Alycia's First Impressions

First Impressions

Hey There Bloggers,

I have survived two whole weeks in Amsterdam,Netherlands!! But then again, what am I talking about saying the term “survived”? It has only been the best decision I’ll ever make!!

Wow, am I pumped. It’s so exciting, knowing that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and that I am one of the few privileged to be living it. I mean, are there many people that can say they have visited Europe?!! Not many.

Everyone here is a bundle of joy. But you want to know the ironic thing about them? Wait for it.... their last name is Blood!! Talk about freaky!

Oh, and have I mentioned I’ve made a best friend. Her name is Fleur, and the best thing about it is she is the exact same age as me and my main translator in the household. When I arrived, she greeted me with a great big hug and asked to be the best of buds. I was relieved then and there. Good thing, because you know how shy I am.

Fleur’s mother, Adri, makes me feel right at home. She takes care of me, and I have proof. It was pretty chilly in the room Fleur and I bunked in, so Adri lent me a blanket even though she had fewer and I. Always lookin’ for a way to help.

My “father”, Reuben, reminds me of you, Daddy. He is very disciplined and believes that an important factor of life is earning your fair share. So, don’t worry, I’ve been working. Such as cleaning the toilet, helping Noach with his homework, and vacuuming.

But how could I be upset about that? I’m not, am I? Oh no. I’m really having a blast.

So I’m attending school, didn’t you hear? Fleur is in my class! Yay!! It’s been going OK. I mean, what’s the best you can say about school anyhow? I’ve been putting my best effort in and being optimistic which has made this trip even more amazing than ever.

Did I mention that I also have two bros? The older one which is 13, Daaf, is so talented. He’s cool. He plays the harpsichord. I know what your thinking. That he’s a geek right? Well, that was my first impression but once you get to know him he’s really cool like I said before. He is trying to teach me their language, Dutch. It excites me, but still it gets pretty frustrating with his constant nagging at me being a slow learner. Hey- let’s see him try to learn English!!

My other nine years old bro, Noach, reminds me a lot of me. We’re both shy, aren’t we Noach?.I am happy, because it seems that he is starting to enjoy me as a part of the family. Not to mention all of the other host family members.. I call him Cockroach, since his name sorta sounds like it.

Wow, all this talk about my family and none about the house! Wow, I must really like these people!! I’ll get to the point. The home I am staying in reminds me sorta of a ranch house. It is so me! It contains five beds,and three full baths.




There is a huge backyard in which the whole family plays cricket every other night. I have already learned how to play. Oddly, it is actually fun. You should give it a try.

There is a huge backyard. I’m talking huge folks. I love how the grass is a lush neon green and how it leaves grass stain all over my jeans. Kidding.

I think cricket is a nice bonding time for the family. I love it.

Just the other day, Adri took Fleur and I to the Albert Cuyp Market. It is a famous tourist attraction. It is located in De Pijp, Amsterdam. The Albert Cuyp market is arguably the best-known and busiest outdoor market in Europe. It attracts thousands of visitors every day, especially Saturdays. This marketplace consists of fresh produce and clothes.

Now you see my bloggers, this once in a lifetime opportunity trip has been going better then expected, if I can say so myself. Thank you for following my blog! The Netherlands have been impressive. I am looking forward to making Dutch Cuisines and learning some more Dutch. What a thrill.

You’ll hear from me soon,

Regards,
Alycia W

First Impressions In Hungary

Dear Friends and Family,
Hi Mom and Dad. How are you doing? I’m well. I’m writing from Budapest Hungary. What have you been up to. I am writing this blog to you to tell you how I’m doing and what my family is like. My family in Hungary says hi. They have been real nice to me and I want to tell you about each and everyone of them.
First I will start with the man of the house Jancsi who is 37 years old. He is a miner that works a lot. He is a very hard-worker. He takes pride in what he does. He works late and is never late. He is very responsible man to. He has everything he needs organized. He always has everything done on time never late for anything. He is also a family guy. He does this by being there for the kids. If they need anything at all he will miss work if necessary or just to play catch with. He also has fun or tries to have fun with the whole family or with them each individually.
Next I will talk to you about the mother Kato or, Katalin in America, who is 35 years old. She is a loving doctor. She is always there for the kids. Also she is like the transporter. She gets the kids where ever they need to be almost any time. The only time she won’t is in the middle of the night. She is also very organized. Well you have to be when you are trying to make everyone where they need to be. She also has a certain spot for everything so nothing gets lost. She is also respectable. Never once missing a sports game or anything for the kids. She also has the kids’ respect. They will find a way to be home on time or they get Kato to bring them home.
I will start with the oldest son and go down oldest to youngest. Benedeck or Benedict in America is 16 years old. Benedeck is an athlete. He is outside practicing or has to stay after school or go in later that day to school to play football or to us soccer. He is a laid back kid who stays out of things that aren’t his to get into. He does what he is told but doesn’t really care much about. He is very dedicated to soccer cause he plays it so often. He can be shy at times like first meeting people. He keeps to himself and is quiet at most parts.
The second oldest child is Eniko who is 13 years old. Eniko is a social person. She is always out with friends and comes home later then the other children. She tends o be very clumsy. She trips up a lot and trips over her own feet. She is also very energetic she doesn’t stay in one place for long and definitely has a fast pace. The fast pace is probably why she trips up so much.
Last is Jani or John in America , he is 12 years old. He tends to be lazy like a couch potato always on the couch. He plays video games all day or is online always playing games or looking up stuff to online to look better than us.
He can be pretty funny like playing practical jokes or pranks. He also says the funny things. He can be very smart. He is always looking up information to be smarter. He can differently be a know it all though.
The way to our space is easy to find. It is on the second floor and is very cozy. The kitchen has a tiled floor and a stainless steel sink and a nice double door fridge freezer. It also has a gas powered oven. The bedrooms are very nice. The master bedroom has a huge queen size bed. Also it has the only computer in the apartment. The other bedrooms are similar but with smaller beds. Each kid has decorated there room differently though. The oldest Benedeck has posters of famous Hungary sports stars. Eniko has made her room with posters of famous singers I have never heard of. The last bedroom the one I stay in is Jani’s bedroom. It has plain walls because he doesn’t really care about how his walls look. The bathroom is small with a shower or bath. Last is the living room where the only t.v. is. It plays shows I really don’t understand.
Around the house is a busy street. It is in the middle of the city so it’s hard to sleep at night. Cars always going by. The people living around us are very nice. There is a dinner across the street. The family goes to at least once a week. It’s fancy and we act very well. We eat porkolt which is a food that comes from Hungary and contains meat and a hearty mix of vegetables.
Next to us on either sides are more apartment buildings. It is very cold right now. The snow isn’t to bad not like back in Maine It can be as cold as negative five and is warm as thirty-seven degrees at the moment. Still I think it is nice
That is my family and house I live with everyday. Please write back soon.

