Montag, 8. April 2013

Visitors, Basketball, Springbreak

Hey guys,

I know I did let you without any news for quite a long time, I am sorry for that. Nevertheless I've got a lot of stuff to tell you right now, just lean back and recapture the moments with me!

So at the beginning of March, Basketball-season was not quite over and we were playing for a District Championship after a long road of commitment, dedication and hard work. The opponent we were facing was - of course - Detroit Countryday, the team which later won the State Championship. However we played with all our heart and in the end we were proud what we had accomplished although we lost the game. This was ought to be my last game - at least on the basis of the real games.


At the same time we had a guest in our house - Lars, a former German exchange student, decided to pay us a visit. I really looked forward to that, and he shall not disappoint me. We really had a great time, visiting Detroit and seeing Greektown, a "Greece Part", in Detroit itself. He definitely should have stayed longer than only week, but we had to say goodbye telling to visit each other as soon as I would be back in Germany.

To my surprise one day my Basketball Coach came up to me and mentioned a traditional "Kids vs Cops" game they are having every year and he wanted me to participate. Without thinking about I said: "I'm down Coach!"
When the day came I actually realized that the game would be on TV as well, which was awesome and gave me a little bit of nervousness. However it turned out well, and all the Senior, including me, had a fun time as well as the cops.

Finally Spring Break was approaching and Easter was right around the corner too. When the time came, we drove up to Ryans mother, she basically lives in the middle of nowhere, which has the advantage of silence and a quite nice scenery ;).
We spent two days there playing games and on Easter we received some delicious candy.
Before the break started we also planned on going to Cleveland. When we arrived there, we spent the night and on the next day we started exploring the city. We saw the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, Terminal Tower and the Quicken Loans Arena where the Cleveland Cavaliers are playing their home games.
To conclude I'd say that Cleveland was worth a visit but you might not want to spend more than 1 or 2 days there.

My visit is slowly coming to an end, now everybody is talking about Prom already, which really is a big deal in America, especially for the feminine part ;).
I also feel like the weather finally decided to bring the summer back on the stage, but who knows, we are talking about Michigan, right? ;p

That's it guys. Be safe, take care and as always - stay tuned (even if it takes a little time)

All the best wishes from Michigan,
Erik

Dienstag, 19. Februar 2013

Snowcoming, AutoShow, School


Snowcoming pictures at the mall
Hey guys, I’m back with some news!

With Snowcoming we had the last real dance before Prom. And it really happened in almost the same progression like homecoming did. We started looking around for a new outfit because obviously nobody wants to wear the same to Snowcoming and homecoming. So I found a new dress shirt and tie for myself.
On Friday night we had the Snowcoming basketball game, which we lost unfortunately.


However it turned out to become a nice Saturday evening including dinner with friends and the dance after. This time I did not have a date but nevertheless it was a lot of fun. Of course you could barely see anything else but grinding on the dancefloor, but that’s the American way – and I got to admit that I really enjoy it. Furthermore this year I was voted on the Snowcoming Court which was a really nice honor and we had a little formal dance in between. All in all it was another awesome event which we don’t have in Germany and that always makes it much more special.
The other highlight I experienced was the visit of the North American International Autoshow which is one/or the biggest Auto-show in the world. David, Tom and me had a lot of fun sitting in several cars and seeing big brands like Bugatti, Porsche, Mercedes etc. It certainly was a great day and an event Detroit is known for worldwide.
School-wise everything goes well, I finished the first Semester with 5 A’s and a B+ leading to a GPA of 3.8! I will not change any classes and try to maintain my grade point average.
Last home game - Seniors
Basketball is almost over, Tuesday we had our last home game and now we will finish the regular season with 4 games on the road. I really hope we will get some more wins in before heading to Districts. I still don’t have a single clue on how I will spend my winter sports-wise since none of the offered sports appeals to me.
More good news: I currently am enjoying my mid-winter break!

I guess that’s all so far, as always stay tuned guys and take care!
Erik

Samstag, 5. Januar 2013

Christmas, Miami Heat, New Year, Review

Hey guys, long time ago since I have been informing you the last time. First of all I want to wish you all a happy new year - have a good start! And you shall reach all your goals!

Obviously my Christmas was going to be different this year. Not only date-wise but also tradition-wise. All the children get their presents on the 25th here in America. In addition they hang their socks over the fireplace and will find different candy and other nice stuff in it come Christmas morning. The space under the tree was already pretty much filled 2 weeks before Christmas.
Christmas morning was really relaxed, we all were awake about 12 and started to unpack all our presents. Tom, Ryan and David got a lot of cool stuff for me, - making me pretty happy! I got different kind of things for basketball, some cloths, cologne, an awesome Detroit -photograph.
Other than that we had a nice overall day including an awesome dinner - ham, mashed potatoes, noodles and vegetables. It was delicious!

Right after the Christmas day I kinda had my late Christmas present. The NBA game Miami HEAT- Detroit Pistons! That was without any doubt one of the biggest highlights for me ever since I saw LeBron James who is my absolute favorite player and idol! David and me saw an awesome game with surprisingly the better end for Detroit which came away with a win! It was an unique experience for me and I was able to take some great pictures.
All in all we had a fantastic evening which I probably hardly won't ever forget because seeing my idol means a lot to me!


The next big date was the New Years Eve of course. David and me decided to spend the night with Alex, Eric and some other friends. It turned out to be better than I expected. We had a fun time, and then the new already appeared. It's just crazy how fast time passes. Now almost half of my high school year is over. As I look back I only see awesome experiences and moments. New York - Chicago - Detroit - New Orleans are the big cities I have seen so far. I'm sure there are more to come. Also I have made a lot of friends and met so many new people. Experiencing another culture and way of living is outstandingly impressive. A big thank you to my family back in Germany who made this possible as well as my host parents in the United States who are doing an awesome job. I'm just thankful for everything so far. Hopefully the second half of my year is going to be as great as the first one!

New Years Eve; David - Me - Eric - Alex














I'm pretty busy with Basketball because we are practicing everyday including Sunday. In school we are going to take our final exams in two weeks.
Weather-wise it is still awfully cold and we still have got a lot of snow outside.

I guess that's it from me right now! Take care guys and as always - stay tuned and patient. Updates will come!

Yours Erik!