Monat: Oktober 2023

Today I stood up around 7 a.m. and made my favorite breakfast – peanut butter oatmeal with apples – and enjoyed it! Then I packed my bagpack and swimming bag 🙂

Patrick drove Piper, Celia and me to DA and Molly to Fishweir Elementary School as every day and there we changed car and Mr.Costa drove my group and me to the Silver Springs State Park.

First we made a glass bottom boat tour there and that was so impressive and the clear water is so gorgeous – it seemed more unbelievable beautiful! The captain showed us all springs of Silver Springs and many were also used for filming a lot of movies. ✨ We saw many turtles, water birds like the „snakebird“ and also one Manatee! I had my delicious cheese cucumber bagel as lunch and then we put a lot of sunscreen on for the next activity – a kayak tour!

Aleks and I shared one and I sat in the front and she in the back. On our way we saw many turtles, again many interesting birds, one Manatee really near to as (and this time it was even bigger!) and I saw my first alligator in real life 🐊! 🙂 ✨It is so interesting how diffrent the animals here are and it was soooo exciting to see it all so near!

The end at Silver Springs were the Juniper Springs were we were able to swim and dive to a spring under water! 🙂 The water was so clear (!) and about 22°C warm and I loved staying in there for a bit – they also had little fish I knew from Italy that nibbled on our feet. ✨

On our way back we stopped at a gas station because we needed to use the bathroom but the toilet was broken so we had luck that the next gas staion was only 100 meters away! At 6:25 p.m. we arrived at DA and Sarah and Piper picked me up – Piper drives so good! We had a very delicious vegetables soup for dinner Sarah had made and wonderful homemade bread! 🍞🍲✨🤗

JAX Skyline in the morning

The view outside the window

Glass Bottom Boat Tour

Kayak Tour 🛶

Even if it is hard to see, this is a picture of an alligator 🐊

And look at this beautiful Manatee ✨✨ 🙂

Juniper Springs✨🦋

I also tried the „fantastic fudge“ a non typical sweet from Sarahs sister – it was really (!) sweet and for my taste a little too sweet but it was definitely worth it trying because it tastes very special and is unique! It also looks like parmesan 🙂

On the way home I sat in the car with Mr. Costa and the other students and we listened to a lot of music. When they played „Ich war noch niemals in New York“ („I’ve never been in New York“) I felt such a strong emotion deep in my heart: With this exchange one of my biggest dreams is coming true and I appreciated every moment of this day and this whole trip until now. It was a feeling of gratefulness and happiness that was so overwhelmingly wonderful that I think I will never forget this moment ever again. And I can’t explain how happy I am that this all is reality and not longer a dream✨✨✨🦋🦋🦋:)

Today I woke up around 8 a.m. and then Sarah and I went to Win Dixie, a huge supermarket where we bought the groceries for the week and everything we needed – I bought some presents for my friends & family too! Compares to Germany the fruits and vegetables are more expensive here but there are also things like gas that are cheaper here! And in the normal supermarkets they pack everything in plastic bags for you but we reuse is for the dogs poop. At home we had the nicest waffles with maple syrup for breakfast! 🙂

After that Piper, Margot, Molly, Patrick and I drove to Ortega a borough in JAX on the St. Johns River where really big houses with nice views are! There we went to a Catholic church and bought our pumkins for Halloween – it was a pumkin farm as I imagined and it was so cool that everybody could pick the one they liked the most ✨:) On a short drive to Publix I got another free cookie (I’m on such a high sugar level here compared to Germany but I mean they have free delicious cookies here!) and we bought stuff we had forgot in Win Dixie.

At home I decided to go on a walk with Maisie and Moxy. I walked to the river and then just around the neighborhood and the dogs and me had a lot of fun! 🙂 After that I took a shower and that was really refreshing. Then we ate Sarah’s great chili for lunch with a wonderful salad and the best tortillas from Win Dixie!

With the new gained power the other girls and I helped Sarah and Patrick paint the front porch – the color matches the house and the door so good and it looks so gorgeous now! 🙂 We also craved our pumkins and that was so much fun and I made it look like a skeleton inspired by Pinterest 📍! I also looked to the Halloween Parade of the neighborhood where all children dressed up in their costumes and it was a wonderful atmosphere there 🦋! I finished carving my pumkin and watched a bit TV with Molly 📺!

