Monday, January 6, 2014

STS Ski Trip Day 3

Hi, this is Marita! This was the last day of the trip.. I had SO much fun! The skiing was definitely my favorite part, it was just amazing to go done some of those hills... I've had an amazing trip and I've made great friends! - Marita, from Norway.

My name is Shelby Castor and I am one tired girl. I feel like we’ve been going nonstop for about a week. But it’s probably just from a lack of sleep. Today we got up and started the long trip to the ski lodge after a breakfast from the amazing Buschs. After a very very quiet bus ride (everyone was sleeping) we made it to the lodge and that’s when I started to get nervous. I wanted to put off the skiing as long as possible. I was so nervous that I would break my leg or something. I’ve obviously never been skiing before. But after some convincing, Marita the Norwegian Skiing Expert made me get out there. The boots hurt and I couldn’t move…. I thought skiing was going to be easy, but the hardest part was actually moving on level ground. But after 2 trips on the bunny hill, Marita and I went up to one of the easier hills. But I hadn’t learned how to stop yet…. Marita started down the hill nice and slow as to keep up with me, but I zoomed past screaming as fast as possible. Marita would NOT stop laughing!!! I basically just kept going until I finally slowed down. But after a few more lessons, I learned how to ski pretty good and I even went on some of the harder hills! I had lots and lots of fun today!!! – Shelby Castor

Hello! Here is Rebecca the foreign from Brazil and I just have to say this: I don’t have words to describe today! My first time skiing, a different experience that I love! We arrive in Minnesota in the ski station and rent the skis and started putting it on and all the jackets and coats because was really cold, of course. We went outside and I was in front of a beautiful view, with a lot of hills and a lot of expert skiers going down really fast! I, like a Brazilian girl who have no idea how ski, took a lesson, what was really good for me learn the basic. The teacher was great and helps me a lot! We started in the small hill and then in the bigger ones. I enjoy the lift, is amazing is long, slow but with this machine we can go to the top of the hills and start the adventure of go down the hills. The sensation is hard to explain, you have to ski to fell the how delicious it is, go down the hills and control yourself and the ski, doing movements, watch in the sides for don’t crash with other people and all this together have a excellent result that I love! I skied a lot and I want ski other times, more, more and more. Was a new experience that I tried and I don’t want quit! Last day memorable and really fun! Thank you very much for all the Busch that host us in the cute and warm house with delicious food, with hospitality and for everything that they did for us. I just have to say was a incredible trip with great people that I will remember forever! Thanks and I love it!- Rebecca from Brazil!

Hey there it is Dominik again. Today we had breakfast and went skiing in Minnesota. The bus ride was fun, but snowboarding was even a lot better. It was just awesome. We were teaching Andrew how to ski. He did pretty good… The hills were not that high but it was still very fun to go down there. After lunch we still went snowboarding, actually I was one of the few who snowboarded, but however it was just a lot of fun. After we were done skiing we went to a restaurant and came back home. Now we are playing some games. I really enjoyed that Day today and I am already really sad that we have to leave tomorrow….--- Dominik from Germnay

Hey, this is Charlyne! This morning,we had to wake up really early because we had to leave at 8:30am and we all needed the shower! We went skiing, it was the first time for me. I am not going to lie, I was really nervous. The boots hurt a lot and my legs still hurt too. I fell the first time I tried to go down and I was mad so I took a break. Then I asked someone to help me and I knew who to do. I finally got it! We will leave tomorrow at 8:30… I am sad because it was amazing and so much fun! – Charlyne from France

Hey, this Maria! Okay, so today was the day we have been skiing and it was my very first time. I was kind a really afraid, but I needed to try it and of course I was terrible and fell all the time. But I wouldn’t give up so I kept going and now I am still terrible and still fall all the time, but I am getting it now and think its fun!! And I just love to be here with all the other awesome people and Loretta and bill are some very good people (making wonderful good food)!!! – Maria from Denmark

Hey, this is Ilaria! Today was a really fun day! We left at 8:30 and we went to Minnesota. For the first time I skied and actually I think it’s really cool! I fell down many times but at the end I learned! Now I’m really exhausted and it’s so sad thinking it’s our last day here! –Ilaria from Italy

Day 3, ski trip to ND: Finally skiing! After about 3 or 4 hours of sleep we left bright and early to go to Minnesota. It wasn’t too cold, and I got a lot of skiing in..I love skiing! I’m so sad that today is the basically the last day of our trip and possibly the last time I’ll get to see some of these amazing people! :/ But I’m soo glad I came and can’t wait for another 8 hour trip with minimal sleep tomorrow!
—Joy (the American)

