Hey guys, this is Ellen and I also spent a year in the United States. I wanted to tell you about what I did during my free time in the USA. I have to say though that every exchange student likes different things and has different hobbies and therefore their leisure time can be and probably will be different than mine.

Maybe when you think of the USA, you imagine yourself having a lot of free time and spending this time in shopping malls or with your new friends. I can tell you that this is not always the case. Of course I went shopping with my friends, had sleepovers and hung out with my friends, eating pizza or ice cream, going to a concert or to adventure parks. But when I did those things it was always when we had a day off from school or on the weekends, as well as on school breaks.

School kept me rather busy during the week with all the homework, which was what I did during the week. In the afternoon when my free time started at 2:05 pm (my school ended at 2:05) I often stayed at school and was involved in the afternoon clubs, such as Volleyball and Track. We often had team sleepovers or just a nice team dinner. That was always fun and really memorable for me.

I did a lot of things with my host family in my free time as well. We went to Washington D.C really often to watch a baseball game or ballet performances and musicals at the John F. Kennedy Center in D.C. My host dad and I also went to the gym 4 times a week.

Since my host parents work for the US Navy and are also sponsoring around 4 to 5 midshipmen, I went to a lot of Navy football games, a sponsor dinner and the Naval Academy Graduation. During winter break we travelled to Vermont and visited a Ben & Jerry’s factory and in our spring break we went on a cruise for a week. So as you can see, I had a lot going on during my free time but I really enjoyed every moment.

Do as much as possible while you are abroad. Try out everything that is new for you because there are so many things we do not have here in Germany. And most of all be thankful for everything your parents and your host parents do for you.

Ellen Biermann