From,
Ryan C.

Здравствуйте! from russia.

Dearest Family,
I am having so much fun here in Russia! There so much here to do in Moscow since it’s the capital city. I’m still getting situated, slowly getting more comfortable with the family and environment I'm in. I think this is all so amazing and glad you let me come.

My Family here. Lets start with the mother Lera. She’s 37 years old. She is a wonderful cook, basically everything we eat is home made. she’s loving, giving, energetic, super fun to be around. She loves to do arts & crafts, she paints, she does scrap booking, she knits, she does basically everything . She is very smart. She is a lawyer, for her job.

Dad - Andrei- He’s 45. He likes to joke around with me a lot. He's Brilliant! His job is a Brian Surgeon. He's really laid back. loves to have fun and kick back just relax. We always watch the soccer games on t.v. me, Andrei, and Alecksandr, the boys and me [: hehe

They have three children, two daughters ; Natailia and Dasha, & one son Alecksandr.

Natailia is 13, but she’s not in my class. Natailia is obsessed with gymnastics! thats all she think about. she gets the honor roll every report card its ridiculous.

Dasha is 17, she’s a senior in high school. She plays lady’s rugby.
She bring me to basically everything! i love her. everyday after school Dasha, Alecksandr, Natalia and I, all meet up at “ the shake shack” & all get a smoothie or a milkshake, EVERYDAY after school. & talk about our day.

Alecksandr - He’s 14. he's the one i spend most of my time with. he's like a real brother to me now,. he plays hockey, and he plays amazingly well.

They do have a basketball ball team at the school, and I knew I couldn't go long with out my favorite sport so they enrolled me in it. The family has come to every game ive had so far to cheer me on. Alecksandr comes to all my practices , watches me, just for support and he tells what what i ddi good and what i need to work on, it’s helping me approve a lot more. the sports here people are ALOT more competitive here! so thats building my skill level. Maine better watch out when i come back [:

The apartment i live in is very high class. I mean we each have our own bathroom! Except for Andrei & Lera, they share one. My bathroom is a master bath, my tub is a whirl pool & hot tub, I love it. then I have a stand up shower, a toilet of course- but its kinda separated from the rest of the bathroom, a huge mirror, two sinks, and a humongo closet its so big filled with name brand clothes they bought be especially from america to make me feel welcome! I was so happy and grateful!

My room is also quite big, it has a temperpetic mattress, all kinda of accessories that are pointless but are very entertaining and fun- like ipod touch, touch screen laptop, touch screen cell phone, touch screen TV! basically everything is technically advanced, even my alarm clock! it’s so cool! With neon colored everything!
I don’t know how they new I LOVE neon!? hmm [: I love it.


Near by the house is one of the best malls ever, the META mall! that are at a walkable distance.. you can see some of them from my window! It’s impossible to get bored here, with all the outlet malls, extra curricular activities with all of us, parents that let us have SAFE freedom. I'm truly blessed to be left with this family [“:

I’m looking forward to the next months i have left with this fun loving family, it’s not gonna go well when its time to leave, ill miss them so much, i think i’ll cry :[ i love it here, i miss you all too,

- Marina

Poland House

My family and house!

Hello from Warsaw Poland!!!

Hey mom and Dad and Michael!
Its amazing in Poland. Did you know that the national bird is an eagle just like in America? Or that the literacy rate is 99.8?
Well, I miss you guys allot and I want to tell you about my family here. The parents are Natalina and Casimir. Casimir works as a Lawyer and Natalina is an Architect. Natalina has the same job as my dad! But she specializes in museum and other big buildings. Their three kids are Alina, Tolly and Teos. Tolly and Teos are twins and they are 16 years old. Both of them are polite and quiet when there parents are around but when the parents leave, the are very loud and rowdy. Alina is 12 just like me and she does most of the housework and she makes REALLY yummy crapes. Crapes are like thin pancakes with choclate, jam or pretty much anything in it! All three of the kids speak english. Its nice being able to talk to people. They have a puppy named aniołku, which means little angel.
There aren’t many wild animals in Warsaw because its a pretty big city. The most popular mall in Warsaw is Arkadia shopping mall.
The life expectancy is only 75 years old. The land area in Warsaw is pretty low lying and the average income in Poland is 20,000€ a year.
The school I will to is The American School Of Warsaw, Poland.
Our house is really nice it has...

