December
A month ago it was Thanksgiving. Penny and I made a turkey. Penny also made pumpkin pie. I have never tried pumpkin pie before but it tasted good. I made some Mizerja (polish dish) and Bob and Penny liked it :) We also dressed the Christmas tree and took out the Christmas decorations.
Svenska julkalendern from Emilie
Some weeks ago it was Black Friday in America. Black Friday is when stores have big sales over one night. Heather and I wanted to do the whole Black Friday experience so we woke up at 3 in the morning and went to Fond du Lac to do shopping. It was a fun experience to go shopping during the night. We were both really tired but it was fun. Then we ate breakfast at Starbucks and we went back to Heather's house and slept from 7-11am. Then in the afternoon we went back to Fond du Lac to see Catching Fire in the Cinema.
The last weeks before Christmas break I had so much to do. I have basketball practice everyday after school or a game either at school or in an other town. Basketball is fun and I think I'm improving. Two weeks ago at a game I got tripped and I sprained my ankle, so that was not fun... My ankle was all purple and swollen :(
The last weeks I had a lot in school. My hardest class is AP Biology. Sometimes I have a hard time understand because the teacher speaks really fast and uses hard biological terms, but it's not that bad. The Algebra 2 course is a lot of homework but it's not that hard. In Choir we just had a Christmas Concert. In English we just finished writing a theme comparison paper comparing Macbeth and The Crucible. In PE we have played basketball, indoor hockey and volley boll.
Last weekend it was the Benzschawel Christmas party. Bob's family is big so they meet before Christmas so that they can all celebrate Christmas together. The party was at the Chilton Hotel. It was a lot of people there and lots and lots of food. I made some Swedish gingerbread cookies for the party and everyone liked them. Everyone though that the cookies were really really thin... Americans usually do everything bigger and better, haha. They also usually put frosting on the cookies. After we ate and swam in the hotel pool we played some big Jenga, so that was fun. Kate, Bob's daughter from Chicago came to visit and it was very nice to meet her :)
This weekend I slep over at Heather's house with Karissa and Veera. It was a lot of fun. We had our gift exchange and we did some scarfs. I got a Monsers University Blanket, some basketball tshirts and socks :) Karissa tought us how to arm knit scarfs. It was a lot of fun. In the morning Heather and I made some Swedish pancakes for Karissa and Veera. They all liked it and I didn't burn them so that was good.
Here in Wisconsin the weather is different than at home. Right now we have 30cm of snow and -10* Celcius while thereis no snow at home... The last weeks it has been really cold some days. Some days it was less than -20* Celcius... Yesterday apperently it was said that is was a storm (they named the storm Alice). It was snowing all day and it was very windy. Penny took some great photos of me in the snow :) Sometimes we see turkeys outside our house which I think is really cool because we don't have wild turkeys in Sweden (I think…)
The 26th of December I'm going with my friend Heather and her family to a cabin. There we are going to ski, ice skate and go snowmobiling. It's going to be so much fun. I'm also going to spend New Years Eve there.
Basketball!
This is my third week of basketball. Three Mondays ago I went to my first practice. It was scary but I survived! The first two practices were really hard so my whole body was very soar. We have approximetly 1,5-2h practice every day after school. The first week we also had practice both before and after school. I had to get up at 5 in the morning because the practice started at 5:55... The first week was a really long week. All the girls on the team are really good and because I just played basketball when I was little and the American girls played basketball in Middle School too. Veera (the other exchange student) and I both started basketball and we are the worst once on the team... Hehehe... But we are improving ;)
The second week we had our first game. I didn't think that our coach would let me play but I got to play the last 48,6 seconds of the game which was at least something :) I was very nervous because there was over 100 people watching the game and when I came on the court people screamed my name which made me even more nervous. We lost the game.
This week we also had one game. This game I got to play a total of 4min. I got to shoot two shoots and of course I missed them both, but otherwise my coach said I did good :) We won this game which was nice. Tomorrow we have another game.
Rachel, Lily, me, Veera and Sara (from left) before our first game. We are not suppose to have our pants that high up, but we took this photo as a joke... The jersey and the pants are so big on me...
A very bad quality photo of us during our first game taken by Karissa.
The schedule for December...
Package from home!
