update #35 - the ending

I've been back in my home country for about 2.5 months and I feel really honored to announce that I became a real member of the EF Switzerland Ambassador Program, which means I'll attend information meetings and talk to future exchange students, which makes me really excited. 
I'm so grateful that I got the chance to make my dreams come true and attend an American High School for a year and to have an amazing time, full of experiences. I've learned so much by being in a foreign culture and by improving my English skills. I want more people to make the decision for a year abroad and I'm hoping that I'll be able to encourage other kids to take the risk. I became so much more confident and I've learned a lot about myself. I'm way more open to try new things, talk to new people, I'm more ambitious and I'm a lot more independent than I was a year ago. 


When I first got back, I really struggled with my "normal" life, because everything was as it always has been. There was not really anything that could distract me from wanting to go back to California. After a couple weeks I started realizing that my "old new" life wasn't that boring, because people have changed and so have I. Of course, I'm still missing America a lot but it was the same when I first got there and was missing Switzerland. But I guess now I actually have two homes.

Since I never actually finished my exchange year story on here, let me tell you now.

When we got back from San Francisco, I had like 3 days left in Tehachapi. So, I packed out my stuff, washed some of it and packed it back into my big suitcase. I quit my GoPhone account and all that, had a goodbye party, said goodbye to Nadja, ate my favorite American foods one last time, drove by my high school and yeah. Since my host brother left earlier that day, I said goodbye to him and later we took all my stuff to the car and drove to the tiny Bakersfield Airport. We got there a little early, so I could unpack my stuff just in case it'd be too heavy, which it was, and so I was able to have a proper goodbye with my host sister, her friend and my host mum. Literally 5 minutes before I was supposed to go through the security check, we all started crying so hard. Then I did the security check and everything and left Bakersfield. A couple hours later, I was back in San Francisco because I had a crappy flight route. I had to wait in San Francisco for about 7 hours until I could board for Zurich. I bought a couple souvenirs and then it was time to leave America. 

"The last hours of your Exchange are the most confusing ones you will go through. You sit in the car, driving to the airport. You know: This is the last chance to enjoy this life you've been used to. The last time to see this city, these people for a very long time; maybe for ever. You don't know what to do, what to say or what to feel. Because tomorrow you'll see family again, your friends and the whole world you always missed in the last months. And you sit in the car, just staring at the sky, thinking about how evil Leaving is."

At this point, I would really like to thank my amazing host family for giving me the opportunity to stay with them. I miss you tons and I can't wait to see you again someday.
I also really miss Tehachapi High and I'll always be a Tehachapi warrior.

update #34 - San Francisco

days in the US: completed, days left: none

Friday in the week when school ended, we left really early in the morning up to Northern Cal. By about 11 AM we got to our hotel in San Francisco. After checking in, we walked to Union Square, which was pretty close. The amount of people there was crazy. We looked at some cute little stores that were unique, we took pictures and we were just being tourists. For dinner we went to an Italian restaurant. We had a lot of fun and the food was really good.

The next day, we went to Fisherman's wharf. There were a couple things to do, there was a wax museum and some little stores. There were piers with little food places and there were many tourists, it wasn't as bad as LA though. It was a lot of fun and I'm so glad I got to see it all. At 4PM we had an Alcatraz tour. Alcatraz is a little island in the Pacific, it used to be a prison. Today, it's a tourist attraction. The view from Alcatraz is amazing. You can see San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley etc and it's totally worth the money. The prison itself was quite interesting, you can go into the prison cells, see the beds, the places where the people were able to talk to their friends and family.

The next day, we discovered parts of the city that we haven't seen yet. We drove over the Golden Gate bridge and it was a lot of fun. We looked at some other little stores and went to China Town and it was literally how you expect a Chinese city. 

