Minnesota! Day 2

Howdy Friends and Family! Welcome to Day 2 of our blog! What a fun day we had! The students are full of surprises about their experiences and it has definitely been a day of memories...from crazy lunch at a place called Dick's Last Resort to being called by MOA Security because Mr. Italy can't produce an American form of ID since he is in the mall after 4 with out someone over the age of 21 to riding on the roller coaster with Miss China for her very first time!~

It’s so fun today because we all have time to SHOPPING and we played roller coaster and other things which is so fun and also scary. At night I go to the pool and swim with other kids which is hard for me to remember their name. Tired today but so fun !!! I love the restaurant that we went to eat for lunch by the way ! hahhaha so funnnnnn– bell
Cece and Joy on a secret mission tromme virvel, the perfect shopping team!!! We lost our heads again, shopping like there is no tomorrow. Just gotta love it, right there, js. Im not gonna lie! Jk.

Philip says that the mall was okay today, he even bought some stuff. Never thought that’s gonna happen…. The rides were really a lot of fun, and I’m totally tired now, so I’m done.


Today we planned on doing shopping all day. But really ended up spending most of the day at the aquarium and themepark. But somehow I still managed to buy a lot. The best part of the day was lunch and we were at a restaurant that “served with sarcasm”. You really had to be there. – Olivia

Heli: It was soo awesome today! The whole day shopping shopping and shopping! Toni and I take picture and bought a lot of pretty clothes. My feed are died, but it was perfect. We were eating in a nice Restaurant all together, it was fun!

Angela: WOOOOOWWWWW!!!! Jesus!!!! Today is my first time get on the roller coaster!!! It is full of fun!!!! I feel like I gonna die!!! Anyway, I survived! LOL! The most impressive thing I have experienced is the restaurant we went this noon, so much fun with the waiter, you really need to go and experience!! Shopping is also the best part for me! I AM A HUGE FAN OF SHOPPING!! Of course, I made a success today! WOOOHOOO!!! Holy crap, it seems like I got a best day ever!! I love the Mall of America! I enjoyed it a lot!!! Tomorrow is going to be a greaaaatt day too, I bet!! Anyway, thank you my host mom and Jen, because of you, I have enough courage to go on all different kinds of roller coaster! It was exciting!!

Alessio: it was so fun! I’m so tired now. We had an amazing lunch, a lot of shopping and a wonderful hot tub. But I’m here to try everything right? So I got caught, just because I didn’t have my passport with me. GOOD NIGHT! You bought it! BING BONG


Tonie : You know, when you are a little girl and you dreamt about big shops, HUDGE shops … American did it … Right I don’t feel my feet anymore but doesn’t matter. Spend time with people who understand you is just awersome… I m just a shopping addict person so, Mall of America is the paradise ! And the end of day with the hot tub Amazing … Now let me sleep in peace and let my feet die in peace !

From our very tired, full of memories picture window to yours, have a great day!

Goodbye Nebraska...Hello Minnesota!

Howdy Family and Friends! On the road again...just can't wait to get back on the road again...oh wait! 10 hours in the car with foreigners and loud music--this girl can! But the memories that we will make...priceless! Once again the students will be sharing their view of the day with you so enjoy!

Besides the long drive, today has been great. The Mall of America was amazing. So many shops that I have never heard of. I can’t wait to go shopping tomorrow. – Olivia McRobbie

It takes a long drive to come to MN but we did it !!!! we go to mall of America which is huge! I’m so excited to go to that mall again so I can buy clothes and other stuff which I already plan. Now, is 11:09 PM but we still waiting to eat pizza for supper !! we are starving !!! I love this trip by the way--- Bell

Ok, 10 hours of road, too much for me but be with other foreign exchange students is amazing. They just understand what are you feeling . Being is MN, is just awesome, because is the first time I really see a “city”. Mall of America, is hudge. Either way everything is hudge and bigger in Usa. I enjoy every seconds of this trip ! Antonine

Cece – WOW! I LOVE THE MALL OF AMERCIA! It’s a girl’s dream, I want to live here!! Is that legal? Traveling from burwell all the way to MINNESOTA was totally worth it!!! AND having Joy in the car with made everything just so much better! It’s sad to think of that this is the last trip we are gonna have together as the group, but let’s not be sad!!! WE ARE YOUNG, WILD AND FREE.

