Texas Diary
FlugThursday, 1st October 2009
4.00 a.m. We, twelve German exchange students, started our journey at the Kassel Hauptbahnhof with the Regional Express. Our aim was Round Rock, Texas.
Our moods: sleepy, groggy, tired but very excited about the approaching trip
7.10 a.m. We arrived at the Frankfurter Hauptbahnhof. Then we took the S-Bahn to the Frankfurter Airport. After check in, security control and the delay of the LH440 (40 minutes) our journey has begun to America.
1.50 p.m. After a ten hours flight we arrived at the airport in Houston, Texas. Mrs. and Mr. Bookert and Mr. Harper picked us up to Round Rock after our check out which took three hours.
8.30 p.m. After a four hour drive and a short break in our first American fast-food restaurant (DQ) we arrived at the student parking lot from the Stony Point High School. Then, we were picked up by our host families.
FootballFriday, 2nd October 2009
Our first school day began at 9 o’clock, in some cases with the yellow school bus. Under the principal leadership we had a tour though Stony Point High School. Then we went to Mrs. Bookert’s portable where we had our Home Room Class with Mrs. Moeller-Merz. We talked about our impressions with the American host families and planed the following weekend activities. At 12.10 p.m. we enjoyed our first American cafeteria meal. The cafeteria offered: chicken nuggets, pizza, sandwiches and candies. Our first school day ended at 4.10 p.m. and the most of the students went home. For the evening we had planed that the German American group would meet them again in the football stadium. Thus we saw the football Stony Point Tigers vs. the Leander Lions.
TowerSaturday, 3rd October 2009
On our first weekend we stayed with our host families. The most of us were very tired because of the seven hours time difference. Consequently, we had a good night’s sleep. In the afternoon we passed our free time by shopping with our America partners. Our preferred malls were the Outlet Mall and the Lakeline Mall with their cheap prices of brands which surprised all German students. The day ended mostly with a host families’ invitation to a restaurant.
PoolSunday, 4th October 2009
This day started with a Welcome Barbecue in a pool house at 2.00 a.m. We enjoyed typical American food like donuts, sweet candies, ribs etc. Some of the guys went swimming in spite of the rainy weather. In the evening the German American group watched the movie Zombieland in the Cinemark at 6.45 pm.
Monday, 5th of October
This morning Tyler and I drove to school. After the arrival we had our homeroom in Mrs. Bookert’s portable. There we talked about our host families and discussed the problems. It became clear that Tina would change her host family.
After school I met Christoph and his exchange student Wesley. A friend of him arrived who is really good at Lacrosse and taught us how to play. Tyler had to work so he could not join us. After dinner I watched “Two and a half men” with my host dad. The English version of this TV show is much more fun than the German.
SportsTuesday, 6th of October
This morning, my exchange student Dylan Smith and me, we missed the yellow school bus. So our father had to give us a lift to the Stony Point High School. At that day, our whole group went to the Round Rock Premium Outlet Mall together. From 10:30am to 4 pm, we were visiting many shops, but we did not have enough time for seeing everything. The weather was awesome and we bought some nice bargains. Being at home, I saw a DVD with my family. Then my father showed me some interesting pictures of him stationed in Vietnam. He reported his assignments and his daily situation. Before going to bed, I relaxed half an hour in our Heater which is like a big whirlpool.
CityWednesday, 7th of October
Wednesday morning we were surprised because Mrs. Moeller-Merz did not come to school. The reason was that Mr. Bookert tidied up the house and took her key away. In the second period Lorenz, Christoph and Malte presented their topic.
After school I went to Christoph’s house. There we enjoyed our time in the pool and took some pictures of the beautiful neighborhood. At 9 pm I arrived at home and talked with my host dad John about the differences between the German and American political system.
WallThursday, 8th of October
Thursday morning, we heard a presentation of Valentina and Miriam about the school systems in America and Germany. It turned out that there are far-reaching differences. In the 2nd period, we had Homeroom. In this period, we always talk about the current situation and potential problems. We also planned the coming weekend we spent at San Antonio and the Frio River. After school, Robin and I drove to his exchange student Tyler Page. We had breakfast at Chicken Wings. Afterwards, we went to see Tyler’s friend Austin. Playing Lacrosse and X-box was very fun.
FunFriday, 9th of October
We spent this weekend at the Frio River in San Antonio. We, the Germans, had the first stop in Austin. We visited the Alamo, a pivotal Point in the Texas Revolution. Afterwards we went to the mall of San Antonio that comprehends the River Walk (also known as Paseo del Río ).
Subsequent, we drove on to our house in order to spend the weekend there. It was an idyllic place in nature, but we were completely separated from the outside world. In the evening the first Americans arrived at our house.
At NightSaturday, 10th of October
We began the next day with a big, ample breakfast. By day we explored the Frio River and in the afternoon, when the weather had become better, we went tubing until evening. Finally, we had a BBQ together with the whole group of Germans and Americans.
BasketballSunday, 11th of October
After having breakfast we went horseback riding, while another part of the group visited the little town Utopia. Subsequent to that , the whole group met each other at Mc Donald. Then we were all sated and went back to our little house.
Monday, 12th of October
Monday was the last day of our weekend together. At 8 o’clock we had a big breakfast and after this we had to clean up all the mess in our rooms. Thereafter we drove home in separate cars, where everybody was picked up by his/her guest family. The rest of this day we had free time and most of us decided to go to the mall and spend a nice afternoon there.
PartyTuesday, 13th October
The beginning of the Homecoming week started with the “Twins Day”. In the 5th period Marc, Valentina and Annika went to Miss Brito’s Spanish class, but she was not there. A substitute teacher gave us some work.
