Veterans day.

There is one thing I can say about Americans. They are patriotic. Friday we had an assembly in school. We were remembering the soldiers that have fallen. There was one question that was asked. " Please those of you who had a relative in the army stand up." The whole school stood up. We also had  some guest soldiers from the Vietnam war from the Marines, Air-force, Army. They read us a letter of a fallen soldier that he sent couple days before he passed away. Then we had a minute of silence and to be honest the silence was real. You could drop a pencil and everyone would hear it. One of the teachers said something interesting.

"Every time you see a soldier just go up to them and say : "Thank you for your service."

After the assembly we went outside Everyone got a balloon and released it. 

Mix of everything

Yeah this post is a bit late but still it's Movember. I had no clue what is Movember. For a Month you basically don't shave. I have never done that before.

Today our lunch was a bit unusual. We usually sit outside but today a couple of guys who are new to the school were invited to "Link crew."  It's a group of people who want you to make connections with people. The leader is my American Literature teacher Ms. Dunfield and she is an amazing teacher.

Me and Angel were supposed to go for an activity with the culture club today. It was painting on t-shirts.
- I don't have a T-shirt I can paint on
- There are only 2 exchange guys in the club and me being alone painting T-shirt? Nah....

Scarywood

I heard a lot of people talking about scarywood. How great it is. I was looking forward to it and I wasn't disappointed. We got dropped of by the park. Lori and her family were there already. They arrived with a Camper. They have 2 exchange students + 5 kids. That's a lot.

From right to left- Sacha , Me, Michael, Thomas , Ema , Ratchel , Cristine, Zac and Nate.We were in the middle of a song. :)

The Larsens :)

http://www.scarywoodhaunt.com/

Wow. This park was focused mainly to scare the crap out of you. And it did.

In the park there were guys with chainsaws chasing people.( The chainsaws weren't real of course. They just made the same noise and smoke.)

We went to All the big roller coaster except one. It was closed. We'll go next time. We were in the park until 2AM I believe. After we went to the caravan and slept. 

The folowing day we went to the Larsen house.

It's pretty sweet. Climbing wall , pool table. We also shot from some guns.

An AWESOME WEEKEND!!!!

HALLOWEEEEEEEEN

Yess. One of the biggest holidays in the U.S. I have to say it was awesome. Our day started with school day. Me and Angel went to school with the costumes. Thomas left his costume home.I feel he made the smartest decision. I was so sweaty in my costume! It wasn't even funny. After 3rd period I had to take it off. 

Today on Halloween night there was a football game between our school and Shadle. The game was in the evening. I am glad I didn't go to the game. When we came home it was time to carve the pumpkins.

Mine is the one with the pencil :). They took us 2 hours.  Mine is on the left. After dinner we headed out to Trick or Treat!

We went from house to house and some of them gave us a LOT of candy. I mean a LOT. All I had to do is knock on the door and scream trick or treat. 

It was an awesome experience.

Blood drive.

So today was blood drive in school. It's basically donating blood in school. I really wanted to do that. I signed up couple days before. It took place in the atrium.

I signed up for my 4th period. I went there , everything was cool and then they asked: "Where are you from?" "Slovakia."
They replied that I cannot donate blood. He showed me a list of countries with 2 columns. In the first one there was a list of countries that were able to donate blood. In the second one however the heading said: Countries with pig disease... Slovakia was one of them.

Oktoberfest

Today after school I didn't go home. I stayed in school with my buddy Tyler. Our German teachers Frau Lazore and Frau Mai organized Oktoberfest in school. We met in her classroom and ate so much my pants almost cracked. While we were eating the sausages we also watched a movie- Disturbia. It was a movie I have seen before several times. It was pretty good. I haven't seen it for a while.
Here is a link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486822/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_21
Meeting new people is always fun.

Final Race

Our last race in the season. Everyone was pretty pumped up. Our meeting point was in front of the school early in the morning. We brought some chocolate milk. Yummy.  Before every single race we do our catclap ( It's basically a motivational speech before the race. People who are not racing motivate the ones who are.) There's one person who is screaming : "Cats on three: one two three!!!" and then everyone screams as loud as they can. This is supposed to start up your brain and  your body. Usually they use a pistol to start us off but , not today. There was a miniature cannon. The race began. Adrenaline rushing through my mind , people everywhere cheering for us , team-members screaming their lungs out to encourage us.  The first mile is the fastest mile. You don't even notice and you are at the one mile mark. After you pass that mark the hardest part of the  course began. The second mile. That 2nd mile is the toughest mile you can run. The 3rd mile is just going hammer mode. You use all of your energy that's left and go all in. It's an amazing feeling when you pass that finish line and you can honestly say to yourself that I gave it everything.

Columbus day

What si Columbus Day? I think that was the first question you asked yourself. Well here you go ..

Battle of the Bell # Crazy night

Wow.

http://youtu.be/AeDZDZmOxUA 

That's the word I could use for today. Friday started awesome. No school. We did some housework.  Collecting leaves in the backyard. We had a game tonight. Battle of the bell. It was basically a football match where the prize was a bell. The game was tense. However we managed to win. 17:14 It was awesome. 