JOY – The mall of America is pretty darn intense! Just gotta love it! Can’t wait to go back tomorrow! Cec and me are a perfect shopping team! Not gonna lie, right there!
ALESSIO – I can tell you that stay with 7 girls in the Mall of America it is pretty intense. I never thought that the Mall was so hugeeeeee! CULTURE SHOCK!
The travel was a lot of fun. We talk about all our new expressions  Minnesota is awesome! It is the first real “city” I visit in America and I love it! Spend the night in the ‘Mall of America’ with all pretty nice people. I love shopping and I thing we have a amazing time here! - Heli -

Angela: BEST SHOPPOING TRIP EVER!!!! WOW! I know I am going to like this place. Though we had a long driving day, we still made a great time! Being in MN, is just amazing! Honestly, I am a big fan of shopping, tomorrow is going to super awesome! Love all of you exchange students! I hope I can make more memories here!! Too much fun, too much love.lol!!!

Philip says that the drive took forever, but we’re in the US, that’s okay. The first trip to the mall was okay, although I really cannot understand why all the girls are freaking out sooooooooo bad. Oh well, I’ll never understand……….. The rides tomorrow are gonna be fun, but we did the “worst” one today and it kinda wasn’t really bad at all.

And now me, Jen...what can I say, driving, having to stop so they can go potty because Mr. Italy is doing the potty dance in my front seat---even Jalise doesn't dance that good, ya, those are memories for me! From my foreign picture window to yours, have a great day!

Christmas Break, Sledding and Skiing with the foreigners!

Howdy family and friends! It's another foreigner blog! This time we write to you from the great state of North Dakota where we are only half our group, but having a great time in the snow!

Alessio- So happy to be here, I decided at the last minute to come here, but I’m so glad I decided to go. Yesterday was looooong, because of the nearly 8 hours we spent in the car. When we arrived here we had a super supper. After supper we tried to watch a movie, I’m saying try because I fell asleep after the first 10 minutes. This morning I woke up at noon and it was awesome. In the afternoon we went to sledding hill and I had a fight with Jen, I definitely won! After that we went to a coffee shop and we had dinner at the local Pizza Ranch. Now we are doing the interview for Tanner, and it is so fun to learn so much stuff from every country. BE BEEEE BEEEEEEEE

Cece/the best foreigner ever - we are finally doing something as a group again! Yesterday was long, but to spend nearly eight hours in a car with a bunch of foreigners and then there’s Jen/my American mom, is just so much fun. We arrived at our destination later than planned because of
GERMANY… but we’re not gonna go there. AND I MET GRANDPA FOR THE FIRST TIME, he is one cool man! He was also very good-looking as a senior! We played spoon, the first time for me! It’s a winner! Grandma and Grandpa Busch are amazing!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Simone – yesterday we went to Jens house and drove to North Dakota together. The ride was so much fun whit a lot of musik.. Today we have been sledding and eat at pizza range. We also went to a café, it was a nice place. They had a lot of nice dresses ect. Now we are doing an interview whit Tanner, it is a nice way to lean about others country’s.

Angela---The trip is just what I expected though yesterday’s trip is a long drive. Anyway, we are all here, really delicious food last night, I am appreciate. I was so sleepy because of a long drive, anyway I went to bed at midnight Today is awesome, I love it! Sledding! I really like to shout when I am going down the hills, we tried all kinds of ways to sledding! Yeah! A hot coffee after sledding, we even talked to local newspaper journalist, sometime I think being a journalist might be one of my dream jobs. All in all, pizza range for supper is a nice choice. THANK U SO MUCH! Another amazing part has to be that video. Students from different countries talking about their own culture and language, pretty awesome, because it is an amazing experience. I am looking forward having a great day tomorrow!

Jess- After a peaceful long trip up, an amazing supper and an intense game of spoons our first day came to an end. Then a new day started, a fun filled day at that. We got to have a bit of a sleep in which I enjoyed greatly. We then had a delicious lunch and were off to have heaps and heaps of fun sledding down the hills AWESOME! Finishing the day off with an awesome meal at the Pizza Ranch.

