District Conference

So this was the post I was talking about in my last one. I wanted to write about the District Conference that took place at the beginning of the month.

The District Conference of Rotary District 6000 took place on May 2nd and 3rd for us exchange students. Other Rotary members had to be there a few days earlier, because they had other kinds of meetings to attend. Anyways, I already came one day early on May 1st and got out of school early (woopwoop) to leave for Ames. In the hotel I met up with Franzi, because she came early as well. Then we waited for Kate, the outbound going to Austria this summer, because we were staying at her dad's house for the night.
After she picked us up we drove to her hometown Boone, which is about 15 to 20 minutes away from Ames. Then we met up with some of her friends and they all showed us around Boone. It was really fun and after we said goodbye to her friends we drove to her dad's house where we started to watch a movie. Kate and I still had to finish the info board about Austria that we needed for the District Conference the next day. Right when we started we realized that we didn't have enough craft stuff to finish the whole thing properly, so we had to drive to Walmart at like one in the morning. We finally got it done late at night and Franzi was already dozing off.
The next morning we had to get up really early to get ready, because we're girls and girls tend to take a long time to get ready. Shower, outfit choice, make up, hair, ... We left the house later than we planned, but still came to the hotel in time. At the hotel we met all the inbounds and outbounds and after warm welcome-hugs Chris, our inbound coordinator, helped us to practice our march. Which march? Well, our first point of the day was the ceremony where they presented this year's inbounds and next year's outbounds. We had to walk in with the flag of the country we were coming from/going to. The inbound had to carry the flag (if there were several, the one that was first in the alphabet had to carry it) and the outbound(s) walked after him/her. Sometimes it happened that there was no inbound. In that case the outbound had to carry the flag (same thing with the alphabetical order). The order in which the countries were marching in was also in alphabetical order. And what country starts with A? Austria, right. And who is the inbound? Me, right. So who had to march in as the very first? Oh yeah, that would have been me, right. I was double nervous to mess up, but luckily everything went well :)
I really try to remember what happened after, but I can't really remember... I think that after we walked out again, we had to put up our boards in the break room, so that Rotarians could see it and ask us questions during the break. Pretty sure that was it... Anyways, after that we were assigned to our rooms and then we changed and went to the hotel's sauna and pool. We had tons of fun and it was really great! Oh, oh, oh! Cy the Cardinal, the mascot of Iowa State University came to see us! Let me tell you something about Iowa: Almost everybody I know is Iowa fan, but I am Iowa State fan. Ames is the college town of Iowa State University. I was there almost 8 months ago to see the game Iowa State vs. Iowa and that's what I wrote about in my 1 MONTH post (*big sigh* such a long time ago *big sigh*). So yeah, as a Cyclone fan, that was like meeting a celebrity for me!
On the last day of our meeting we had to listen to a bunch of speakers and do smalltalk with Rotarians and then we had dinner and listened to another speaker. We got to leave at about 1:30. After we left the dining hall, we all said goodbye and took pictures, because it was the last time that we saw some of the people, which was really heartbreaking :'(

So that's it for today guys! Sorry that it was so long, but I had a lot to tell you! See you next time!

This was in Kate's car and we couldn't fit the board in the trunk so I had to sit in the backseat with it and could barely see anything. Thanks to you guys

Our Austria board! You can't see it very well, but I drew Austria on there with all its states and the states' capitals and then Kate and I also put pictures and a little information on there, including a sticker that says "No kangaroos in Austria" that's right there over the state Vorarlberg!

The squat :-*

Mexicans be like...

I really like this picture and I don't know why...

Ignore my ugly smile, but I was just happy that I met my own personal celebrity *-*

Cy the Cardinal with a bunch of foreigners!

Little flashback to the Iowa State vs. Iowa game in September :)

The Italian in bowtie :)

Marta is going home in like two weeks and I can't believe it, because it feels like we just met yesterday. I try to remember that it's just a "see you later" and not a "goodbye". I already put "Visit Marta in Italy" on my bucket list.