- all media, central heating (gas)
- underground garage,
- 12 bedrooms (double)
- of underground-technical rooms.
- holiday entrance hall
- 3 big bathrooms with the bathtub, the shower and the toilet
- separate toilet
- big entrance hall behind the main entry
- kitchen with the dining room
- two holiday fairs
-big balcony
-pool

Yes, Its pretty cool. Daddyyyyy can you build a house with a pool? Ha Ha. Wait... Seriously.


Love, Emine<3

FIRST IMPRESSION

DEAR PEOPLE BACK IN THE USA,

THE FOOD HERE IS AWESOME, I WILL TRY TO BRING BACK SOME BELGIUM WAFFLES FOR YOU. MY HOUSE IS HUGE IT HAS 6 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, 3 garages villa at top location 10km north of Brussels.
MY FAIMLY IS COOL THERE NAMES ARE: (DAD)Peter Bruegel, (MOM)Audrey Bruegel, (BRO 1)Leopold Bruegel,(BRO 2)François-Joseph Bruegel,(BRO 3) Philippe Bruegel. My dad & mom is a brain doctors. Leopold is 18 years old, François-Joseph is 12 years old, Philippe is 15 years old. Audrey cooks Belgian fries but they are just like potato chips.

FIRST IMPRESSION

DEAR PEOPLE BACK IN THE USA,

THE FOOD HERE IS AWESOME, I WILL TRY TO BRING BACK SOME BELGIUM WAFFLES FOR YOU. MY HOUSE IS HUGE IT HAS 6 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, 3 garages villa at top location 10km north of Brussels.
MY FAIMLY IS COOL THERE NAMES ARE: (DAD)Peter Bruegel, (MOM)Audrey Bruegel, (BRO 1)Leopold Bruegel,(BRO 2)François-Joseph Bruegel,(BRO 3) Philippe Bruegel. My dad & mom is a brain doctors. Leopold is 18 years old, François-Joseph is 12 years old, Philippe is 15 years old. Audrey cooks Belgian fries but they are just like potato chips.

Juliana's First Impressions

Juliana Burch
January 4,2010
2 Draft
Dear Mom, Dad, and everyone else,

Hi everyone! I miss you so much! It’s a little hard settling in with this family, with only one girl and four guys! It’s weird and sort of scary! My overall feeling about my family is they’re very nice, polite, care for me, and have my best interest at heart!
The Rosewell family is a typical one with a mother, father, and three sons. The mother’s name is Aurel (45). Alin is the father’s name (46)Their sons names are Benjamin (12), Anton (8), and the youngest son Cezar (5)The two youngest sons are wild and full of energy! The oldest son spoke some English and showed me around the house and school. Benjamin taught me some Romanian and I taught him more English. The mother is always making sure I’m warm, have enough clean cloths, enough warm blankets, and making sure the younger boys leave me alone.
Their home is on the outskirts of Bucharest. It’s around many trees, and has a small stream next to it. Their home is so cozy and warm I love it! It is on a little hill with a pale fence surrounding it. It’s so cute! There are four bedrooms, one is the parents, the second is the two younger boys room, the third is the older sons room and the fourth is the guest room/my room. With two small bathrooms, one has a sink and a toilet the other has a shower/bathtub and a sink and mirror. I’m looking forward to is coming home and seeing my real family and friends! I will miss my host family though.


Your friend/daughter,
Juliana

Tori's First Impressions

Dear Family, Friends, and Teachers,
For the past week, I have been in Stockholm Sweden and it’s pretty cool. The family is very nice to me, even though they don’t know me that well. They helped me unpack things and settle in. So I’m settled in quite nicely, and the house is really cozy. The house has five bedrooms, one for me, and three bathrooms. I love it here, and I am starting to feel like family and I definitely feel safe in here.

In my family, they treat me like a daughter/sister. On the first day, there was a little family meeting were they told me their name, age, and career. There are five people in the Larsson family and they all had a bright smile when they saw me. The first people I met, were the twins, Gunnar and Gabriella Larsson who are both 12. They have straight, light brown hair, with water blue eyes. They greeted me and let me inside to see their home. Then they took me to see their older brother, Isak Larsson who’s 15 and has straight, blond hair and chocolate brown eyes, and their parents, Albert Larsson, 36 with blond hair and brown eyes like Isak, and Gala Larsson, 35 who also has brown hair and blue eyes just like Gunnar and Gabriella. They both came over and gave me a hug and some food. At the family meeting, I learned that Albert is CEO of Europcar and Gala is a singer. I was shocked that they were both really rich because they didn’t seem like they had a lot of money, and their house wasn’t fancy looking. All the kids play at least one sport. Well except for Gunnar. He plays every sport in the school year. Gabriella plays tennis and Isak plays ice hockey.

In Stockholm, they have weather like we do. In the winter, the warmest weather they had was 54 degrees fahrenheit, and the coldest was -17 degrees fahrenheit. There is snow on the ground and it is really cold. So I would be wearing my new sweatshirt I bought here the first day. The view here is beautiful. I watched the sunset, and it was amazing. In Sweden, I saw a huge bridge, a statue, a lot of boats, and their flag. I love it here in Sweden, but the only thing is that Stockholm is almost all city. I am looking forward to walking around and shopping some more, because they have some pretty cool things here. I also want to see the Turning Torso and the Ice Hotel.