Then I decided to do a workout because I love my YouTube Workouts and I’ve never made one here yet so I just did it. It felt a little bit like my all day life in Munich because there it is one of the main habits of me. I love it to be sweaty after it and just the feeling of how strong and how powerful our bodies can be 🙂 ✨

We looked at our finished pumpkins as the night began and it was so cool to see the end product of a lot of work from today 🎃 – also how amazing the front porch looks like! At the end of the day we continued with Hamelton and I’m really excited how it’s going to end! ✨

Molly made a small coffee shop! ✨🦋

Today I was a little bit sad becauss slowly this trip is coming to an end. But I talked with Piper about it and we both were clear: We should enjoy every moment we have left together and don’t worry about how long it might be – because we can’t chance this fact anyway ✨✨✨🤗🤗🤗

Today I woke up at 8 a.m. and after a bit reading I had the typical American breakfast – it is so funny that after more than 2 weeks that seem so familiar to me – the pancakes with sausage! 🙂 Then Sarah dropped Piper and me of at the Riverside’s Art Market where we met Laura and Maggie and her mother! The RAM was so impressive and huge – I loved the art and the food that was sold there. And the location at the river is amazing 🙂 ✨

After that we went to Hawkers, an Asian restaurant, where Piper and I shared Chicken Lo Mein and we also tried sweet french fries that were sprinkeld with cinnamon. We also walked through the shopping street there and went into the ‚Midnight’s Sun‘ that’s kind of a hippie store but I loved it. Especially my younger sister Laura would have loved it because there were so may healing stones!

We chatted for a bit at home and then all the girls (Molly, Margot, Moxie, Masie, Piper and me) went on a walk first to the river and then to the ‚Encanto house‘. This house in the neighborhood is decorated like one movie every year for Halloween. We done a small treasure hunting and that was really funny! Afterwards we went to Whits where we got again really good and soooo much ice cream!

We watched one big football game that was today in JAX on TV and that was really interesting. I also called my best friend Nele. She lives in Oregon for 10 months and is now 2 months there and we talked about America and what was going on in each others lifes and it was wonderful to hear from her again :)!

I walked the dogs for a second time because I had so much energy and then the whole family drove with me to a huge book store with old and new books – the Chamblin! And there was an Halloween special because a big part of the store was dark and we could only see something with flashlights – that was unique and funny! I found so many books I love there – Eragon and also the book about the most popular Camino movie „The way“! 🙂 ✨

On the way back we stopped at the Encanto house again and this is so unique and in the dark even more beautiful! The rest of the evening was also nice because we started watching ‚Hamilton‘ (the musical) and I liked it a lot and it is one of the most famous musicals in the US! 🙂

An amazing day is coming to an end! I loved this relaxed weekend day with my host family and I think it’s really funny that even if I’m „just“ 2 1/2 weeks here it feels like it has been so much longer! It feels literally like a different world here – but I love it and I try to enjoy every single moment of the time I will spend here and I’m so grateful for✨✨✨ 🙂

Today I woke up at 7:50 a.m. and finished my blog from yesterday. Then Laura and I dresses up and packed our bags for the beach. Then we drove to the ‚Metro Diner‘ where we got a long table and had a nice waitress. Annemarie and me ordered 2 dishes and shared them – Cinnamon Pancake Rolls and an Avocado Egg Crumble Bacon Bowl! It was so delicious and a lot – my stomach hurt a bit after eating this all 🙂 ✨

After this wunderful breakfast we drove to the beach were we spent our day! The weather was so nice and the sea was calm, salty and warm! Ana and me made a long walk to a castle/hotel at the beach and swam a lot in the ocean. One pelican flew one meter beside me and we had a lot of fun in the sea! I also collected two more shells and the day was really relaxing! ✨

After we went to Publix and bought our dinner we swam a last time in this clear ocean and saying goodbye to it was a little sad. On our way back to JAX we had a lot of traffic but it wasn’t this bad becauss the whole time we listened to music in the car and sang to it! At 8:40 p.m. Sarah, Molly, Margot, Piper and Elena (Pipers friend) picked me up at DA and after a nice shower I’m hanging out with Piper and Elena and than I’m going to bed! 🙂

Today was a wonderful day at the beach and everything seemed as on a perfect vacation day. ✨✨

The biggest breakfast I’ve ever had! ✨🦋🤗

Today Patrick drove Piper, Celia and me to DA and there we got into the two cars! 5 others and me drove in the car with Mr. Costa and we made one quik break for using the bathroom! On the way I read a lot and we listened to good music/ with the soundbox or I by myself with headphones 🙂