It’s Emma here again. Today was amazing! After only few hours of sleep we left at 8:30 to Minnesota. It was kinda cold and the wind was freezing, but you forgot it when you got up the hill and was ready to go down. The bus ride back to Lisbon was so much fun when everyone was singing together and dancing lol. I don’t want to think that it’s our last evening together, gonna miss everyone! – Emma the Finn

Hey, it’s Cassandra here again, and this will be the last blog I’m going to write. I had such a fun time today, we went skiing. First me and Charlyn went to the Bunny hill, and we thought we kind of knew what we were doing, so we went to one of the green hills, that was not a good idea, because we didn’t know how to slow down. So I first saw Charlyn fall down in front of me and then I fell down too. So we walked down, through the trees..Then we decided that we should ask someone how to ski, so a guy who worked there helped us with the basics and we practiced a little on the bunny hill again and then we tried and green hill, and we made it, so we went on that hill a couple of time. First I hated Skiing and now I like it. So I say the day went pretty good, except that I broke my cast.- Cassandra

Hey! This is Edith..last night we played hide and seek in a close by church which was really scary!!!!!!!! Today in the morning everyone was really tired so we all slept on the bus to Minnesota, where we went skiing. It was soo much fun and even the people who have never skied before learned it pretty quiquly! We had so much fun on the bus ride home!! It was such an amazing trip, I had so much fun and I hope we will do it again some time!-Edith from Austria

Hey, it’s Fabian! Today we went skiing in Minnesota. It took us two hours to get there. Even if it was really cold and windy, we had a great time. It was lots of fun to watch the exchange students who never have been on skis. But they did really good for their first time. Everybody was able to leave the “bunny-hill” at the end. When we were on our on our way home we had a quick stop at Arby’s and McDonald’s to get our supper. I found it pretty mean that they left me at the gas station just because I had to wait for Dominik, who was in the bathroom. I figured out that there are no snow free side-walks in Minnesota while trying to get back to the bus! Fabian, the cooler German! ;)

Our final day here on our ski trip was inevitably filled with skiing... WHO'D HAVE THUNK IT? We woke up pretty early considering that we had only slept about 5 hours that night. Most of us slept on the 2 hour drive to the resort. Even though this was the first time I had ever skiing, I ended up being pretty good. All of the foreigners who had been skiing before helped us newbies out they were really good teachers. I really enjoyed the entire weekend and am glad that I was able to go and meet all of the people that I met. Andrew

STS Ski Trip Day 2

Howdy Family and Friends! It's another cold but sun shining day here in ND and once again the students have shared their thoughts on sledding here! Read all about it below!

Hey, it`s Edith..The second day of our ski trip was so much fun!! We went sledding and I got really wet, but we still had an amazing time! After the sledding we went home and changed into warm clothes, then we went to a Coffee shop, where we met a Reporter from the local Newspaper…After that we went to the Pizza Ranch and ate a lot of delicious Pizza J Edith

Hello! This is Cassandra. This was our first whole day here in ND, and we had so much fun sledding. It got really wet, but I guess I made up for today’s basketball practice I missed, by running up the hill, it wasn’t that hard though. Then we ate at pizza ranch and it was good. Right now we’re playing games and eating amazingly good caramelized popcorn! Cassandra- The Swede

Wuhuu, this is Fabian! When I woke up today it was almost time for lunch…. We had an awesome lunch, made by Grandma and Grandpa Busch. Thanks!! After lunch we went sledding. We had lots of fun, but at the end Dominik became injured and had to go to the hospital. So we had to move on without Dominik to our interview with the local news reporter. We had a cool interview, and luckily Dominik could join us for the group picture later. The day ended with a nice supper at the Pizza ranch… Yummy!

This is Shelby the native from Nebraska. Last night was really fun! All the kids stayed up until 3 am taking turns saying phrases and words in their own language. We Americans picked out things for them to say. Then after waking up, our amazing host and hostess had set breakfast out for us to eat whenever we got around to it. After taking a coldish shower, I headed upstairs and we played cards and did magic tricks until lunch. Lunch was another amazing dish made by the fantastic hosts. After lunch everyone got all their warmest clothes on and we piled in the bus to go to the sledding hill. Sledding was very fun and very cold but afterward we went to a cute coffee shop and we were interviewed by a woman from the newspaper. Then we went to Pizza Ranch!!

