Dear future host family,

I am glad that you are giving me the chance to become your exchange student. My name is Hannah, and I am living in Germany. Me and my family, which consists of my little brother who is nine, my little sister who is twelve, my mom and my dad in an apartment. Moreover, I have two grandmas and two grandpas. My mom’s parents visit us every Tuesday and my dad’s parents every Wednesday. Usually, we play table tennis, bake and paint together. They also help us when we have to do homework.

Normally, I am going from 8 o’clock till around 3 o’clock to school. Except for the weekends, of course.

When the school is out, I do my hobbies. On Mondays and Thursdays I go fencing and on Thursdays and Wednesdays I play the saxophone. But on Tuesdays I am learning playing the saxophone with a teacher and on the other day I am playing in a Big Band. Until now, I had a few concerts and competitions.

In my free time I love to read books and spend time in the library – if there is time because we have a lot of homework and so sometimes I unfortunately neglect reading. But when there is time, I read a lot!

But of course, I like it most when I spend time with my friends. Together we always have a great time because we always make funny things together. We like to bake or play games.

Moreover, I love being with my family, especially spending the holidays with them. One summer we go hiking or do sports, the other summer we go to the beach. For example, last year we were in Austria and the year before we were on Corsica (a French island in the Mediterranean Sea). We always find a good balance between things mom and dad like and what we children like to do. Nevertheless, my family and I are also doing a lot together when we are not on holiday. My sister and I bake a lot, or we play hockey together. We also go a lot on the park and play or make a picknick.

My dream to go to another country for one year started when a friend of my family planned her exchange year in Ireland. This was the first time I considered that I could do an exchange year, too. At first, I thought I would also like to go to Ireland, but when I looked at a few high schools in the United States. I thought this would be a better match to me, and it would be a bigger difference to Europe. When I told my parents about my thoughts, I found out that my dad did his junior year at a high school in the U.S., too.

I think doing an exchange year will be a great opportunity to get to know a different culture, to meet new friends and to improve my English, of course.

Once again, I am thankful that you are making me part of your family and showing me your life in the United States.

I hope to meet you soon,

Hannah