Hi everyone

Last week was one of the best weeks so far. I got to go to Hawaii with a huge group of foreigners from all over the world!
Friday the 6th I went to a friend's house so we could go to the airport together. We had to get up at 3am because our flight left at 6.30. We flew over Denver, LA and from there to Honolulu. In LA I finally saw my friend from Switzerland again. 

DAY 1

So after almost 10 hours in the airplane we arrived in beautiful Hawaii. We got to our hotel around 5 and checked into our rooms. I was super tired! I think the time difference was 4 hours. After dinner they gave us some information about the following day. Sunday we were supposed to go surfing but sadly the waves weren't high enough so they replaced it with stand-up paddling.

DAY 2

At 9am we departed from our hotel and walked to the near by beach. The plan for today was going on a 45 minute catamaran tour and surfing. I even saw some seeturtles on our catamaran tour. That was amazing. The other group spotted some dolphins. Later in the afternoon we got some freetime to walk around in Waikiki and do stuff on our own.

DAY 3

Today we will get to know the city and visit one of the only two palaces in the US territory. We will visit the Iolani Palace.'Iolani Palace, the official residence of Hawaii's monarchy, is a marvel of opulence, innovation, and political intrigue. Meticulously restored to its former grandeur, this National Historic Landmark in downtown Honolulu tells of a time when their Majesties, King Kalakaua, who built it in 1882, and his sister and successor, Queen Lili'uokalani, walked its celebrated halls.

After that we went to the North Shore Beach which is famous for it's high waves and one of the best surf competitions in the world. The waves get up to 50 feet during the surfing season. Next to this beach there's a little surfer town where we had our lunch. We drank out of coconuts had some of Hawaii's original shave ice and a pineapple burger.
The next stop was the Polynesian Culture Center. They showed us how to dance the Hula, or teached us how to play the Ukulele. I went on a canoe trip through the Polynesian Culture Center and after that we had some traditional food. Before we departed we watched a movie about the polynesian culture and saw a show.

DAY 4

Today we visited the east side of the island. We headed to the pali lookout. The Nuuanu Pali Lookout ("Cool Height Cliff") overlooks the 985 foot cliffs of the Koolau Mountain Range and is one of the best views on Oahu. It was here in 1795 that King Kamehameha and his warriors defeated the O'ahu armies and united the Hawaiian Islands. It was pretty windy up there but totally worth it.

Then we went to the Kailua Beach. On of the best beaches in the whole world. We had to get our own pirvate life guard because it's more like a private beach. It's also home of worldclass wind-surfing championships. It was absolutly beautiful. No stones, no trash and stunning blue, clear water!

We stayed there the whole afternoon and returned to the hotel around 5pm. We went out for dinner with the whole group and had some free time after that.

DAY 5

Today was a really exciting day. We hiked up the Diamond Head!Diamond Head has been extinct for 150,000 years! It even served as an early Naval Defense Base in the United States Military. We hiked up on sunny trails and unique spiraling staircases. Super exhausted we arrived at the top. And wow you could see over whole Oahu and even catch a glimpse on Molokai and Lanai in the distance. Two of the other islands that belong to Hawai'i. I didn't have too much time on top of the Diamond Head because I had to catch the bus to go kayaking.

So after they showed us the basics of paddling in a kayak we carried our boats to the ocean and hopped in. 4 kilometers were ahead of us till we reached our final destination. We had to make sure our boat wouldn't turn on our way. Especially with the waves being pretty high. While we were paddling we spotted several seaturtles which was amazing. After probably half an hour or more we arrived on the island. We ate lunch and relaxed a little bit. Paddling was pretty tiring!

So the island we were on was a protected one which meant many rare animals! This island was the home of an endangered bird our tourguide told us. We hiked to the so-called "Bath of the Queen". During stormy weather the waves are pretty high and fill this little natural bathtub. It even had some fish in there. I also saw a see urchin. From the "Bath of the Queen" we spotted some whales. Pretty fare away but that was really cool! After we made our way back we had to get ready super quick because the rest of the group was ready before we even came home.

This evening we went to one of the biggest shopping malls in Hawai'i, Ala Moana. We had some free time to shop around and meet with the other people in the group. Around 7 we met at Bubba Gump. You probably heard that before. The restaurant is inspired by the film "Forrest Gump". It's a seafood restaurant and famous for its really good shrimp!