Jonas- North Dakota, snow, skis, taking pictures of a sleeping Italian guy, having fun, eating pizza, getting ice cold snow in your warm face and drinking limonade in an espresso shop. We had/have so much fun! We aren’t so many exchange students this time as we were in the south Dakota trip. That’s great because so you really get to know each other very very good. Thank you Jen for taking me again to that trip!

Philip – I’m really enjoying my time here, it’s very interesting to talk about other countries with the other student, and the sledding was very cool too. I’m very excited for skiing tomorrow, and just can’t wait!

From our snow filled, interviewed by Tanner day to yours, have a great night!

South Dakota Day 3 From the Students Perspective

Howdy Family and Friends...what a day! Started out by waking up to foreigners extremely excited to see snow for the first time in their life! No words can describe the sounds I heard coming from them! EPIC!

Angela—Can u imagine that it snowed today! It is beautiful! We didn’t go bear country, but we did went to some awesome shops! I bought really yummy chocolate! Horay! And going to the mall this afternoon is the best part for me today! Me and Mrs. Barker and Mr. Barker really had a good time! I just cant stop buying all those shinny stuffs! Anyway, I did enjoyed a lot! It was a niceeeeeeeeeee day! I love it!
Joy – day 3 – survived, didn’t even fall down, didn’t freeze to death. Success!
Sid: This day began with snow and very tough driving on the road, just so scary. We froze all day, but it was still very nice and we felt so Europeans in the House of Scandinavia, even eating sushis because going to Japanese restaurants is such a European thing!
Simone – Today we visited the house of scandinavia which I loved! I Bought a lot of Christmas stuff and Danich food. We ate great food today I got sushi it was delicious..
Frenchie : day 3 with snow. So exciting ! The museum, the house of Scandinavia, the slide park. It was so much fun to spend the day in the swimming pool and look at the snow outside. I lost my phone on the morning so well I miss something. But I’m gonna survive !
Bell- I love water park do muchhhhhhh I have so much fun there. I love this day and I love SNOW !!
Diana: the waterpark is so amazing! I almost die there!!! But that is all right cuz I have my life saveior-Bell with me!! I am so sad I didn’t go there last year and see what I missed last year! But I am happy I didn’t go last year so all the things are new for me today! I hate climbing upstairs. I think I climbed at least 30 times today! And it was so cool to see everyone swimming inside while outside is snowing!
Philip: I’m tired…. Day 3 was real cool too, getting up wasn’t cool at all. I think we started at the Journey Museum, that was really interesting and you saw a lot about the life of Indians. Then we drove to the Norwegian Chapel in the hills. It was officially closed, anyhow that didn’t keep me, Cece and Angela from walking up there to take some pictures. After that we headed up to House of Scandinavia, where I spent 25 bucks on sweets. That’s just me lol. Bear Country was closed which upset me a lot, always wanted to hug a *real* bear. Then we headed for lunch, where I quietly sneaked away from our group to have lunch with Tim’s mum and sister at one of the best restaurants I’ve ever been at. Nobody could wait to go to the Watiki water park, which was great fun and real good at making me exhausted. Afterwards we cruised around forever to find a place to eat, finally I got to go to that awesome Japanese restaurant a second time. The cook was far better the first time! Then we got ice cream at some ice cream place, which was/is real good too. This best blog entries of all now ends with me questioning myself why I always write so much, it’s just work……….