Now that it’s the first week here in Stockholm, I will be having fun here and hanging out with mostly my family. I think I will love it here more and make new friends. Hope to write you soon!

Love,
Tori Lynn

spain

FOREIGN FRIDAYS PIECE THOMAS 1/8/10

My family’s name is Perez. And the family members are: David Perez(father), Maria Perez(mother), Leslie Perez(daughter), Joshua Perez(son), Joseph Perez(son), Ocian Perez(son). i will be staying with this family in madrid,spain. our house is amazing and how they can a ford it is: the dad is an architect, the mom is a doctor and she owns the hospital she works at, leslie works a lemonade stands with some friends of her, and joshua and joseph mow lawns and help there aunt with her real estate and they also help their uncle in his lot/car and auto supplies car shop. This family is very rich and helpful to anyone who needs or wants it. The house is a four bedroom house with three bathrooms, and a huge family room, and a huge kitchen too!

Berlin, Germany

Germany

Berlin, Germany is amazing! The sights here are so gorgeous like the Wurlitzer Park. The parks are just so amazing beautiful and clean. Unlike some parks that people just throw trash on the ground! But in Germany the parks are so clean and well taken care of!

Unlike other parks and sights here in Germany, are so different then sights back home in Maine where people are just to lazy to pick up there own garbage! But in Germany the people are just so kind to there sights and use their resources better than the people back in Maine!

My home in Germany is just so welcoming but my family is just so kind then normal they are treating me like I am part of their family in Germany!

Like, for example, my new mom Julia who is 30 years old! Who is just so kind, even though me and the others have to do chores because she doesn’t want to spoil us to much with her yummy cooking or being to nice and giving us what ever we want like she normally does! But then it comes to her job, which is a computer specialist!

Then their is my new dad Jorg who is also 30 years old but he is the opposite! He doesn’t like to spoil us with yummy treats! He is more of the “lets go outside and play some fuseball (soccer) or a good game of basketball” type. And if we do have a basketball or fuseball game we will be outside for like about 2 hours which is not normal for me! But most of the time he is at his job as a air traffic controller! Which is like supper amazing cause he loves to buy us children new things!

Then there is my almost sister that I never had back home! Lulu is 13 years old like me! She loves to do almost every same thing as I do basically. She loves to play her volleyball and basketball! And she is the most funniest person I have ever met always making people laugh like me and my friends usually do back home! But she is like me in many ways! She likes the same American bands that I do! In away I somewhat consider her as my actual twin!

Then their is my other new sister Gabi which is only 8 years old and she is also our little sister who loves basketball pretty much like the rest of the family does! But she is also the most carefullest person I have ever met, she is like cautious in everything that she will do! But then when it comes to learning she is very serious about learning, unlike her classmates, sisters, or brothers!

Then their is my new brother Max who is also 13 years old and when it comes to play basketball with him you have to fight back cause he is very serious when he plays. But he loves to be around his friends!

Lulu who I share a room with right know is like three times the size then my room back in Maine. The walls are a blueish color with two big windows, probably the size of a small car! And everything in the room is like oober awesome, comfy, and blue!

Me and my new family live in a house with like 20 rooms but they turned a couple of the rooms into 2 more bathrooms so we didn’t have to wait long and so we didn’t have to go to the other side of the apartment floor that they own! Even though the whole floor that they own used to be a whole bunch of small hotel rooms! All I can say is the floor that they own is very welcoming and cozy!

FRANCE DAYS

Dear mom,

I’m having a great time in Paris France, the house and people I’m staying are great, the kitchen is neat and the dinning room is clean and is nice to eat in. By the way the food in france is great, Marshall is a chef and makes the best I food ever tasted. the schools are hard to understand because everyone is speaking french, even the teachers. Overall, I love it here and There is so much to see and do I can’t possibly be homesick, like camp kieve.

In case you don’t know who Marshall Legrand is, he is Roy’s father,( Roy’s the kid I’m staying with) Nadia is Roy’s mother. They have a dog named Rey, he’s nice and friendly and goes to his dog restaurant, yeah they have dog restaurants in France. Nadia is a waitress but works at a different restaurant than Marshall. They are all kind and friendly and we are all having a great time listening to each others stories of experiences. Marshall as you know is a chef and is a good one at that, so far I haven't got to talk to him much but he does seem happy about his job. Roy is the person I’m going to school with and he likes to play active games outside or inside, alot of times with Rey. Roy is a fun person who understands english the most but his parents knows it too. Nadia is a waitress as you know and knows the least english but she is kind and friendly like the rest of the family.

I am happy so far here and look forward to see the Efel tower and learn more about the children in France, and more about France in general.