This night I went to bed half dead. I was super exhausted from the hiking and the paddling!

DAY 6

For this day I was really excited. We toured Hawaii's famous Pearl Harbor, home of the USS Arizona, which serves as the final resting place for many of the American battleship's 1,177 crew members who lost their lives on December 7, 1941 after the Japanese attack. I got to talk to two Pearl Harbor Survivor who are coming back to Pearl Harbor 3 days a week to tell their stories. We saw a little movie about this attack before we went on a boat to visit the USS Arizona Memorial. It was absolutly quiet on the boat and the memorial. It was a really sad place. You could still see pieces of the USS Arizona battleship. At the end of the memorial was a big white wall which had all the names of the fallen soldiers. You were still able to smell the oil from the boat. We had a little bit of time to walk around before we left Pearl Harbor. Our next stop took us to the National Cemetery. I've never seen something like this before. White monuments evenely lined up as far as you could see.

We made a citytour before we returned to the hotel and had some beachtime. I don't know if any of you watches Hawaii-Five-O but we made a quick stop at the statue they show.

DAY 7

The plan for today was snorkling. I went out with a friend and we spotted some pretty cool fish!

We also saw an eel who was sticking its head out of a rock. The beach we snorkled at was an old volcano. It was kinda hard sometimes because the rocks were so close to the surface. I got some scratches on my bellie and one of my friend got a really bad cut on her leg. So this was our last day. Unbelievable how fast this week went by! Because it was the last day we went to a Luau at Paradise Cove. A luau is a traditional Hawaiian Party which is accompanied with entertainement like the Hula. The main dish of a luau is pig. We just enjoyed our last evening we were able to spend together. I met such amazing people from all over the world this week!

We got home around 10pm and everyone pulled out their shirts they received here or their flag they bought so everyone can leave a nice little message. It was really sad to leave the whole group. I was in the first shuttle to the airport at 4am. We traveled the whole day and finally made it back to KC at 11pm.

At the airport waited and amazing surprise for me. Two of my bestfriends actually came to the airport with banners. I was so happy to see them!

Well, that was basically pretty much all about Hawaii. I'm really happy that I got to do this awesome trip and see a whole different way of living in the same country.

Bye, Sandra

Shave Ice

our daily meal ;)

Hi everyone!

Last week our Courtwarming took place. The theme for the dance was Night around the World. Courtwarming is a dance for th end of the basketball season. We decorated the whole week and sold tickets and shirts during school. So on friday the seniors had their last assembly to inform the other students what's going on for the rest of the school year. It was amazing. They introduced the courtwarming princes and princesses and they always have fun things during assemblys. In this assembly they had some teachers doing a dance competition.
In the evening the basketball game took place bu sadly they lost by one point!
Next day we all met at 5pm for the pictures. At 7pm the dance started and at 10 it was over. My last dance in the school! After the dance I had some friends coming over and we had pizza and jumped into the hot tub.
This schoolweek we had only for days. On Friday, AFS organized a trip to Snow Creek. A little ski resort. It's all artifical snow but it was a lot of fun! A lot of the kids never went skiing before.
Saturday I met up with some friends and we had pizza and watched a movie together.

Bye, Sandra

Snow Creek

Courtwarming '15

my babysitting qualities!

Assenbly with the Bestie

Hi everyone!

