Kære allesammen,
I morgen tidlig rejser jeg en uge til Californien med en gruppe udvekslingsstudenter, jeg aldrig har mødt før. Jeg ser rigtig meget frem til at opleve en helt anden side af USA, og se steder som Santa Monica, Hollywood, San Diego og San Francisco. Jeg lover, jeg nok skal tage en masse billeder og blogge om min tur, når jeg kommer tilbage.
I mens jeg er væk er der her lidt underholdning for jer at tjekke ud.
- I bunden af dette indlæg er der nogle links (klik på dem) til nogle af de sange, jeg lytter mest til lige for tiden. Jeg synes, de er super fede! Måske I kender nogle af dem? ...
- I mit sidste indlæg glemte jeg helt at fortælle om min Jornalist-klasse. I den klasse producerer vi skolens avis - The Paw Print - ved at skrive forskellige artikler og sætte siderne sammen (layout), og derefter sender vi det til print og der kommer en frygtelig masse eksemplarer. YAY!! Vi har endnu ikke udgivet vores første udgave, men vi arbejder på det. Dog har vi alle skrevet de artikler, vi skulle, og jeg kunne godt tænke mig at dele mine to artikler med jer (de er dog skrevet på engelsk...). Enjoy!
by
Kristina Norgaard
Imagine going to the United States
for the very first time in your life by yourself. You don´t know anybody who
lives there. The only information you´ve got about the huge, influencing country
is through the news, American movies like Mean
Girls and Easy A, and TV-shows
like Friends and The Simpsons. But somehow, that little information about America
was enough to stir up a desire to know more.
Wanting to know more was partly
how going for an exchange program became my greatest desire. The other part was
simply a pure curiosity and interest in travelling and getting an experience
that I would enjoy and fondly look back on in 30 years.
After a year and a half of
planning, I finally got on an airplane that brought me on my maiden voyage (is
that English for “the very first time”?) to the States
six months ago. When I was in the airplane, I cried and shook my head, thinking
what on earth was I doing? Only 16-years-old, all alone, by myself, traveling
to a complete unfamiliar country to live with people I didn´t even know.
Furthermore, I was going to go to a school where I could either expect
it to be like it is in the movies I mentioned above, or like it is in High School Musical. People suddenly
starting to dance and sing along to music that comes out of nowhere. That´s definitely
representational to real life in high school, right. I´m not even sure which
one would be worse; gossip and drama or starry-eyed singing?
Fortunately,
it turned out that Oakdale High School would be none of those. On the first day
of school, everybody had someone they were happy to see again after two months
out of school. So what do you do when it seems like everybody knows each other
and you know nobody? Well, what I did was I reached out my hand toward to the
first person I got eye contact with and introduced myself.
Yes, it might have seemed very
peculiar, but that was (and is) the only way forward. And to my luck, the girl
I introduced myself to, is the sweetest and friendliest person and she immediately
welcomed me into her group of friends. The following weeks and months, I met new
people and made more friendships almost every day (and after six months, I
still do!). My method is the same; I just talk! Even if I’ve never seen the
person before, I just go ahead. People either like it or not, and that’s okay
with me.
See, high school spirit was
something I´d only heard of before I came here. And I was hoping to get a
chance to experience it myself. So when Coach Krivos offered me the opportunity
to join Cross Country, I said yes (after I´d realized the fact that we´d have
practice every day and weekly meets!).
In Denmark, we don´t have school
teams which means that I´d never been on one before. I have been on a team before, though. When I was
younger I did gymnastics in a club outside of school. The only way it was
related to school was because the club used the school´s locations and outdoor
area for practice.
Of course, most of the people in the gymnastics club went to the same
school as I did, or at least to one in the area, so it wasn´t like I didn´t
know any of my teammates. But with sports and school separated from each other,
there´s no games to go to on Fridays, no one to stay with every day for
practice, and no one who dresses up in matching colors before a game.
Being able to be a member of a team has
given me the opportunity to experience another side of high school spirit that I
otherwise wouldn´t have known existed. It is also through Cross Country and Track
that I´ve met numerous friends either because we´re on the same team, or
because we´re at the school at the same time working out. The afterschool
activities have definitely expanded my group of acquaintances and friends.
Here at the end, I also want to
add that I´ve been told multiple times by Americans that because I´m from
Denmark, I should be used to the cold. But let me tell y´all something, no
matter where you come from, you´ll never get used to being cold, if you don´t
like it.
And FYI, Denmark is not cold all year round. Alright, I´ll admit that
our summers don´t get as warm as those in Maryland, mainly because we don´t
have a very high humidity. And fair enough, our weather is not very reliable.
Our summers are supposed to be nice and sunny, but some years, it´s like the
weather forgets and instead gives us more rain than we’d ever asked for. But
then at least we don´t get sun burned, right?
Taking the Seinors Temperature
by
Kristina Norgaard
The first seniors of Oakdale High School are after four years of hard
work, finally about to graduate. This summer, the majority of them, will leave
Oakdale with a bittersweet feeling.
“I have mixed feelings about being half way through my senior year. I am
excited to move on and to go to college, but I will miss everyone here,” Senior
Laura Klosterman said.
When the seniors were asked whether they are sad or excited about
leaving Oakdale, most of their responses were similar to Klosterman’s.
“I can’t believe that the time is coming so soon, but I can’t wait to
see what the future holds,” Senior Michael McGraw added.
There is no doubt, however, that one of the things the seniors are going
to miss the most is the splendid school spirit we have here at Oakdale,
especially seen at the basketball games. Another thing they will miss is the
people.
“[I am going to miss] the friends and people I have had the pleasure of
meeting over the years,” Senior Ryan Simonica said.
Furthermore, Senior Kevin Heine points out that
having friends across the grades makes it even more sad to leave Oakdale
because not only are the seniors leaving the school, they are also leaving
friends behind who still have another year or more to go.
Leaving the friends behind, most seniors will next year commence the
first of four years in college; a place they expect the classes to be more
challenging, gain more freedom, take more responsibility, and have a lot of fun
with new friends from all over the country.
“I want to begin to take more serious classes in my course of interest,”
McGraw said.
Another change that the seniors will face, going from high school to
college, is leaving home. In high school most people still live at home with their
mom and dad, or guardians. At home, young adults are forced to follow the house
rules and obey their parents whereas in college, one has the freedom to control
his or her own affairs. But with freedom also comes responsibility.
“[I expect] my life to change drastically from not watching how I spend
[my money] to how I spend my money,” Senior Rachelle Johnson stated.
However, it is crystal clear from the seniors that when it comes to taking
the next step, they are ready.
“I’m so ready for college,” Senior Kelsey Engram assured.
Good luck and enjoy the rest of the year,
seniors!
Kirk Franklin - I smile
Philip Philips - Home
Tamela Mann - Take Me To The King
Jeg vender tilbage næste weekend med fortællinger om Californien. So long!
Kærlig hilsen,
Kristina
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