Hello and welcome back to my blog! Everything comes to an end - including the fall sports season with the sport Cross Country. In this entry I want to talk about the sport and my experience with it. Cross Country is a running sport in which teams and individuals run races on outdoor courses over natural terrain. The distance of these races are 5 km (~3 miles). As I really enjoy running, I've decided to join the team, which turned out to be an amazing decision. A lot of people recommended to join this sport as there is a good atmosphere among the participants. Every day after school, we had practice after school for about 2 hours. Our meets took place on Wednesday after school. We met up at the school parking lot and then took the school bus to the high school where our meets took place. Per race were approximately 40 participants. After both the boys and the girls team finished their races, we packed our stuff and headed back to the our high school were my host parents kindly picked me up. As I have arrived in the US quite late and needed some time to get all papers signed, I joined the Cross Country team quite late and therefore only experienced 3 of these District Meets. Even though running a Cross Country race is very demanding, both physically and mentally, I kind of enjoyed is. Especially the feeling afterwards as I always felt proud to make it over the finish line in a decent time. My overall best time for 5000 meters was 23 minutes and 34 seconds, which is not bad. The feeling during the race isn't really my favourite as everything hurts: your legs, your stomach and you just feel very exhausted. With my time, I qualified for the Top 10 on the girl's team. The Top 7 girls ran in the following regional and state championship meets and as I was on positions 10, I served as an alternative which means that I would run in case the people in front of me would get sick or could not run for any reason. Therefore I was able to go on the field trip to the State Championship Meet. On Friday morning we started our trip to the State Championship location. After we loaded the bus, we started heading to the north of Virginia. In the afternoon, we arrived at the course "Oatlands" and did an easy run to get to know the course better and be ready for tomorrow. I really enjoyed the course, and the scenery around it was beautiful. However, it is hilly in some parts and there is a very steep hill in the last mile which makes the course kind of difficult and exhausting. After our last training session together we went to the hotel, got ready and went out for dinner. In the morning, we ate our breakfast at the hotel and then headed to the race location. When we arrived there, we set up our tent and started our warm-up. The girls' race took place first, followed by the boys' race. Fortunately, no one was injured, so I didn't have to run myself and cheered on my teammates. After both the races were over, we packed up our things and our tent and drove back to the highschool. Joining the sport Cross Country was an amazing decision and I had a great time being on the team. The people on the team, including the coach, were very welcoming people and I made a lot of friends through this sport. I enjoyed the practices, even the hard and exhausting ones, as well as the meets. My favourite part was definitely the trip to the State Championship Meet where I got to support my teammates. Even if the season and therefore the training is over, I will definitely continue going on my daily runs. This sport, especially during races, showed me how much my body and I are capable of and tought me not to give up, even if things get hard and difficult. I am very happy and thankful to have been able to experience the Cross Country Season and I can look back on it with a lot of good memories. Thank you for all the support and the good vibes! Best wishes and see you soon in my next entry! Julia

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! Last weekend was homecoming at my high school and I would like to share about it in today's post. Homecoming is a tradition in high schools across the United States. It is a week-long celebration that typically occurs in the fall and ends with a football game and a dance. Homecoming is a time for students in the school to come together to celebrate school spirit and pride. Running for Homecoming Each year at Homecoming there is an election for Homecoming King and Homecoming Queen. Each grade elects a king and queen, or in the lower grades, a prince and princess. Since I'm only here in the U.S. for one year, I thought I'd give it a try and run for Junior Homecoming Princess. I really enjoyed the campaign and especially designing flyers. I was also totally happy about the support from some classmates. The result is made up of student voting, interviews, teacher recommandations, and grade point average. These four components are counted up with different percentages and the winner becomes Homecoming Queen/King. Unfortunately, I did not become Homecoming Princess from my year, but I had a lot of fun during the election campaign and I am glad to have participated. Spirit Week The actual Homecoming event was preceded by a so-called Spirit Week. This is to get the school community in the mood for Homecoming. Therefore, the hallways were decorated and each day had a theme to which people dressed appropriately. These themes were for example "Dynamic Duo", "Decade Day" or "Pyjama Day". On Friday, during the last class, there was supposed to be a pep rally, but it was cancelled and postponed to the next Friday. The pep rally featured all the fall sports and the focus was mainly on football. The cheerleaders performed a dance and games like tug of war and musical chair were played. Since the whole school was in the gym, it was quite noisy, but it was a very interesting experience. Homecoming Football Game On Friday evening at around 7 pm was the homecoming football game. For each game there is a certain motto to which many dress and this time the motto was "Western" and I tried to dress as best as I could, which was a lot of fun. I must honestly admit that I don't know the rules of football and I have no clue what happens in a game. Since I don't know football, everything looks very random to me haha. But I'm always happy to see familiar faces and just spend time with my friends. By the way, my high school won the game. Sneaker Ball On Saturday evening was the Sneaker Ball on which I was already looking forward to for a long time. I spent the afternoon getting ready and the daughter of my host parents kindly styled Julia and me our make up and hair. Around 7 pm the ball started and I really had a great time. Many of my new friends were there and we danced a lot and enjoyed ourselves. The ball was not a real dance ball with standard dances like waltz, disco fox or rumba, but more like a big party where everyone danced for themselves. The music was mainly American rap. The ball was called Sneaker Ball because the dress code was to wear sneakers and not high heels. I had a really great time with my friends and really enjoyed myself. I danced a lot that night and I love my dress and styling. Homecoming was a great experience for me and I am very grateful to get this insight into life at an American high school. I would also like to thank the people who made this evening possible for me! I hope you enjoyed this entry and see you next time! Best wishes , Julia Meyer

