SNOW!

Ok guys, I am sorry for not updating my blog. I've been busy, and kind of lazy, but I'm going to try to update my blog as much as possible from now on.

So anyway, this one is going to be about the snow. The only time I've ever actually seen snow is 3yrs ago, went I went for a 15 day camp to Switzerland. The coldest temperature I've been in is about -5*C. things are hence very different for me here. The first snow here fell a few weeks ago. Ever since then, it's been extremely cold. There's a blizzard outside the house right now, as I'm typing!!

The maximum temperature today, is about -8*C, and the minimum is about -23*C. There's no way I'm even going to step out of the house in this weather. Or maybe I will. To sled, and ski, and ice fish, and snowboard, and ski etc. etc.! Despite it being so cold, I think I like the snow. It's a lot of fun, playing in the snow. I've had my first snowball fight. And we also made a snow fort. we r going to make a snowman soon as well. i think the snow is gonna be a lot of fun. I cant wait to go skiing and to start snowboarding. Im really looking forward to ice skating aswell. Lets just hope this blizzard dosent get any worse..

The New Kid.

So I started school last Tuesday. I've been so busy with school that I have had no time to blog or do anything else. I leave for school at around 7:45am. School ends at around 3:30pm, and immediately after I got soccer practice. Soccer practice ends at around 5:30pm. Then, tired and weary, I come back home, eat dinner, and start off with my homework. The amount of HW I get is crazy. So the education system is way different here in the US. We don't have different classes everyday. We have 3 trimesters and different classes every trimester. This trimester I got English, physics, economics, pre-calc, and US history. I get so much HW everyday; I'm usually up till like 12am. Also, the teachers don't rotate around classes, but students go from class to class. So I got a different set of people for each class. But I guess it's just something I have to get used to.

Ok, so here's the deal. I've been in only one school ever since I was a kid. So I've never really been the new kid. Ever. So it's kind of weird when I go to school here, because it's not like I know everyone, like back in India. But that's ok. I'm making friends steadily. I'm also playing soccer for the school. So I'm making friends there too. My life here is pretty sweet. Except the HW. That sucks. And my tight schedule. But even so, it's a lot of fun hanging around with Matt, Jordan, and Christian.

My teachers are pretty cool too! I got Mr. Hoffman as my English teacher, Mr. Dewey as my physics teacher (who is also the football coach btw.) Mr. Rooker as my economics teacher, Mr. Nagengast as my pre-calc teacher and Mr. Zahler as my US history teacher. I find US history the toughest subject of all. Obviously. I know nothing about it. Even the stuff that seems fairly obvious to other people. And it's the last class of the day. So I'm really really sleepy during this class. But right after this class I got soccer practice. So that wakes me right back up!!

I also have lunch in school. Our lunch is divided into 3 parts, because the cafeteria can't hold all the students at once!! So there's an A, B, and C lunch. A lunch is before the third period, B lunch is in the middle of the third period, and C lunch, the one that I'm in, is like after the third period. Matt is with me in C lunch. So I sit with him at the same lunch table. Thank god for that! I don't know what is going to happen next 2 trimesters though.

Anyway, so that's how school is. Thts all for now.

The Wedding!!

On the 28th of August, i experienced something really different, AN AMERICAN WEDDING!!!! American weddings are so different from Indian weddings. Well they're shorter, and a lot more fun! So this time, Nate was getting married to Maddie. they're good friends of Elle.
So, we dressed up, in a suit, complete with a tie and stuff. This is the first time i was wearing a tie. It was not as bad as i thought it was gonna be. I also kinda had to borrow Christan's dress shoes, cause i didn't have any of my own.. :P

So we left for the wedding. we went to this nice Church. It was huge. And everyone was all dressed up and stuff. We all chose a seat on the benches, in front of the altar. Then the ceremony started. There as a speech by a Priest and stuff. Then a few songs sung by people. And what happened next, i think everyone knows. The bride walked down the aisle, while the groom stood at the ending waiting for her. then they exchanged rings, and said I DO! It was just like from the movies. But it was just something else, looking at it live and up close. It was really as beautiful as they say it is. We went and congratulated the couple afterward.There was only one problem though, the Air conditioning was broken! :'( so we were all sweating like pigs. Wat makes it worse was it was an unusually hot day. But other than that it was all good!

Next we went to 'the holiday inn' (yeah they have one over here too!) for the reception. Luckily the air conditioning wasn't broken here! Well, anyway, This was kinda a different experience too. At the entrance to the room where we would b dining, there was a table with lots of cards on it. Each card had a name on it with a table number. You have to find your name, and sit on the table that it tell you to sit on. We don't see a lot of that in India!

