A sad last day of school

May 15. was my last day at Castle View High School! All the seniors get out of school two weeks earlier than the underclassmen's. After my last class I got my cap and gown and I officially got signed out of the school. It was a little weird because all the other seniors were happy because they were done with high school but for me it was honestly kind if a sad day because it made me realize that my exchange year is soon over. 

In the evening all the seniors gathered at the school for something called Senior Sunset. We had BBQ, talked and signed each others yearbooks. When I got home  and read the things people had written in my yearbook I realized how many people I'm gonna miss when I go back to Denmark.

I am definitely gonna miss this girl! Her name is Aleksandra and she's an exchange student from Montenegro. We have become really good friends during the year and I really hope to come visit her in Montenegro! 

A tough hike to Mt. Falcon

A few weeks ago Sara and I went to Mount Falcon with a hiking club. We wanted to hike to the top of Mount Falcon, but that was easier said than done... Most people in the hiking club hikes every week so they were pretty fast. Sara and I haven't really been hiking a lot yet this year so it wasn't easy to keep up with them. We tried to keep the energy up with our camel-bags and granola bars but it was really a tough hike. The hike was 7 miles/11.25 km and there was 2095 Feet elevation gain! So you can probably imagine how steep the trail went up most of the time... When we finally came down again Sara and I were very tired but proud if our accomplishment. We went home and took a nap and the next day we were both pretty sore...

It was a beautiful hike though. I just never get tired of Colorado's beautiful views and mountains.

  

My first and only Prom

A few weeks ago I had an unforgettable day. The day of my prom had finally come. It was an amazing day and night. I went with my friend Josh and some other friends. First we took a ton of pictures in my backyard. Then we drove into The Aquarium in downtown Denver to eat dinner. It's a big aquarium that also have a restaurant were you can watch the fish swim by right next to your table.
After dinner we drove to ... also in downtown Denver where the actual prom was. It was a lot if fun and they even had a chocolate fountain!
After the prom we went to 'After Prom' at a rec-center. We changed out of our fancy clothes and went to do all kinds of crazy activities as you can see on the pictures. I even got a false tattoo that actually lasted for a week. At 3 am it was over and we all went home very tired!

Am I really going back in two months already?!

It is hard to believe but right now I have a little less than two months left before I sit on the plain on the way to Denmark. I am leaving on June 27. and I feel like I have a lot to do before that day arrive...
Last weekend I went to the last orientation with YFU, to get us prepared to go home. I have become really good friends with the danish girl Ida and the Norwegian girl Helene who ere there as well.

Fun 'Speech and Debate' Banquet

It's a while ago since the last time I posted something, so I have a lot to tell.
Let me start by telling about the debate banquet I went to a few weeks ago. It was a banquet where we(the debate team) looked back on the year and said goodbye to each other.
All the students got a diploma with a fun award. I got the 'Explorer Award' for exploring a new country, and a new club while on an exchange program from Denmark.

The debate team also has a tradition of "roasting" the seniors. All the juniors tell embarrassing or funny stories about the seniors. The guy that was "roasting" me talked about funny things he had learned about Denmark and then he told a story about a debate tournament I had gone to. I had been debating with Aleksandra the exchange student from Montenegro. Apparently there had been a lot of guys from other schools at our table because they all wanted to talk to the girls with the foreign accent...

The night of the banquet I also got to say goodbye to my debate coach Mrs. Graham. She have been my favorite teacher during my exchange year. I have had her for both english and debate and she have helped me a lot during my year. I will definitely miss her a lot!
I have had a great time on the debate team and I wish I had been able to go to more debate tournaments. I would definitely encourage other exchange students to join the debate team!

Me and Mrs Graham

Easter!

Last sunday it was Easter and last day of spring break! In the morning Nico and I got Easter-candy and t-shirts for camping. My t-shirt had a drawing of a burning marshmallow on it which perfectly describes what happens when I make s'mores.
At lunch we had fish, deviled eggs and jello salad. Deviled Eggs is what you see on the picture below. And jello salad is jello(en slags frugt-gele) cut in pieces and mixed in whipped cream. It is hard to explain but tasted really good.
It was a nice and different Easter.

Devils Tower

We drove back to Colorado on Tuesday, but on the way we did some sightseeing. In Wyoming we went to see Devils Tower. It looks like a tower that just shut up from the ground out of nowhere. Even the scientists dont have an answer to how it was created. A myth says that the earth rose under three native american girls that were chased by a bear. Apparently the grooves on the tower is from the bears claws.

Rapid City

Sunday we went in to Rapid City where there on the Main Street is a statue of each of the american presidents. We took funny pictures with some of the statues. We even found out that an iPhone fits perfectly in James Madison's hand...
Unfortunately they didn't have a statue of Barack Obama yet.

President Thomas Jefferson

James Madison holding Sara's iPhone.

Millard Fillmore whispering something to Sara. Haha

Seems like Brian was making friends with William Taft.

Nico and Calvin Coolige

After lunch we went back to the hotel which had a water park right next to it, so the rest of the day we were in the water. Me and Nico tried the slides, a ton of times! It was a fun and relaxing day.

Me and Nico right after a ride down the big water slide. We had a blast!

Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Cave adventures

Sunday was our big sightseeing day. First we went to see Mount Rushmore. It was cool to see it in real life, now that I have seen it on pictures so many times.

Family picture in front of Mt. Rushmore

Then we went to see Crazy Horse. It's a big sculpture of the Indian man named Crazy Horse riding on his horse. Or that is what it is eventually going to be... Right now, only the indians face and arm is made, and to us it doesn't seem like there have been any progress for many years. It was honestly a little disappointing...

In front: What the sculpture is going to look like. Background: What it looks like right now. 

Crazy Horse

Then we drove to Jewel Cave it is a huge underground cave that is more than ??km long. It was really cool to be down there and there was a lot of beautiful and cool crystals and rocks.

It looks like a big piece of bacon!

After that we wanted to go souvenir shopping in the small towns but that was basically impossible because everything was closed for the season. But it was actually nice to be there "out of season" because there was very few tourists at most of the attractions so we didn't have to fight to get a picture as I imagine it can be in the summer. We almost had it all to ourselves but we also had to suffer the freezing temperatures.

The beautiful Badlands

Saturday morning when we woke up, everything outside was covered with a good layer of snow. Outside it was -10 degrees Celsius! Well we didn't let the cold weather stop us from going to see The Badlands. And it was definitely worth it. It was probably one of the most beautiful places I've been. It almost looked like small snow covered mountains. After taking tons of pictures and almost freezing off our toes and fingers, we went to the tourist attaction called Wall Drug. It was an old drug store on the Oregon Trail. Now it was mostly an expensive tourist trap...
After eating lunch at Wall Drug we went into another area of the badlands where there were buffaloes. There was a lot of buffaloes! And there was even one standing right on the side of the road.it was really cool. At the end of the day we were all very exhausted.

Beginning of our spring-road trip

Right now I am on the way home from an awesome 5 day road trip with my host family. Last Thursday was the last day of school before spring break, so on Friday morning we took off on our road trip to South Dakota. First we drove through the corner of Wyoming and then we came to Nebraska. In the beginning it was very flat and there wasn't a lot to see except tractors and quiet towns. But then we came to Scottsbluff. It was a bluff right on the middle of nowhere. The old Oregon trail that the pioneers traveled on to get to the west went right past the bluff, so there was old wagons at the visitor center.
After seeing it we drove the rest of the way to Rapid City South Dakota.