Sincerely,
Andrew

Letter from Austria

Dear Bloggers,
I lasted through my first week in Austria, and guess what? I LOVE IT HERE! Everyone is making me feel like part of the family, especially Cari, my host mother. Every night before bed when Gerry isn’t home yet, she gives each of us kids a small piece of apple strudel. Cari is an amazing cook, almost as good as my mom. You would never guess by just looking at her. She’s thin as a twig and her blonde curls fall around her shoulders and cascade down her back when she wears it down. Most of the time she wears it up though in a tight little bun. When I asked her why, she just shrugged. Of coarse, either Axel, Rose, or Gerry have to help us converse. I think I’ll try to teach her English and maybe she can teach me some German. I’ve already picked up a few words. They are Willkommen(welcome), du(you), angelangt(arrive), and unbedenklich(safely). That would be nice. You can tell she’s a lawyer, though. Whenever someone takes a second strudel when no one is around, she can always find out who did it.
Then there’s Gerry, my host father. Gerry is so much fun to be around. He always takes his work home and asks us what we think would make a good video-game. Of course, Nanda has the best ideas because she has a wild imagination. Gerry has quite an imagination, too. That’s probably why he tells each child a story before bed. He saves me and Rose for last because he said we’re special and he thinks we deserve it cause we share a room. We are the only ones who do that. So far, I think Gerry is a lot like my real dad, funny and playful. After our story, Gerry has us recite this prayer:
Thank you, God
for today,
You blessed my work
you blessed my play.
I really think it is a sweet prayer to say at night. I like it.
There are two girls in my family, Rose(Roselyn) and Nanda. Rose is 13 and is my main translator in the family. She can be a couch potato at times but otherwise she is pretty awesome. She likes to play around with cosmetics and I’m usually her mannequin. Not that I mind. I like to help her out and let her play around with the stuff I brought with me. I guess it was a good thing to. The only problem is that she does her make-up really, how do I say this, unique. She like to cover her eyelids till you can’t see any skin anymore! She does all this to Nanda, too. Nanda is even more willing then me. She lets her do her hair. I made the mistake of letting Rose do mine when I first got there and ended up with having to get my hair cut shorter. Trust me, you don’t want to know. My hair is still long, though. Nanda will never learn. She is only six after all. She’s real sweet to me. She gives me kisses before bed every night. I like it. It reminds me of my brother back at home. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I really miss that kid.
Axel is, how do I put this, Axel. He’s kind of a brainiac really. He’s trying so hard to learn about me that it’s kind of touching. He doesn’t really like to talk about how school is for him. I can’t seem to figure out why, though. He keeps his life to himself. I can’t say as much about me. He pries for more and more info on me and my life and everything else, especially my family. I’ve told him everything I can without being to personal. I fight the most with him. It’s like we’re actually siblings. I’m not even kidding. We fight about food, his sisters, what I teach him, about my brother, we even fight about whose socks are whose. But I still think he’s pretty awesome. He likes to teach me the games they play in Austria, like cricket. Some of them are pretty neat.
The house is really cool, too. There are four bedrooms, meaning Gerry and Cari share a room, Axel gets his own, Nanda gets her own, and Rose and I bunk together. The only problem is that there are only one and a half bathrooms which is hard to handle with three teenagers in the house. The dining area is also the living room. It is actually a really big room and I think it’s my favorite. There is where we discuss family issues. I like how they include me in the decisions they make. The coolest part of the house is the...wait for it... POOL! I wish I’d brought a bathing suit. Cari says she’ll buy me a new one, though. The outside of the house is like a mixture of modern and older style. It has a tan coloring to it, a lot of shades of brown. Since we live in the suburbs of Vienna, there is a lot of beautiful forestry and really clear skies at night, the kind you don’t see in the actual city.
So far, everything is good. I love all of my family(although I really miss others speaking fluent English). I’m looking forward to starting school. Thanks for blogging with me.
Your Friend,
Haley

This is my time in Denmark

Dear family and friends at home, 

 I’m here now, and I’m still a little nervous. I don’t know the little rules, and I don’t want to do something that is frowned upon in that country. Or say something that is again their religion. I’m sure that once I get more settled in, I’ll be more comfortable with this. They have a nice home here.  It has most of the comforts of an American house. A television,hardwood floors, many plants in the house, and, they have a fish. His name is Jecka, he’s pretty cool, and he was the first thing that I noticed, other than the cobblestone streets. Over all it’s pretty nice here. the people a really nice, all through the town, and the people in on our street, all waved, and said something, that was hard to understand for me.  Copenhagen, is a nice city, is not to bus, and bustling, like New York, but quieter, more laid back. It’s easy to get settled here. 

I have my own room now, on the first night, i had to sleep on the floor with their oldest child, Nikolaj, he’s 14. I learned allot about him that night. He’s really quiet, i found that out early on. But, i also learned that he’s really involved in sports. He likes wrestling, and says he’s really good at it. I didn’t believe him, until I told him to prove it. Yeah he took me down in about half a second, and pinned me. And he is on a swim team. He told me that he didn’t like it that much, but everybody says that hes got potential. He says that he does it because his friends do it, and thats the only reason he does. He’s allot taller then me, maybe 5’9, with dirty blonde hair that curls above his eyes. 

He also has a sister, he name is Naja, which is pronounced (Na`sha). Shes a cute little girl, and she’s quite interesting. I thought she would be shy like her brother, because when her family picked me up from the air port, she hid behind her mother, and father. But after a couple of days, when she got to be around me more, she was a bursting ball of energy.  She loves animals, and people. Pretty muchlike any girl in America, but, ten times that. She does gymnastics, and wants to be a dancer when she grows up. 

The parents, are allot different though. The father, Jesper, is very, very, artistic, and loves shapes, and sizes and colors. He works as a photographer for a magazine in Denmark, and has his own painting business. Well, its not really a business,as much as, he paints things, then he sells them.

The mother, Pernille, is a very quiet, and generous school history teacher. She is very smart, and knows more about her country than anny other person in he world (just a guess).

They All live in a modern house. It looks like something that you would see on a sub-urb, except two stories, not one. Its white, but very detailed on the inside.hardwood floors, a ceiling fan hat looks like palm leave. And more of a “jungle” type house. (jesper’s idea).

