Church Prom, short hair, and the beginning of the end

Hi you guys!

It is just crazy how my year abroad is getting closer and closer to the end, and in less than 4 weeks we will see each other again. I still can't really figure out if I'm incredibly happy about that or just plain sad. It for sure is bitter sweet, and I'm enjoying my last couple weeks very much. The weather is beautiful. I'm sitting ouside on the patio right now in shorts and a top and the sun is shining, it's really hot. The pool is going to open this weekend and I'm looking forward to hanging out there with my family and friends again.

Unbelievable, I know, last Thursday was my last day of school here in Colorado, here in America, here during my exchange year. After lots of work and studying for my final exams last Wednesday and Thursday, it was very overwhelming for me to say good bye to my friends, to my teachers. To all those people that became part of my everyday life and that I might now not see ever again.

To switch to a much happier topic; on Friday my friends and I celebrated the last day of school and the summer at Church Prom. My friend Nikki and I got ready together at my house and met everyone else in our group at my friend Caroline's house. We planned it so that all the girls would arrive half an hour before the boys. So us girls were waiting upstairs with our flowers for our dates. One after the other arrived and we walked down the staircase - like in "Plötzlich Prinzessin". It really felt like falling into a movie, it was amazing. We took tons of pictures, of course, some of them you can see above in this post, and then went to dinner together. It was really fun, we split the food which was so romantic :) and then we headed to prom! It looked so pretty. We got to th building and the trees in front were decorated with light chains! Once we got inside it started to rain, so after the dance was over, we all got soaking wet on our way to the cars. Except the girls - the boys were being gentlemen and gave us their tuxedo jackets. It was for sure the best night of my life so far.

Some fun stuff happened since then. I went hiking in Castle Wood Canyon with Mom, Dad and Emma, which was really fun. I also went to the mall with Valentina, we got our hair cut and highlighted to look our best when we return to home! My hair is chin length now, and I have caramel highlights - I'll look very different than you remember me!

Saturday I went to my last orientation from YFU, and that night my friends and I were all hanging out at Tanner's house watching scary movies.

I'll keep you postet on my graduation on Friday and all that jazz.

See ya in a few!

Love always,

Insa

Frühlingserwachen

Hi everyone,

time is running fast and tomorrow begins my last week of school.
Monday night, my Choire, Women´s Select, will perform at school and I´m really excited already. We are singing "Cowboy take me away" by the Dixe Chicks, "Ain´t no mountain high enough", "All that Jazz" from the movie Chicago, and "Angel". I also tried out for a solo; Leaving on a jetplane by John Denver, but the solo artists were not announced yet. So I´ll have to wait till tomorrow morning.
On Friday, the big Graduation ceremony will start at 8 am, in case somebody wants to come by! I heard flights from Germany are really cheap right now! :-)
It will be so exciting, I´m sure. I´ll receive my cap and gown on Thursday, and then we´ll be all set!
Friday, after Graduation, I am going to go to my second prom (I know, I´m spoiled) with all my friends. It´s organized by the church, and it´ll be a blast.
The sun starts to shine again and I hope to get some of the amazingly beautiful sunny days of Colorado before I´m going back to good ol' Germany, and get a little tan!
I´ll keep you postet about the concert and Church Prom!
See ya in 37 days! Holy crap!

All my love,

INSA

Prom - a night to remember

Pictures from Hawaii

Hawaii, Disney World, Excitement!

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

you might wonder why you didn't hear anything from me here in Colorado for a LONG TIME. I apologize for that. At first I was really busy being on vacation and travelling all over the place (sorry, I had to show off a little) and then I messed with my wireless signal of my computer, and my genious hostdad just fixed it by pushing a single button. THANK YOU JAMIE!

Okay, so here we go!

