Dear Family,

My Name is Maja and I am 15 years old. I am currently in the 10th grade in high school. I live together with my parents, my brother, my two cats and a dog. My parents are 49 and 52 years old. My brother Max is 2.5 years older than me, he is 17 at the moment and we are more than siblings … Kind of best Friends. He is currently in grade 12, so he’s doing his A-levels this year. My grandparents also live nearby, it takes us about 45 minutes to get to them by car. We try to spend as much time with them as possible. For example, we celebrate every Christmas with them and we also see each other every birthday. I have a very good relationship with my parents. I can talk to my mum about everything and she can talk to me too. She’s my best friend! I can have lots of fun with my dad, but at the same time he looks after me and is there for me. I probably have the best relationship with my brother. Although he’s older than me, I can talk to him about everything and do lots of things with him. My friends all say that the relationship between my brother and me is the best they’ve ever seen.

My brother and I used to play baseball together when we were younger. I stopped playing baseball when I was 9, but my brother still plays. This year his team became runner-up at the German U18 Championship. I go to every one of his games and cheer him on. My whole family supports the baseball club in any way they can. I tried a lot of different hobbies after I quit baseball, such as horseback riding, track and field athletics and kickboxing, but the sport I enjoyed the most was volleyball. I have been playing volleyball for 5 years now and would like to continue playing it in the USA. On the videos I have seen of volleyball being played in the USA, I realized that the level is much higher than here and I would like to benefit and learn from that. But I’m also open to trying out and learning other sports. I also enjoy practicing other sports here at home. In summer, I like to be on the water and go water skiing or surfing. In winter, my family and I always go to our apartment in Austria to go skiing. I’ve been skiing since I was 4 years old.

I love animals and I am happy that we have so many of them. My two cats are called Emmi and Ibims. Emmi is 12 years old, I got her when I was 3 years old. Ibims is 6 years old, we brought her home from our vacation in Greece. We found her on the street (injured and undernourished) and looked after her until we were able to take her home with us. My dog’s name is Ally and she is with us for 2.5 years already. We got her from an animal shelter in Croatia when she was approximately 6 months old. I love her very much and take care of her every day.

I also love baking and would make the specialty of our City “Franzbrötchen” for you. In our house it is a matter of course to help with the housework, for example putting out the dishwasher or hanging up the washing. So of course I will also be helping you around the house. I have already been on vacation in the USA twice. The first time was in Florida and New York when I was 7 years old. Since then I knew that I wanted to do a year abroad and the only country that came into question for me was the USA. The second time I went to the USA was in California and Nevada last March. There I realized once again how much I like the USA and that I want to spend more time there and get to know the culture better. Through my time in America I want to become more self-confident and make friends for life. Of course, I’m curious if high school will be like in all the movies, but in the end I just want to fulfill my dream of being a teenager in America.

The most important thing to me are my friends! I’ve known two of my best friends since kindergarten and another best friend I’ve only known for a few years. I love all my friends! I like to spend time with them and go to the malls in the city or we just meet at home to chill out. My favorite thing to do is doing sleepovers with my friends, whether it’s just the two of us or as a group. I have a large group of friends at school that I often meet up with or spent time with some of them in the gym. One of my best friends is my neighbor, I’ve known her since I was a baby. In the meantime, we’ve seen each other every day and had sleepovers every weekend. She is one level below me in school, although she is actually a week older than me. Due to the fact of school stress we don’t see each other as often as we used to, but we are still best friends. I hope that I will find friends in the USA as great as I have here at home. I hope that this letter has described me even better and I am looking forward to starting a new adventure in the USA soon.

In excited anticipation of your answer