H&M ;)

random H&M pictures ;)JA JA we know that we are the coolest!!! ;)

...just kidding
This is Moritz. Totally CUTE!

Nemo

Nemo and his new Harley Davidson cap! It looks so cute. Now he is the new model of Harley Davidson and he is not very grateful for this cap - we have about 80°F in Hamburg!! What hot temperature for Hamburg!
I wanted to have Nemo relaxed and he only wanted to give me his paw =)

This is a video of my Chicago visit in 2007, before I went to SC.

My visit in Utah

Visiting Utah was a lot of fun and one of the best times of my stay in the United States. In the beginning, visiting Moritz, who lived 3000 miles away from SC was not even an idea in my head. My first host family was telling me about things they wanted to do with me during that time, but I already knew that they would never do it with me.

Then, everything changed. It was January and I had been living with my new, awesome host family for 4 months now, spending a great time there. We were talking about spring break and what we would do, but they said they had to work during that time, so why shouldn't I go to Utah and visit Moritz and his family there? Of course i thought that this was an awesome idea so I called my parents in Germany and told them about it. They also thought that this was a great idea.

I then spoke to Moritz and (sorry:S) Dixie and they said it would be ok as well, but there was also a problem, and it was a big one. I went to my coordinator of Aspect, asked her if Aspect would have any problems or concerns regarding this trip, she instantly denied and said that trips like that have been done by many other exchange students they've hosted before, and there has never been an issue. So my hostmom booked the flight for me, I would give her the money later. The flight was booked and I turned the Travel Request in to Aspect and the unbelievable happened. My request was not approved.

I was shocked and terribly mad at my coordina tor, who didn't even think of doing anything to convince Rene Brown, thats Aspect's regional manager for the Eastern United States. She was the one who denied my request for ridiculous reasons. Before me there were other foreign exchange students who wouldn't leave the other host family any more etc. It was incredibly ridiculous.

Somehow, and I don't really know how my host mom and I 

did it, but it was St. Patrick's day, and Rene Brown sent an email to us which confirmed the trip to Utah. Thanks for praying for me Dixie, Rex, Moritz, Riley and Tyson, it obviously worked;) I was more than glad that Rene Brown reconsidered her decision to let me come, even if my parents had to take full responsibility for me.

It was March 14 and my host mom and I went to Walmart to get the rest for my trip, it was so funny. When we came back at about 8 pm, i started to pack my bags and got excited. I think I didn't sleep that nigh

t. Saturday morning we had to get up at 3:30 in order to get to the airport in time. My hostmom took me to the airport in Myrtle Beach, I thin

k it was one of the smallest airports I ever took off from. My first flight was Delta .

.. to Atlanta, Georgia. While I got ready to say goodbye to my host mom, who had to go to Columbia, SC to get their taxes done, I checked my bags if I really had everything for my trip. Then, we hugged, she left the Terminal building and I went through security. Then I had to wait an hour for the flight. It was one of the first flights that took of this morning.

Just in time at 6:15 my airplane, which was a Canadair 500, took of from Myrtle Beach airport with destination Atlanta airport, the night before there had been a tornado in Downtown Atlanta, so I was kind of scared to fly in this aircraft. When we started the approach, bad thunderstorms were shaking the aircraft and the lightning was very bright. It was also very pleasing when the lady beside me and the lady in front of me started to get their sick bags and make disgusting noise. I was so glad when this flight was over and I got off this airplane into the airport.

So there I was, at Atlanta Airport, the world's largest airport

, and I really felt that way. To reach the next flight to Vegas, I literally had to run across the entire airport, as soon as I noticed that I was to slow when I walked, I thought about taking the train which I finally did in order to get to my flight in time. Delta 749 was supposed to take off at 8:30 to Las Vegas, NV, please do not ask me how often I had to ask the Airport staff where the gate was.

Nevermind, I found the gate and got on the airplane.

The Boeing 767-300 was packed with people, I had a seat om the gangw

ay, which was very comfortable

with lots of leg space. Every seat had a personal tv, on which you could flip through certain channels, listen to music, even play with other passengers quiz game, some of them yelled through the airplane because t

hey just missed the last question (the seat numbers were shown on the display). It was a fun flight.

The plane was delayed about 30 minut

es, so I had be fast to get on the p

lane to Salt Lake. When I got off the plane, in the terminal there were of course gambling machines everywhere, so you already had

the feeling you were in Vegas. Fortunately, the plane to SLC was standing right next to the gate from which I came. I talked to Moritz and told him that I was in Las Vegas now and he better gets ready to pick me up from the airport in time.