District 6000 <3

9 MONTHS

Well, it's almost over. That's how everything is right now. Show Choir is over. Track is over. My life is over. Just kidding my life is not over hehe :P

But school is almost over! The Seniors left yesterday and now it's getting a little quiet in school... There are only 10 school days left (not counting the weekends). Unbelievable! Somehow I can't wait for summer, but on the other side I also want to stay in school, because that makes me see everybody everyday.

So, I spend most of the time in bed this week, because I am sick... I have to cough all the time, have a stuffy nose and my throat hurts. I am still not fully recovered and my voice sounds horrible!

Now that track is over, I have had time to go to some soccer games. My sister Kayla is playing and I also watched the boys play.

We also installed a sea water tank in my Plant & Animal Biology class. We got starfish, a tomato fish, snails, shrimps, crabs, a baby sea cucumber and more!

But yeah, I guess that's all for this post... I have one important thing to talk about, but that will get its own post! See you later, bye! :)

PS.: Notice the new countdown on the right side of my blog.

I had to take those freaking huuuuuge pills :o

At the soccer game with Franzi - it was cold!

All the fish!

The tank in progress. I don't have a photo of the finished one,  sorry!

My new friend :)

Track

Track is great! I seriously love it! But what is track?
Well, it is pretty much a combination of a lot of things: Throwing, high jump, long jump, distance running and sprinting. You specialize in one or two things.
In running there are many different events:

Single events:

• 3000 meters - long distance
• 1500 meters - long distance
• 800 meters - long/mid distance
• 400 meters - mid/short distance (sprint)
• 200 meters - short distance (sprint)
• 100 meters - short distance (sprint)
• 55 meters - short distance (sprint; only sometimes)

Team events (=Relays):

• 4x800
• 4x400
• 4x200
• 4x100
• Distance Medley (200m, 200m, 400m, 800m)
• Sprint Medley (100m, 100m, 200m, 400m)

A team consists of four people, that's why it's called "4x...". The first runner starts with a stick in his hand, called Baton. He runs the distance he's supposed to run and then hands off to the next runner who is already waiting in the lane. There are different kinds of hand-offs, depending on the type of relay, but that would be way too hard to explain right now.

For the place you run/jump/throw you get points, which are all added together and that's how the winner of the meet (schools come together and compete against each other) can be figured out.

I hope that makes any sense. It's hard for me to explain, but I gave my best to describe it somehow.

So, we practiced every day after school and lifted weights two times a week. It was really hard. I hated my life everyday at track (not really, but you know what I mean), but when I compare myself to the beginning of the season and now, I can really see an improvement.  We had meets two times a week. I loved the meets, even though my nervousness drove me crazy every time.

Track ended yesterday and that's really sad. I can say I really enjoyed it, because it gave me something to do, something that I like and it brought me new friends. The funny moments will never be forgotten, I promise! I will miss it a lot and even though I said that I hate my life everyday at practice, deep down in my heart I loved it ;)

A special thanks to my coaches for torturing us and making us the great runners we are today!

Our Girls Track Team

That's how a track looks like
Most of the time it's around the football field, but this one here is around the soccer field

The guys running hard

Yes, I took this picture from the internet, because I didn't take one myself.
Anyway, that's how a Baton looks like and how it's passed

Running buddies forever!
Kenna and I ran everything together. We were in the same events every time and didn't run one single relay without each other. Coincidence?

8 MONTH

This time I wrote the anniversary post late on purpose. I wanted to put it together with another anniversary, which is today, 18th of April. Today, exactly a year ago, I had my very first Rotary Orientation Meeting. I met some of the best and most important friends in life and spent three days with them. I can not believe that one year is already over since then. It prepared us so much for the crazy thing we are doing right now, but more important: It gave me friends that go through the exact same thing!
Exchange friends are forever!

Update:
We're working hard on our final dances in my dance studio. The Recital is coming closer and closer. I have to learn four dances all in all. Two group dances (one in Jazz and one in Ballet), one duet with my friend Emme and one solo. I am really excited!!

Sorry that my post is so short today, but I wanted to put the main focus on this anniversary :)

Austrian Exchange Students 2013/2014

Our Meeting

First picture we ever took together!