Last week we had a sleep in on Tuesday and Thursday. We started school at 10:45. On Tuesday I spent 3h in school just doing catch up work for the week I was gone to Atlanta and sick. I was sick the whole last week. At the end of the week I went to the doctor becuase I felt really bad. I had pink eye which is an eye infection and also infection in my bronchial tubes. The doctor thought that I had pneumonia but it later turned out that I didn't have pneumonia. I got some eye drops with antibiotica for the pink eye and I also got some cought medicine.
This week has gone by pretty fast. In AP Biology we are doing a lab testing respiration which is fun mostly because I have a good time with the group I work with :) Today Heather, Colton and I were preparing for doing the lab and we (Heather) accidently (she blaimed it on me) spilled a lot of water all over our table and everything got wet. I really like AP Biology except that the course is really hard. In English we are reading Macbeth which is very challenging. My English teacher always picks on me so I usually have to read out loud and everyone thinks it's really amusing when I read because of my accent. In PE this week we played pickle ball which is basiclly tennis but with wooden rackets and a indoor hockey ball (innebandyboll). We were in pairs and we played a tournament. I played with Erick and we played three games and we lost two of them so we are now out of the tournament. In choir we sing the songs "God bless America" and "Homeward Bound". We are going to preform for the Middle school on Monday because it's Veteran's day.
Yesterday I got a package from my parents which made me really happy. I'm most happy about the kinder eggs because here in America kinder eggs are apparently illegal :(
Bob got a LHC tshirt :)
Funny carrots we picked in our garden and ate yesterday
A cake Penny made a week ago
So on Thursday because we had a sleep in Veera, Karissa, Heather, Jessica and I went to Seven Angels in Chilton and ate breakfast before school :)
Senior Photos
In America when you are a senior you take senior photos. Then you print small copies and give them to your friends so that they remember you after high school. Veera (the other New Holstein exchange student) and I are seniors so we thought we could do this too. The good thing is that my host mom is a photographer so she took our senior photos :)
Me and Veera
Veera
Me
My animals!
This week went by pretty fast. I had a lot of homework and essays. On Wednesday I had a yearbook meeting after school which was very fun and I'm really excited about the yearbook. In PE we did archery which was very fun, and I was actually good at it ;)
On Thursday the Red Cross was in New Holstein High School and students over 16 could donate blood. I wanted to do it but I couldn't, because if a person have lived more than five years in Europe the person can't donate blood in America. It has something to do about that my ancestors might have had the mad cow disease that could have affected my blood now... I don't know... Their explination was vague. Instead of giving blood I could help as a volunteer, so I did.
On Friday after school I went to Veera's house. We watched a Criminal Minds episode, talked and ate a Finish pancake (that Veera made) which tasted great :) Then we went with Nikki, Mitch and Devante to Two Rivers. In Two Rivers the New Holsteins High School's Football Team had their last football game :( They won which was a good end of the season. It was really cold, but thankfully Veera brought a blanket :)
Yesterday I tried to skyped with some of scout friends because they had a scout event, but sadly we couldn't talk so long because their internet connection wasn't great. Maybe because they were in the middle of nowhere... :P
This is how pretty the forest around my house looks. The leaves are turning colorfull and it's just so pretty :) Bob and I sometimes take a ride throught the forest with the four wheeler which I really love!
I also want to present the animals that I live with :)
First we have Bell, the mother. She is very calm and quiet.
Zeek, the father. He is crazy and selfish.
Dolly, the daughter. She is my favorite! ;) She always sneezes and licks my face... Hehe
Roxy, the odd one :P She is Penny's Daughter's dog, but because her daughter got a baby so Bob and Penny take care of Roxy. She likes to cuddle :)
And all the dogs together:
This is Steve. I don't like him because he bites and scratchs me when I don't want to pet him... He lives on the porch.
We also have four more cats but they live in the garage :)
Homecoming dance!
On Friday we had a really short day and then we had the Parade and the Pep Rally. Everyone in the school (except the people in the parade) went on a road and sat down at the side walks. Then the long parade went through some roads in New Holstein. When the end of the parade came we were supposed to walk after the parade, and so we did :)
The homecoming court :) Kelly and Zac (that won) and Veera and Nathan :)
After the Parade we had the Pep Rally. There was some games and competitions and it was so much fun. The juniors won the spirit stick of the homecoming week 2013 just because the seniors got disqualified for a stupid reason... Then after the Pep Rally Heather and I went to my house and I painted her nails :) At 7pm there was the homecoming football game. The guys played against Waupun and they lost by one point (27-26). It was a very emotional game and when we lost almost the whole Footboll team cried :( It was mostly because now the football team won't go to the regionals. After the game Heather, Jessica, Karissa and I went to Heathers house and had a sleep over :) It was a very fun night!
