Sitting on the train, all still a bit sleepy and exhausted from the days before, we greeted the skyline of Boston again, however today surrounded by fog and rainy clouds, as it was a misty fall day. 

Using the subway and then the bus, we headed to the John F. Kennedy library, a museum dedicated to his life and legacy, highlighting his presidency, personal life and events of the 1960s. I thought it was so interesting to see how many political issues it included, especially during the times of the cold war, with so many global disputes going on like the moon landing, the construction of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Crisis and the reforms of the Civil Rights Movement. 

Afterwards, we got the chance to explore the city on our own for the first time and we used this opportunity to get to know the neighbourhood of East Cambridge. The goal was to find good thrift stores, however it turned out to be harder than we thought, as the only stores we could find were a costume store and a disappointing Goodwill. Yet we ran into a typical American diner, where we sat down and ordered fries, chicken fingers and Coke. The place was exactly how you would imagine a diner to be – red leather booths and a lot of greasy food. It was simply amazing! 

  

  

  

  

On the evening there was a football game at our school. The atmosphere was incredible, the Marching Band were playing upbeat music to energize the crowd, the cheerleaders were dancing using their pompons and the football players were ready to play and determined to win the game. The theme was 'American', so all the students dressed up in blue, red and white, were waving glowsticks or American flags and cheered to motivate the players. Although, I realised that they were actually cheering all the time, even when our team was losing. I don’t really know anything about football and was mostly confused about what was going on on the field, however, when I asked other people to explain it to me, most of them didn’t know how it works either. That’s when I realised that people don’t really come for the game, but more for the spirit and the experience itself. It was so much fun and it felt like I was in an American dream (or maybe simulation?). 

  

Laura