We arrived at the Dali Museum and it was so overwhelming how good he painted his pictures. Dali dealt with so many diffrent topics and in the beginning a docent told me something about his sister (in his first years of career he had painted her a lot) and showed me a picture of his own painting inspired by Dali. I went on with reading the texts and I got the phone of Mr. Costa because my phone is to old for installing the app – I never had this situation that my almost 4 year old phone is too old! For me it works as in the beginning 🙂 So I learned more about these interesting pictures through the audio files! I think it’s so great that Dali dealt with so many diffrent topics – about his own history, the history of some countries and often the whole work. I loved standing in front of his pictures that said so much and were so detailed that it’s hard to imagine. There was also really nice Virtual Reality Glasses where I could move in the picture and that was really interesting! In the end we walked around in the garden and made some pictures 🙂 ✨

After checking in in the hotel we drove to the beach. There we swam around, walked, collected shells and we saw a beautiful sunset! ✨✨✨

After a shower we had a delicious dinner at a restaurant in Downtown – shrimp pasta and a really good salad with grilled vegetables and french fries. And now we’re going to bed. 🙂

My absolute favorite: The lobster telephone!

Such an amazing day is coming to an end. Sometimes I wonder if I dream this the whole time but it is reality and I try to appreciate every single moment in this ‚reality dream‘! 🙂 ✨🦋

Today was a little bit more relaxed and I’m very thankful for slowing a bit down this one day! After my oatmeal (here very special almost everyday with peanut butter – it is better here) Patrick took Piper, Celia and me to school.

My first period I spend with all other German students in the German class of Mr. Barnes where we continued working on the project we made for the sponsoring from Munich. It’s about Douglas Anderson and Sophie Scholl and Marla and I work together with 3 other DA students!

The second period Piper and I had dancing. It was really impressive how good they performered and how hard it also was for them because they jumped around! After that we watched a video about mental health especially mental ilnesses and how to deal/recognize them. It was really interesting and I think it is important to talk about such a topic in school! After lunch we had acting in the third period. There everybody had to practice their monologues and some students presented them to the class – again, it is so crazy how good some are and how they fit into their roles and how many emotions they gave their characters. In chemistry Piper had a new teacher and the students presented all something about „Moles“ and it was cool to see how everybody presented it diffrent and with which art they presented it! 🙂

After school Piper went straight to soccer. Because of early release she had 4 hours soccer practice today and Sarah, Celia and me picked Celias siblings up and her younger sister was so cute and talked a lot and it was nice to have a conversation with her 🙂 They came home with us and we talked and snacked a little.

Then I went for a long walk with the dogs – 6 mile walk to the nearest bridge over the St.Johns River and back. Masie and Moxie were so sweet and enjoyed the whole time as I did! It was so relaxing and calming to walk past the trees with the spanish moose, the nice neighborhoods, the parks and the big beautiful River 🙂

At home I showered and Piper came home – starving because she moved so much so we made dinner together and talked for a while 🙂

Now I will prepare all for tomorrow! I’m very happy that today was calming and I got regain energy and it is so nice to live in this family because it feels like one – not like as mine in Munich but as a diffrent family with diffrent characters – all so kind and wonderful ✨✨

I woke up at 6:30 a.m. dressed up and packed all my stuff. Then we had a good breakfast at the hotel and everyone ate as much as they could because in the Universals food is really expensive! We left the hotel at 7:50 a.m. and had a 20 min drive to the Universals where we paid 30$ just for parking and everybody (reduced price for students) a little more than 100$ for their tickets. But it was worth it!

While I was walking by this huge buildings I was reaally overwhelmed and it is impressive how much work is behind every building. After a short meeting with our teachers we had 10 hours time to get our way through this big space! 🙂 First Ana, Annemarie and I went to the Diagon Alley. It was so impressive to just jump into the world from Harry Potter because all stores and also the dragon on the roof top of Gringotts became alive. We walked through many stores and everything seemed as in the movies and it was so impressive to me how good the things became reality out of the literature.

Our first Ride was in the Gringotts bank where we first walked through the whole building and it looked exactly as in the movies! Then Ana got a shocking Email from the hotel- I had forgot my passport there (I didn’t even wanted to bring it with me but before the outlet mmall yesterday I put it out because I realised I had it with me…) . So I called our teacher and she told me that everything is alright and that we will get it later on the way home. I honestly felt bad because everyone had to drive an extra route because of me but on the other hand I’m very glad that they found the passport this early and my teachers weren’t angry! So we went on the Gringotts Ride and that was so much fun and the technology behind every hologram was fantastic! 🙂

After that we went to London Kings Cross Station and took the Harry Potter Express to Hogsmead as in the movies it was really impressive and it looked exactly the same!

