#week10 (progressive dinner + carving pumpkins)

Hi everyone,

the 10th week was the easy week at swimming because we couldn't be tired for BIG 12, which is the last meet for the JV team and it would be on Saturday. For this reason, we just practiced turns, dives, starts, push off and stuff like that.

On Tuesday, right after practice we had a 'progressive dinner' that means that we had dinner in three different houses: one for the appetizers, one for the main course and one for the dessert. So that, we got a bus from the school and our coaches drove us to the first house which was Aidan's house and we had meatballs, bread, vegetables, fruit, cheese and a lot of other stuff. Then, we went to Autumn's house and we had pork in a burger bun and smashed potatoes. After that, we went to Claire's house and he had cupcakes, ice cream and pumpkin 'ice cream'. Everything was super yummy and I had so much fun!! The best part was when we were at the second house where there were a cat & a do. One of my friends is really scared of cats, so while she was talking, she saw something coming and she thought it was the cat (it was the dog), so she suddenly moved so fast and everyone that saw her started laughing so hard. I will never forget that moment: I was literally crying😂

On Wednesday, I went to my host sister's basketball game with Allyson and Katie.

On Thursday, the entire swimming team came to my house for dinner right after practice. My host mum made pasta with two different sauces: red sauce, and mushroom sauce. They were both really good! Then, we had garlic bread and cake.

On Friday, we didn't have school, but I had swimming practice at 8 am. That was my last practice.😢

On Saturday, I went to the swimming pool at Normal Community High School (where our meet was) at 9 am. I swam 4 events and we were done at around 4 pm. It was a really long meet!

On Sunday November 28th, after church, I made tigelle and they were really good.

In the evening, I carved pumpkins for my first time. It was fun!

#day70 (meet + corn maze)

Hi everyone,

on Saturday, October 20th I had a swimming meet, so I woke up at 7 am and at 7:45 am I was at school to get the bus. Going to the swimming pool took about 2 hours, but I didn't sleep. When we got there, we warmed up and then the meet started. I swam 3 events and I was exhausted because it had been a really long week. When the meet was done, after a long but super fun bus ride, I got home and it was around 5 pm. 

I love bus rides before and after the meets😂😍

Then, I showered and at 6:30 pm I went to Luna & Ale's house (they are two exchange students that live together) and we went together to a corn maze. It was so cool! Basically, we had a map where there were 10 places marked and we had to try to reach all of them. It was dark, so we had to use the flashlights, and it was freezing. After about 2 hours, we had found all of the places and we were out the corn maze! I think we did pretty good😁

#day69 (surprise party + football game)

Hi everyone,

On Friday, October 19th I didn't have school, but I had swimming from 9 to 11 am. That day was the day of the first secret psycher's present! So, basically everyone on the swim team had to write on a sheet of paper their name and some stuff that they would like to receive. Then, everyone had to pick one sheet of paper with the name of the people that will receive your present. There would be 3 present: a small one, a medium one and a bigger one. On Friday, it was the day of the small present. It was so fun! I got candies, cookies, Cheetos that are amazing American cheese (now I'm kinda addicted, but it's ok) ad fuzzy socks😍. After that, I went to Denny's with one of my friend and then we went together to the mall. At about 1:30 pm, Luna, one of my friend, joined us and after one hour and a half we went to DQ to get ice cream.

That day was Luna's birthday, so some friends of mine and I had a surprise party for her and I was the one that had to distract her, while the others were getting everything ready. For this reason, her host mum came, got us and drove us to Luna's house. Everthing worked out pretty good and she was really happy!

At about 5:30 pm I went home and I showered. At 7 pm I was at the football game at school.

With Lily.

#week9 (swimming with tights + senior night)

Hi everyone,

the ninth week was the hardest one in swimming because we swam with 2 suits and a pair of tights. For this reason, on Monday we started using tights and it was so weird and hardbecause you feel slow and more tired. 

On Tuesday I had the hardest practise I have ever had and I was literally dying. After that, I went to my host sister's basketball game with Allyson.

On Wednesday, I went on a field trip with my yearbook class. Then, after swimming I studied for 3 tests & a quiz, and I made my poster for the Senior Night. The Senior Night was the next day, and it was basically the last home meet of the season. For this reason, all the seniors had to make a poster with all their pictures with the team or while they're swimming. I really like how my poster turn out!😊😍 After that my poster was ready, I filled in a paper with some questions about my swimming season.

On Thursday, right after school, I went to the swimming pool and we got ready for the meet that started at 4 pm. Before the meet started, the coach had called every senior and he read the paper that I filled in the day before. While he was reading, every senior got 2 roses: one for us and one for the parents that we went hugging. It was really moving!