Jonas: 17 people… white stuff is coming from the sky… adventure… one mission: Having FUN! When we watched out of the window today morning, everybody still had the cold feelings of dark winter month… OUT OF SARA AND MELINA! They jumped around and enjoyed this white “wonder”. “Jurney Museum”, “Stavkirke”, “Scandinavia Shop”, Lunch at Tacco Bell, Watiki water park and this AMAZING dinner! Everything was great and we had the opposite of “no funny”. I don’t want to repeat everything what the other students wrote but I had just a wonderful day and I really want to say thank you Jenn that she took such a small german boy with on this trip. Good night Nebraska, good morning Germany!
Jess- Survived day 3, had an awesome time! I loved seeing snow for the 2nd time in my life this stuff is amazing. It was a little cold but we thought the cold was the best weather go swimming. The pool was the highlight of my day! All very fun! The Japanese food was delicious but once again a kids meal was too big. The Journey museum was also very informative, I enjoyed it a great deal, I got to experience a side saddle, very uncomfortable and I’m glad chicks don’t ride horses like that! Everyone found out my phobia of bird, Jen thought it was funny, I did not! HAHA awesome day! 
Alex- everyone is so romantic, by using wonderful words! I’m sorry but it’s 1.18 a.m. and I was sleeping just before this!  the only thing that I can do now is describe Jen in this moment; she is sleeping sitting on the chair, this days killed her. Everything was perfect and it was just for her! Nothing can stop her, the snow tried this morning though, but she won! Good job jen we love you!
Cece: Day three is over, well not over-over but we are getting there. THIS MORNING IT SNOWED!! Since we are all foreigners, we knew that some of us probably didn’t have seen snow before, like Sara, that was hilarious!!!! she freaked out and started running in the snow and made a snow-angel, me on the other hand was inside or walking calmly beside the kids. I do not like snow! Today’s program: visiting a museum. Breaking in to a Norwegian stavkirke, the gates were closed and the Norwegian in me said: go in!!! we also went to a Scandinavian store!!!!! Denmark and I went nuts and decided to buy a lot of food and stuff you need that you can’t get around here. And from there on we were supposed to go to this bear something, but that was closed because of the bad weather so we decided to go to a water park. That was awesome!! I loved it. You can’t think that that’s the end of the day.. when you are on a Jen-Trip it never ends. Japanese, Sushi grill was for supper today!!!YUM, let’s just put it that way. I finally got my sushi in America.. I will be satisfied for days!!
Sara: The only thing I recall from this day was the snow… It actually snowed!! And it was sooo much fun!! We had a snowball fight, tried to make a snowman, it was extremely awesome!! I will always remember this trip as the best one ever!!

From our last day in South Dakota...goodnight South Dakota, Nebraska, Good morning rest of the world! Have a great day!

South Dakota Day 2 From the Students perspective!~

Howdy Family and Friends! Today was a day of adventure in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Keystone area! From my seat in the suburban, the roads were hard to see as it was SO foggy outside! Thank goodness for Joy--my copilot--who told me when corners were coming up and which way they would be turning. It was almost impossible to see the end of the front of the suburban!

