Today I got up at about 7:30 AM. After having breakfast with the Swiss students, the whole group met in a „classroom“ and checked in online for the flight tomorrow. That was done pretty quickly, so we had some free time to spend with our friends. We already ate lunch at 11:30 AM, since for the afternoon a trip to New York City had been planned.
After an hour long drive to NYC in the yellow school bus, we visited Central Park, Fifth Avenue and Time Square. It was really hot and we were all missing the AC. We saw a lot of incredible buildings that I couldn‘t imagine living in even in my wildest dreams!
The three girls next to me are German exchange students that were in the same group as me. Tomorrow we will all have to say goodbye when we fly to our host families. I‘m soooo gonna miss them <3
At 5th Ave and Time Square we had some free time to shop, take pictures, eat or just look around. In addition we could get some points for our team (blue) if we fullfilled some of the exercises on a list. One of them for example was starting a conversation with someone with a dog and then take a picture with the dog. We had some difficulty finding a dog but once we spotted one, those points were ours.
Another exercise was to do the Cotton Eye Joe dance on Time Square and get a stranger to film it. We had learnt the dance yesterday and barely had any practise. Nevertheless we actually did it!
What I noticed so far in the US, is that people seem to be so much more helpful than in Europe. For example when I needed to use the restroom and I saw that at Mac Donald‘s they want to see a receipt before they let you in, I went to an elderly couple and asked if I could have their receipt. They immediately said yes and gave it to me!!!!! But I do have to mention that there are definitely weird creatures walking around in the city aswell. An example would be the guy I saw picking his nose so hard in public, I thought it would start bleeding any moment…
Anyway, back at Thornwood Academy there was a dance in the evening. In the hall there was playing music and everyone gathered and danced. I‘ve definitely been to better parties… but it was a good way to end the welcome days. In the end took a group picture of all the Swiss students.
Honestly, I won‘t even go to bed today since I would have to get up 2 AM again anyway. That‘s in about 2 hours and I still have to pack some stuff. I‘m really tired but I couldn‘t sleep anyway. I‘m sooooo excited to meet my host family tomorrow. I have the impression that they are like the nicest peole in the world and will make me feel like one of the family 🙂