Tuesday, September 16, Day 4,  Entry 1

Today was our second, and last day at Wakefield Memorial High School. I spent the day shadowing another WMHS student and went to all their classes. This way, I got to attend different classes than yesterday, such as culinary and algebra which were very interesting and different to the classes we have in Switzerland. During our free period we toured the school, which was something that I didn't get the chance to do yesterday. During that period we also went to the school gym and learned how to throw a football! On the picture, we were in Spanish class playing Kahoot reviewing a topic that they had started that week. In every classroom, they have the American flag hanging on the wall; every morning during the pledge of allegiance they stand up and face the flag to show respect to the people who fought in the military.

After school, I rode the yellow school bus for the first time. I couldn't believe that it looked exactly like I had seen it in the movies. On the way home, my host sister explained to me that the school bus driver is very spontaneous with the routes that he takes; he never takes the same route, but at least he stops everywhere that he needs to. The experience of riding the bus was very interesting since the driver seemed to be having problems with the gas because he was driving very funnily. The bus itself was very loud and there were a lot of younger high schoolers, who were all chatting very loudly and moving around. The seats were surprisingly narrow and you didn't have a lot of leg room, but it was so much fun to have this authentic American experience.

In the afternoon, my host sister, another student and I walked downtown to look at the town. We went to Wakefield library, which is quite old, but really beautiful. The antique building was built by an architect from Boston called Bulfinch, who is also the architect of the state house, which we are visting tomorrow (I also learned a lot about the history of Wakefield from my host mom!) The town of Wakefield isn't very big, but it's incredibly charming. After that, we went to a rather popular and very cute thrift shop in town. There were some nice pieces, but they were rather expensive. Later, we all grabbed coffee at Dunkin Donuts and the sizes were almost double the size of what we consider "normal".

 

Entry 2

The first picture I chose was of the street near my house on the way to school, where you can see a school bus driving by. I had never seen a school bus before. I guess, in all the American movies that I have seen, they never showed any of these buses, they must not have fit into the storyline. Frankly, I quite like them. I also loved the way the street looked that morning and, of course, I felt excited about going to an American highschool.

I met friends of mine in one or two subjects. We had astronomy and criminal psychology together, which were actually pretty interesting subjects, to say the least. As long as it’s not math, it’s fine. The teachers were nice and the stuff we were doing was cool. In the second subject mentioned, we looked at our fingerprints and looked at the anomalies of each one and compared them to other people’s fingerprints. The astronomy teacher was actually looking at the camera there, probably wondering why I had my phone out.

 

We had art class, and the teacher was actually a really nice guy. He talked to the students like he was part of the group. I obviously didn’t have any real work to do in that class, so I just copied stuff off Pinterest. Great stuff, Pinterest. The teacher didn’t mind me working on other stuff in class and even complimented my sketches.

I love cats. And the family I am staying with has two of them. So here’s a picture of one. They are actually indoor cats. That means that they don’t go outside at all, which may come off as cruel, but is for their own safety. They are Siamese and we live right next to a crossroad. They do love their food and occasionally come to wake me up in the middle of the night because we have the audacity of ignoring them in their time of immense boredom.

One of the things the family wanted me to see was an arcade, but it was closed. Still, it was a nice idea. Maybe next time. So, we had tacos instead. And this might be weird, but—I’ve never had tacos before, so that was nice.

I’m really loving America so far! The food and the people are great, and I’m excited for the days ahead.

Monday, September 15, Day 3, Entry 1

My excitement had been gathering up through the weekend exploring the many new things America had to offer, so I couldn’t wait to get to my first school day here.

Stepping into the school I felt like I was part of an American high school movie. My host brother Alex had ASC (Academic Skills Center) during first period, so he could do his homework instead of attending classes. Alex had already finished everything and his teacher allowed him to show us around the school.

.      

The school was a maze, it felt like we were running around in circles but every time we took a right turn, there was a new hallway. We got to see the auditorium, the changing rooms, the gym which impressed me a lot by the size of it, and many other smaller areas.

Lunch was the next point that impressed me on this first day. Lunch definitely looked exactly like what we think of as the stereotypical American school lunch, but the taste wasn’t that bad, actually.

After lunch, we probably had my favorite class of the day, which was cooking class. We had the chance to cook and taste some delicious cookies and the teacher was also really nice to us.

On the way home everything still felt surreal as if that whole day had just been a dream.

