Fabis Austausch: 07/2006

First of all I still had three and a half days of school left. On Monday I felt pretty lonely, because all the seniors weren't there anymore. That was pretty sad. But the first two days we still had finals going on, which went pretty good. On Wednesday not a lot of people were in school anymore. And on Thursday we only had a half day and there was almost nobody there anymore, but these two last days were nearly the best days of the whole school year. People just walked around and met somewhere, or played cards or stuff like that. It was a lot of fun. On Thursday evening was the Graduation Ceremonie. Of course I went to watch. It was very nice with everyone in their gowns, and the band playing. I was sad though when the names were read, because I knew it was almost over, and I would leave in a couple days. But it was a very nice Ceremonie.Then Amber stayed over night, and we talked until it was very late. And suddenly it was Friday, and dad, Jola, and Iris stood in front of our door. I went to school with them one last time(I just couldn't get enough ;-) ) and I showed them everything. The teachers were still there, also, so I could say goodbye. In the evening we went to Mt. Washington to enjoyed the view over Pittsburgh. On Saturday we went downtown to the Strip and to the Artsfestival. In the evening Lynne was there for dinner, so I could say goodbye to her, too. And then we went to Matt's Graduation party. I had a lot of fun, but then we had to say goodbye.I was very sad. On Sunday morning we went to church. Then we all had breakfast together. After that we had to say goodbye to each other. Everyone was really sad and I cried a lot. But that day we went to Kennywood. I had a lot of fun there and so I survived the day. On Monday it was Kara's birthday, so I called her from the camp ground. On Tuesday we drove over the border to Canada. Then we held at the camp ground, because there was a nice beach there. We spend half the wednesday there, and I even went into the cold water. In the evening we drove to the Niagara Falls and looked at them in the dark, when there was colored light. On Thursday we we went again and looked at them during the day. We also went on the boat tour and the walk behind the falls. On Friday we went to MarineLand. They had a few driving attractions, but since we just had Kennywood we weren't really interested. We saw a show with seelions and dolphins, and then we saw another show with seals. Then we went to see the Belugas. And we went to see the Orcas of course. It was so amazing to see them, especially since I had never seen them in real life before. There were two females and one still had a two-year old daughter. I also talked to a guy who worked there, and he told me a lot of things, and I told him that I want to study Marine Biology, so we had a nice conversation going on. He also told me that the one pool, were the single female whale was in, they had Keiko (the whale of Free Willy), until he was three years old, and they sold him to California. That was a really awesome experience.
Our next stop was Toronto, where we were for a day to look at the city.
After that we took the road back towards Chicago. For one day we stayed at the beach again. But then we finally arrived at the hotel in Chicago. In the evening we went to the Rock'n'Roll McDonalds for dinner. That was the oldest McDonalds in Chicago and the second McDonalds worldwide. Then we went back to the hotel. The next morning it was raining. Thus we took a city tour by bus. Later we went to the Navy Pier and then we went to a Chinese Restaurant for dinner. And then the day was almost over, and we had to go back to the hotel to pack our suitcases. The next morning we went to the airport. After waiting in line for a long time we could finally go to the airplane. The flight was nice, the meals good, and they had good movies. And an hour after breakfast was served (Pittsburgh time 10 pm) we arrived in Frankfurt. After that it was an other half an hour until we arrived in Hannover.I was really excited, because I knew I would see my family and friends any minute, for the first time in ten months.And then there they were: We could already see them through the clear windows of the baggage claim. But of course we had to wait a long time until our baggage came, and we could go out to see them. But then everyone came to hug us and to say hi, and our "party at the airport" began. Then we went home and I had my fourth breakfast that day. Then I tried to sleep because it was 3 am Pittsburgh time. But I couldn't, because there was to much stuff going through my head. So I went shopping with my mom and my brother, which was pretty funny, because I had to ask a lot of things, because I didn't know what they were, or what the words meant. Then I went to bed 8pm german time and slept for 14 hours.
The following weeks I tried to adjust to Germany again, and did some stuff with family and friends.