15. 01/07/15 HALFTIME

hey :)

okay it is absolutely amazing but it is halftime.
by halftime I mean that I have now reached the middle of my stay.
it has been 146 days since I left my lovely friends and family and I can say I am really proud of what I have achieved in these 5 months and I am grateful for every person I met and all the friends I made.

many students who are going abroad this summer are curious about how fast you can improve your english skills and maybe even become fluent and that is one of the reasons I thought I would make my first post in english.

I am one of those exchange students who still thinks nothing or just a tiny bit has changed in the way I speak even though literally everybody tells me I improved and got an american accent.

okay the accent is one of those things: americans still make fun of my german accent. there are words I simply can't pronounce without an accent. talking to germans it is kind of the opposite. I am told how american I sound. I agree with my amerian friends. sometimes when I just talk I don't feel like I have an accent and then suddenly I say something and it is back.

recently we got a new student from another school and I was talking to him like nothing. a week later he somehow found out that I am an exchange student. he told me that he didn't hear my accent. so it is kind of hard to make an statement but the closer you are to your friends the more they will hear your accent and the more they will make fun of you or make you say words like 'squirrel' like 564168 times after they saw a youtube video.. that word is just impossible to pronounce..

in general I just wanted to say that I am really happy here. I am enjoying ever single day. I have amazing friends and I can seriously call this place my home. thinking about going back is just weird. it is really hard to explain but I found a neat little quote :

you say goodbye to your friends,family and home to go back to your friends,family and home.

the accurancy is unbelievable. this is exactly what we are all thinking.
of course you miss home but you knew you would return.
but this here is temporary. you don't know when you are going to see everybody again.

but anyways, many exchange students say that the second half is even better than the first. there is prom, a new spring sport, travelling.. I am really looking forward to all these things.

ending this I would like to say thank you.
a big thank you of course to my parents back in Germany who made this possible.
I would like to say thank you to my amazing hostfamily that helped me lots here and tried their very best to make me feel like I am part of their family.
thank you to all my german friends who still text me once in a while asking how I am doing, appreciate it.
A big thank you also to my american friends. this year wouldn't have been the same without you. especially to vanessa. she always helped me with everything and is patient with me. I know it is anyoing to repeat yourself several times but you still did until I understood what you were saying.
and finally thank you guys for hanging in with me this long and reading this blog.

I'll see ya soon!

-betty

ps: the youtube video I meant : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FRD4uq1mVw
pps: I posted 30 new facts about america! click here: http://americastay.blogspot.com/p/todo-liste.html

I got a taste of you and now I can't let go ..
Can't Let Go - RuthB