After the Sadie Hawkin's dance, I travelled to Oahu, Hawaii, with circa 150 other exchange students from all over the world. The trip was organized by YFU and Explore America, but we all had to fly there ourselves. I went from Denver, CO (ca. 70°F), to Salt Lake City, UT (ca. 30°F and snow), and from there to Oahu, Hawaii (HOT and sunny). Arriving at the airport, it was crazy. I was so amazed that my baggage didn't get lost, and felt really hot in my long jeans. When I got out of the airport, there were teamers from YFU waiting for me, and I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Katharina and Katrin from my VBT (Vorbereitungstagung) in Germany standing there, too! What an amazing coincidence! It was pretty sweet, we went to the hotel and Katharina and I shared a room with a girl from Russia and a girl from Spain. Our hotel was near the beach and had a pool. I think I took a picture of every single palmtree on the wholeisland, I was just so excited and so mesmerized by the beauty of this incredible piece of nature.
As we arrived at the hotel, each of us received a hawaiian flower beed, and my roommates and I went swimming immediately. There was an other exchange student group just leaving that day we arrived, and, quite honestly, Katharina and I were laughing about all those couples and crying girls, because we didn't believe that you could possibly fall in love or build up such great friendships in one week of vacation.
I have to say, we were all proved wrong!
The one week in Hawaii was one of the funnest and greatest weeks in my entire life. We did so many great things.
We went surfing, which sure was an adventure! The water was the most beautiful and clear turquoise blue I've ever seen, and I actually managed to stay standing up on my surfboard and surf wave after wave. After that we went swimming of course, tried to climb palmtrees, and had some photo shootings. We hiked up the vulcano Diamond Head and had an incredible view over Honolulu and Waikiki and the sea. An other day, we went on an island trip and I had the best pineapple ice cream in the world. We also visited Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial, had a Pizza picknick in the park at the beach, watched the fireworks over the sea at night, played lots of beachvolleyball, and had a rallye over, it seemed, the whole island. An other day we went snorkeling and I saw a fish called Humuhumunukunukuapua'a (I'm being serious). The day after that we went sailing on a catamaran and it was a good thing we were all wearing swimsuits, since it was so windy that the waves were huge. We all got so wet! Of course we experienced our first real Lua'u party, too, where we learned how to dance the hula, and had a real traditional Hawaiian meal. One of the best things was riding the old bus together with all the exchange students, because the cabins are opened and it just has a little roof, and we would make The Wave and sing songs like Baby Shark, or just talk to random people in our native language. It is just so fun being with other exchange students. I guess what we all learn as exchange students, is that we are good the way we are. We are just all very self confident and strong in our opinions and values, and we really didn't care what all those other people thought of us. So we would just walk up to street musicians and start dancing, or go swimming at 11 in the Pacific with clothes on (or not), sneak up to the roof of the hotel in the middle of the night and sing and dance, or randomly start singing onstage in a restaurant.
You might think that I'm weird now, but this is the reason why it was one of the most amazing weeks in my life.

After I got home from Hawaii, I went on vacation AGAIN! My host family and I went to Orlando, Florida, where we spent 1 week at the Polynesian Resort in Disney World, and 1 week together with Corena's brother and sister- in- law, Kaylah's boyfriend, and Jamie's parents in a holiday house. We drove all the way to Florida, which was a 2 day drive. This roadtrip was really fun! It felt a little crowded in the car after a while, but the view was just fantastic. It was a real experience watching Colorado's red earth and the brown fields and rocks turn into green grass as we were driving through Oklahoma and Kansas. I loved the southern accent the people had when we were driving through Tennessee and Alabama, and I really enjoyed being called "Ma'am" like in all those movies. I could really get used to boys with Cowboy hats opening the doors for me! Once we werw in Florida, we had great weather and I got really tanned! Kaylah and I had a really fun time bonding.
The Disney Parks were just... magical. Every night I was stunned by the fireworks above the cinderella castle. Those huge lollipops and the castle, meeting Micky Mouse, Minnie, and Pochahontas, going on fun rollercoasters (It just couldn't get too fast for me), eating pineapple vanilla ice cream, again, spending time with my amazing host family, walking around in the parks, watching the lights go on at night and walk, looking at the stars or palmtrees or fireworks or the castle... all those great, wonderful things made me feel like I was in a fairytale. the time just flew by!

