary trip, where all the exchange students went together, was held in the Keys the last weekend of January. We had a lot of fun learning how to take better care of the oceans of the world at Sea Camp. Among many other activities we spent the most time snorkeling. The scenery surrounding the whole weekend was breathtaking. The turquoise water was visible from the dining hall and beautiful sunsets were the attraction for the photographers. (You automatically become a photographer when you get involved in the exchange program). Since it was only a 4 day trip, much of the time was spent in the bus with the other exchange students. The time was spent signing each other’s tee shirts with sharpies.

My family and I went to Miami in the middle of February, which I enjoyed very much. Miami was very different from St. Augustine. Spanish was being spoken everywhere, the sun was even stronger than in northern Florida and skyscrapers were blocking the view of the beach from the trafficked roads. I found myself in an environment entirely new to me when we went to the boat show. It was very interesting to see the mega yacht my new sister Isla works on from the inside. Looking at all the beautiful catamarans at the sail show made me, if even possible, more excited for our trip to the British Virgin Islands during spring break. Orion’s and my present for Valentine’s Day were tickets to the basketball game between Miami Heat and Orlando Magic. The game was much more high paced than the football games. The difference is much like the difference between soccer and handball. I prefer handball, and I prefer basketball too. The Miami Heat, whom Orion and I cheered for won. In addition to the fantastic experience seeing my first NBA game, I enjoy being able to say that I went to a basketball game with Bill Clinton, Chris Brown, and Lil Wayne.

Hawaii. How do I express in words how much fun I had? The decision to go to the islands in the middle of the Pacific was, for my part, a very impulsive one. I did not really have the money, but I decided anyways to sign up for this adventure: When will a chance to go to Hawaii with students from all over the world ever occur again? My real parents luckily surprised me with the wonderful Christmas present by giving me the trip. Mahalo!
Everything started out just perfect (I hope irony works even though I am typing :p): Julien and I were supposed to get up at 4:30 am, but we somehow managed to set our alarms to 5:15 am and 4:30 pm. Tom saved us and woke us up just in time, so we rushed out of the door, heading for Hawaii. The rest of the vacation went just like a dream. During our week a blog was being updated about all our activities: http://belousa4hawaii2012.blogspot.com/. I especially liked the catamaran tour. Most of us lay in the net in the very front of the boat, where the waves within short intervals were hitting us. The cloudy, rainy sky above us didn’t matter since we were all laughing and wet. The only optional tour, the kayaking tour, was also a lot of fun. I had never heard of kayak surfing before, but suddenly I was the first one to go surfing on the waves with one of the tour guides. I don’t know if it was luck or skill, but I was one of the few whose fun moments being pushed by the waves didn’t result in swimming outside the kayak.
The atmosphere in Hawaii is something special. The cultures of Polynesia, Asia and United States are being melted into a very interesting mixture. I often got reminded of my trip to Japan. I would definitely like to go back!
I am sure I am not the only one who feels that the week went by way too fast, but once I think back on all the fun times, I realize how much we got to experience in a very short amount of  time. There is no better way to see Hawaii than with people from all over the world. Many new friendships developed during the week, while others got much stronger. I am sure I will visit either Belgium or the Netherlands to see Ludivine, Manon, and Jessica in the next couple of years. 

Is It Really Winter Already?

I was wearing jeans and a tee shirt, standing outside school after a short day. The sun was shining from a cloudless sky. I looked around wondering what time of the year it would be in Denmark, if the weather was similar. Probably early June on a good day. This is not a memory from the beginning of the year. No, it was today, January 10^th. It will soon be warm enough to start going to the beach again. Sam and I are going to put our swimsuits in the trunk. Just in case we have time some day and the weather is good.
I must admit, that it was cold a week ago. For four days there was frost on the car in the morning when Sam and I were going to school. Julien and I joke about, that that was the winter we’ll get to experience this year. I know for sure by now, that I am not going to see snow this year. I am not going skiing either. But hey, I will be in Hawaii while my parents are skiing in Denmark!

Celebrating Christmas in Virginia with my family was absolutely fantastic. We went to Buschgardens (an amusement park), which was so much fun. Even though the place was packed with people, then lines for the rides weren’t very long at all. The lines for seeing Santa Claus and penguins were 45 minutes each, so we skipped that.
Here in United States Christmas is celebrated December 25^th in the morning. Our day began already at 6:00 am and was filled with family dinners, gift unwrapping and many memorable memories. I can not think of a more perfect Christmas here. I am now looking forward to Friday, where Maw-Maw will be coming to St. Augustine to watch us kids while Mom and Dad are out of town.

New Years Day I found myself sleeping for 15 hours straight. Leading up to that were three parties/sleepovers. Why do they call it a sleepover? You don’t really sleep. I really enjoyed meeting some of the outbounds of next year at the first party. A wonderful year is ahead of them – can’t help thinking back to when I was standing in the same situation a year ago. Krista (outbound going to Denmark next year), Andrea (girl from Denmark) and I got the chance to talk about Denmark for a long time – and where it was best to live, since Andrea was from Copenhagen. :p
Two days later Sam and I had a sleepover for all the inbounds from 6970. We went to the pool ignoring that it was the 30^th of December. We were maybe a little bit too optimistic with the weather – it soon turned too cold and we went home to get good Schnitzels made by Martin. Aly, Jignesh, Max and Martin stayed the night. We were after Saw 1 & 2, Pulp Fiction, and only 2 hours of sleep ready the next party: New Years Eve, which was for all the inbounds + Sam. ;) Since it was with Rotary, we had a service project at the Ronald McDonald House where we performed to cheer  some people up. J We spent the last 2 hours of 2011 in the hot tub waiting for the fireworks. Lovely end of an absolutely fantastic year!

I am right now in the middle of the exams ending the first semester at St. Augustine High. It is unbelievable that I am always halfway through my school year here. Unfortunately that also means that I am always halfway through my year, which is a really scary thought. I do my best to ignore that fact and just live in the moment.

The spring is going to be very eventful for me:

• ·         Tennis is starting the January 18^th – 2 hours every weekday. Since I got  here I have only played a couple of times with either my Dad or Julien. It is going to be nice to get back into shape (if I’ve ever been in shape??) and play more again.
• ·         January 22^nd is the day when I will be moving family and staying with the Mortons. My feelings can be compared to when I left Denmark: It will be hard to say goodbye to a fantastic family, but so exciting knowing that many fantastic experiences with new people are waiting. J
• ·         The Keys with all the other exchange students. J
• ·         I just bought a flight ticket with Julien. JAX àHNL. Going to Hawaii! Do I have to say more? :p 

This spring is going to be amazing!