On Monday, we started our 5 hour drive back to my host town. We dropped off my friend Nadja to meet her host family. 

update #33 - Last week of school & Graduation

days in US: completed, days left: none

I'll just start with an update about the last actual week in America, including finals and graduation ceremony. I know I'm really behind and I'm going to make other posts the upcoming days. Mondy, we had finale rally, which is when all the seniors say goodbye to the school and stuff. It's just an assembly in the gym.
On tuesday June 6th I took my finals in aerobics and US history. I didn't have to study for any of them, it was literally just a presentation in aerobics and a game in history. After school I hung out with friends after school. The second day I had my final tests in biology and in Algebra. They were pretty rough, because it was about 170 questions in each of them, it literally kills your brain. Thursday, the last day of school, we ate pizza in choir and had presentations in English. Also, after the presentation, our teacher had donuts for us and we signed yearbooks. At 5 PM, I had to go to the rehearsal for graduation because I sang The National Anthem. with a couple other people. 
The actual ceremony started at 6 PM and it was quite sad. I had to say goodbye to most of my friends. 
This is basically what happened during that week. 

update #32 - Cambria

Days count: 313, days left in the US: 16

Also, from friday until today we had Memorial weekend, which is dedicated to all the men and women that fought for America in a war. My host mum took my host siblings, a friend, fish and me on a weekend trip to Cambria. They have a little house right at the beach and its pretty amazing.

The view my host sister and I had out of our window

Cambria is a small town close to San Luis Obispo at the Central Coast in California.
We walked to the beach and spent a lot of time there, we took pictures, made fruit salad, went to the main street and visited little vintage stores.

We watched many sunsets and it was just a great weekend, even though the weather wasn't as I expected. The place does not have many tourists at all and its pretty amazing.

One day, we went to San Simeon Beach. Its famous because the beach is crowded by Seals. 

You can see them just laying there, and on the Boardwalk there's also a bunch of bunnies, lizards and squirrels.

On the last full day at the Coast, we went to San Luis Obispo. The city is mainly known for its college, Cal Poly. Its a college town and its pretty cute. There's a lot of food places and stores. The people are all very friendly and especially if you have a cute puppy, everyone wants to start a conversation haha.

There's a small place called bubble gum alley, where people put their chewed gum on the wall, its kinda weird and gross but kind of cool.

I made two blog posts today, so I'd be glad if you would have a look at the post before this one (:

update #31 - powder puff football / track banqu

days count: 313, days left in the US: 16

On Wednesday, May 24th we had our powder puff football game. We had to wear our tshirts all day long in school and after school we met at the football field. The seniors had senior sunset, which is an event where they hang out together and have some snacks, listen to music and obviously watch the sunset together. After senior sunset, the junior powder puff team walks onto the football field and gets ready for the game.

The game had to halts, each one was 20 minutes long. Actually, we didn't play the real American football because that would be really brutal.We weren't supposed to tackle, bite and purposely hit each other and stuff. I suddenly didn't get to pay a lot and the Juniors lost the game. But I feel like we had a great team spirit and the game and the practices were a lot of fun. 

On Thursday the 25th, we had our track and field banquet. Its basically the same concept as for cross country. Underclassmen bring salad, upper clansmen bring desserts. We get our certificates and medals, varsity letters, pictures etc and some people get special awards. The coaches say something about each athlete and yeah that's basically it.

update #30 - football practices etc

days count: 300 days left: 28

Its so weird to think about going home soon, because I feel like I'm literally in the middle of my exchange. So much stuff is happening currently. Last monday, we started to practice for powder puff, which is a football game for girls. The juniors play against the seniors. Also, the choir concert is coming up and we practice at lunch. Track season has been over for me for a while now, my host sister qualified for state though, so her season ends this Saturday. School is getting busy again since I have a few finals and it is really weird to think that it will be worse after summer break.
Okay, so powder puff practice is every day after school except friday. We practice at school. There's 40 girls with five male football players from our grade. The seniors practice on the field next to us.
We all play different positions. Powder puff is not as brutal as the "real" American football because we're wearing flags, so if you take the flag off a girl you basically steal the ball from that girl.
I made a few new friends there and its a lot of fun.

Otherwise, there wasn't a lot of stuff happening this past week, but we had a little campfire on mother's day.