After the game we drove home. Aprox. 2 blocks away from our house we had a red light and this guy ram's into us.  He was taking a right turn and switched to our lane. No one was seriously injured. He was really drunk and ran away. The police are searching for him.

They asked us a couple questions and wrote down everything in tablets. After couple minutes the drivers girlfriend came and she couldn't believe what he has done. She was apologizing for her boyfriend. If the police find him he's going to jail.

On Saturday morning we called a taxi and went to the race. It was okay. 

"Sheet of paper"

This is pretty funny.
Angel , my brother from Spain told me about him asking a sheet of paper from his classmate. However with his Spanish accent (which is pretty awesome) everytime he says sheet it sounds like s**t. I haven't talked a lot about Angel.
He's awesome. He likes soccer, has great humour a person that you can count on. Loves American muffins :)). I think everyone does.

So basically how it works here is if you missed a test here there is no "Nevermind, you don't need to take a new test." Oh yes you do. Today I had to skip lunch and go and do the test. The test was the day we went to Seattle. I had to eat my lunch almost alone with the teacher. It was weird.

Halloween is on 31st of October. I need to think of an original costume. If you have any suggestions just let me know in the comments.  :) Appreciated. 

Seattle

No school today :) . We got asked out and  traveled to Seattle.  The apartment is awesome. It has a pool too.
We packed out in our room  and went straight to the city.
It's huge. This was my first time in Seattle.
I'll post some pictures later. (They are on my camera and no notebook here :( )
When we were returning from Seattle to the Hotel we had good mood jokes and everything. We missed the turn to the hotel. Me and Abby laughed a lot. Then we turned around and we missed it again. We couldn't stop laughing. It was so funny. :)))

Local race

Today we raced gainst Mead. It's another  rival High school. The course was flat , that was great however it was cold and a very strong wind made it very hard to give my best. Actually today before the race I got a small present from some girls that I don't even know. :) That was really nice. Two mineral waters. I'll keep the tags.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Bellevue

Our team (The Wildcats) went to a race to Bellevue.  It was Awesome. Our trip started Friday morning. No school.  *-*.
We drove all the way to Bellveu. It was a long drive. We previewed the course, ran couple of miles and just enjoyed ourselfs.
We stayed in a hotel for a night. The dinner was huge. I ate as much as I could.
We had to be in our rooms by 9:00PM and lights out by 10:00PM. We actually follow what was said because we wanted to do great. In the morning we had to wake up at 6:30 and 6:45 we had a shakeout run. Then breakfast and we set off to the race. It was a huge one lap race . Sometimes I asked myself why am I doing this. And today I finally found out why. It's called an ADRENALINE RUSH. I get it on the beginning and on the end of the race. It's much more intense on the end. When I take thr final corner and see thr finish line everything goes silent. I am completely deaf. I don't hear anything just me and the finish line. And that one moment is one of the best moments I have ever experienced. I want to train as hard as I can. When I go back I would like to run in races.

Bellevue

     Tomorrow the Wildcats are going for a race to Bellevue. It's almost a 5 hour drive with the bus. We will preview the course, throw our stuff in our rooms and buy some lunch. Saturday we have to get up at 06:30..... . Then a shakeout run, breakfast of "Champions" and getting ready for the race.            The race is another 5 kilometer race. I hope I'm ready for it. Today we ran 1 and a half hour straight. It doesn't sound to be a lot but believe me it is. We will see how will it turn out. This is our first trip where we actually sleep. The whole team is going. I'm very excited.

We arrive home at 9:30 PM to the school.

The health of my body.

I'm doing a lot for my body the last month.
Cross-country is great for my heart legs and breathing. I feel much better than I felt the first week of running.
I'm working out as well. Weightlifting Mon-Fri. I'm pushung my body to the limits. :) And it's awesome. However I need to learn to go to bed early.

Coach says it's important. Sleep before 10pm. Well right now its 22:32 so we can say I failed. :) The first days I was up until 3 even 4. And than imagine how much energy I had the other day. This is something I need to work on.

Funny rules

We have a main rule in the household.
1 . Don't listen to Jack
He talks a lot.  Some of the stuff is very interesting. Duane said that when he talks some of the information is real and some is made up. If he doesn't know the answer to something he makes it up.
2. Don't listen to Abby
3. Don't listen to Thomas
These rules are just for fun.
I love listening to them. :) They are funny.

Homecomming vs homecomming

Yesterday was homecomming in Mount Spokane. Angel went there and had a good time. Meanwhile I went to play bowling with other EF students. I met George who was flying with me from Austria. They are having homecomming next week and I will be joining them.

Well...

Today I went to school with flowers and a chocolate to ask a girl for homecomming. She was in my first period class , but I waited. After that I went to 2nd period and looked for her. She was in the Choral room so I went there kneeled down and asked her for homecomming. After that she said that she already had a homecomming date so.. But it was fun :)
She's really cool .  We had another race today and our team did great our top 5 runners were in the top 10 . I finished the race. That's always my only goal. And I accomplished it. Go Cats Go!

