Lots of things happened!!

Hi Guys,

I'm back in Germany since a few weeks and I just forgot to write another post, but now I will, because I have a lot to tell!

Ok so we went to Charleston, SC and it was so fun! Right after we got there we went to the market. Charleston is famous for their market and you are able to find almost everything: Jewelry, shirts, games, food, books and a lot more. Also we just walked around and went to a restaurant.
There are a lot of pretty houses and churches and just the way how it looks, it just looks different if you compare it with other states like Texas.

After walking around a little bit we went to my aunt's brother's house and stayed with them.

On the next day we obviously went back to the city to go back to the market, because I wanted to buy some shirts and a hoodie (I just love to wear those hoodies). We also went to do a tour in a house. It's typical that tourists do a house tour in Charleston, because they look a little different than others.

We also saw this pretty door and I just had to take a picture.

Oh, by the way, close to the market there is a "Bubba Gump" restaurant. I bet you know what it is, well my aunt didn't know. It's from the movie "Forrest Gump". That was pretty cool, cause I've heard about it before but I've never been there and I just wanted to take a picture. Obviously. 

On the next day we went to the beach. It was like my second time ever and I really enjoyed it. But unfortunately I got a jelly fish sting. It was my first sting ever and it was stinging a lot and it got really red but well it's another experience. My aunt was asking me if I want her to pee on my arm and I was just like "No, thank you" lol:D Instead she rubbed some of the sand on my arm and it got better after about 15 minutes. 

I took a picture how it looked like ( I compared it with my normal arm):

I know, it doesn't look that bad but it actually wasn't the best feeling ever. The weird thing is: after a few days you couldn't see it that much anymore, but after like one week I had a delayed reaction and it looked even worse. 

So after that nice weekend we went back to Atlanta.

We used the time to finally see some museums in Atlanta! There are a lot of museum located for example the biggest Aquarium of the world, the World of Coca Cola, CNN, Human Rights Museum, Fernbank.. 

First we went to the Aquarium and my aunt told me that you can spend a whole day in it, but not with me lol. After about 1,5 hours we saw the whole museum and she was pretty surprised that we finished that early. 

After that we went to the Coca Cola Museum, because it's right across. At the beginning we got a free coke and after that we were standing in a room with many others and a guy were talking to us. He was asking if there are some international people in there and I was surprised that I wasn't the only German! 

After that we were able to walk around and see whatever we were interested in. We went to see how they fill up the bottles, saw a room filled with their advertisements all around the world, there was a little movie theater where you were able to see old and new commercials from all around the world and of course at the end there was a big room where you could taste their coke from all around the world. First I thought that you could taste how the normal coke or Dr. pepper tastest in different countries because there is a big difference, but you were only able to try different kinds for example "MezzoMix" in Germany/Europe. 

After a while my tummy started to hurt because I didn't eat that much before we went there and that was not a good choice.. it was just way to much acerbity. So remember: before you go to the world of coca cola, eat something in advance!

After we tried almost everything we went to the gift shop and seriously that was the best gift shop ever. And of course I bought a Coca Cola T-shirt, because I always wanted one and now I have a 

"real" one if you know what I mean.

After the world of Coca Cola we went to the Human Rights Museum and it was very interesting too!

On August 25 I finally flew to Texas to see my host family again! I was pretty excited and I was so happy to be back and see everything again. We had a great time, even tough it was a little busy because my host sister moved in her dorm and I came during school but still it was nice to be back.

I also met my best friend and I was so happy about it. We never stopped to have contact (and we still text a lot) so it was so great to spent time together, to drive around and just to wake up the next day and you know you are with people around you know and it's like the greatest thing ever.

She also started to go to college so I went with her to her dorm and the first night we stayed there and on the next day we went to her house. It was pretty cool to see the college life and to stay in her little dorm which is so comfy. 

We also went back to our old High School to see our favorite English teacher again! It was so cool cause so many things changed but still it felt like the school I was going to and I wish I could still be there since it was that easy lol.

In the evening we met up with another close friend of mine and we just went to eat in one of my favorite Mexican restaurants and we just had a great time. But it was just so hard to say bye because I really enjoyed the time and I wished we would have had more time together.

Unfortunately I had to leave on the next day. It was pretty sad.. The time went by way to fast!! Olivia took me to the airport and then it was time to say bye again! But of course we took some last selfies.

After three hours I was back in Atlanta. And did I ever tell you guys that Atlanta is the biggest Airport in the world? First I didn't believe it, but now I can tell! It took me 45 Minutes to get to the baggage claim and it was a domestic flight! Well I was walking. There was also the chance to take the train but I thought it wouldn't be that long so I walked but now I know that I will use the train next time! 

It was sad that I had to leave Texas again but I was also happy to be back with my aunt, because Atlanta and my aunt are my second home now. So I was happy to be back home!

