Intercanvi acadèmic als Estats Units

"A l’aeroport ens vàrem recollir les famílies i cadascú va anar a passar Thanksgiving amb la seva família americana. Tots vàrem participar de la cerimònia del Gall d’indi, passar el cap de setmana junts i dimarts vàrem començar l’escola. A l’escola participem de les activitats escolars com classes, eucaristies, etc., i a més a més, assistim a classes especials per a nosaltres com la d’avui dimecres amb el professor d’història Anthony Keating, qui ens ha explicat la tradició esportiva a les escoles americanes i també com afecta el tema del racisme."

NEW JERSEY’S EXCHANGE EXPERIENCES:

"My exchange experience has been nothing but wonderful. My American family has taken great care of me and also tried to make me feel at home. When I first arrived I was lucky to experience Thanksgiving celebration. We had dinner with their friends and had an amazing time. I got to meet a lot of new people interested in the Spanish culture and excited to explain to me the american culture. After Thanksgiving, my family took me on a little trip to Washington DC, where I visited plenty of important buildings and president's memorials. I also met another family there who were Spanish Who were hosting us in their home and had a great time all together. We stayed there 2 days and eventually came back to New Jersey and I got to finally see New york. I was so excited to see it I could not stop smiling. And the expectancy wasn’t as amazing as the reality.

I loved every square foot of the city. We visited Times Square, the World Trade Center, the 9/11 memorial, the malls, the Harry Potter store, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and went to a couple of museums, markets, and live experiences too. We went to visit the Statue of Liberty and to do so, we took a ferry. It was a very amusing experience and we were able to see all the city. On Friday night, all the exagerada students and the American brothers went to see the phantom of the opera in broadway. I feel so grateful I have been able to experience this exchange. Above all, I will recall the wonderful time I had with my friends, the friends I made and of course how well my family treated me. I am very excited to meet Patrick again in april!!!"

Lola Medina (2n Batxillerat)

"I arrived on the 24 November to the US, met the family and went home. There was not much action that day because I was exhausted from the flight. The next day was Thanksgiving, even if my host family didn’t celebrate it we went to the uncle's house for a quick breakfast with the family. There were the cousins, uncles and other members of the family. On that same evening we went to another house to have the traditional turkey dinner with other relatives of the family.

The next day was Black Friday, and as expected I went with my host and his friends to the mall. At 10 a.m. we were all driven to a big mall in another town where we walked into many shops and later on we had lunch at a fast food Mexican restaurant. At 4 p.m. we got the light rail home. Later that day my host, Owen, hosted a Friendsgiving which is the same as thanksgiving but instead of being celebrated with family it’s done with friends. What shocked me most was the desert, it was a turkey shaped Oreo flavor ice cream.

On Saturday I went with my host family to Central Park and it’s zoo. First, we bought cooked peanuts and then walked around the park while we ate them. I really enjoyed the park regardless of the cold weather. We saw lots of squirrels and horse carriages. After the walk we went into the Central Park zoo. It’s not a big zoo but the animals there are exotic and unusual. On Monday morning Owne and I got the train to Hoboken to see NY’s skyline and then we had lunch at a Ramen restaurant, it was the first time I had eaten Ramen and it was delicious. On Tuesday morning the exchange students participated in a small scavenger hunt around school. At lunch time I met Owen’s friends at school. In the afternoon on the same day all students participating in the exchange went to the top of the World Trade Center. The views were fabolous but the pictures were dark because the weather wasn’t all that good. On Thursday evening I went with my host family to visit ChinaTown and Little Italy in Manhattan. We eat cannolis in an Italian restaurant, the restaurant has received multiple awards for their cannolis.

New York has so much contrast between the neighborhoods. For example Chinatown has small, dirty streets compared to the big avenues and tall skyscrapers in the financial district. 

At 10a.m. on Saturday all the exchange students got on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. When we disembarked we walked around the pedestal and walked up many stairs until we reached the top of the pedestal. From there there were some great views of the skyline and NY in general. Next we were given some free time to explore Liberty Island on our own and have lunch. At two o’clock we embark on the ferry that would take us back to Liberty Park."

Pablo Gutiérrez (1r Batxillerat)