After that, the meet started and I swam 4 events. 

Then, we ate the cake and the seniors got to open their presents: everyone got a cookie cake, a bracelet that symbolize the quote "always together never apart, maybe in distance but never in heart" and a card for Starbucks😍😍. I will never forget that moment!

Around 7 pm, everyone left, and my host family & I went out to eat.

That day I was sad because I knew that I would miss my team, once that swimming is over, but I was super happy because I had a really good time with all of them!

#day63 (ISU parade + football game)

Hi everyone,

On Saturday October 13th, My host family and I went to the ISU parade around 8:30 am. There, I drank my first pumpkin coffee, and we got a lot of candies because during the parade people threw candies😂

I really liked it, even though everyone was literally freezing.

After the parade, we went where we parked our car and we had a cook out. I found out another thing that I really love: pretzel dipped in chocolate and peanut butter😍

After eating, we went to the football game until about 5 pm.

Sunday October 14th was a relaxing day, so I just went shopping with my host mum and my host sister.

In the afternoon, we went to get a huge ice cream and it was so good!

#week8 (big cookie + ISU basketball)

Hi everyone,

during the 8th week of my exchange year I was super tired😅.

On Tuesday and on Thursday I had morning practise at 5 am.

In addition, on Thursday I also had a meet in the afternoon. The meet went good and I'm happy because I dropped 3 seconds in 100 freestyle, even though I was exhausted.

                 Bus ride😍

On Wednesday, the third season of riverdale started (only here in America) and I'm super happy!!

On Friday, it snowed and it was only October 12th!!❄

At school, everyone that hadn't been tardy or absent, got a big cookie, and it was really big!😂 I think I really love this school.

 At 7 pm, we went to Illinois State University for a basketball thing before their Homecoming that it would be on Saturday. It was really cool!

#day58 (Rader Family Farm)

Hi everyone,

On Monday October 8th, there was no school, so in the afternoon I went to Rader Family Farm with my swimming team. It's basically a farm where there are animals, but also games and food. First, we took some pictures and we fed the animals. Then, we ate and I tried my first corn dog and my first apple cider. They were both really good! After that, we went to the games zone, and we jumped on a huge pillow, we went on a swing, and we played a sort of volleyball where you cannot see the other team.😂 It was so fun!!

After that, I made an Italian food that it's called 'tigelle' and I baked them. They were so good and everyone really enjoyed them!😍

#day57 (Andy Grammer's concert)

Hi everyone,

on Sunday October 7th I went to Andy Grammer's concert with my host parents.

We went there around 5:30 pm because we had a VIP ticket. With this ticket we had the possibility to meet him before the concert starts, ask him some questions and take a group picture with him. It was so cool!!

My host mum asked him if he was able to sing in Italian or in some other languages and then she introduced me. For this reason, he traslated the first part of one of his song in Italian and he tried to sing. It was so funny!! In the beginning, he did pretty good, but at the end I had no idea what he said😂. After that, the person that recorded everything interviewed us. That was amazing!!

Around 7 pm, the concert started. First, there were two singers: Josie Dunne, and John Splithoff, then there was Andy Grammer. The concert was awesome!!😍

Futhermore, some days after the concert, he posted on his Instagram the question that my host mum asked him, so basically we are on his instagram!!😂😍

#day56 (mall + noodles)

Hi everyone,

on Saturday morning, I went to my host sister's soccer game. She played really good and when she was the goalie she did really good dives.

When the game was over, it started raining. Perfect timing!

After the game, we went to Steak 'n Shake to eat a yummy cheeseburger and fries.

At 3 pm, I went to the mall with Luna, the exchange student from Taiwan, for some shopping. First, we went to  'Halloween City' which is a shop next to the mall that sells only things for October 31st. It had any types of costume (for children and adults), hats, accessories, candies, lights and decorations for houses, bloody arms, eyes, and a bunch of other stuff. That shop was huge! We had fun and we tried a lot of things!

Then, we went inside the mall and I bought two pair of jeans, two sweatshirts (I wanna be ready for the freezing winter), and some other things.

At about 5/5:30 pm, my host dad picked me up and he drove me home.

At 6:30 pm, Katie, a girl in my swimming team picked me up and we went to 'noodles & company'. There, we met Maddy who is Katie's sister and she is also in my swimming team. I love them so much!💕 After we ordered, we ate noodles, meatballs and garlic bread with cheese. I got 'pasta rosa with Parmesan chicken' and it was good, even though it was a bit spicy and it was an American version of noodles😂

After that, I went home and, even though I was full, I ate a chocolate raspberry dessert with my host family and some of their friends. It was really good!