After a snowy flight to Salt Lake City, on which a whole family cried because they did not get to sit next to their partners and

children, and I had a small talk with a nice lady who also had German ancestors, I arrived in SLC, it was snowy and I was looking back to 80° South Carolina weather. I was just too excited to get to know Moritz and his family,

 since we just talked on the Phone or on Skype before, it was an awesome moment and I didn't care that my bags were stuck in Las Vegas.

We though finally left the airport and I got to see Utah the first time, the first time I actually saw mountains in America, I am talking about real mountains. The first thing we did was going to eat in an awesome restaurant (It was not only us who had this

 idea, it was kind of crowded so we had to wait about half an hour and Tyson, Moritz and I played football in the parking lot (IT BEGAN TO SNOW!!!!)), sorry I forgot the name, I know it's in Moritz's scrap book, there were cliff jumpers that jumped into the water right in front of us, it was very cool, being splashed while eating. I called my mom and had the pleasure to hand the phone to Moritz, it was just funny. 

After that we continued to drive home, and this was the 

first time I got to ride with Moritz and I thought I better checked my seat belt twice. Everything was allright, he did not drive us into a ditch.

I don't quite remember what I did when I first went into the house, I just remember Rex welcoming me by the counter and then I had a little tour through the house, I've had that before though via webcam, so I already knew where the dishes

 and towels and all the important stuff was;) The only thing I was worrying about was my suitcase, which was supposed to be there by this evening, but nothing happened. 

The next morning, Moritz came into my room, woke me up in GERMAN (imagine that) and brought my bag. From then on, my morning was allright and I had a reason to get up, say Good Morning to everybody, get

 into the shower and put on my suit, since we were going to church that morning. After my first "MonaVie", which I am missing until today (please send me some) I was totally awake and ready to go to church.

Church was very interesting, after an hour of singing and praying, writing little notes to each other in the row and looking at Riley who was standing in the front, we went together in little groups and learned about the Church of LDS, different but interesting, especially the Skittles were good! The last half an hour we went into the main front office and discussed some things about events and dinners, I didn't have much to do with that so I was not really knowing what was going on. Anyway we left the church and walked back to the house, it was COLD and I my toes were freezing off in that weather, I don't know how YOU survive in that in the wintertime;)

We started to make dinner which was set for 4 in the afternoon, Janice and her daughter came over to eat, we had salad (Hidden 

Valley Ranch Dressing, I discovered it there and there is still some of it in our German refridgerator!!) Mashed potatoes and I think it was Schnitzel but I am not sure, it was meat though. I am not sure either what we did after, I think we just relaxed and stayed at home and I played piano. At night we were reading in the Book of Mormon and Moritz tried to show off his awesome iPod, on which you could read it as well. After that, we discussed the upcoming week, what we are going to do and important stuff. 

Monday, March 17

The first time I went to a real High School in the United States was yet to come real soon, I got up and was very excited about what w

as coming next. We took the car and rode to school, Dixie dropped Riley and me off that morning since Moritz had to be there early, we met him in front of the main

 office where I had to get my "Day pass". The first hour I think was physics which was quite boring for me because they had to take a test. Moritz's physics teacher though was very nice and tried to speak some German, which didn't work out real well. I don't know what the second period was, I'll find out.

Anyway, after school we went to get Tyson from school and then to see Salt Lake City, one of the most beautiful cities I've seen in the US, compared to NYC or Atlanta it is very clean and it doesn't stink on every corner. We first parked at the State House, Tyson was almost crying already because he was hungry and I gave my camcorder to Moritz to record a little bit. We then went up further and finally into the capitol. We were lucky because they just redid the whole thing, It looked new, fancy and expensive and it was big, bigger than the SC state house. After half an hour and a visit in the gift shop we went to the back where it was not very exciting and then back to the car. We drove down to downtown and parked the car in a parking garage which belonged to I think it was the library of the Church. We walked to see the movie "Joseph Smith" and then the Conference center, the outside of the temple and some other sights. It was a cold day but the sun was shining and that made it bearable to walk around. 

July 13

This was the Day when Moritz actually came back to Germany. He had been staying there for 332 days with the Barrington family, who we all got to meet. The Barrington family is one awesome family you can't describe. I think, everybody who was with them felt like they had a therapy of the mind and I am dead serious. Anyway, we will come to that later. On this July 13, 2008, Moritz, Maria and Julia came back to Hamburg, Germany. This is Hecki writing so Maria will tell you about the flight later. When I went to the airport this morning I was pretty nervous about what was going to happen within the next hour. It was 9 am and my mom and I overslept a little. So we got up, ate real fast and went to the airport, which is about 20 minutes away when there is no heavy traffic. We met Moritz's parents, his mom's mother and his dad's girlfriend. These two had little American flags in their hands. About 15 minutes later, we were discussing the exit which they were going to use to get out of the baggage claim, whether the customs exit or the main exit.