They live on a street near a park, and its only about a mile to the ocean. It’s pretty quiet, and really green, theres trees everywhere, but it oes well witht the buidings and such.

I think that all I really want to do now, is just take a walk around town, to see where everything is, and where I’m going to be for the next 6 months.

Finland

My name is Bryce Scott and I am an exchange student from the U.S.A and I am living with my host family in Finland. This is to all the people in America. This is my experience in Finland.

My family is a family of 5: The dad Axel is 35 and he is lawyer in Helsinki. He loves music and spends time with his kids,likes camping in Koli National Park in Finland.

The mom Emma is 32. She teaches English and she loves tubing in Lake Pieilnen.

The brother William is 12. He is athletic and loves playing Pesapallo. It is a similar to American baseball. He and I are a lot alike. He loves to play sports and when we have the house to our self we love to watch T.V.

The sister Sara is 14 and she is laid back. She loves music. Her favorite artist are Linkin Park,Skillet,Slipknot,Pitbull and Flo Rider.

The brother Jonna is 10. He loves to pull pranks with the whole family. His favorite sport is soccer.

We live in a 2 story house outside of the capital Helsinki. It is a 4 bedroom. I share a room with William. We have bunk beds. And Sara and Jonna have there own bedroom. The family loves to spend time in the family room. It has a 40 inch T.V.

I am looking forward to living with my new family and finding what kind of food they eat. And what the time is like in Finland. I never knew what it was like to have 2 brother that love me.

Switzerland

SWITZERLAND!!!!

Switzerland is like amazing i love it here. When I first came i thought it would be totally different. Like all cultury and stuff. But it’s not. They just live normal lives. The hardest part though is learning the language. Its a good thing i have 2 people who can speak English though. Its just a lot of fun and i wish you were here to experience it with me.

The family is great! The two that speak English are twins there names are Alina and Lukas. They are 13 years old. Alina plays sports like basketball, volley ball and she does Ice skating and gymnastics. She is really good at helping me learn the language. In school she will translate for me and everything. And she always finds a way to to make me laugh when I’m sad or upset.

Lukas is like awesome. He plays football, basketball, and ice hockey. He is so sweet and nice. He teaches me basketball to and he speaks english to. I love talking to him because he is a really good listener. When ever i need to talk he is always there for me and i love that. Thats the thing i love most about him.

And then there is Mia she is only 2 so she is kinda bossy but so adorable. She loves to tell people what to do. And she is very impatient she wants things right away. She is also so sweet. When she wants something she acts so cute and innocent and i think its so adorable.

Then there is “mom”, her name is Alessa. She is very disaplined and makes us do chores. I love how loyal she is and how easy to talk to she is. She works as a computer specialist and gets paid pretty well. She is a great mom.

Now there is “dad”, his name is Julian. He is very creative but he isn’t home very often because he is a air traffic controller and gets paid A LOT. He spoils me a lot and it’s so funny. He is awesome. I love this family, they’re amazing.

The house is big and like awesome. It has 5 bedrooms and its just wow. It has a pool room like the game pool and a huge backyard. The private pool is amazing and it has a hot tub. The backyard has a big pond and a lot of land. There is a shed and a garage and its amazing. I like flipped when i saw it. I have my own room and its PINK! Like everything is pink and its FANTASTIC! I love it. It’s awesome.

They have a dog her name is ariel she is a german shepherd and is really big. The whole family takes her out on walks every night to have family time. She is really more of lukas’ dog because he takes care of him and everything.

I’m so happy my parents gave me the chance to go here. So far it’s been the best experience i’ve ever had. I can’t wait to start school and meet new people its going to be really exciting and interesting to see what these people are learning compared to what Im learning. My parents are the best for letting me come here. THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!!! =)



ICELAND
My family from Iceland has three people in it. It has a mom,,a dad Karl, and a son Uggie.
My first impression of them was pleasant. The mom was a very nice women and she made me cookies,milk,and she talked about the house that they had the house passed on by Karl's great grand dad Joseph Luther. The house was a two-story building that was 125-years old. But every ounce in a the family would hire people to re-paint it and re-shingle it. The color of the house was green and the outline of the window,and stuff like that was black.
The first impression of the dad was funny. The dad asked me where I came from and I said Maine and he said a better answer would have been my Mom. But all in all they were nice peoples. Uggie likes to play monopoly and all kinds of games. He is pretty cool and he is chill.


Sincearly,Dwayne

Hello From Karli in Lisbon, Portugal :)