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! I know it's been a while since my last blog entry as I've been really busy with school. As I already told you in my last entry, my first day of school was super stressful and busy as I had to figure out my schedule. The next days kept being busy as well. Finding your way around in a new environment where everything is different is quite challenging at first. I had to find the way to the classrooms as I was not familiar with the building at first. Understanding the lessons was honestly easier than expected. I was expecting to have some problems understanding the topics discussed in the lessons but to my surprise that was no problem. Even in subjects like chemistry, which use specific terminology, I had no problems following the lessons. A little bit of a challenge was logging onto different online learning platforms that I didn't know about before because they don't use them in Germany. Here in America, many teachers use them and you have to submit a lot of homework online. After a week, however, I was familiar with the technology. Since in America you don't only arrange your schedule according to your interests, but also according to the level of difficulty, I changed my schedule quite often in the first days until I had the right subjects. My goal was to find balance between school and my other interests. As I am here as an exchange student, I don't want to spend all my free-time sitting at my desk and completing school assignments. However, I still want to be challenged and not bored in class. Now, I am finally happy with my schedule: 1) Economics and personal finance 2) Virginia and US Government 3) - Free Bell - 4) AP Precalculus 5)+ 6) AP Chemistry 7) Principles of Business Marketing 8) English 11 How the schedule works: There are even and odd days, which are alternating. On even days you have the subjects with an even number. So as an example: If Monday is an even day, I will have Virginia and US Government, AP Precalculus, AP Chemistry and English 11. School starts every day at 7:20 am and ends at 2.05 pm. Getting up early and leaving the house at 6.15 am is sometimes really hard especially when you go to bed late like me haha, but I am slowly getting used to it. I am glad that I am slowly getting into a routine and start to settle in. My host family is super nice and both my host parents help me whenever I need advice and some help and I am grateful to have that. I hope you enjoyed reading this article and see you next time! Have a good one and bye! Julia Meyer :)

Hello everyone and welcome to this new blog entry! Hello everyone and welcome to this new blog post! Wednesday was my (second) first day of school. Actually, school started on Monday, but since the staff was so busy and none of the counselors had time for me, we were asked to come back on Wednesday. We arrived at the school at 7am. When we arrived, we went straight to the guidance counselor's office. After we filled out some forms and did some paperwork, I was finally able to meet with my guidance counselor. My counselor and I worked together to create my schedule for the next school year. Unlike what I was used to in Germany, you can choose your courses and subjects according to your interests. To be honest, it was quite difficult for me to choose the right subjects among all the exciting ones. There are some subjects that you have to take, but you can still choose the level of difficulty. After I finally had my schedule, I went to class. However, after a short time I realized that the subjects I had chosen were not the right ones for me and that I would like to take more difficult courses. That's why I went to my counselor and changed a few subjects. My impressions: The first day of school was quite stressful and also a bit overwhelming for me. Since I already missed two school days and missed some organizational things due to the schedule changes, it was a bit difficult to get into the lessons. The teachers at my school are totally nice and always there when you need help. However, the organization in the first week was not the best and it was quite a chaos. In Germany, secondary schools are divided into three levels of difficulty. There are the "Mittelschulen", "Realschulen" and Gymnasien". I attend a "Gymnasium" and this type of school is necessary if you want to go to a university later. (You don't have to go to a "Gymnasium", but this is the easiest way to get this particular degree). Accordingly, I met many different types of students at my high school. The variety ranges from very good and ambitious students to those who have absolutely no desire for school and behave accordingly in class. Since I spent almost the whole day in some office working out a good timetable, I didn't get to contact students yet, but I think I will be able to make contacts in the next few days easily. I hope you enjoyed my brief glimpse into my first day of school and see you next time! Julia