Entry 2

Today was the day we finally got to go to Wakefield Memorial High School. The students have to be at school half an hour earlier than we do. When we entered the building, I felt like I was in an American high school movie in the 2000s. The lockers, the hallways, the classrooms, everything. First block was math, and my friend and I, for the first time in our life felt smart during a math class as we already knew the subject quite well. 

 

Next was Spanish and the teacher called her students nuggets, which I thought was funny. The students were playing games  and did some exercises. The teacher had a different Spanish accent from what we're used to. We had a really good time in that class. The rest of the school day went smoothly. Lunch was definitely different from what we buy at our cafeteria. The teachers were very nice, welcoming, interested in us, the Swiss visitors, and understanding. We could tell that some students needed extra support and we got the feeling that that was provided.

After school we played games and I really liked them because they were quite creative. These „ice breakers“ worked well. 

After school, we got picked up by our host mom, who took us directly to McDonald's. Their sizes were very big. The bag of French fries was almost the size of my head.

Later that day, we went on a walk to 7/11 and on the way back, we saw some of our friends at the soccer field, watching their hosts play. We joined them and I enjoyed it, specifically because it was unplanned. I had an amazing day at Wakefield Memorial High School. It was very interesting to see the differences between the American and the Swiss school system. 

 Sunday, September 14, Day 2, Entry 1

Something special to do in this part of America during autumn is apple picking. My host family decided to take me to a farm so I could experience this neat tradition. The site was much bigger and much more crowded than I had expected it to be. Here's what you do: You buy a bag and then you walk through rows of apple trees. There were so many varieties of apples and you could try them all. It's true, you can taste while picking apples. There is also a farm store where you can buy apple cider, caramelized apples, apple cider donuts and much more. 

After some quiet time at home we went to a little birthday party because today, September 14th, I turned 18. At this point, I would like to thank everybody who was involved in this.

     

In the evening, we went to a concert by Kali Uchis in Boston. The concert was big and the crowd went crazy. It was a really cool experience. 

Entry 2

Today is Sunday, September 14th, it’s the second day for us in Wakefield, MA. Everyone is doing something different today. Here is how my day went. 

In the morning, we went to Iron town, a diner in Saugus, MA. There, I had my first ever French toast, and I simply loved it. When the waiter came to our table to clear the dishes away, he asked if we liked it and we said: “Yeah, we did!”. So he went: “There is not much left, so I could’ve guessed.” At that moment we simply thought: “Oh, okay.” But by the end of the day, we were laughing about it. 

Around noon, we went for a walk around Crystal lake, which is stunning. I noticed that the houses in America look different than in Switzerland, but I think most of them are very pretty and fancy.  

In the afternoon, we went to a field hockey game. I was so confused because I didn’t know what was happening, but it was fun to watch. 

Lastly, in the evening, we were invited to a BBQ at the neighbour’s house. It was really entertaining because there was a girl that asked many questions like: Do you have horses in Switzerland? Can you buy crumble cookies? What I found the funniest though was: Do you speak Switzerland? Me and the people there thought it was really cute. 

Saturday, September 13, Day 1, Entry 1 

 

We finally landed in Boston! Our flight had been very long and we all tried to sleep but we couldn‘t wait to hop off the plane.

The American families welcomed us with posters and big smiles and we were all so excited to finally meet our hosts. We left the airport to drive to the houses that would be our homes for the next two weeks.   

Even the car ride was great because it’s so surreal finally being here. It was a special feeling to see the American cars, buildings and typical houses. I arrived at my host family‘s house and I immediately fell in love with the two dogs they have. They‘re very nosey and love to cuddle. I was shown around and could then settle in. The house I’m staying at is pretty close to everything in Wakefield, which is very convenient.   

In the evening, our welcome party was unfortunately crashed by a slight rain but that wasn‘t a problem. We all gathered by the lake side at the band stand where we had a potluck. We got to enjoy the first homemade American food. Everybody wanted to get to know each other and it was so cool to talk to the American teenagers. In the end, the jet lag really got to us and everybody went home with their families. Tired but very happy and excited. 

 Entry 2

We had actually planned on sleeping on the plane, but we ended up eating our variety of snacks we had bought the day before, talking, and watching TV for 8 ½ hours straight. My highlight was testing out the different games on the monitor. We played a general knowledge game against other people on the plane, which was fun, as we could peek at the other people’s monitors and cheat a little bit. Even one of the flight attendant helped each time he passed. 

In the evening, we had a nice picnic at the lake and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. It was great seeing everyone with their host chatting and getting to know each other.