Wisconsin Dells

As an AFS exchange student everybody has a liaison. A liaison is a volunteer from AFS, that you can trust. If you have any kind of problem, your liaison will always be there. It happens to be so that mine and Minks are the same. I have loved my liaison, and I was very sad to say goodbye to her. But before that happened, she took me and Mink down to Wisconsin Dells. Wisconsin Dells is known for their big water parks and resorts. We went to Mt. Olympus, and I have never seen anything like it. It was huge! And really American. I love water, so it was so much fun. On this picture is Mink, me and my liaison's son. 

All of us on the lazy river. A lazy river is a kind of an artificial river with artificial current. As it says you can be laying lazy and just go with the flow. 

This was one of the water towers:

These were crazy! Of course we went on both of them, and actually the curvy one was the worst. I have never seen anything like it.

Wave pool. The wave sometimes got over 10 feet. It was crazy!

Gocarts:

Minigolf:

This was a goeth house our liaison got us lured into. It is called the Upside down house. It was very crazy and scary!

And of course the food. So yummy!

Love sushi!

- Troldungen

Last day of school

So yesterday was last day of school and it was sad because something great was ending, but also good because it is also the beginning of something new. My day started out really bad actually by one of my favorite teachers announcing she wasn't going to be here next year. Even though I am not going to be there next year either, it means that even though I might return one day, she won't be there. She was my debate and anthropology teacher, and I loved her. She was a great teacher, and I loved her stories about her kids. That is actually very common over here. A teacher telling the class about their past and their family. At least it is more common than in Denmark.

That was my 1st period, and when I then came to my 2nd period, my choir teacher then gave the same announcement. He was my choir teacher, and he has teached me a lot. I have taken choir the whole year, and some of my best memories from my year has been choir related. For example I can still clearly remember honors choir, and that was truly amazing. 

When then my 3th period started, which was American history, I didn't think it could be worse. Fortunately he did not give the message about not being here next year, so my bad morning stopped there. The rest of the day ran about as smoothly as it could, and we came to our last period. Before it even started people started crying, and everybody was saying goodbye. And when I say everybody I mean literally everybody. Well except me though. I don't know what was wrong with me, but I just didn't cry. Perhaps it is because I know I am going to see my friends again, because Mink and I are having a goodbye party, or perhaps I just didn't realize it was my last moments of my schooling at Webster high. I have enjoyed my time at Webster a lot, but at the same time it is time for me to move on. I think I am ready to go to a school where it actually matters for my future if I do good or bad.

- Troldungen

Prom and a little yard work

So i just realized I never had posted pictures of Prom, or other things, so here is a bunch of the pictures:

Prom:

Me and Marie:

Yard work: (now there is a little more leafs on the trees)

We got cows:

Mink is workig hard:

One of my host dad's work trucks....

AFS pre-departure:

May 5th:

Me and my american friend Sadie:

Having fun at Walmart:

-Troldungen

Aloha!

So last week I returned from what people call paradise. The trip was a week long, and it was an organized trip only for exchange students. It was through the organization Belo USA, and the trip I was on was almost only AFS's exchange students. We were 55 people from 14 different  countries. We were 4 from Denmark. 2 of them I knew in the first place, but not well. Because almost half of us were from Norway, a lot of people knew each other from before. As a result of that, it took me a couple of days before I found the right group to go in. At last I found some really nice girls I had a lot of fun with. Belo had a set of rules that we all needed to sign before anything else. Including these rules, were we couldn't drink, smoke, do drugs, get a tattoo or date with other exchange students participating in that trip. If you broke these rules you would get sent back to the main land for your own cost. 

The first day, Sunday:

Because of our flight the day before (10 hours) they had a relaxing day ready for us. The program was some surfing in the morning, and then some sailing with a catamaran around lunch. Surfing pictures will come, when I get home to a cd. drive. 

The second day, Monday:

The bus was heading the north shore, and from the morning we were experiencing the Hawaiian spirit. The first stop was at the government building, and then walking over the the last queens palace.   On our way to the north shore, we stopped at the DOLE plantation. For you who don't know that DOLE is, it is a brand of pinnacle and other fruits. And there was pineapple everywhere. That was a lot of fun. After a could of different stops, we arrived at the Polynesian cultural centre. Here we spent the rest of the day discovering 7 of the Polynesian cultures. We finished it of with a true Hawaiian show. The bus was very quiet on the way home. 

The government center:

From the inside:

All the girls on the trip in front of the last queen:

The palace, where the last queen lived:

All the boys in front of the last king:

Finally I got sushi, after 8 months of none:

Just a walk on the beach:

Our bus:

The polynesian cultual cenre:

Our Ukulele team:

The third day, Tuesday:

Today we were going to visit the east side of the Island. Boarding our bus, we were heading to the Pali Lookout, a spot that could easily have blown us all away (Both mentally and physically). The Nuuanu Pali Lookout ("Cool Height Cliff") overlooks the 985 foot cliffs of the Koolau Mountain Range. It was here in 1795 that King Kamehameha and his warriors defeated the O'ahu armies and united the Hawaiian Islands.  Some history is always good! From there the bus was heading the most beautiful beach  on the island (or it looked that way). The waves was really big, and also sometimes too big, but most of the time it was a lot of fun!

A view point on our way home:

The fourth day, Wednesday:

Departure to Diamond Head Trail! It was a breathtaking view from the top of Diamond Head, the world's most famous volcanic crater. Don't worry about us falling in the lava though - Diamond Head has been extinct for 150,000 years.  It even served as an early Naval Defense Base in the United States Military . We hiked one mile up sunny trails and unique spiraling staircases. The stairs was the worst part though. It was good to hike a little bit again, because that is a long time since I have done that, and it was actually a lot of fun.  The view from the top, was truly amazing.

Our view from the hike:

The fifth day, Thursday: 

Pearl Harbor was the destination today. We started out splitting up in 2 groups when we arrived on the USS Missouri. I was part of the team that did the community device first. Jep you read correct community service! It mainly consisted of disinfecting railings, an it was a lot of help for the ones that normally cleans the ship. After the community service, we headed for a tour under need deck. After a quick lunch, we headed to the USS Arizona. It was a very touching place, and as all other American memorials build very well. 

The wire system is fantastic:

An officer cabin:

The normal crew's bed:

The memorial:

The USS Arizona was never reconverd:

The memory wall of all the lost lives:

The sixth day, Friday:

Our last day... Snorkeling! My snorkeling buddy was a girl from Italy, and we had a great time. I didn't like the snorkeling though. The water was only 4 feet deep, so the coral reef reached up, so sometimes you couldn't avoid touching it. And they were like, ohh you can see sea turtles... Maybe it is just me, but I don't want to meet a sea turtle in so shallow  water. Maybe I am also a little bit afraid of them... Maybe. The beach was also a lot of fun, so we had a blast. In the evening we went to a luau.  The sunset was beautiful, and the hula dancers were really good. 

The danish people on the trip:

These 2 girls! So amazing! The short one is from Italy, and the one with the white dress is from Colombia, but before she went on her exchange she lived a couple of years in Brazil:

Our little group:

This girl though... Miss you sooooooo much!

And a picture with the hula guys:

Over all it was an amazing trip, and now I have even more friends around the world.

- Troldungen