Jonas: Mount Rushmore was just amazing. The whole story, the background and the implementation is just impressive. And I taught this 4 heads would be big… but then there was this “crazy horse”. Just the whole day was brilliant. Well… after 3 hours sleep last night, of course everybody was/is very tired but I think we still could enjoy this freezing, but wonderful, “South Dakota Day”!
Cece: Where to start? Well.. First of all, after the minimum hours of sleep we got last night we managed to get out of the door a little after than we were supposed to, but what are late nights with foreigners really about? Other than being extremely exhausted and also being very excited at the same time, we were at Mt. Rushmore, which was just like in the movies, GREAT, and visiting “Crazy Horse” was crazy big. I had a fun day and have gotten to experience a lot of what South Dakota has to offer!
Alessio: ciao, now I can say that South Dakota is not a boring state :D we had a lot of fun! We were at a museum , at dinosaur park, it was cooooooooold. We are having wonderful time, I can’t wait for tomorrow!
Philip: sooooooo…….. this day really was awesome. Gettin outta the bed wasn’t too much fun, after 4 hours of sleep, but it was worth the struggle! Dinosaur Park was – cold. Guess one has a real nice view on Rapid City from up there, but no, it has to be foggy…….. Anyway the dinosaurs were cool and the iceskating was too! The wildlife museum we went to was also cool, got a lotta pictures I could never get in nature – I know it’s cheating…. Then we drove to Keystone, which was kinda funny. It was foggy – I fell asleep – I woke up again – Fog was gone! Well the little village in the valley was sooooooo beautiful and had some real classical western buildings, like they have em in the movies. The cheap souvenir shop was cool too, just because it was cheap! And that candy shop – ohhhh I wanna live there! Anyway, after that we drove up to the faces, the landscape becoming cooler the further you drive. The guy who told us about the monument was real good, and the 4 presidents were even better! It’s much cooler than in any movies, but I guess everything you see yourself is better than in movies. I still just cannot get the idea of climbing up there outta my brain – To-Do list! Then we drove to Crazy Horse Memorial. The landscape fascinated me so much that I thought “I’m gonna be back in 10 years on a bike!”. Would love to do that right now. Since the memorial is still work-in-progress and will be that for a loooooooong time, the actual monument wasn’t too interesting, but the museum with the story about the guy who started it all and the display of tools they use was really interesting. Since Sara can’t wait to get her fingers on this computer, and I’ve written way too much anyway, that’s it from me!
Sara: So many amazing things happened today that it’s very difficult to summarize all the awesomeness that happened, but I’ll try. First, who wakes up at 8am after sleeping for only 3 hours? Seriously Jen, we’re teenagers, we need to sleep!! Second, I love the dinosaurs! And there was ice in the trees!! ICE IN THE TREES!!! Isn’t that extremely amazing?? I don’t think I could ever see that in Brazil… Third, the cruel animal museum… I don’t even want to comment on that. Fourth, Mt. Rushmore… How amazing, definitely the highlight of our SD trip! It was sooo much more than I could ever expect. It’s just incredible to see such a great monument and learn a little bit more about American history. Fifth, The crazy horse thingee… I still don’t get that thing.. Why would you build something that big?? Hahahha It was fun though and Dave kinda creeped on us ;) And just to share my opinion, I don’t think those carvings will ever be done… And last but not least, sixth highlight of our day, t.g.i Fridays and the pool!! Just hanging out with my fellow exchange students is a blessing and getting to know them a little bit more makes me so happy!! Love you all <3
Jess: I had a fantastic day even if I was suffering from minimal sleep also. The Dinosours were awesome but the view from up there was even better! I enjoy the Outdoor place a great deal! Seeing all the American animals was so interesting except for the creepy birds hanging off the roof and scaring me! Mt. Rushmore was certainly the highlight of my day. The history and all the thought behind the mountain is incredible! I thought Mt. Rushmore was big, but was shocked when I saw the Crazy Horse. The museum there was very interesting and we were even stalked whilst visiting there! To top it off I had a lovely kiddies meal which was BIG! Awesome day!
Simone: I s had a fantastic day! This trip is amazing and I loved to see Mt. Ruschmore it’s was so big and I have always wanted to see it. But whats makes this so amazing is that we have so much fun toghter and that we are laughing all the time.
Joy: we had way too much fun! Our sightseeing tour was very successful even though it was REAL cold. Mt. Rushmore was overwhelming but I found Crazy Horse even better since the story going with the memorial is even more interesting.
Sid: Visiting all of those places we’ve seen so far is just fabulous. Especially because it is not very common for a foreigner to go to South Dakota just to visit Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse! It makes the trip even better to know we are so lucky. Those two places were majestic and wonderful. It is even cooler than in the movies! But it was still very cold outside! Being together is the funniest part of this trip and I love it!
Angela: What an amazing day I had! We went to the amazing dianosour park…hahaha. Actually I like MT.RUSHMORE the best! I learned a lot and did enjoyed myself! Crazy Horse is also cool! I did saw a lot of things that China does not have. Well, guess what, I like my dinner!! It is sooooooo yummy!!! The best dished I had ever!! I am so happy today!! Expecting a new day comes!!
Bell: it was a awesome day ! I take a lot of picture and I love dianosour park so much !!! because it was very cold !! and that’s my first time to saw ice on the tree. AMAZING!! I love it and I always keep thinking when it snow, how’s is look like…. Love it !
Diana: I like dinasour very much because of the snow! It was so fun to see the snow on every piece of leaf. And the Mt. Rushmore is cool, too. I like the Outdoor campus west a lot! The animals look so real!!!
Frenchie : It was a niceeeee day ! …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Yes it was fabulous ! We saw dinosaurs, it doesn’t happen every day. I took pictures of Sara, my incredible sister, seeing ice on the tree for the very first time ! That was really sad to see stuffed animals. Poor innocent animals but still cuuute. Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse was amazing. And I obviously I enjoyed taking pictures of everybody. I found my job 

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

South Dakota Day 1 from the students perspective!

