Leaving California

Thursday was our last day with our hosts, before leaving to Palo Alto. Thursday started out with journalism class where a few of the Danes got interviewed for a podcast. When the school day was done we all said our goodbyes. It was especially hard for me since I was extremely lucky to have Danielle. She has introduced me to her lifestyle, family and friends and managed to include me into her busy schedule making me feel welcomed at all times. It also surprised me how close we got and also how close I got with her friends. I will miss them all!

Our final day was spent in Palo Alto, where we ate dinner together. On Friday we headed to Stanford University, where we walked around and bought souvenirs. 

When we came back to our hotel, we finalized our packing and drove off to the airport where we'd be flying to Denmark. 

This trip has been an amazing learning experience, I am also so happy to be able to meet such amazing people at Menlo Atherton who I am sure I will stay friends with for a long time. I wish the trip could have lasted longer, I was not ready to leave California yet and I don't think any of us were.

Last but not least, I think we were a great group of Danes and we got along really well. I am sure we will stay friends.

Last day at M-A and California

Thursday was the last day at Menlo-Atherton High School. I went to a Journalism class and an AP English literature class. Journalism was really funny because me, Isabella, Daniel and Emil got interviewed for a podcast they wanted to make. We taught some of the students a few danish words and sentences like "Blyant", "Jeg kan lide ananas" and "Vil du med ned og have vafler?". It was a really funny class and i got to talk to a lot of the students and we had a lot of fun.

In English literature the students had to write an essay. So during the first 45 minutes Jakob, Anna Sofie and I sat in the sun and talked, and when they handed in the essays we went inside again. The class had to play "Word Tennis" which was a very funny game! You got a topic, it could be anything the topics they often chose "first date" or whatever you could come up with.  And basically you ask a question and can only answer it by asking a question which also means if you say something that is not a question you will lose. This class was also a lot of fun :-)

When i was in the different classrooms i noticed that they were very personal because most of the teachers decorated the rooms by themselves. The teachers usually had pictures on their walls, mostly pictures of their family and some had posters with inspirational quotes.

When school was finished Kristina, her host Georgia and Georgia's boyfriend and I went to Ike's Cafe to have lunch. It was really fun and relaxing :-) When we arrived at the school after our nice lunch it was time to say good bye, which was sad and we could easily have spend more days at M-A. We were picked up at the school and we went to our hotel in Palo Alto. The 'San Francisco group' had dinner at Panera Bread where i got a really nice chicken tortelini alfredo. After a little shopping we went back to our hotel and had muffins.

Friday was the last day in Palo Alto but before we left, we had to see the beautiful Stanford University. It was nice experience and i enjoyed it. Before we headed back to our hotel we went to the book store where i brought some books.

The pictures below are from the beautiful campus of Stanford University.

This trip was an amazing experience filled with many hours of fun and new friends! I will especially recommend this trip if you want to experience american culture, if you want to see how it is attending at an american high school and see wonderful San Francisco!

In N' Out twice in a row

Yesterday was my second day in high school.
We started out having physics, where Emil and Arne Emil were also joining. While the students were having class, us exchange students were discussing the teachers' teaching method. We thought it was very interesting, because it made everyone participate, including us.  The teacher had a power point with different questions, where he randomly picked out who had to answer. The students were working with electricity and had an experiment where they had to light a lightbulb with a battery and wire. We were also handed the materials, so we had to try to figure out it worked. We thought it was fun since the students were forced to participate, where in Denmark it is more common to raise your hand when you want to.
Afterwards Danielle had to go to a test, so I tagged along with Daniel, Emil and Arne Emil to English class. They had just finished reading a book, where they had to discuss it. The way they discussed was very interactive and interesting; they had two circles. The students sitting in the inner circle had to discuss the book, while the students sitting on the outside had to document what they were discussing. When they were done discussing, the students on the outside had to contribute with ideas and constructive criticism, and later they switched and did the same. I had also tried the method in my old school and I thought it was fun because you had to force yourself to collaborate and say what you were thinking.
When the class was done, we agreed that it was a good method that should be applied in Viby Gymnasium.
When school was done, Danielle had to take a practice test for a few hours and she suggested that some of the danes could come over to her house while she was taking the test.
Four guys came over and we played ping pong and took some sun.
Later on we parted ways and Amanda, Pernille, Emil and Arne Emil including our hosts went to In N' Out. For some of us it was our second time. It still was a lot of fun. Amanda and I had to get In N' Out shirts to be able to flash them around when we get home.
Afterwards Danielle drove Arne Emil and Emil home. Later Danielle and I joined her family at a sushi restaurant where we ate dinner and talked.

Overall yesterday was a fun day and I am already feeling nostalgia.