!Hello From Portugal!
Hey Mom, Dad, family, and friends! It’s Karli from Lisbon, Portugal living with my temporary Portuguese family who are extremely helpful and friendly to me! I am having a blast here in Lisbon and I am meeting many great new people and learning the wonderful culture here in the capital of Portugal!
There are five members in my Portuguese family. The mother named Angela Andrade, who is 38 and is very caring, friendly, and hardworking. She is always feeding me delicious homemade food and makes me feel at home! She is An English teacher also, so she speaks fluent English and is very respectful to everyone! Then there is the father, named Antonio Andrade that is 42 and is extremely smart, funny, and also hardworking! He works in an industrial factory and builds many vehicles that are imported into the U.S. and other countries. He jokes around a lot and makes you laugh non stop! He is hilarious and extremely kind! There are three children. Francisca, Carlos, and Carla. Francisca is 16 and is very musical, hardworking, and kind. She participates in a dance program and in many plays and musicals in Lisbon. She gets very good grades in school and has skipped two grades because of her wondrous grades, so she is going to college next year and is already writing out applications. She is very helpful to me and shows me her unique dances and we sing together also. That is really cool! Carlos is 13 and is very athletic, adventurous, and kind. He plays soccer for his school team and a travel team that he goes around the country of Portugal. He is very talented! He jokes around a lot, like his dad, Antonio, which makes me laugh also! He always makes you smile and giggle! Carla is 9 and is very playful, sweet, and helpful. She laughs much, a cute giggle, and is very mischievous! She is very helpful by making cute pictures for you and delicious little treats! She is very precious!
The apartment is gorgeous! It has smooth, shiny wood floors and smells of fresh flowers and baking! It is extremely homelike and is just right! The view is of the city of Lisbon which is full of amazing stores, buildings, and sites! It’s wonderful! I’m looking forward to learning more culture of Lisbon, Portugal and having a wondrous time with my Portuguese family! I hope to keep in close contact with you and for you to see how much fun I am having here in Lisbon, Portugal! Thank you and I can’t wait to talk to you soon with brand new, exciting updates from Lisbon, Portugal!
Sincerely,
Karlianne

Finland

ITALY!!¡¡!!¡¡!! :Ω)

I am at my new home. I will be here for six months with Antonello their oldest son of fifteen, Alessia the next oldest she is thirteen, and Acriso the youngest he is four. Their parents are Ilario the father and Aldabella the mother. Ilario is the guardian of the house, he works as professor at the college and as a guard at the mall on the weekends when they need extra people. Aldabella loves cooking, she is a chef at the children’s school, so we will never be without someone to call or get in touch with when we need to go home or are sick, she also doesn’t put up with any nonsense. I learned this the first day I was here, Antonello was being bullied during lunch and Aldabella went right over to the group of kids, hoisted up Antonello and gave all the children who were involved with his bullying demerits.


Back to the house, I have enclosed a picture of the inside of our home.

The house is a two story Tuscan style ranch with two bathrooms, four bedrooms, a dining room, two dens, an attic, and a full basement that is set up for a small soccer field (the soccer field is only the size of the basement, about twenty feet by twenty-five feet. Antonello is the adventurous one like Alessia, they love to explore the forest behind the house. Acriso is the playful little tyke, he runs around the woods with Woodchuck the family dog climbing the hills and playing in the fields. The forest around my home is full of pine trees and great oaks. There is a lake just over the shrubbery that we go and swim in on the hot days and fish. Acriso caught a walleye just yesterday that broke his pole into little bits. While I have been here I have also picked up on some of the language from the children. Like an Italian saying for goodbye is Arrivederci.


I look forward to learning more about the Italian language and about the forest and wildlife around Italy. Acriso has already shown me some of the animals in the forest like the brown bears and ground squirrels, it is much like Maine except the deer are a little smaller and the deer are not white tails.






Adios,
Harry

Dear peoples, 

I’ve been having a great time in Dublin with my new Irish family for these first few weeks and at first they seemed a little nervous about another person in their family but after a while them came around and acted just like I was one of there own family.

Let me introduce you to my family. Eilish is the father, he’s 41. Colleen is the mother, she’s 38. Shane is the only real son, he’s 13. Molly is the daughter of the family, she’s 14. 

The first thing I thought about Eilish is that he is strict but fair. Colleen seems like she is the nicest person in the world, she always seems to pay more attention to her family then her self. Shane is like my brother back home, we don’t look alike but we act and see things the same way. And Molly seems to be just like her mother but a little more laid back and seems to want to hang out with me a lot as well as Shane does.

The house I’m living in is small but nothing I’m not use to. They said that they bought it about 16 years ago before they had Molly and Shane . It looks almost nothing like an american house. I have to share a room with Shane but he’s alright so it’s not that bad. 

One good thing about being here is that they I have a washer and dryer instead of having to go to the laundry mat every week.

As you can see in this pic up at the top of the letter  there are a lot of trees in the area around the house, but Shane made an awesome tree house in the back. He asked me if I wanted to help him make an addition to the tree house. I can’t wait to start that. And what they say about it being green in Ireland is so true. Every where I’ve hone there has been green everywhere no matter where I gone.

The school is different but I’m managing to get by. The hardest things to do is make friends and understand the teachers because of my lack of understanding Gaelic, which is the main language in Ireland. My math teacher sometimes says stuff in Gaelic and I have no idea what she said and I have to ask her to repeat herself in English. I’ve only made one friend on because there’s like only 8 kids in the school that speak english. His name is liam, he  just like my friend Tommy back home. My history teacher talks a lot about castles in their history.

The main sport of Ireland is rugby which is just like american football but 90% rougher then american football. Shane offered me to play but I passed. As tough as I am I don’t want to be mauled by like 30 people.

Well this is the end of my first entry back home so I guess all I have to say is good bye.

                                                        Sincerely,

                                                              Cody Weed.

Hi it's Ali from Athens Greece

Hi mommy, daddy, sissy, family, and friends,
It is Ali from Athens, Greece. It is here and the sunrise in the morning is so beautiful. The family is the best, they even take me shopping and buy me wicked cool things. I even bought you all presents. The language is really hard to understand, but is fun to see other people’s culture. I am learning many new things, just as I promised. I am taking lots and lots of pictures so I hope that you will enjoy them when I get back.