And it still is. Time is so crazy. I'm already 17 and I feel really old! Since my 17th birthday I go to dance class at church, and we learn Swing dance, Cha Cha, Waltz, and all that fun stuff. Especially the lifts (Hebefiguren) are so fun! Besides that I'm doing pretty well. I am taking part in our school Theatre production Pride and Prejudice, and it is amazing to hang out with th cast and the crew, and to design the set and the costumes.
Last weekend we got snowed in here in Parker and my friends and I used that opportunity for some fun snowball fights. Emma and Dad built a very pretty snowman, too.
I'm really excited for this weekend. Tomorrow I'll go to School prom, and it will be incredibly exciting! I have a really extraordinary dress, you'll see pictures and hear all the details later.

Love, forever and always.

Insa

An all new me

Yeah, finally i got my Obama shirt! I´ll show my grandkids when I´m old, and I´ll be like: "Yes, your granny was there when history was made."

Hello, and GUTEN ABEND everybody!

I had a fabulous weekend! After a pretty hard week at school with lots of work, a speech, to presentations and two essays due, and Eddie´s funeral, my weekend was perfect relaxation und fun. I´ve been to a candlelight- stretching class with my mom, which was just awesome, and really got the tension out of my body and mind.

All the fun started Saturday morning. I went to the mall with Valentina, to go dress- shopping, and hang out. Spontaneously we went to the hair dresser and got a haircut!

Believe me or not; I got 12 inches off! I donated my hair to an organisation called Locks Of Love. They will make a wig out of my ponytail, for a child who lost his hair because of cancer and a chemotherapy.

It feels great!

Well, after a great day and lots of chocolate cake, we went over to Valentina´s and got ready for the Sadie Hawkin´s dance together. It was the Winter Formal, so we both wore dresses and heels, and took lots of pictures. At the dance we had just so much fun, we danced with a group of friends and it was a blast!

I have to say my feet still hurt!

Just the best wishes from Parker!

Love

Insa

An other posting, I can´t believe it!

Hey you guys,

one more little thing I need to add: I tried to upload the video of me and my friend Tarah singing "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley at the Christmas Choir Concert, but it was too big. It also didn´t work to send it over via e-mail and per skype it would take circa 2 days. I guess you will have to wait 4 1/2 more months for me to show off with it =)

Love, Insa

This is me

Hey there,





Happy New Year!

Here´s a little update for you guys so you´ll know what I´ve been up to since my last entry. A century seems to have past since back then! I apologize... Life rushes way too fast!



My family and I went up to the mountains already four times this season. We went to Winter Park, which is a beautiful Wintersports resort circa 2 hours from Parker. I took my first snowboarding lesson and had such a great time! I learned how to get onto and off the lift without getting killed, losing my board, or run over poor innocent people. I was really proud :) Whoever of you say me doing sports at one point in time, knows why! The view was incredibly beautiful and the snow was way beyond comparison. It was -18°F and freezing cold. I wore 3 layers of clothes, plus snowpants and coat, and even my face was totally covered all the time with a hat, goggles and my scarf over my mouth and nose. I bet they wouldn´t have let me into a bank like that! My hair actually froze! Can you imagine that? It was so much fun though; I learned how to turn and slow down and how to fall on my butt. Last weekend my family and I stayed one day in Copper Mountain, which is a very very pretty ski resort. Kaylah and I went up to the top of the mountain and soon recognized that we weren´t ready for that yet. We had a blast though. We were practising riding on toe- and heeledges (I just try to sound professional) and in the end our legs were so sore, we just sat on our boards and slid down a blue run.