Ok so now I have to tell you guys something that happened to me! Well, on our way from D.C. to Asheville I got stopped by the police, because I was driving a little bit too fast! I got really scared when I saw the blue lights in the rear window as you can tell. Well first we thought I got a speeding ticket but when we got to the hotel room it turned out that it is a reckless driving ticket. I got stopped in Virginia and everything over 80 is reckless driving (I was driving in a 70 mph zone). To understand it better: Speeding ticket fine is up to $200 and a reckless driving ticket fine is up to $2500 !! So first we couldn't do that much so we still enjoyed our time but when we got back to Atlanta we were already talking about it what we will do about it. We talked to attorneys because the thing is that a reckless driving ticket is a number one misdemeanor and it means for me that I will have big problems to enter the U.S. in the future! So while I was in Texas my aunties were keeping in touch with an attorney and he told us to sign me up for a defensive driving school and I also had to get my drivers history records from Germany which is really difficult to get when you're in the US! So while I was in Texas I also had to take care of that stuff and I also rescheduled my flight and I had to contact my principal to let her know I will be back one week later. After a lot of stuff to do we've finally managed it that the town hall office in Germany got my paper and I was signed up for a defensive driving school.

So defensive driving school was pretty boring. Well I was sitting there with 9 others in a class room to study the Georgia traffic laws and how to be a defensive driver for six hours.. but at least we got free pizza. 

We thought that I have to go to court because in Georgia you have to. So we went to buy some conservative clothes but two days before the court date it turned out that we don't have to appear. Also they rescheduled my case to October 27. Yes, today is my court date and I'm so curious how it will turn out!

UPDATE: It turned out that they took it down to 79 and now I just have to pay $200 (fine + court costs)!! You guys can't believe how happy I am right now!!

The only good thing about it was that I was able to stay 10 more days in the U.S.! 

I don't know if you guys can tell but I just love the U.S. - it's my second home and it would be the worst thing ever if I wouldn't be able to enter this great country anymore! 

- Deborah

Back in the U.S.

Hi Guys,

I'm finally back in the U.S.! Right after I got back home from my exchange year, I told my parents  I will go back next year and I did. So right now I'm visiting my aunt in Atlanta, GA and we're doing a road trip of the Eastern part of the U.S. and next week I'll be in Texas again to visit my host family and my best friend! So exited already!

So I'm having a good time over here! I just love it to be here and I wish I could stay longer than just 5 weeks..

Ok so we've been doing a road trip and I've been to so many states now. We were driving through Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware and Maryland.

Ok, so first we went to Pittsburgh, PA. We took 11,5 hours to get there and I was driving most of the time. It's not that easy though cause there is speed limit and I'm not used to that! Well I was driving slow compared to Germany but we got there and that's all that counts.
We had a blast in Pittsburgh! The first day we were in Pittsburgh downtown. We went to the "Heinz Museum" (yes, Heinz ketchup was found in Pittsburgh) and then we went up an incline and saw the city from up there and it was really pretty!

In Pennsylvania there are a lot of towns and places that have Indian names because back then Indians used to live there. So up that hill or mountain or whatever it was there was that sculpture where you can see when a Indian man saw a white man for the first time.

So the next day, we drove to Canada to see the Niagara Falls. Acutally we drove to Canada by mistake because I got out the wrong exit but well I enjoyed crossing the border!

So this is the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls:

and that's the American side (lol):

so yeah you kinda see the difference lol.

Ok, so on our way back home something really funny happened! We were like one hour away from Pittsburgh but we really had to get gas so we stopped at a little gas station and of course I had to use the restroom. So I went and I saw this:

Seriously guys, I was cracking up!! I've never seen something like that before!! I really had to take a picture of that! I just think this is hilarious!!:D

The next day we were heading to Philadelphia! And we booked a bus tour "Philly by night" so we had to hurry a little bit but we got there on time. That night tour was great! We were able to get our first impression of Philly and we really enjoyed it. Unfortunately,  parking was really expensive. I paid $31 for 3h!  But well I found a cheaper parking place for the next day. We got up like at 6 am to go to Philly downtown so we can do as much as we can. In the morning we went to see the official stuff like Independence hall and Liberty Bell (by the way, Philly used to be the capital of the U.S.).

After that we went to the Estern State Penitentiary. It was really interesting how it looked like back then! 

after that we went to the "Mütter Museum". It's a medical museum. It was really interesting!

So after that we finally went to eat something. Because of the heat we didn't eat that much so we ended up eating something after 22h!! Can you believe that? 

So we were really exhausted but we had to leave to go to Washington D.C. - so after about 3h hours we got to D.C. and we went straight to bed and slept in. So we started late but well. So of course we had to go to Macy's (we love Macy's) so we were looking for that store over one hour lol, By the way it was super hot! It was 37 degrees celscius (98F) but the humity was like 80%!! So being outside was awful. 

After Macy's we went to the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. We went there during the sunset and after a while it got dark and it just looks so nice when everything is lit up.

 

 On the next day we went to see the White House (we couldn't go inside because you have to to ask at the consulat 6 months in advance!) and we wanted to see the capital and the holocaust museum.
But it was way too hot! It was 46 degrees celsius real feel (110F). So we basically just went to eat and to the White House. The capital was already closed and we were too exhausted to go to any of these museums. Unfortunately.

On the next day we went to Asheville, NC. There is the largest house of America located. It's called the "Biltmore Estate" and it just looks like a house of a fairy tale book. 

It is huge and it's really beautiful from the inside and also from the outside! 

To sum up, these last 10 days were filled with many hours in the car, sleepiness, happiness and laughing. We saw a lot and I loved it!

On Friday we're going  to Charlston, SC and I'm already looking forward to it because people told me it is a really pretty city and there's a lot to see. 

Next Thursday I will finally see my host family and best friend again! Then I will have a few more days in Atlanta and then I have to go back to Germany. Why does time fly by so fast?

- Deborah