In the 6th period we had our first Homeroom with Petra Vaupel. Then all the Germans went to lunch and after lunch everybody went to different classes.
In German IV, the 8th period, Germans and Americans worked together on the GAPP-Project about the US-Army in Kassel.
After school Malte, Robin, Constanze, Marc, Kathrin, Valentina, Christian, Annika, Roxy, Tiffany, Heidi, Alicia and Aron went to the Lakeline Mall from 5:30 pm till 8:30 pm.
FriendshipWednesday, 14th October
On Wednesday all the Germans had a trip to Austin which started at 9.15 am at Stony Point with a school bus.
After we had arrived in Austin we visited the Texas State History Museum. We went to a IMAX-Theatre and watched a movie about Texas.
Then we went to the University of Texas Austin which is a university especially for sports. The places which impressed us most were the Gregory Gymnasium, the swimming area and the Food Court, where we had lunch among all the students.
Moreover we visited the Capitol of Texas known as the biggest Capitol in the USA. We saw the paintings of each governor of Texas and a few conference halls.
At the end of the trip we went to the Barton Springs Pool by bus. Nevertheless of all the algae we went swimming in the pool. At 5 pm we got picked up by Christoph and Robin’s host mothers.
Thursday, 15th of October
This day started again with Spanish class where Annika, Valentina and Marc wrote a vocabulary test. At the Homeroom we had a discussion about our problems in the group.
In the last period in German IV Kathrin, Robin and Annika hold their presentation about the GAPP-Project. Also Marc and Christian presented the Oktoberfest. After the presentations we watched a German movie called “Jenseits der Stille”.
After school Constanze, Marc, Christian, Annika, Andrew C., Tiffany and Kathrin went to the Outlet Mall. Later Robin, Malte, Christoph and Lorenz also arrived at the Outlet Mall.
Friday, 16th of October
This day was the last day of the Homecoming Week and every Tiger wore his or her Stony Point shirt and mums or garters.
The school day started with the Homeroom where every German finished their diary entries.
In the 2nd period Marc, Christian and Annika visited the Micro Biology class.
After lunch some Germans went to German III where we played Bingo. This period got interrupted by the Pep Rallye in the gym. For the Germans the Pep Rallye was like a movie.
At 7 pm everybody met at the Homecoming Game which started at 7:30 pm. Finally at 10 pm the Stony Point Tigers won with 21:14.
In the half time Roxy Mercado became Homecoming Queen and Kevin White became Homecoming King.
Saturday, 17th of October
Yay! Weekend and Homecoming!
We slept in late, woke up, and then we did the last of the preparations for homecoming, like buying flowers and etc.
An hour before the dance, we picked up our homecoming dates.
Then we went to the school and met all the others. Everyone wore their best clothes and we had a lot of fun dancing with one another and listening to the music.
At 12 o’clock midnight, the dance was over and we all went to Andrews house and watched movies all night long until we eventually all fell asleep one by one.
Sunday, 18th of October
In the morning we went to the RoundRock donut store and ate sooo many donuts!
After this we went back to Andrews house, and then with Kathrin, Tiffany, Sean and Christian to Sean’s house.
In the evening we all met at Gattis Land Pizza and had a lot of fun eating at the buffet and playing games.
Monday, 19th of October
It is Monday (B-day) and we have to go to school.
Like every school day, the morning starts with a good American breakfast. After that, we drove to school and spent our time in our lessons. But the second period we met each other in the homeroom like on every other B-day.
After school we went to training for lacrosse or went to friends house and hung out.
Tuesday, 20th of October
Today was Tuesday (A-day) and the longest school day of the week.
In the first period we had homeroom where we talked about the whole time about America and how to make things better.
After homeroom we went to our other classes until the last period and the end of the school day
After school some students went to Lake Line mall, the outlet mall or went out to eat with our host families.
Wednesday, 21st of October
We had no school on this wednesday because it was our last day at Round Rock. While our American partners were at school all of us packed their suitcases for the flight back to germany and so did I.
Moreover, we prepared our meals for the farewell BBQ. The BBQ took place in one of Georgetown’s parks in the evening and was the last time that all German students and their host families met as a group. We had some problems finding the place and unfortunately, it rained the whole evening.
Although, it was nice to see the whole GAPP group before leaving and everyone enjoyed the BBQ. After the higlight of the evening – a speech to the Americans by Annika and Kathrin – we left the BBQ and watched a movie at home.
Thurday, 22nd of October
This day was the last one after three weeks in Texas. We met at 9:00am at school for saying goodbye. Some parents of the Americans brought donuts as breakfast. Three cars waited for us to drive us to the airport. It took a while until we could start because for the most of us it was not that easy to leave. But on the other hand everyone was looking forward to be back in Germany.We had about three hours to drive so we stopped at the half of our way to eat our last American burger. Most of us did that at Whataburger where you can get the best ones.
There were no problems at the airport although some of our suitcases had too much weight but the man at the airport was very nice and did not say anything.
Most time of the flight it was night so everyone tried to sleep but it did not really work. We had problems with the time difference. The eating was okay for a flight but the stewardesses were not as nice as the ones on our flight to Texas. The funniest part was the landing because nearly no one realized it. It was very foggy in Frankfurt that is why everyone thought we would be still in the sky but the next look out of the window showed us the airstrip.
After the landing there was one last problem called duty we had to survive but it was closed. From the airport we went to the station and we took the train back to Kassel. We arrived there two ours later and our families were already waiting for us. We were really tired but happy to see our parents and friends again.
That was how our journey ended after three weeks. Some of us wanted to go back immediately and others were happy to be back at home but I think everyone was satisfied with the three weeks. We experienced a lot and we had the chance to get to know a different and new culture. Some of our prejudices became true others did not but all in all it was more than interesting.