2 Months later at our next Meeting

The Jazz Group Dance - all we have so far

PROM

Prom was probably the thing I have been looking forward to my whole exchange. People say a girl can't wait for two things: Her wedding and her Senior Prom. I am not a senior, but I kind of felt like one, because I won't have another one, as we don't really have "Prom" in Austria.

Preparation:
It took me forever to find a dress. Like two posts ago or something, I put on some pictures of dresses I tried on. After all the thinking and everything we drove up to Iowa City again and my wonderful host mum had the genius idea of going to that one store called "Von Maur". We looked through and picked some out and then I tried them on. The first one was absolutely stunning - it looked like a princess' dress! Sadly it was $460 so I couldn't afford it and I also wasn't sure how I would get it back home, because it was so poofy. I finally found my actual prom dress and it was actually pretty cheep too, so it was perfect!

I got my nails done before prom. My host sister Kayla and her friend Lauren and I drove to the mall and got them done. Kayla's and Lauren's looked so pretty and then mine? They were awful! So when I came back my host mum and I drove to Walmart to get some nail polish remover for fake nails so I could take the nail polish off without removing the nail. I painted them myself the day of prom and they looked so much better.

The Date:
I didn't have a date to prom. Everybody I considered going with was already taken and I guess I am just too picky and always over thinking to go with a random person.
My friend Mikayla and I both didn't have a date so we decided to go together.

Prom:
I had to get up at 8:30 to drive to a friend's house with Kayla, where my friend's cousin did my hair. It was really beautiful. It was in a bun and had a braid on the side of my head. I can't do anything with my hair - I even suck at doing a ponytail - so the money was wisely spent on that. I did my make-up though, because I don't really trust people with my make-up and I also don't like when people touch my face.
After taking pictures with my siblings, we split up into our groups. It was just Mikayla and me in our "group", because we thought it would be awkward to be in a group and then being the only ones without a date. We took pictures together and then drove to the school for the Grand March.
Grand March is practically this: You just walk down in the decorated gym with your date and people take pictures of you as you walk down and pose.
I didn't do that, because I felt awkward walking down there without a real date, so I watched it. I have to say a lot of the dresses were so pretty, but then some were just really weird.
After that we had time to go out for dinner until 9pm. Mikayla and I just went to her house where her mum cooked a meal for us and we hung out with her twin sisters until it was time for us to go to the dance.
The dance was pretty cool! At the beginning there were not many people, so it was kind of boring, because nobody was really dancing, but the more people were coming, the better it got. For the slow dances I just went out to the water fountain and then waited until the slow song was over.

After Prom:
At midnight the dance was over. We all drove back home to get out of our dresses and into fluorescent cloths. We were supposed to be back at the school at 00:30am. There we checked in and then three busses drove us to the bowling alley where "After Prom" started. After Prom is when you go to the program planned after the dance until four in the morning and it should prevent teens from making foolish decisions (because it's Prom Night).
We bowled and ate and just had tons of fun until about 2am.
At that time we all jumped on the bus, which brought us back to school. A hypnotist waited for us there, ready to hypnotize some of us. It was probably the funniest thing I've ever seen in my whole entire life. I balled my eyes out!
When everything was over, my sister, some other people and I drove to another friend's house and had a sleepover. By that time I was exhausted like hell and went straight to bed.

All in all Prom was different than I expected, but it was a lot of fun! It is one thing that I will never ever experience in my life and I am glad that I got to do it!
A special thank-you-shout-out to my mum Dawn for being so patient with me (I couldn't decide about the dress until the last minute. Then we had to alter it and get my nails fixed and everything)! I love you!

The way too expensive one *crying*

It was so perfect :(

I ended up with this wonderful dress

Yes, it was a little too long
Shortprobs

My shoes

My nails after I painted them myself

And my hair!

With the brother and the sister

Our gym all decorated for Grand March

My running buddy Kenna

Mary Kate!

With Emme :-*

The guys photo bombing Sam and me

Such a pretty lady!

Another exchange student at my school - Altyn from Kazakstan

After Prom

Neon.

Bowling

Thanks Kayla

Hypnotized