            

I have the two best  mum's I could ask for <3

  

I promise that I'll have a better update coming up haha, there's just not a lot to tell.

update #29 - Prom

days in US: 290  days left: 41

The past week we got the last things we needed for prom. My host sister did my make up a few times to practice. My last track meet was on Wednesday at Liberty High School. I ran the 4 by 100 m relay, the 4 by 400 m relay and competed in long jump. We won 3rd place in both of the relays.
Saturday we went to bear valley to the second house that belongs to my host family to let the dogs out and clean a little bit. At about 1:30 PM we started to get ready. Then, the other people of our group came and we took pictures in the backyard. We went to a friend's house and had a really fancy dinner.
Our rides picked us up and they took us to the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds where our prom party was.
The room was decorated in a 1920's style. The prom topic was "A Night of Mystery."
In the center was the actual dance floor with a little stage. There was a photo booth and a little snack bar where they handed out M&M's, water and pretzels.
Prom was a lot of fun, even though I can not dance at all, but it is a lot of fun to meet your friends and just hang out with them. As soon as we entered, all the girls took their high heels off.
So, we just danced the night away and it was awesome.

update #28 - hikes, pups and tie dye

days count: 284  days left: 44

I honestly don't really remember a lot about the past week, I'll just tell what I actually memorized.
We had another big track meet on Wednesday at Independence High School, it was mainly to qualify for League Finals, which are this upcoming wednesday. I qualified for long jump.
I honestly don't remember what I did the rest of the week, but saturday my host sister and I made tie dye t-shirts and socks which I love. It was so much fun. Later that night, we went to get Ice  Cream and hang out with another friend. On sunday, we cleaned and then we went on a hike. It was mostly uphill and I wasn't really into it but it was totally fine. We saw two snakes and deers. Actually, the big snake got hit by a car. The little one was a rattle snake. 
After the first half of the hike, we got to a lake with gold fish. One of the pups jumped in and swam. It was really hot, about 27 degrees celcius.
I'm so excited for Prom this saturday! There'll be a huge update this upcoming monday. 

update #26 - LipSync/ Last EF meeting in America

days count: 277, days left in America: 51

I can't believe that I'll be home so soon. I actually really don't wanna leave at all. I'm driven by so many different feelings. When I text people from home, I really can't wait, but then I really appreciate and love every little thing here so incredibly and I get so sad when I think about leaving. It feels weird and I don't know how to handle these feelings.
The past couple weeks, I joined a hip hop group that practiced two to four hours a day for one of the biggest events at my school called LipSync. With hip hop practice and track together, I was pretty busy but it is definitely worth all the stress and pain.
Lip Sync was last friday and we are all so proud of the result. We got an award and I love all of those girls so much. The video of the complete dance is on my Facebook page. The actual purpose of the event is to Lip sync the songs, but the students make it more like a dance battle.

Today was the last time all of the exchange students in this area met. It was at a bowling alley and we had pizza and did some activities. I'll put up some more pictures as soon as I get them. We just got some information about leaving etc and it was kinda sad. And I really suck at bowling.

In love with Californian dusks

…and these weirdos

especially those two, because we fucked up
 and missed the flight in Phoenix.
Stuck with those jerks since day one
and couldn't love them more.

It will never be the same again, I will never see these people again, or even if, it won't be this group. They're like my family and just thinking about leaving them makes me wanna cry. Once again I'm at the point where I think about how many times I'll do all the "normal" things again. Like, how many times I'll go to my favorite food place, how many times I'll have track practice, if its my last exam in a class, and  I literally get sad about everything. This might sound really silly because I still have 6 weeks to go, but I just can't handle the thought that I might never come back, I'll never be in the gym again, cheering with my school for a team, just normal American things. I start realizing how much I've changed and it makes me happy and causes fear at the same time. It just weird being on exchange I guess. I'll definitely try to  join the Switzerland Ambassador program for information meetings etc. And btw I realized that I'm passionate about track and really sad that the season ends so soon. 


I really hate myself :') The pictures just came. By the way, its 10:39 PM and I'll get up at like 5:45.

I don't need to mention
that we are both high key
in love with Ice cream

we look like a typical Swedish
family but I'm not blonde and
not Swedish

this was after we had pizza, that's why
we look happy instead of
sad

so much love for those people
that made my journey so
much better