Finally, the little sign on the displays went on that the baggage is coming out right now, so we were trying to look into the doors to see them. After another 15 minutes Maria called and told us that Moritz's suitcase was missing and it would be brought home at 2 o'clock this afternoon and they would be out any minute. Finally, about 10:00 am they went out and Moritz fell into his dads and then into his moms arms. It was a touching moment. Everybody in line awaited its turn to be hugged and I was the guy who took the horrible pictures ;)

After all, we left the airport and I don't know what happened then, I'm sure Maria will tell you later;) 

Two amazing weeks in Utah

Hey it's Hecki and Maria...we just opened our blog to communicate with you. We're looking foreward to hear from you.
We two visited in different times the hostfamily from Moritz in Utah. We had an amazing time over there.


Our trip to Salt Lake City via Munic and Chicago was exciting. Julia and I had to wake up at 4 am and travelled about a day. So when we were in our flight to Chicago everybody had a display in front of them. Julia and me, too. We checked out our displays, but my one didn't work. So I asked the stewardess for help. After 1 hour the re-start of my display begun and then it worked. In this flight I wasn't sitting between people, I sat next to the gangway =). Usually I sit between persons, like in the car squeezed in between. Next to me sat Julia and next to her sat another woman who really liked to seize Julia's small place. So Julia got the feeling, which I usually get =).
A few tiers in the front sat some people, who spoke a language, which was unknown for Julia and me. What beautiful language! Now we really wanted to know where they are from so we asked a stewardess. She told us that they are from Cyprus.
When we were approaching Chicago we flew through every cloud and got heavy turbulences. Seriously I was a little bit scared, but finally it was funny, because all of the passengers first were screaming and then they had fun, because of this fly feeling. That was an amazing feeling!
And when we arrived in Chicago we had to call our parents but the public phones didn't work like we wanted them to work. So we had to ask somebody to help us. We found a family which was very kind and helped us and finally we could call our parents with their cell phone.

When we were on the flight to Salt Lake City we talked about the upcoming situation, seeing Moritz and his family at the airport. We were really excited! We also were thinking about how to say hello to them. Finally we were too tired for more thoughts so we fell asleep.
In Salt Lake City the weather was beautiful, the sun was shining and it was really hot in comparison to Chicago. That was one reason for that we instantly felt better. So we took the escalator downstairs to get the luggage. At this moment we saw Dixie and Moritz waiting for us and we fell into their arms.


Moritz told us that he has his driving license already. He wanted to show us his driving knowledge immediately. That was totally new for us and so cool. When we went home, real american hotdogs were waiting for us.
After dinner the only wish was going to sleep. We did go to bed and we felt like two dead people and felt asleep immediately.


On Sunday we had to wake up very early for church. The church was a new experience for us. It was so interesting. We were also surprised that it took about 3 hours, because in Germany the church takes only 1 hour. I liked it to see so many people every sunday in a church in PG (there are so many!) and to see that the belief in the church is very deep and true. That was an awesome picture.
After church Moritz wanted to show us PG, but Julia didn't feel well. She had a bad jet lag. So Dixie and Moritz showed me the city, Moritz' school and the beautiful landscape. We stopped at Moritz' school so he could schow me everything. I was impressed seeing a big football field, two baseball fields, two tennis courts and also a big hayfield. They explained me the building works in the school. We went around the school and I saw the new main entrance. By the way I noticed a lot of "public toilets for the builders". And I asked Moritz something in German Dixie didn't understand so she wanted to know what we were talking about. I wasn't sure, if I should tell her, but finally I did. In Germany these "public toilets" are called "Dixie-Klo" :-S. I know that wasn't very kind, but at last she laughed a bit =). Sorry Dixie =). After the school we drove through the streets so I could see all the houses and I could see the amazing temple building. We also drove to an awesome point of view where I could see almost everything: lakes, mountains...I was so amazed!!! It was so beautiful!

We started our trip to Las Vegas on monday already. The drive took about 6 hours. It got hotter outside and inside the car it got colder. Julia and I weren't very grateful about the air conditioning :-). We agreed that people like Janice like it when they have their air conditioning and love it to be wet by the fan ;-). We wanted to buy a fan at Walmart, too. Unfortunately we hadn't enough place in our luggage.

