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

Hi everyone!

Homecoming 2014

The week before Homecoming (a dance) we had Spirit Week. Everyday a different theme and you have to dress like it. So after the favorite sports day there was the trick and treat day. They dressed up in their halloween costumes even if it only was september. Next day was pink out day. You could have bought a T-shirt and the money would have been donated for fighting Breast Cancer. Thursday was Class Color Day and the Seniors were dressed in green. Sadly I didn't have one green shirt! The last day of Spirit week was Blue and Gold day. That are the colors of our school.

Homecoming Parade

Saturday morning was the parade for Homecoming. All the sports had their own float and decorated it. I rode the Volleyball float. The Homecoming candidates drove in a car. It was so cold! We went to the mall after the parade and got our nails done for the evening. There was a football game in the afternoon but I didn't go because the exchange student Vivi from 13 years ago visited the town and we all went eating together.
After the eating we picked up Josi from Germany and took her to our home and instead of getting dressed we fell asleep and woke up a half an hour before we had to leave. I wasn't done at all but it didn't matter. Tasia picked us up at about 5 o clock for taking pictures together. We all met at the Independence Square and took some cool pictures. But sadly we had to go to
school earlier at about 6 instead of 7 when the dance would have begun because someone teared down the decorations and we had to redone everything! At the end everything looked awesome. I really had fun at the dance but it was already over at 10pm and we had to clean it up because we're in STUCO (student counsil). It didn't take that much time and after we were done we all went eating together at iHop. I was home at about 12.
I slept in the next day and when I went downstairs there were this awesome blueberrie pancakes from Gary. A perfect start in the day! Vivi and her husband Augustin only stayed here till Monday. She was really nice and I would have liked to get to know her a little bit better!
The next week was called Rivaly Week and it is kinda the same as the Spirit Week we just had themes to dress up again. Monday was Twin Day. Tuesday was Nerd Day. Wednesday was Pink out again. We had a Chapter meeting with AFS on that day and I was supposed to do a           presentati-

Class Color Day

on that day but they moved it to November. Thursday was hat day and Friday was Blue and Gold day. That Friday was the most important football game of the whole year. Just because it was against Truman our biggest rival. And we lost. 0 to 43!!!
But the whole game the cheered and we threw babypowder in the air. The school is very spirited here!
The next day I had to get up early and be at school at 7 because we had a Volleyball Tournament. My last one here. And at least we beat Truman at Volleyball!

Haunted Houses!

In the evening I went to Worlds of Fun with some friends. We went to about 5 haunted houses. It was scary! There were people hiding in houses and they jumped out trying to scare you. And if you were scared they chased you! I'll go again at Halloween it should be even more scarier.
Sunday was my relaxing day and I just did my laundry and cleaned up a little bit nothing special. In the evening we went eating to a mexican restaurant.

Brianna ♥

This monday we got school off because it's columbus day! So I slept in in the morning and went to the mall at noon. A friend came over after the shopping and we just talked and had fun.

Bye, Sandra

Hi everyone!

It has been a bit longer since I updated my blog. That's simply because I hardly have time to do it. But now it's monday evening and the Chiefs (our Football-Team) is playing right now. I just went upstairs because I still don't get this game!
September 11th I had my first volleyball game. It's so confusing with the positions. I play the front row and I never stay at my place. But it's getting better. Tommorow is a home game that means dress up but more about that later. The next day (12th) was  football game at William Chrisman. There's always a students section where all the students are and cheer for the whole game. Mostly we lose but it's fun anyway. I like to go there.
Saturday was a Volleyball Tournament but just for the Varsity players. Me and Veronika volunteered and were there from 8am-noon. I had to do line judging and I was confused as always. But just as usually it got better after a while.
Monday was the due date for our Scavenger Hunt Project in Basic photography. I love this class it's so much fun and the pictures actually turned out very well. I'm so proud!
This week we had three! Volleyball games. They put so much effort in their sports and they really love it. Many americans are very athletic not like you see it in TV but there are too much overweight people.
That weekend we had the AFS-Camp. Sometimes it was a bit boring because you didn't know what you should do. But it was still very intresting to meet people all over the world.
I left the camp a bit earlier because we went to the American Royals. That's a huge horse show. They rode English too or at least they tried it didnt' really looked like it but they looked great in Western. And it was so funny a lot of horses had actually a fake tail. Their owners made extensions for the tail! It didn't look natural at all.
Sunday my hostparents took me to the Plaza Art Fair. There were artists from all over the United States. It was very interesting and the Plaza is so beautiful!
A week ago I took my senior pictures but I don't have them yet but you gonna see them. I really hope they look kinda good! In the evening we drove to Kansas City and ate at a Brazilian Steakhouse. The chiefs just go around with their own meat and bring you as much as you can eat and it's all different. You have a card on your table with a black and a yellow side. When the yellow side is on top it means they still can bring you meat. Black side on top means your done. I ate so much!
Tuesday I went to my first Sporting Kansas City Game. They won 3 to 0 and the atmosphere was amazing.
Thursday we went on a fieldtrip with the school. We visited a theatre and watched the play "Our Town". It was very different but still good and intresting. I didn't even have problem to understand them. To speak English gets easier with every day I've been here. And I'm already confused when I have to speak Swiss German!

Friday was a Footballgame again. Against one of the best teams in the area. So we lost 14 to 49. But no one really cares and we all just have fun. The theme was cowboys.
Saturday I had a Volleyball tournament and we were 4th from 6 teams. I was so tired by the time I got home!
In the evening I went to a bonfire and it was so much fun. I love bonfires and the evenings are always so nice here. Never too cold or too warm.
So Sunday I skyped with my family and friends I really enjoyed it even if I was so tired because I had to get up at 7am and didn't sleep for that long but it was alright.
At noon we went to Josi's house and together we went to Worlds of Fun. That's a big fun park that is about 20 minutes away from here. It was a great day.
Today was the first day of Spirit Week and we all had to dress up as our Favorite Sports Teams. I didn't bring a shirt from Switzerland so I just wore a Royals (Baseball) shirt from my hostmum.

Bye, Sandra

Girls at school

basic photography

Volleyball! ♥

Football

American Royals

Plaza Art Fair

Wolds Of Fun!

AFS-Camp

Bonfire!