Before I went to Europe, I had German classes with Lisa, a mentor from Hamburg. I wanted to get better at German, experience other cultures, and go see some parts of the world, so Cassie and I planned a trip to Germany and some other countries in Europe.
First I went to Germany, where I lived at Lisa’s family’s house in the countryside near Hamburg. Every Monday through Friday, I went to a German school, where I could still speak some English because they have English classes and learn English. But mostly I had to speak German. I learned what German schools are like, and I thought it was cool. It helped me improve my German and interacting with other kids. When I wasn’t at school, sometimes I played Lego with Max (Lisa’s brother), sometimes I read books, sometimes I played iPad, did homework, or did activities with Lisa’s family like going to a playground or going to an aquarium.
Once I went to a playground with Max, Marlis, and Hölger. We played a lot of things, And then we started to run with Marlis and we fell in the mud. My face hit the ground and I got scraped.
In Hamburg, Lisa’s friend Annie helps take care of some ponies at a stable. I had some German classes with Annie, and at one point she took me to the stable to ride a pony. First, I fed the ponies, and then I brushed one of them, and then I got to ride him! It was really hard to get on. Annie held the pony and let the pony walk, while I sat on its back. Later, she tried to run a little and I almost fell down. Later, I just tried to ride the pony by myself. Sometimes I was a little scared, but most of the time Annie was holding the rope. I would like to do it again!
After 1 month of doing that, Cassie and I started traveling to other countries in Europe and stayed in every country for about 3 days. I visited Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and France. We went to many places in each country. We sometimes didn’t know what to eat, but in Switzerland, we cooked because we stayed at my aunt’s house. I learned many things, and figured out many things, like European cultures and how to check into hotels and go through an airport.
Germany and Finland were my favorites because I thought they were cool. In Germany, there are many houses built by hand, and in Finland, there was a lot of snow (it was deep!). I think this Europe trip was a really good experience.