So we arrived in Las Vegas after a break in Saint George and wanted to see everything in Las Vegas immediately.
Las Vegas was awesome and for us 3 a very new experience. The buildings, the people, the lights and the heat!! About 130°F!!!
That was soooo hot!! (Maybe too hot for our neighbour :-)
We've never been in a place, where it's so hot. In Hamburg it's always cloudy and in summer the hottest temperature might be 75°F...
On the second day in Las Vegas we went to the Stratosphere building. Amazing!!! I guess it's about 1,149 ft. high! On the top were two rollercoasters! How weird! I never would take a ride on those rollercoasters! But many people did it!

When we were heading back to PG we visited the Zion National Park. I've never seen such an untouched place like this one. Back there we saw big mountains but first we saw two big cows and of course as tourists we had to take a photo :-)
So we drove through the Park and by the way I always have to sit in the middle of the car so I really culdn't see very much without stretching my body. But then I got the idea to look out of the roof top. Best idea ever! I think I had the best view and of course I took lots of pics. We stopped one time on the side of the road and watched the just beautiful landscape, especially the mountains! Then we went to a shop with lots of stuff for tourists near by the fantastic mountains. Outside the shop were set up many flags of different countries, also of Germany!! Inside the shop you could buy lots of weird things. For example "The Werewolf Of Utah", tarantulas, cowboyheats, sweets...
Finally all of us bought a bottle of water.

So on wednesday we were back at home. During the day we went shopping in a mall somewhere in PG. Our shopping-trip took about 4 or 5 hours. And as always I got my headaches. I hate headaches! But actually I always get them and everywhere. So we shopped through every store and were done and tired.

Friday July 4th. Independece Day. I knew that this day would become very national and patriotic. But it was more than these thoughts about it. So we woke up at about 7 am to be about 8 am at one special street in Salt Lake City I guess, where we could watch the parade. We've packed our lunch box and put blankets and folding camp chairs into the car, like the whole american people did, I guess :-).
When we arrived we had to look for a place where we could lie down. But there was no free place but a place in the behind. So Julia and Dixie put a blanket on the street where Tyson, Moritz and I also have sat down. Then we had a great view!
On this important amercian day Tyson wore a t-shirt with a Hamburg label. He didn't care about it. That was funny!

Moritz' hostfamily was amazing! They were so nice, open and sweet to us. We love them and we are very grateful for everything they have done for us.
And the most important thing is to know the meaning of kidding!!
Everbody's kidding there!! Everbody :-D! We loved it!


On one day when we went to Salt Lake City we visited the beautiful Temple Square. The construction is amazing! We also visited the Utah State Capitol, which was also pretty nice. The Barrington's were soo kind, they took long time to show us almost everything and explained us statues and buildings. And after this great trip to Salt Lake City we drove back to our sweet home in Pleasant Grove.
At home Tyson showed me how to ride a waveboard. He was pretty good! He had a lot of skills. I really enjoyed watching him! I thought it was hard but real fun! So he's the master of waveboards ;-)

Last wednesday when we were there we went four wheeling. It was soo cool! So we left the house at 11 am. We had a lot of fun and it was Julia's and my first time. But we did a good job and Julia and Moritz discoveres a small river. The water was cold but really clear. So we drove through the river and tried to make us wet as possible, because we were sooo dirrrty and dusty.
When we took a break at our first meeting point we were surprised about the typical picture of the american camping. Everything was perfect. At about 6 pm we drove back to the parking lut to the trailer. Moritz was trying to get two four wheelers onto the trailer. The first try went well. But the second didn't. He was too fast when he tried to move the four wheeler onto the trailer so he went on the back wheelers over safety fence. He was lucky behind the trailer there was another trailer where he fall on. That was so shocking that we first thought that he was dead. Luckily he was not!!!! That was terrible. The miracle was that he just had a scratch on his leg and his back was hurting a little.

On thursday we visited Seven Peaks, the biggest waterpark in Utah. First we bought tickets in Walmart and when we arrived there the sun did it best by shining.
So we were looking for a place where we could put on our stuff. Since it was a real hot day the park was full of people! Finally we found a place near by one of the many pools. Then we had the first chance to look around and watch the amazing slides. At any time Moritz and I tried out some slides. First the pink one and then the cave. Inside the cave it was really dark so nobody could see anything.
Sometimes we just lay on our towels and sometimes swom in the pools or rode the slides.
At last we played cards I guess it was Scrump =) I don't know the name but it was pretty funny.
For the stay we took the cool box with us, filled with bars, joghurts, chocolate cookies, frozen water, water and water...;)
When we were playing cards I took a bottle of water and tried to drink that much I could, because the water was frozen. I had to wait to get liquid water. Then Riley asked to get some water of my bottle. Why not?! BUT finally he drunk all of my liquid water for which I was waiting a long time. That actually wasn't funny! =) haha

After (I don't know) 3 or 4 hours?! we drove back home. During the drive we were listening to 2 special kinds of music: latino and hip hop!
Seriously I recorded Riley while he was dancing to latino music ;). This Macy's boy is soo funny! I'm always rolling, when listening to him!