The next event that came up was CHRISTMAS of course! Awaited for a long long time, I almost couldn´t believe it when it was finally there. On Christmas eve, my family and I went to the movies to see Desperaux, which was just the cutest movie! After that, Emma and I had a little, fun photoshoot. We were all dressed up and had curly hair and Emma just looked like an angel. In the late afternoon we went to church. It took us double than the usual time to get there, because the parking lot and the streets were so crowded! It was incredible. Once we arrived, everybody received a candle from the church staff and we went inside. It was a great service and I knew all the songs. On the last song, the lights went off and people started lighting their candles. After a short time, the whole church was shining with all the pretty candles and it was such a touching moment I started crying. It gave me goosebumps. Once we got home, we got the dinner ready and baked reindeer - cookies for Santa Claus. After dinner we unwrapped two presents each. One was the traditional Christmas pyjama (mine is red and green and soooo soft), and I got an other set of PJ´s from my mom´s parents. That was just so sweet, because I never thought I´d get a present from my "host - grandparents", so it was very surprising. The next morning, Emma woke us all up at 7 o´clock and we went downstairs (after lovely sleepy pictures were taken) and - YES - Santa had been there! The milk and cookies were gone and were exchanged with full stockings! In my stocking I even found German chocolate with marzipan, and even a little jar of Nutella, which totally made my day. I got so many wonderful presents I can´t even list them all. But I need to mention the highlights. First, Santa (!) gave me a pink nano iPod for Christmas! I still can´t believe it! Oh and then, Zak and Kaylah got me a Troy from High School Musical made of paper. It´s hilarious. From Dad´s parents, I got a great sweatshirt, that is white and red and it says Canada on it. Now I can finally fit in with my family and their Senators jerseys and I am canadian shirts.
After Christmas we´ve had pretty funny weather - one day it is in the 60s and 70s, and the next morning I´m wearing a T- Shirt and come downstairs in the morning and our backyard is covered in snow. It is exciting.

New years eve was a hard time for me. I always get very melancholic at New Years and this time I was sad because of two reasons: That I couldn´t celebrate it with my German friends and family - and that I have to leave the US already in - now 4 1/2 months! That little crisis lasted for 12 hours probably. =)

My second semester classes are so much fun, but also lots of work. I have been practising a lot for Choire, especially in the shower, and Public Speaking and Theatre. I will give my first speech tomorrow in Speaking. I´m very excited! School is going really well. In every class of mine, I have friends and it is just so great to spend time with them. In the spring, my friend Sydney and I are going to start running again, and keep up our Cross Country training. Then, soon the auditions for the play Pride and Prejudice are going to start and I am going to try out. I´m so excited.... please cross your fingers for me!

I´ve also been at a YFU sleepover. It was the mid- year orientation and really fun. I met all these cool people from all over the world and I also met some students that are comingt to Hawaii with me in February. That´s so soon!!! You can´t believe how excited I am. But on the other handside it is sad for me to count the days till Hawaii since it gets one step closer to returning to good ol´ Germany again.

Last Wednesday something horrible happened - a boy from my school died. He was in my German Club and involved in an exchange student program, so I knew him pretty well. The police is saying it was an accident, but unfortunately they are not allowed to give out any further information. This was a horrible experience for me, and especially for my friend Steph, who is an exchane student from Berlin, who was really close friends with him. On Wednesday we will go to his funeral together. It is really hard for me to understand all this, because it came so all of a sudden. I´ve just been talking to him last Monday. It will take all of us some time to get over this, but I´m very lucky to have great friends that support each other, great, understanding teachers, and a wonderful family that is
so loving. And of course an amazing Mama that talks patiently to me when I called her on Wednesday - crying - at her time 3 am.


Ich liebe euch und ich vermisse euch. Ihr bedeutet mir so viel, das könnt ihr euch gar nicht vorstellen. So ein Austauschjahr macht dir wirklich bewusst wer deine wirkichen Freunde sind und welche Freundschaften wertvoll sind und über 1 Jahr und viele viele Kilometer hinweg bestehen bleiben.

<3 vielen Dank

Love and Kisses

Insa