Second day of High School

Today Sarah(my host :-) ) and i started school at 9:25, and we went to AP Biology, AP Calculus and Economics. In AP Biology the teacher learned us about antigens, T cells, B Cells and stuff like that. In AP Calculus i was waiting outside because Sarah and the rest of the class were taking their finals.

I liked the Economics class because it reminds me of Social Studies at Viby Gymnasium. The topics of the two Economics classes that i have had were communism(Karl Marx) and capitalism(Adam Smith) which are topics that i have had. That was exciting to see how they work different with the topics than we did in Denmark. At lunch i met with some of the other danes and we were outside enjoying the sun, relaxing and talking.

The beautiful campus at M-A.

After school Sarah brought me to rehearsal again. The students are working really hard! The play they are going to perform is "Wizard of Oz" which is are very classic, but nice play. After rehearsal we went to the Stanford Shopping center which is located in Palo Alto. Before we did any thing else we got some froyo which tastes really good. After a some quick shopping Sarah and I met with her mom to have dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen. I ordered a caesar salad and even though i ordered a half portion it was very big and i could not finish my dinner! The american portions really amaze me, I really can not believe that anybody can eat such a big amount of food at once. 

First day in an American high school

Yesterday after hiking through Muir Woods, schooling at the Steinbeck Museum and idolizing the Golden Gate Bridge we finally headed to Menlo Park (close to Palo Alto) with our destination set on Menlo Atherton High School. The day we had been dreading - or dreaming had arrived; the day we met our host families. The families had prepared a potluck with diverse and delicious meals, making us feel welcomed.
After we had eaten, we took a group photo and went home with our hosts. When I arrived at my host's (Danielle) house, she gave me a tour of her mansion and introduced me to her guest house, which I will call home for a few days. I was not disappointed.
We found out that we had a lot in common and clicked right away.

Today we drove to school and Danielle had a test so I went to class with another host student. Afterwards we had journalism and Spanish. I was surprised how skilled they were at communicating and pronouncing words in Spanish.

We went to English class where they had a vocabulary test, which I miss in Denmark. Every week they have a test with advanced words. I feel like it's a smart and interesteing way to enhance your knowledge of words.
When the school day ended Danielle, her friend Maddie and I drove to Starbucks to get a drink, and drove back to school to watch the girls lacrosse game. (Menlo-Atherton Bears lost)
The school spirit was very high and very American - all the moms were sitting on the bleachers cheering for their daughters.
When the game finished I went home with Danielle's friend Ellie, which is hosting Amanda, since Danielle had to play volleyball. I ate dinner at their house and it was very interesting to hear her parent's point of view of current America. We discussed the issues in society and the flaws in the systems and how it could be improved.
Later on Ellie drove Amanda and I to In n' Out, a restaurant that is only in California. We met up with Danielle and drank milkshakes. Very American. Maybe?

After my first day in an American high school, I can conclude that people should not complain about homework in Denmark. Since I've studied in an American school before I can relate to the pressure regarding homework and tests. This week, the students have finals, so they have been busy practicing and doing homework to study for their exams. Denmark is more relaxed toward homework and is not stressful compared to a high school here.
Besides school, I feel that being social is a big part of their lives. They have many school events which mostly consist of socializing.
Another point is that especially being able to drive at a young age gives a sense of freedom.

Enjoy the pictures

my own guest house

Isabella.

Menlo-atherton

Monday we left San Francisco and we were picked up at the hostel by a bus. First we went to Muir woods and to get there we had to drive over the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge, where we of course we stopped to take some pictures. We spend a little time in Muir Woods were we saw at the amazingly tall sequoia trees.

After a while we headed to Salinas, which is located a few hours drive away from San Francisco. In Salinas we visited the National Steinbeck Center. It was a nice museum where you were allowed to touch a lot of the stuff in the exhibition halls. At one of the exhibitions they had a book which the museum thought was a norwegian translation of one of Steinbeck's books. Unfortunately they had not done their research very well because we soon realized that the translation was danish instead of norwegian.

After we finished the visit at the National Steinbeck Center we headed to Menlo Park where we went to a typical american potluck which was very nice. We also met our host families. My host family is very sweet and have a beautiful home.

Tuesday morning we started our first day of school at Menlo-Atherton High School and i had AP biology, Journalism, Calculus, AP English literature, Economics and went to a Technical Assistant class. In the TA(Technical Assisant class)  you usually help the teacher grading their papers. All the teachers at M-A seems very good and funny. When school was over at 3.15 pm me and my host headed to rehearsal at a local theater that she and some of the other students run by themselves. Which was a new experience for me because i have never seen a theater rehearsal before.

A little more of San francisco..

.. in picures.