Sweets

In the evening I have given Abby and Jack some slovakian sweets and I wasn't expecting these results
     They tried Horalky and Deli. On a scale 1-10 horalky got 100/10. I was really surprised they liked it so much.
The second and the last sweet was Deli. When Jack took a bite he ran to the toilet and spitted it out. Abby swallowed it somehow. The score on the scale 1-10 was -10 A couple days back I brought snacks to the tv, a box of Tyčinky.  They loved it. It's interesting how we all differ from each other.

5K race

Race day today :) I have to say It was amazing experience we woke up really early, rode to the school, picked up our stuff and went to the race. We waited for aprox. 1 hour and then we did the 5 kilometer race. To be honest I am a bit proud of myself :) . In the morning I wasn't convinced I can do the race. We did the  warmup and I was already dead. When the race started I sprinted and after the first K I had to slow down. I couldn't keep up. But I ran as hard as I could. The only thing I remember is that somehow I gained energy the last 600m and ran full hammer mode. I never ran so hard as I did today. We finished second to the last but I wasn't competing against the other team but against my own limits. Afterwards we had some small snack and went home. Tomorow another "shakeout" run. We will see if I will be able to get up from the bed.

Cross country 1day before DDay

Today it's Friday Yay. Todaywe had evacuation in the school in the middle of Maths. That was cool. Afterwards in the lockers I hit my head in the locker's corner. I was a bit dizzy but I still went for a run. Tomorow we have a cross-country race. It was like a small practice. After the practice we went for dinner to a friends house. It was awesome. The whole team was there. At first I thought I wouldn't go because my head was hurt bad. But I'm glad I went . We had a lot of fun . Diner was awesome. Meatballs ,pasta and dessert. Just chillin , talking , it was great. After diner we went out with Abby to the playground. She made some new friends . :)

Tomorow I need to get up at 6AM. We will run as a team I hope I will be able to keep up with them.

The School

       I would like to say a few words about my school. First of all its huge. To be honest I got lost a couple times here. We have 2 bigger breaks where students eat. On the first break one half of the school is eating while the second half is going to the classes. On the second break they switch. They have to otherwise they wouldn't fit in the hall. You can pick any class you can imagine.

When the bell rings it's really hard to move in the coridoors. 

So many people moving everywhere.

        Like one week ago i was given two lockers, one for crosscountry and one for books and my jacket and stuff like that. There are two codes to remember and I lost the code for the locker which is for the books.However I wouldn't really use the locker anyway so.  

Mount Spokane

Today we drove up to Mount Spokane :). I'm looking forward to ski on these slopes. When we drove up I could feel the difference on the air. Much cleaner, much easier to breathe. 

.

I noticed a couple things when we went on this trip.

1. Duane ( my host father) has never actually passed anyone before. At least I have never seen him pass. :) (joke)

2. Jack ( my middle brother) is so afraid of driving in the mountains. I wanted to laugh so hard. I mean it was a normal road, a normal asphalt road.. . Just because there were some curves.. I don't really know.

3. Today Jack and Abby have seen grasshopper for the first time. When I was small I used to catch them. Today they learned to catch them :)

Today I finally figured out what I wanna study.

Today I finally figured out what I wanna study.

        I went from German 3 to German 1 but I think I can do more than that. German 1 are complete begginers however Thomas ( my host brother is taking the class). Tomorow I will have my first Biology lesson , looking forward to it. Oh by the way the crosscountry training is not so exhausting than it was before. I found my own style of running so I can keep up with the rest. God I feel so tired after school and the training. Today at lunch I sat with Arley a guy that I go to Maths with, I have to say he is really cool. He moved here couple years ago. He's also snowboarding so looking forward to that. None of my family members skies or snowboards so. Yeah..

Weird

So
Some of the people act a bit weird sometimes. You just need to figure out which ones you wanna have around. I know some amazing people that is fun to be with and then there is a group where you just dont want to be...
Anyway tomorow I will change some of my subjects. I tried something new. It's time to be serious.

1st day at school

The First day
We actually were learning.  The first day. Im not used to this. My brain is completely exhausted. And my body too. The school in the morning breaks down my brain and the crosscountry my body. :) Thomas said the lunch at the school is crapy but I was looking at it and it wasn't looking so bad. Tomorow I will try the food in school It cannot be so bad.

Yesssss

So good news
So basically I was supposed to stay at a arrival family and then go to my permanent family. However today they announced that I will be staying with them *-*. So happy

Blue Oyster Cult

Yesterday we went to a concert. One band was playing, Blue Oister Cult. I have to say they were really good. Some of the songs we really good. Jack enjoyed the concert vey much. We had a lot of fun.
I also ate my first American burger :3 

The Importance of Making friends

I signed up for crosscountry.
I wanted to try something new. My host Brother Thomas was doing cross-country and we joined him. I have to say the coach is Amazing . His speeches are very motivational. They take it very seriously.
After the training I had my first American Donut with chocolate milk. Nyumii.
Later we took some chairs that you can open and close and sit in front of the garage drinking mtndew. It was really needed after the training. I was dead.
For lunch we had hotdogs. :) The real American hotdogs. They were so good.