So then I sat down on the table I was assigned to. Table number 5. I was with Elle and Jordan. When I sat down I saw 3 forks, 2 knives, and a spoon. But I wasn't surprised by this, oh no no no. I took a dining and edict class before coming to the US. So I knew exactly what to do. We had a three course meal, with salad, a main-course and dessert. It was good food!
So after that we just drove home. It was a new and very good experience overall! I'm lucky to have experienced this in only the first week in Minnesota. I wonder what other experiences I'm gonna have over here!?

The Minnesota State Fair.

On Friday the 27th of August 2010, I was lucky enough to have a Rotarian family take me to the Minnesota state fair. I went with Deb, Doug and their 2 kids, Ben and Ashley. I don't really remember their last names. They were really friendly people, and a lot of fun to be around.
So we left at around 7am, and we reached at around 8am. I expected the fair to be a couple of rides, a couple of food stalls, and some other stuff. Well, it was all that, and a lot, LOT more! The fair was massive. I don't think we managed to see the entire fair despite our 10hrs of backbreaking walking. The entire fair was covered in food stalls. There was so much to eat! The first thing I tried was Scottish eggs. They are basically hard-boiled eggs, covered in sausage and deep friend. Sounds not so appetizing? Well trust me, it definitely is. You'll go crazy after having just one bite.

The biggest Boar

Alpacas!

Anyway, we then went into the barns. Here, people got their farm animals, to showcase in a competition. There were cows, pigs, and anything else u can imagine! The biggest pig there was like 8ft long as weighed 1400 pounds, and I'm not even joking. That thing was like the kingkong of pigs. Good thing it was asleep and oblivious to the hoards of people around it taking pictures and looking at it in disbelief. We walked around a bit and looked at all the animals there. We also went to the 'miracle of birth center' as they call it and saw a couple of pregnant animals, and a couple of new born animals. It was kind of more than my stomach could handle, animals giving birth left right and center. So we briefly stayed there, and then got out.
We then took off towards another direction of the park, eating awesome stuff along the way. I had the best root beer I have ever tasted over here, and the best part was, it was cheap! Stuff in America is pretty expensive. We looked at art galleries, and flowers and a lot more. In most of the buildings, there were people in small stalls, selling their unique products. When I say unique, I mean so-rare-you-will-only-find-it-in-one-place-on-the-earth kind of unique. There was this cloth made out of some crazy material that can soak up like half a liter of pop in 2secs. There was instant snow. a powder, to which when you add water, it puffs up into snow, and is twice its original size. There was this awesome bottle opener that makes opening bottles so much easier. And there was so much more. You wouldn't even be able to begin to imagine the kind of stuff that was there. It was just amazing.

Guy on a unicycle

Jack Sparrow! (and friend)

Then there was a parade, with lots of people doing all kinds of stuff. There were people playing different instruments. People on unicycles. People on stilts. People dressed up. It lasted about 30mins.
After that we went to the games part of the fair. Again there were people in small stalls offering different kinds of games. There was one where u had to knock three blocks off a table using a ball, and guess what, I won it! I won this huge black monkey. It's cool.
Then, the five of us, all tired and weary, dragged our legs back to our car, somehow managed to get in and drive our self back home. It was an amazing experience, and I am very grateful to the people who took me there. I had a nice taste of the spirit of Minnesota that day. It was a lot of fun.

A new beginning.

So I reached America on the 23rd of August 2010. I got nothing much to really write about the plane journey except that it was boring, and long. So, i got off the plane at Minneapolis at around 1pm. I got out of customs at around 2pm. The lines were huge, because apparently a plane filled with Japanese guys had landed the same time as us. So as soon as I got out, I met my host mum, Ms. Ellen Schreder. She is a really nice woman. So then she drove me back to her house, at St. Michael, which is about 45mins away from the Minneapolis airport. The first thing that struck me was the silence. This place is nothing like the busy, chaotic town of Pune. It is way more peaceful, and has a lot less people. So about 45mins and a nice conversation with Elle ( that is what we call her) later, we reached the house. Compared to my house back home, this house is huge considering only 4 people and a dog live here. the have a ground floor, basement and 1st floor. the ground floor has a living room, dining room, a kitchen, Elle's bedroom, and a computer room. The basement is where my room is. And no, the basement is not what your probably imagining. It's not a small dark, dingy room with a bulb hanging from the roof as the only source of light. It's actually very nice. The basement has my bedroom, a family room, a minibar, and a mini golf area!! It's pretty neat. I just love my bedroom and everything else about the house.
I live here with three other boys. Matt, Christian and Jordan. Matt is Elle's only real son. Jordan and Christian are Matt's Foster brothers from Dominican Republic. I shall save the story of  how they came to live here, for another time. well, Matt is currently in Africa, but Christian and Jordan are doing a perfectly good job of keeping me company.
I sure am looking forward to my stay here in America. I know its gonna be a really amazing one!