Later the Barrington's arranged a farewell party for Moritz.
We all were surprised how many people Moritz knows and came! I guess about 100 people!! Of these 100 people Julia and I did only know about 5 ... =) But it was pretty nice and we got know many people.
During Moritz' stay in Utah Dixie and he set up an amazing photo album where you really couldn't miss Dixie's creativity! It's wonderful!

The sadest day we had in Utah was of course our last day. In the morning Dixie, Riley, Moritz, Julia and I wanted to have breakfast at One-Man-Band. But Dixie didn't feel good because of her cold so she went to a doctor.
When Riley and us Germans arrived at the restaurant we recognized that we would be the only ones having their breakfast. But that didn't matter, because it was the funniest breakfast we ever had. Julia and I were surprised when we saw telephones for ordering. Another example how lazy the Americans are! ;)
I remember that I ordered the "hungry breakfast" and the others something same like this. Moritz took a hot chocolate and I wanted too. But when it was my turn, the chocolate machine put only hot water in my cup. After asking the waiter finally I got my hot chocolate too. Then I saw Riley taking sugar, jam and sirup...You have to know that I love pencakes!!! I needed sirup too. I took a lot of small cups to put in
some sirup. Finally we had about 10 small cups filled with sirup. Thought that would be enough...;)
A few minutes later we got our breakfast and Julia wasn't happy with her order. She saw my breakfast (I had two plates: first with 3 pencakes, second with hash brown, sausage and eggs) and was jealous!
But I have to admit that I could understand her. While eating we talked about weird things! When we finished it Riley really liked to put honey in the chocolate, to put the left sirup on the plates and made glop.
Our next conversation dealt with a psycho therapy lesson. So everybody of us had to present his or herself. The beginner was Moritz. So we asked him: "Hey what's your name?" Then he answered: "äääähm...I am Moritz.."
we answered immediately: "Heeeey Moritz!!!!!!!!! How are you? What's your problem?..."
Totally crazy but funny!

Later, Sally and Shawn came to have dinner with us and they wanted to spend the last evening. Even though we had a sad situation on this evening, actually it was one of the funniest evenings we had and we'll never forget it. We did lots of crazy, silly and funny things! We tried to put up our foot as far as we could over the head. We tried to do handstands and headstands. Shawn and Moritz did a good job!!! Sally and I had to have some help by Shawn! :-D
The highlight was Sally's "Banana Dance" that she taught us and it was hilarious!!!! When Julia and Moritz joined they also had to dance it with us. Finally we recorded the dance.

So that was our last evening with the Barrington's. After the ultimative "Banana Dance" we took our last MonaVie and Riley started a conversation about building a toilet into an elevator. How does somebody start a conversation with the idea to build a toilet into an elevator?! ;)
On saturday we had to wake up at 4 am, but we woke up at almost 5 am. We really had to hurry up and had to put our last stuff in our suitcases. Tyson was soo tired! He lay on the stairs, was packed in a black blanket and was still wearing his pajamas. Rex put our bags in the cars and the Germans followed him. Tyson also wanted to get into the cars so he came out - without shoes. BIG mistake! The sidewalk were too cold for his feet and he began to cry. Sorry Tyson, but that was sooo cute!!! A little boy standing outside on the sidewalk without shoes and crying. Too cute!! When we arrived at the airport nobody wanted to realize the upcoming situation.
Finally we gave all of our bags to Lufthansa and after saying good-bye we passed the security. On the flight we didn't see Salt Lake City but the Lake and the view was amazing!
Everybody was sleeping on that flight.
When we arrived in Chicago we really couldn't find the right gate. After an hour we decided to ask a policeman. He told us the right way and asked for our nationality. When we said good-bye he said "Auf Wiedersehen".
So now it's up to you Amercian guys to find out the meaning...=)
After another 2 hours we sat already in our flight to Frankfurt. Bad flight. Couldn't sleep and were so tired.
And when we finally arrived in Hamburg everybody beside Moritz got their luggage. So we had to wait another 30 minutes to get the information that he will get his luggage at 6 pm.
Back at home we were totally exhausted!!!