Veera, the other exchange student in New Holstein High Shool :)
On Saturday it was time for the Honecoming Dance. First Heather, Jessica, Karissa, Morgan, Brett, Brandy and I met at Heathers house to take photos of our Homecming group. Then we went to Fond Du Lac to eat dinner at Appelbees. The food was very good and we had a good time together. Then we went back to Heathers house and watched a movie. At 8:30pm we went to the dance at school. It was fun, but not really my thing. The dance ended at midnight and Heather, Jessica, Veera and I went to Jessica's house and had a sleep over. I had a great time and I finally got to taste "Swedish Fish" which is a cherry candy that people claim is swedish?
Heather <3
Karissa and I :)
Before the dance Penny took some photos pf me :)
Homecoming week :)
Last Friday Heather and I went to the football game together. It was so much fun and a really interesting game. We won by 21-20 :D After the half time I helped out with other Ice Fishing Club members with sellig popcorn, pretzels, soda, candy etc to people at the game. It was very fun :) After the game when Heather drove me home a deer ran infront of the car :O
Last Sunday Penny, Bob and I went to Pat's (Bob's sister) house. We watched the packer game and the Packers won. I got to borrow Bob's jersey :) Every Sunday a lot of people here in Wisconsin wear Packer cloths. We went just in and out of Walmart and I saw 13 people wearing a Packer t-shirt/hoodie. Sports are so big here. Almost everyone is intrested in sports here. So different from Sweden and Poland. The whole day I was asking questions about football so I think I got it now :)
This week in school is homecoming week. It is a lot of fun stuff happening in and after school. On Saturday we have the Homecoming Dance :) Every grade has a theme. We are the Sinister Seniors :P
On Monday I went paintballing for the first time in my life :) It was so much fun and I really want to do it again! The team that I was in played four games. We were supposed to get to the middle of the field, take the flag and then take the flag to the other team's base tower. When you got hit you were out of the game. During the first game I was the last one in from my team with the flag. Someone from the other team run behind me and shot me six times from a close distance. So now I have six big bruices on my ribs, side and arm. I really want to play paintball some other time again!
On Tuesday after school me and Penny went shopping to Green Bay. I found black high heels for the homecoming dance :D
Yesterday was a very fun day. First Veera came home with me after school and Penny colored our hair and we did our "Sinister seniors makup". After that we went to the school. For the last week or two the senior football players have had practices with the senior girls. They have tought us how to play football. Yesterday it was a game between the junior girls and the senior girls. A lot of people came and watched. In the beginning I was a little scared that I would screw up, but I didn't. I played Nose Tackel. Nose tackle is the person who tries to get through the line of offense and get the ball from the quaterback. We didn't play with tackle though. Instead of tackeling the juniors to the ground they had flags on a belt that we were supposed to rip off. I got to play a lot because I have come to all the practices that we had :) One fun thing that happened was when I got a little upset because several times I would run through the line of offense and rip off the flag of the quaterback with the ball, but the refs didn't see it so the play would just continue. After that happened three-four times I got upset and went to the Ref to told him that he should look when I rip off the flags. He blaimed it to be because I'm Swedish so I got more upset and told him that I wasn't. Mr.Neilsen who was commenting the game in a microphone said "And now Aleks, the sweed, is arguing with the Ref" and apperently everybodyin the audience laughted... Hehe... After a hard game the Seniors won (of course) by 12-0 :D After they game everyone rushed out on the field and it was such an amazing moment! I really had a great time yesterday.
Today on Tuesday on PE we played lacross. I have never played lacross and I knew very little about the sport. Basicly what you do is that you run around with a type of stick/tennis racket and tackel people in your way. You get a point by getting the ball in the other team's goal. It's a mixture of hockey, soccer and football. We had to have chest and shoulder protection, gloves and a helmet. The sport to me is very weird and different but it was a new experience.
Today at home a tried deer loaf and it was very good :)
My week
Two Fridays ago Heather and I went to the fotball game together. It was so much fun, but the Huskies lost miserably...