This is Charlyne from France. I was really tired this morning because we went to bed at 3am. I had so much fun today! We played in the snow and after that, we went to a coffee shop. We were interviewed by the newspaper, it is the first time for me! Then, we came back home and we said some words in every language. We ate pizza and we are going to play some games… I enjoy this trip so much because I am with so many awesome peoples.

This is Maria from Denmark. Yesterday night we stayed up kind a late and I didn’t really get much sleep, but of course I had enough energy for sledding. It was fun, I had done that for a while, and it felt good to be a kid again. Afterwards we went to the coffee shop to have an interview with the newspaper in North Dakota. Supper was at a pizza buffet place it was delicious!! And now I am standing here in a noise, because the other are playing a really loud game called spoon. It gets pretty wild!!

It’s already the second night here in North Dakota. I just love it here. It is so much fun and it helps me a lot to forget that Le Shai is gone. It helps me to talk to the other exchanche students and I think I found some really good new friends. We do a lot of things here, like today we went sliding (however you call it ;)). I also teached the others how to play the game “Werwoelfeln” its so much fun! We also teach each other our language what is so funny! I hope it stays like that! – Megan

Day 2 of Ski trip to ND: It wasn’t as cold today, (0 degrees!) although we did go sledding for a few hours and my toes felt like they could be severed off by the end of it. But then, we went to a coffee shop to warm up and talked to a newspaper reporter about the students. For supper, we ate at the Pizza Ranch which was very delicious and from then on it has been nothing but playing games, speaking languages, learning about each other, and a lot of yelling (right now we are playing pit/spoons) Tomorrow, skiing!!
--Joy (The American)

Well its day 2 now and I just love it here. I woke up when it was time for lunch J. After that awesome lunch which was prepared by Grandma and Grandpa Busch, we went sledding down a street. That was a lot of fun but at the end I crashed and was injured at the chin. It was bleeding a lot, so I went to the hospital with Jen. The doctor was very kind and glued my chin back together. I missed the first hour of an interview, but I returned when they were taking the pictures. After that we ate supper at Pizza Ranch and now we are playing spoons and we are having a lot of fun. :D --- Dominik (from Germany)

Hi! This is Marita. This day has just been great! We’ve been sledding, had an interview, ate at Pizza Ranch and played a lot of spoons. It has just been awesome. I am really looking forward to skiing tomorrow, and for the rest of this trip. I hope everyone are enjoying themselves as much as me!
- Marita, from Norway.

Hey, this is Ilaria! Today was awesome! After taking a shower we had a delicious lunch. Later we went out sledding and it has been really cold! I had already seen snow in Italy but never that much and never that temperature! At 4 we went to a coffee shop where we had an interview. For supper we went to Pizza Ranch…Pizza was not bad but nothing compared to Italian pizza! Tonight we played spoons and right now hide and seek! –Ilaria (Italy)

Hello everybody!!! Here is Rebecca. Second day is almost in the end, but was a amazing and memorable day. We wake up, had a good breakfast and then a delicious lunch and we went sledding! Was my first time in this adventure but I love it! Was cold but we had a lot of fun together. Then we went to a coffee shop for an interview which was great and finally we went to supper in a place called Pizza Ranch which is really good with a lot of kinds of pizza and others foods. Now we are playing a incredible game called spoons and doing some fun things all together! This is was excellent and and I love everything ! I’m so excited for tomorrow for going skiing! Rebecca from Brazil!

Hey, it’s Andrew again. Today has been a day filled with lots of fun, and too much cold. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being here in North Dakota. The one thing that wasn’t so great was the fact that my roommates found it to be a good idea to stay up until 5:00AM. We went sledding, went to an awesome coffee shop, ate at Pizza Ranch, and played lots of games, including night hide-and-seek, and spoons. It’s been really enjoyable so far, but I’m really looking forward to finally skiing tomorrow.

From our slightly cold sledding picture window to yours, have a great day!

Thursday, January 2, 2014

STS Ski Trip Day 1, 2014

Howdy Family and Friends~
Welcome to our blog--this time from my foreigners! We have made a very cold, fun, LONG trip to North Dakota and soon to Minnesota to go skiing! So, here's to Day 1 for our STS Trip!