The family is so amazing! They have a busy, busy life and they are always on the go. The mother, Alexis Michaelides, is thirty eight years old. She is an architect and you would love her mom, if you met her. She wears glasses and loves to paint. The father’s name is Alexandro Michaelides. He is thirty nine years old and is an engineer and her very tall and also very smart. One of their four kids is Alice Michaelides who is thirteen years old she has a twin sister names Ally Michaelides. Alice loves to dance and she has brown hair. Ally Michaelides is also thirteen and she is older that Alice by three minutes. Ally loves music and she is very stylish. Adrian Michaelides is seventeen years old and is also very tall and he is very athletic but I don’t see him very much he is usually at school or practice. Alec Michaelides is seven years old, he loves to play his cello and he’s an A+ student.

The house is so cool and it has a swimming pool. Alice, Ally and I all go out in it after school and swim until the sun is almost down. The house has three bedrooms and one master bedroom. My room is like five times the size of mine at home! It is HUGE! Down in the basement there is a play room and Ally and Alice and I always hang out there.

I am so excited to see you all but I think I will stay a lot longer. Later this week there will be a celebration of Christmas and we are going! They got me a dress and it’s pink with blue flowers on it. They said I could bring it home when I come back, and I am also looking forward to the weeks to come with my wonderful Greek family. So please write back. I am dying to hear from you.
Love you,
Ali

Yo frum Oslo

Hello people! I have been in Norway for the past week, and it is okay. I don’t really know the family that well yet, but I do know that I’m sure I’ll like it here as soon as I get to know everyone and become part of the family. I have gotten settled fine. Its a nice, cozy home that welcomes everyone and anyone that steps through the door. It is located in very rural part of Oslo, so it’s relatively quiet. It has four bedrooms, one bathroom, a separate. toilet apartment, whatever that is. I feel. . . okay here at the time. I haven’t been here long enough to feel at home, but I feel okay and safe about staying here.

My family is nice, very disciplinary, but nice. There are six people in this family, just like mine at home. They all have great hospitality and gave me a warm welcome. The first two people I met were my foreign parents, Aleksander and Emilie Jakobsen. Aleksander had a businessman look to him. He had neatly parted black hair with icy gray eyes. He gave you the feeling that you needed to do what was expected or there would definitely be consequences. I could tell Emilie was a bit of a pushover when I saw her. She just had that paternal look to her that said, “I let my kids have whatever they desire.” She had silky, dark brown hair down to the middle of her back, accompanied by dancing auburn eyes. They greeted me with a happy but rough English hello. They then introduced me to their oldest son, Mikkel, who gave me a firm nod and handshake. He was like his father, only his eyes were more welcoming. They were a warm, milk chocolate color. He had black hair like his fathers, only it was a little scruffier. He looked young, like maybe fifteen. Mikkel then introduced me to the rest of the family. First walks in a boy of no more than eight. His name is Eirik. He has blue eyes that look like he’s in pain, although he seems extremely happy. He has curly blonde hair that hangs over his eyes like a thick drape. Next walks in what looks like twins. They introduce themselves in very fluent English as Nikolai and Kristoffer. They have silky, straight, dark brown hair like their mothers and dancing auburn eyes also. They both welcome me in English with their warm smiles.

Oslo has decent weather. Right now in the winter, it’s around -4 degrees Celsius, which is about 24 degrees Fahrenheit. So, I’ll probably be in a sweatshirt the entire time. I like the view because it’s rural, but it’s a city at the same time. It’s nice.

Well, that is the first week at my new home with Aleksander, Emilie, Mikkel, Eirik, Kristoffer, and Nikolai. I think I’ll really enjoy it.


My time in Latvia

My trip to Latvia has been awesome so far! I have been helping with many things around the house like cleaning the house, cooking ( I love to cook) and gardening. The family I am staying with is the Bendik family. They are all very nice to me and they are all very kind to me. When I arrived at the house we all sat down and had some linden blossom tea. It was very refreshing. Then we had baked pork chops with sautead saur kraut and boiled potatos. Now I will tell you a bit about the family I am staying with. The father named Andris is a Neuro surgen and the mother named Agnese is a very successful lawyer I am living in the southern part of town about a mile from the public school which I attend with the two children: Juris and klara. The school is called the middle school and stretches from grade six to grade eight. The neighbor hood I live in is a nice one! There has not been a crime commited there for quite a while! It is a fascinating prospect that I am now in a foreign country! It is so exciting and the food I must say is great! The people in the neighbor hood all cook for the local church every other Sunday! We go down and before we eat we listen to the pastor’s sermon! The pastor really is a nice guy! His name is Rick and he came from Seattle Washington to live in Latvia when he was 27! Him and his two kids Jacob and Mellany are always at the church with him! They are only a few of the people I have met and befriended in the past month. The two siblings are always eager to explore the town or go hiking in the mountains. And on weekends we often do go hiking we drive out to the Gazinkaln mountain and hike for two hours one way then come back and drive to lake Engure to go swimming! So far it has been amazing and I just want to say see ya later!

It's Sunday in Paris

Hey everyone,

Just got back from going to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Yes, you heard right. Me, who is scared of heights, went to the TOP!

So Here's The Deal!!

Okay, friends, mom, dad, bro, sis, teachers,  host family, and YOU,  here's the deal:  Our class has begun a blog designed to help you all keep track of our experiences while we are visiting our country way over here across the big pond in EUROPE!  We have spent a first couple of weeks here and there's much to share about our host family, our new digs we are living in.  We are taking pics to so we will send along interesting photos we are taking.   Living and life is different here so we'll keep you posted on that too!  

We will be sure to remind you at the beginning of each post of our country AND we end each post with our first name, last initial.