Today was my first day of school at my new high school in America, but this one went a little differently than expected... But let's start from the beginning... When my alarm clock rang at 6 o'clock I knew that today was the big day: My first day of school in America. I quickly got ready, ate something and around 6:40 we left for school. There was a quick security check at the entrance and we went into the main office of the school. Since I don't have a timetable yet, I had to meet a so-called guidance councellor and choose my subjects with him and thus put together my timetable. Unlike in Germany, there is a course system from high school onwards and no fixed classes. Accordingly, each student must choose his or her subjects during the first days of school. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. When we arrived at the office where the gcs work, there were already quite a few people lining up to see them. My host father spoke to one of the secretaries and the lady told us that the whole school is very busy on the first day. Also, the gcs are very busy right now, so she recommended that we come back on Wednesday. So we packed our things and just went home. On the way we had a tasty breakfast and did a few more things. The whole thing now means two extra vacation days for me and to be honest I don't really mind haha Have a nice day and I will of course continue to report on my experiences. Until next time! Julia

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog! On Wednesday in the late afternoon, I have arrived in Norfok. In this blog entry I want to write about my flight from Germany to the United States! The night before my flight I hardly slept because I was totally excited and full of anticipation! At 2 o'clock in the night has then rung my alarm clock and my parents and I made us on the way to the airport in Nuremberg. After check-in, it was finally time to say goodbye to my parents! I went through the security check with mixed feelings. On one hand I was super excited and glad that the adventure was REALLY about to begin right now but on other hand I was a bit intimidated by the upcoming adventure. The moment I have been waiting for almost a year is now here and I couldn't believe my exchange year is now about to start. I flew from Nuremberg to Frankfurt. Arriving in Frankfurt, I immediately made my way to Terminal 2 and to my gate. Finding my way around the airport was no problem and the processes there were quick and speedy. In Frankfurt, my plane took off for the USA. This was my first transatlantic flight and I was happy that everything went well and there were not any problems. During the approximately 9-hour flight, I had the opportunity to rest a bit. When the plane arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina, I went to the visa check. There, my passport and my visa were checked and I had to go through customs. Fortunately, these procedures went fairly quickly and there were no problems. I had about 1.5 h stay in Charlotte and around 4:15 pm local time, my last flight to Norfolk took off. At the airport I was warmly welcomed by my host family and my local coordinator. I was really happy and relieved to have finally arrived in the USA. Before we went home we had tasty Mexican food and at home my host parents showed me my home for the next 10 months. That's it for my arrival and I can't wait to meet the whole family and the surrounding area! Of course I will continue to report on this blog :) Until next time! Julia

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog! Finally the time has come, I got my placement and now I know where I will be in the USA! I will be spending my year abroad in the city of Norfolk in the state of Virginia. The call with my placement: It was nine o'clock in the evening when my cell phone suddenly rang. I took my phone and looked at the display and there I saw the number - it was my organization iE. Full of excitement I picked up the phone because I knew now was the time. I finally got the long-awaited call with my placement. On the phone I was told that the placement process is finally completed and I may finally be informed of the family and the school. I then received the exact information in an email. There were the contact details of my future host family and my future school. Together with my parents, I immediately contacted my host parents and we talked on the phone via Google Meet. My two host parents are really nice and lovely people and I can't wait to finally meet them in person. Of course, I also immediately googled my school and I'm looking forward to my first day at school here as well! After I made the first contact with my H-Familie, it took a load of my mind and it is generally a very nice feeling to finally have accurate information about my year abroad. Also, yesterday my dad booked my flight and I will be leaving on Wednesday. As you can see I'm already totally excited and looking forward to my trip finally starting. Of course, such a plan is also associated with mixed feelings and the more concrete and closer the departure day approaches, the more I think about the fact that I will not see my parents and friends for a long time. Despite everything, the anticipation and my positive feelings prevail here and I will continue to report about my experiences here on my blog! :) Have a great day and a nice weekend! See you next time! Bye Julia

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog! In this post I want to write about why I decided to do a year abroad in the US. For several years I had the desire to spend a school year in America, but it was always just an abstract idea. A reform in the Bavarian curriculum made it easier for students to skip the eleventh grade or, as in my case, to spend it abroad. Since this change, my plans became more concrete and I started my application process in December 2022 and registered with a program. Why did I sign up for a year abroad? As I said, I applied for such a program to experience a year abroad in the USA. It has been my wish for several years to be able to complete such a year. I would like to use the time abroad to meet many new people and form new friendships, to improve my English and to gain new impressions and experiences. Some of the people I spoke with still have good and close contact with their friends there and with their host family even after more than 20 years. The year abroad is like an upcoming adventure for me. I hope that I can participate in different clubs at my high school, for example a tennis club, debating club or something else. I also want to experience a different way of life and broaden my horizons by living in another culture in another country. I also think that such a year abroad will make me more independent and mature as I have to find my way around in a new environment. I am also aware that I will also have to face some challenges and hopefully through this I will learn to solve problems myself and deal well with difficult situations. In general I hope that this experience will have a positive influence on my life. Thank you for reading my blog post and I hope to see you next time! I also talk about this topic in my first video on Rumble. Actually, I was planning to publish this video on YouTube as well, but I'm not old enough to open my own channel on YouTube and upload it there. If you press the button on the right edge, you will get to the video.