Heather and I
Karissa, Caleb, Heather and I
On the Saturday after Friday Penny, Bob and I went to an airport. There it was a MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) gathering. Me and Penny just look at the planes and then we went to Sheboygan. We were looking for a Homecoming dress, but we didn't find one :(
My hair that day
On Monday last week Penny and I went to Appelton to look for a homecoming dress. I bought a very pretty dress in Macy's. I will post some photos some other day.
On Tuesday Penny, Bob and I went on a motorcycle dinner ride. First we stopped by a goat farm in Pipe and we saw how the farmer milked the goats. They also had Lamas :) Then we went to a restaurant called Capone's. The restaurant was very cool and very American.
During PE on Thursday I got stung by a Wasp. We were playing soccer when I felt pain on my hand. I looked down and saw a wasp sitting on me. I tried to shake it off but it didn't want to stop putting poison in my hand. I hit it and it flew away. I got a small mark anda small area around where it stang me got red and swollen. After the lesson I got some ice from the PE teacher and a cream to ease the pain (it hurt really badly). The next day my hand was even more swollen. On Saturday though my whole hand, fingers and half of my arm swelled and it was not pretty. I couldn't even see my nucles on my hand when I bent it. It also hurt really bad and it was itching all the time. I had some pills and creame to ease the pain/itching. Now (4 days later) only my hand and a little part of my arm is swollen and red. I'm not allergic to wasps but apperently (acording to the internet :P ) 10% of the people have a worse reaction than others and of course I'm one of the 10%.
On Friday after school I went to the first Ice Fishing meeting directly after school. I'm so excited! We are going to be in tournaments and it's going to be so much fun! Then I went to Jill's house with her. We studied some for the AP Biology test (that we have tomorrow, and it's really hard D: ) and then we talked and played Wii. I also ate dinner at her house and I was really tasty.
On Saturday I went to school because I thought that we had Powder Puff practice (american football for girls for Homecoming week) but it turned out it was in a whole different place, so I had to go there instead. Thankfully my host parents could pick me up and drive me there :) well there we had practice and after that I was meeting up with Heather. I asked a girl to drive me back to school to meet Heather there. When I came to school Heather called me and told me she went to Marytown (where my practice was to meet me there... After some confusion we finally met and Heather and I went to a restaurant called South Town. There we met Jill and some other people from school so we ate lunch with them. After that we went to a volleyboll tournament back in school. The Huskies won :D
Yesterday I met a missionary from Paraguay. I got to taste a kind of tea (it was so discusting) from Paraguay. I also got a Candy Bar from Paraguay from the missionary because Sarah, Rachel and I helped him serve the weird tea to people.
Volleyboll game
On Tuesday evening Heather picked me up and we went and ate at Subway. After that we went to the volleyboll game at school. The Huskies played against the Raiders, and we won :) There was a soccer game at the same time so for the half time we went and watched the Pom Pom girls doing their routine. It was very nice and I realized that sports are a really important thing in America. It was so serious, intense and amazing. You could feel the team spirit. I have never experienced something like that. It was very fun and I came home very happy that day :D
This is me and my friend Veera. She is an exchange student from Finland. We go to the same school and we always sit at lunch together :)
Yesterday after school Penny, her friend and I went to pick some apples at Bob's sister's house. It was so pretty and the apples we picked are really good.
This week I have taken the yellow bus to school. The bus goes at 6:50 in the morning and the ride to school is so nice. I always see the beautiful sunrise.
Today after school Penny had a photoshoot with a family so I went with her and helped her out. After the photoshoot she took some pretty photos of me ;)
Yellow School Bus
On Sunday I had a meeting with the other exchange students in the Wisconsin area. There were about 13 exchange students. They were from: Finland, Thailand, Japan, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Brazil and Sweden. I met 3 other girls from Sweden and it was really nice to speak some Swedish for a change :) In the beginning of the meeting you were supposed to take a peice if toilet paper (nobody knew what for). I thought that I would be a little different than everybody else (that took just two pieces) so I took around 20 peices. It turned out to be a getting-to-know-each-other game. We had to say something about ourselves for every piece of paper that we took, so everyone at the meeting got to hear a whole essay about me... hehe... But everyone clapped at end :D
Today I took the school bus to school. I think that it is so cool that I'm going on THE yellow school bus. I'm going to go with the bus this week. I sadly have to get up an hour earlier than usual to go on the bus, but to go on a yellow school bus is a thing that has to be done when I'm here.