I'm just gonna write about my shortterm stay last week. So the thing is that I signed up for this like a month ago. I didn't know what I was getting myself into but I'm glad I did it.
The shortterm stay should show us the other side of Kansas City. The private schools and how kids live there. Chrisman is a public school and there are a lot of poorer kids and some really hard stories. So my shortterm family picked me up last wednesday at about 6 o'clock. I was really excited and a bit scared. A new family..again! The famile has two kids. Their 14 year old daughter Ellie and their 11 year old son Henry. After they picked me up we drove to Kansas City and ate in a Thai restaurant. Libby's (the mother's) husband just got home from Asia from a business trip so I didn't meet him yet. Later we finally made it to their home. And Scott (the father) was already wating for us. He brought some gifts from Thailand, even I got something. Their house was beautiful and there were so many rooms. Henry even had his own stage. ( He's a dancer). So that was a pretty exciting day for me.
The next two days we're supposed to shadow our shortterm sib through the whole school day. So the next morning we got u
p at about 6.30 cause we had to be there early for the shortterm meeting where we got some bagels and met the other students. The schoolday was over at 3pm. And I have to say that the food there was so much better than at Chrisman. We got pancakes on Thursday and they had ice cream and whatever you craved. Another thing were the IPads. Every student received an IPad from the school. After the school finished I went to Ellie's basketball. Sott was there too and he took us back. He made quesadillas this evening cause I said that this is one of my favorite food here.
Friday we got up a bit later and left at 7 so we can eat breakfast at a café. The school starts there at 8am. After school was over we went to a friend's home. Apparently she's from switzerland, too. But she lives here for 7 years. She just moved here from Cali. This evening was a pizza party planned. Yeah we ate a lot of food like usually played pole or ping pong. After we were done we went bowling. We just had some problems with transportation. Too many people not enough cars!
So after we all finally arrived there we started bowling. I was last in my group... Last thing was Winsteads. That is a really good restaurant and is known for their HUGE smoothies. They call them skyscraper. And everytime someone orders one. The whole service staff comes and sings a song.
The next day we met at the Crown Center. Which is a shopping center and has an ice skating ring. We got there little bit late so we didn't really have time to ice skate. After that we ate dinner at the shopping center and then went back home to fix dinner for our Internation Dinner this evening. Well I didn't really have to work hard cause I just brought Swiss Cheese and Toblerone.
And there's already the last day of my shortterm stay...
In the morning we all went to church but it's not like in Switzerland where you sit around and bore yourself. We sat together in a small group and talked and later they sang some good(!) songs. Later we went to the Oak Park Mall and shopped around for a little bit before we went back. Back home we started fixing some dishes. You probably know that it was Superbowl Sunday. Libby's parents came by and I watched the Superbowl till halftime.
Then they brought me back to my hostfamily where I watched it to the end!

Bye, Sandra

Hi everyone!

It's been quite a while since my last update so there's a lot to tell.
Before the holidays started, our counselor from school and her husband took all seven of us to Kansas City. The lights on the Plaza had been turned on since Thanksgiving. It looked gorgeous! We walked around for a little bit and went to a Sushi restaurant after that. It was the first time I ever ate Sushi and it was really good. There are two popular places in Kansas City, it's the Plaza with Shops and Restaurants, etc. And the Power and Light District, where are the bars and all the entertainement stuff. The counselors husband worked in one of the high rise buildings so we went to the top floor and the view was just amazing. You could see whole Kansas City. That took place at the beginning of December. Saturday before Christmas break me and my host family went to the Coffman Center they had a Christmas concert which was really good! Well it was almost Christmas and we had some Christmas partys. 













A friend of mine made a Murder Mistery Party about Alice in Wonderland. The whole living room was decorated and we had to play roles until we found out who murdered Alice. Definitly something different but it was fun!









And I finally went to the animal hospital with Gary. I spent a whole day there and saw some really interesting things. I saw a monkey! and they had surgery on a chicken! I went out on some farm calls which was really interesting. It was a nice day.










I got a ticket for Transsiberian Orchestra from my hostparents as a gift for christmas and it was wonderful! Christmas eve and christmas we didn't open any presents instead we went to the movies to see Unbroken. Amovie about an american soldier. We waited till Sunday to celebrate christmas with the whole family. My hostbrothers from Kansas City and St. Louis came up here for a few days with their family. It was chaos but we had a good time!

After christmas I met with all the other AFS students and we went Ice skating together that was so much fun. And luckily I didn't fall!
New Year's Eve they AFS organization had a suite for us to watch our Hockey team play. I've never seen Hockey in real life before so that was nice. We went to a restaurant after that but the clock hadn't turned 12 yet. I slept over at some friends house and together we watched the ball drop in New York.
After New Year we went to St. Louis to my host brothers family to celebrate the 2nd birthday of his son. The same evening we left the party for a while and went to see our indoor soccer team the comets. They are the best team of America and weren't beaten yet. So they won 8:5 I think.
The second semester has begun now and the school started on Wednesday. Everyone thought it was going to be a cold day because the temperature should drop below zero (Fahrenheit). But we still had school. But the next day we had a late start which means we had to be there 9:2o instead of 7:2o.