Howdy family and friends! Today we embarked on an adventure of a lifetime...or shall I say, meeting of the nations! The STS exchange students plus one (Jonas) and 3 adults left Burwell to drive to Rapid City, SD. Here are a few of their thoughts about the trip this far. (We passed the computer around the room to get their thoughts on the day so far!

IHOP Cece
best place ever Sara
Chocolate cake…Adam Barker
Super clean hotel! Diana
The pool was awesome, it was hot and cold, Cece
Sara loved the waterslide,

Sara!! Jen is sooo awesome!! Hahahaha Love you…
Adam Schaefer…… I love you ilove you I love you. I love you I love you I love you… chocolate cake
Joy – we should have at least stopped one more time on the way up here (I almost peed my pants, bro!) eating pancakes at ihop was a great idea!
Melina – Frenchie says that we should do it forever. Let’s stay together. First evening was extremely awesome.
Sid – We should go on trip like this one all the time. This is so much fun. Gathering with all our STS group is just awesome!
-Alex Don’t eat the chocolate cake, I love you
Simone- This is so much fun! Love u
Diana- love the hotel sooooooooooooooooooooo much!!!
Angela-it is an awesome trip today! We had soooooooo much fun! Lov u Miss Jen!
Bell- AWESOME TRIP !!!! I love pancake !!
Cece- Norway says that ihop has the best pancakes in the world. I love our foreigners group AND MOST OF ALL I LOVE YOU, MAMMA
Jonas- Awesome, just awesome! Many people asked me “What is the perfect trip for you?” and I didn`t knew an answer. But now I can say: “THIS IS A TRIP! WITH JUST SO AWESOME PEOPLE!”
Philip: As everyone above said, it’s just AWESOME being in SD with a bunch of crazy kids and an even crazier Jen! If we would do that all the time – I would be in! I’ll be sleepy in school on Monday, well who cares!
Jess – Having the best time, love seeing another part of America, thank you Jen

Although the Thanks are great, its all about the students and providing an opportunity for them to see the world...one small piece at a time.

From OUR picture window to yours, have a great night!

Good bye Sweden and Ireland...

Howdy family and friends! This is the final blog post from the EU. Bitter sweet I must say. I truly miss my kids but will leave a piece of my heart in Sweden and Ireland! So many new memories made that I will cherish forever!

This morning found the alarm going off in Sweden before some of you were even thinking about going to bed in America! Of course it was raining. After dropping Julia off at school where she works, it was hard to hold back the tears that were so ready to fall from the eyes and wet the cheeks! For once I was glad that I was in the backseat and it was still semi-dark.

From there, Peder drove us to Skavsta to the airport to catch our plane.

Luckily for me, I was very tired so I caught a few more winks of sleep on the drive.

After saying the final good bye to him, we went through customs and passport checks again and boarded the 'lovely' RyanAir. This time we decided to sit in the back of the plane. (I don't recommend this option due to the smell of gasoline that comes from the wings.) Going up in the air, the flight was not so pleasant--quite turbulent to be honest. Dave and I snacked on our Swedish candy that we purchased yesterday in the grocery store and shared a set of headphones to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks on the ipod.

After landing in a much warmer and sunny Dublin, Ireland, we made our way right through passport checks and customs. Our flight even arrived early so we beat Blake and Katy to the airport!

They picked us up in their Speed The Light Car

and we drove into the City Center of Dublin. After dropping off our luggage Dave and I hit the streets on Dublin one last time to shop until our feet could handle no more walking. We probably walked over 3 miles today! That's a good shopping day! We enjoyed a great Irish meal for lunch together and then some very tasty ice cream before indulging in a late afternoon coffee time.

We took a final cruise in the EcoCab over to the spire and then made our way back to Blake and Katy's. Tonight we would celebrate Katy's birthday (which is tomorrow) and take them out for a meal of her choice! We found ourselves at a Pizza Restaurant. The pizza here is slightly different than what I serve at the Pizza Palace in Burwell. We had a pepperoni pizza--but theirs was much thicker--almost like a salami cut. The crust is super thin and the sauce has more of a home made taste. Overall very good!

We headed back to the apartment and had some evening sleepy tea...and now for my deep thought on that: How can Sleepy and Tea go together? Tea is usually caffeine and doesn't help one sleep until you add Chamomile... ??

From our final day in the EU to yours, have a great week!