Today I also tried a potato-cheese-hotdog gratin that Penny made which was very tasty. Penny also made a pumpkin in the oven which was also something new to me, but it tasted really good.
Today I took the school bus to school. I think that it is so cool that I'm going on THE yellow school bus. I'm going to go with the bus this week. I sadly have to get up an hour earlier than usual to go on the bus, but to go on a yellow school bus is a thing that has to be done when I'm here.
Today I also tried a potato-cheese-hotdog gratin that Penny made which was very tasty. Penny also made a pumpkin in the oven which was also something new to me, but it tasted really good.
Lake Michigan
Now my first week in school is over. :) It was a lot to take in but it was okay. The lesson that I enjoy the most is PE, I think. I have PE every day which is so different from Sweden where I had it once a week. This week we played Soft Ball and Golf. I'm so bad at both, but it was so much fun anyway. I also had a short private lesson with the choir teacher. I will have those once every second week. I just had to sing some scales for her.
On Friday Penny bought Macaroni and Cheese, because I really wanted to try. I think it's a thing you have to try if you are in America and I liked it. Some days ago I also tried Root Beer which is an American soda. I thought it tasted like the toothpaste I usually use so I couldn't drink it because it felt like I was drinking toothpaste
And this is me and Dolly. I usually call her sneezer because she always sneezes in my face. She sometimes joins me when I eat breakfast.
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Today Penny, Bob and I went to Manitowoc. First we went to a Harley Daivdson motorcycle shop. After that we went to the beach on Lake Michigan. It was really nice and Penny took some photos of me :)
My journey has begun...
On Tuesday evening Penny, Bob, their friends and I went on a motorcycle ride for about 30min to "Three men and a Pizza Pie" which is a pizza restaurant. Going on a motorcycle is really fun and the pizza was really good :) I saw 7 dead racoons on the way there, and 3 wild turkeys ran over the road in front of the motorcycle. The view from the motorcycle was so pretty. In the area that I live in there are corn fields and farms everywhere.
Listen to:
hahaha ;)
In school everything is fine. A lot of the students introduce themselves to me, which is nice. I talk a lot to the other exchage student in my school. Her name is Veera and she is from Finland. She is really nice and I'm so happy that I have someone that experiences the same thing as I to talk to.
I changed my Chemistry class to Study Hall because the chemistry course they are doing I already know, and I couldn't choose harder chemistry (it didn't work with my schedule). I'm happy though because I can do some homework during Study Hall. I get a lot of homework. I have to do a lot of Algebra and Biology everyday.
Yesterday Penny and I went to Appelton to fix my phone. Now I have a new numer and my old numer doesn't work. I also have 250min outgonig calls to Poland or Sweden which means that I can call my friends and family :) On our way home we drove by Lake Winnebago. The sunset was so beautiful!
My first day of school
Today was my first day of school. I was really nervous, but it went well. The classes that I take are:
Concert Choir/Outdoor skills
Chemistry
AP Biology
PE
English
Algebra 2
American History
I have the same schedule every day. I go to school from 7:55 a.m to 15:15 p.m.
I will just have Choir one semester and the other semester I will have Outroor Skills. In Outdoor skills I will learn about fishing, hunting etc.
Chemistry and AP Biology wasn't too difficult or too easy so that was really good. During PE we played Soft Ball, and of course I got picked last to join a team :(
A lot of students helped me and they were really nice to me. The school is so different to what I'm used to but I like it. The break between each lesson is 4min long and it's so hard to manage to go to your locker to get your books for the next class, find where your next class is and sit down when the bell rings after 4min. I didn't get loss though because I had a map :)
I was afraid that I would sit alone in lunch, but I didn't :) A girl explained how the lunch worked, because there is two lines with different food choices, and then you have to have a student account number to pay for the lunch.
Chilton, Wisconsin
So finally after such a long time waiting I got a host family! I'm moving tomorrow or on Friday to Chilton in Wisconsin :) There lives around 4000 people in Chilton. The family consists of a mother, father and they have a son in my age. The name of the school I'm going to go to is New Holstein High School and is located in New Holstein that is around 6km from Chilton. The school has around 430 students I think. I'm really really happy that I finally got a host family!!!
My name is Aleks and I'm 17 years old. 