Yesterday I went to another Comets game and they won against Washington 18:2!!! And we had a suite again which was kinda nice! (free popcorn,drinks,etc.) After that game we went to Lucas and Joels game (friends of mine) They won their game too. The semester students are gonna leave next Friday and tommorow one of them throws a goodbye party.

Bye, Sandra

Hi everyone!

Sorry that it took me so long to update my blog but there was so much going on the past few weeks.

Silver Dollar City

We made our first AFS trip in November down to Branson. Which is on the south border of Missouri. Branson is a city for tourists and they have a lot of things to do. We went there on Friday and before we checked in we ate something in a barbecue place. So about 8 we arrived in our camp and went straight into the hot tub. It got really cold here. But the temperature here really varies! One day it can be +10 and the other day it can be -10 degrees. Fortunately it wasn't that cold the next day. Because we wanted to drike the go-karts. That was so much fun! After that we went to the popular Silver Dollar City. They already decorated for Christmas and it looked gorgeous. We rode some rides, made many pictures and just walked around. And we had to have Funnel Cake and hot chocolate. At 6 o cl

Funnel Cake + hot chocolate

ock they turned on the lights on the big christmas tree. It was beautiful but it was like the middle of november so they start christmas really really early!
The next day they took us to a big shopping outlet. Sadly we only had 90 minutes there before we had to leave. On the way home we made a stop by this famous barbecue place. People wait to get in there for 2 hours. We already had some seats but we still had to wait 30 minutes. I've never seen a restaurant like this. You get this huge jug, maybe almost a liter an

d there's a man who walks around and throws bread to people. And the meal...no one could it the whole meal. It was huge! And not even that expensive. So we finally hit the road and got home around 6. I was really tired but we had a great weekend. You could really see the rolling hills of Missouri in Branson. It was really worth it!

Crown Center

The next weekend we made a short trip to the east border of Missouri, St. Louis. Because Addy the daughter of my host brother had her 4th birthday. That was the day it first snowed here. It was crazy there were so many people. On our way back we saw the ranch where they breed the Clydesdales which are in the Budweiser commercial.
The next event was Thanks giving at the 27th of November. Kurt and Kyle my host brothers, Kyles family and Gloria's mum all came to our house. It was fun and we had a great Thanks giving meal.
That saturday I went to the Crown Center with a few friends because they turned on the christmas lights and you could do ice skating there. It was really crowded but totally worth it!
Also the basketball season started and we just had our biggest game against truman which is our biggest rival. During games they cheer the whole time. But we still lost 64 to 73. At least not as bad as we lost in Football!

Bye, Sandra

Hi everyone!

I have a lot of things to write about so I'm just gonna start.
October 18th me, my hostparents and 2 friends of them went to Kansas City to the American Royals. They're having all kinds of stuff with horses there like jumping shows, rodeos etc.
This Saturday was the Hunter and Jumper Show. It was a Grand Prix and the winner got 25000 dollars! It was like when I went to CSI: Zürich with my sisters.

Halloween Parade with Hellen

Grand Prix

Another thing going on was that the Royals our Baseball team made it to the play offs! It was crazy everyone was wearing blue. So all the school kids met on the football field and watched the games together. Sadly they lost the world series but it still was pretty cool that they made it the first time after 29 years.
October 25th, we had an AFS meeting. All the kids around Independence met each other and we had a halloweenparade at 1pm. Luckily it wasn't even cold it was like summer returned for a day! We decorated the float with the flags of the different countries. After the parade we went to a bowling hall and had pizza. It was fun with them.

The Arche

The next week was Halloween week and the Americans are craazy! about Halloween! We had a Halloween party thursday with Theatre. They all dressed up and we had so much fun. So the next day we were off school and in the evening I went to Worlds of Fun with a few friends and the French students who are here for 2 weeks. It was sooo cold and everywhere were this scary people trying to scare you.

Grant's Farm

little sister ♥

The day after Halloween we went to St.Louis where Kyle my hostbrother lives with his Family. We went to Grant's Farm where the Clydesdale from the Budweiser commercial are stationned. On our way back we went to Downtown St.Louis and I saw the beautiful Arche!
Right now I'm getting ready to meet some friends at the mall.
I need some winter clothes!

Bye, Sandra