At Hogsmead we walked through the village and it looked with the snow on the roof tops really magical and the Hogwarts castle + walking through it + the ride inside – crazy fantasic! ✨✨ We walked through the Island of Adventure part and then took the Hogwarts Express back to the other part of the Universals.

There Annemarie, Ana and I did the Fast and Firous and the Transfomers Ride. Both were rides from series I’m not so familiar with but that was not a big problem and I enjoyed both rides 🙂

We met Mr. Costa and Mrs. Kaindl and Mrs. Kaindl and I wanted to ride the biggest red rollercoaster there but as we waited the attraction was interrupted by the weather (too much wind) and so Annemarie and I walked a little bit around and got something to eat (the „Brezn“ in the US can not be compared to the German, especially Bavarian ones! ). And we took the Revenge of the Mummy Ride which was soooo much fun! First we thought it wasn’t a rollercoaster so we were really surprised when our wagon suddenly fall backwards and then had a lot of high speed and good curves – all in the dark 🌑! 🙂

With Mr. Costa and Mrs. Kaindl we rode the Hogwarts Express back to the Islands of Adventure where we stood in line for 95 min to get on the Hagrids Ride – my personal favorite of all rides, it was soooo much fun, magical, fantastic and really worth it! ✨

Our last ride was the Spiderman Ride and as an end of such an overwhelmingly wonderful day it was perfect! 🙂 ✨✨✨

So we had to say goodbye to the Universals and left it at 6 p.m. 🙂 On the way to the hotel I felt bad because everyone was stopped by me but my teachers said that’s alright and so I got my passport in one minute at the reception and was so happy about it! 🌸

After that we drove home and had a break at PandaExpress where I got great noodles, greens and Orange Chicken (for what PandaExpress is famous for) for dinner and it was delicious! 🙂 I ended up in a conversation with my teacher about politics all over the world and the US in general which was very interesting!

Sarah and Piper picked me up at DA and welcomed me so sweet and drove me home! Then I just went straight into bed (I write this article one day later)! 🙂

It was such an amazing day and the Universals showed me how important having fantasy is. Because it sourrunds us in our allday life but we don’t notice it as in the Universals because it is not what we see in real life but it is what we can imagine and we have so many ways to it – books, series, movies… The list goes on and on – what for a wonderful day! ✨:)

Today I woke up at 6:30 a.m. and Sarah drove me to school. We began our ride to the Kennedy Space Center at 7:50 a.m. and it took us 2 hours till we were there!

Everyting was really overwhelming and big 🙂 We started with a bus tour to the Apollo/Saturn V Center! We saw one of the first rockets of the world and had a very nice introduction to the KSC (Kennedy Space Center) from our bus driver. At the destination we saw two videos about the NASA and the way to the first moon landing. Then we had time to walk around by ourselves and there was an impressive rocket laying on the ground of the whole hall. We took great pictures in front of a green screen with astronaut clothes on. After that we had our lunch break outside and enjoyed the sun! 🙂

Here all rockets are build and the building is as big as 3 Empire State Buildings! 🙂

Back at the Main Visiting Point we got 3 hours to walk around by ourselves! First Annemarie, Ana and I went into the Atlantis Shuttle Center and watched a movie about the story of the first space shuttle and one moment later we stayed in front of it and could admire the Shuttle in real life.

In the Gateway we had the chance to stay in a simulator and we went on a trip to mars and that was sooo much fun!

In the impressive rocket garden we called our parents (and I called my grandma too) to show them around the visiting area and it was nive to see them again. – By the way I think it’s so crazy that we can connect from places all over the world: My mom and my cousin called us from Italy, my grandma from her city near Munich, my dad from Munich and me from the KSC! – That’s impressive! 🤗✨

In another building we saw the mars rover and other roboters and that was really interesting too see – they weren’t worn out or anything like that after their missions and that was really interesting!

In the universe theater we heard a woman talk about KSC in general and then about the next events and departures from rockets there! 🙂 🚀

At last we saw the movies in the heros and legends building which was basically the Hall of fame of astronauts from the NASA and the biggest achievements. ✨✨

We rode to the hotel and here we have a very nice room to stay!

After a short break we went again to an Outlet Mall and I got a really good seafood bowl there 🦐 🥣 ! As you can see there was a beautiful sunset, the shops weren’t crowded, the dinner was nice and I’m sooo happy!