Hey there, this is Dominik and we went up to North Dakota for our skiing trip. The ride up there was pretty fun and I met a lot of new, awesome people. We had a lot of fun in the bus… when we arrived, we brought our stuff in the house and warmed up. Then we took some pictures and now I’m writing that blog… Dominik J

Hey, this is Fabian. Today we arrived in North Dakota, after an eight hour trip. The tour was pretty fun, we played lots of games and talked a lot, but it also was cold. At the time we arrived I couldn’t feel my feet anymore… Now everything is fine again, the house of Dave’s parents is nice and warm…. Fabian J

Hello everybody!!! My name is Rebecca and I’m from Brazil!! We made it!!!! Yeahh! This trip going to be awesome and my first ski adventure. Memories for the entire life that will never end… It’s so cold! I’m freezing! I can’t feel my body anymore, but it’s ok! This is part of my dream! Thanks Jen and Dave for this amazing trip that is only in the beginning !!! Xoxo… Becca

Hi! This is Marita, the weird Norwegian. The bus trip was long, but we survived! I’ve had a lot of fun already, and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the trip. It is super cold right now, almost 17 below 0.. But it’s okay! These people are amazing, and I hope I will keep in touch with them for a long time. – Marita

Hey! This is Cassandra. The day started with that me and my host mom had to wait for the bus for 45 min, basically because we were early. I was really nervous, but when I got on the bus everyone was so nice, and we had so much fun, just during the bus ride, so I bet we’ll have a lot of fun! – Cassandra

Hello! This is Charlyne from France. I was on the bus at 4:00p.m because I went to a drama camp to see Shelby’s performance. By the way, she is my host sister. The trip was not really bad and was not so long. We played games on the bus and it was fun! The bad thing is that I just realized that I forgot a lot of things like clothes and this is not fun! – Charlyne

Hi, this is Ilaria and I’m from Italy. This is the first day in North Dakota… I’m so happy! Before leaving I was quite nervous because I didn’t know anyone but as soon as the bus left I met all of the others people and I really had a funny trip! We played games and laughed a lot! I can’t wait to spend other three days with them! –Ilaria

Hi, this is Edith from Austria. We started our trip at 14:30pm and we had a long drive to North Dakota…But we had a lot of fun in the bus, playing games even though it was really cold because the doors kept opening..I`m really looking forward to spending three more days with those awesome people!-Edith

Hey! This is Emma from Finland. It’s the first day of our skiing trip and I’m excited. After an 8-hour bus drive I’m happy to feel my body again. It was freezing! But it was all worth it, we had a lot of fun and I’ve become closer with everyone. It’s nice to get to know the people better and I’m looking forward to the next few days! –Emma

Hi! This is Maria from Denmark. I am so exited for the next couple of days, because I have never tried to ski before or been such a cold place. The bus trip to North Dakota was really interesting and pretty long. We learned fast each other better to know and I only looking forward to the next couple of days, its going to be awesome! – Maria

This is Joy and I’m from Broken Bow, U.S. Today is the first day of the ski trip and I’m very excited! We just got to Lisbon after 8 hours on a very freezing bus ride, so we are all very glad for the warmth! I feel like I have gotten to know everyone a lot better, and I can’t wait to go skiing on Friday! Also it is -18 degrees right now and getting colder. –Joy

This is Megan Wenger from Switzerland. The first day of the ski trip was awesome. We drove 8 hours and 12 minutes to Lisbon North Dakota. We played a lot of funny games during this long drive. It is very cold here and at the moment we are watching The Hobbit or playing cards. I like it!

This is Shelby Castor from Ericson Nebraska and I think making me blog is crazy because I am not an exchange student. *cough Jen cough* But I met the “party bus” in Atkinson and joined all the students in the freezing bus. But thankfully I got the seat right above the heater, so I was fineJ Dave’s parents have so kindly let us stay in their house. (Which is a crazy thing for them to do) And I am very thankful for that! But I’m very excited to go out in the frozen tundra and sled and ski and try not to break a leg! - Shelby

Hey, it’s Andrew Fields from Ord, NE. I had a great time coming up here on the bus. It was a decent drive with 8 hours of hanging with a bunch of foreigners playing Mafia and Truth or Dare. I met a lot of pretty cool people and I’m really glad that Jen let me come up with the group. Dave’s parents are so nice and extremely hospitable. The one complaint is the weather… it’s WAY too cold. I’ve been used to about 20 degrees Fahrenheit and it was about -15 all the way up here. I can’t wait to have a nice relaxing day tomorrow, and then go skiing on Friday. – Willy D.

From our fun filled COLD travel day to yours, have a great night~!