And we got free cookies at Publixxxxxx 🍪

This day was so amazing and I saw a lot of interesting things and it all seems more like a dream than reality! ✨🤗

I woke up at 7:15, sat straight up, jumped out of bed and ran straight to the beach. I can’t describe how beautiful this sunrise was! 🌅 I think even the pictures can’t get it right but there beautiful! 🙂 I collected shells and enjoyed this moment and tried to keep this memory sooo safe in my heart! I saw 3 dolphins and many pelicans and I’m very impressed by this cool animals Florida offers.

After that we had breakfast: Pancakes & Sausages (with rosemary :))! And we sang a birthday song for Margot, she turned 12 today! Then we went to the beach and set up the place for our tent and walked near the Pier to a hotel where we rented bikes. The bikeride to the Neptune Beach was really funny and it were about 7 miles! The palms and the whole area looks so diffrent compared to Germany and the weather was so nice! I also got two books in a free library what is really cool because we don’t have as much as English books in bookstores as in America – logically :). On the halfway we had a very tasty lunch in a restaurant called ‚Sliders‘ and I shared a really good seafood plate (oysters and shrimps) with Sarah and Piper – and a corn meal that ws great two! 🦐🐚

We also saw a lot of dragonflies at the beach, I think the name is really cool for this insect! ✨

On the way back we drove a part on the beach and that was a lot of fun! And we drove our bikes next two one car where two pilots from the Blue Navy sat in! 🙂 ✈️️

We returned to the beach and watched the impressive huge airshow again. I called my dad, my sister, my mom and my grandma and I was very happy to see them all! I also spend a part of the Airshow in the ocean and there the airplanes seemed even nearer! 🙂 After it finished I stayed in the ocean with Molly and her friend Rosy and we were just jumping in the waves and diving and had a lot of fun 🤿 – we gave each other mermaid names 🧜‍♀️ After a swimm in the pool we got a last time in the water and then I said goodbye to the JAX Beach and we returned the bikes to the Hotel and drove back home. We snacked on the way really good Bretzels and Doritos – Piper drove so well! 🙂

Home I went for a walk to the river with Maisie and Moxy and then we had Steak, salad, potatos and cake as dinner which was soooo good!

A wunderful weekend is coming to an end and I’m so glad that I can experience this all here! 🙂 I packed my bag for tomorrow and even if I’m 1 1/2 week here it seems so unbelievable wonderful for me that this could be real ✨✨🌊🌊

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦

𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 3 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦! 𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺: 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦! 🙂

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 🏖

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸

First I woke up in the morning and saw the last part of the sunset from the balcony of our rented flat! Then we dressed up and Sarah made so good pancakes with their favorite pancakemix! After writing the blog from yesterday we walked to the beach (just stairs down and then 100 m :)) and built up our tent there. Then I went for a short walk with Piper to the Pier and back (the shells here are so pretty, I have to collet some tomorrow).

Margot, Molly and I colored the sand and Molly turned into the beautifulest mermaid! 🧜‍♀️

At 12 a.m. Margots birthday party started and we had some pizza 🍕! At 2 p.m. the ‚Air Show‘ began and till 4 a.m. there were airplanes all over the sky. They were from the Navy and it was so huge and impressive! I loved it and called my parents and showed them this crazy experience. It only happens once every two years here and this year it was at the beach! It was soooo cool!

Margot got her birthday cake and presents and we had a lot of good fruits! I snacked them the whole day and especially the strawberries are soooo good here! 🍓 I really love them because they taste so sweet and their from here!

I swam the first time at the other side of the Atlantic and compared to the water in Portugal and Spain it was soooo hot/ about 24°C! 🙂 Everytime I’m in the ocean it feels like I’m little Johanna and it’s so funny jump around the waves and just enjoy every moment near and in the water 🌊🌊

Until now (5.30. p.m.) my whole day was sooo great and I loved this Saturday because it just feels like summer and I’m very lucky to be here with just such a good family 🙂

Later we’ll go to the Downtown Beach Area and just walk around here at the beach! From our balcony we can see the sea and I love to be around the ocean this whole weekend ✨✨

I also saw so many animals for the first time in real life: dolphins in the morning and so many pelicans over the whole day! Here is a picture from the pelicans (even if the quality is bad) :

After a shower I fell even better and because we (all girls) forgot to take their hairbrush with them, I brushed my hair (for the first time) with a fork and it worked out way better than I thought! 🙂 – and the best part: I felt a little bit like Ariel 🧜‍♀️✨

Then we went for a walk… 🙂

And with the dark coming we ate „the best fried chicken“ from Publix with such a nice salad! Then we went again to the beach in the dark and had a lot of fun there 🙂 Now we’ll watch a movie about the US Navy ‚Blue Angels‘! We saw them today at the Airshow ✈️️