My personal “American firsts”

Hello and welcome to my blog!
My name is Mara, I'm 17 years old, from a small town in the South of Germany, and I'm currently spending my exchange year in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.
I have been in the U.S. for two months now and I've learned and seen so many wonderful, interesting, and surprising things since arriving here so I decided to share with you some of the experiences I have had here for the first time in my life.

One of my favorite ones was definitely experiencing homecoming. The spirit week leading up to homecoming weekend was so fun to be a part of, but for me the absolute highlight was the school assembly where the dance team and I performed, the parade that we built a float for, the homecoming game, and of course the dance. These events were memories that I'm sure I will never forget again!

Another thing that I have experienced is trying all sorts of new foods and meals. 
I believe that the food that’s eaten in certain countries makes up a big part of their culture so I'm very thrilled to try a new food every time I encounter one. 
My favorite meals that I have tried here include the tacos we made on "Taco Tuesday", macaroni and cheese, string cheese, cheese curds (a specialty from Wisconsin), deep dish pizza, and all the different pies we've made or eaten such as pot pie or apple pie.

Right now we are in the middle of the fall season so I am experiencing many "fall firsts" at the moment. Some of them include drinking my first pumpkin spiced latte, trying apple cider donuts and pumpkin pie, but also going on trips to visit a corn maze and a pumpkin farm for the first time.

And of course I made a bucket list before coming to the U.S.! 
Luckily, I've been able to cross off many of the things on my list since coming here. These included mundane things such as going to a supermarket, but also experiencing exciting things like going on a road trip or to a drive-in movie theatre for example.
I have been very fortunate to have an amazing host family, who wants me to experience all sorts of American traditions, events, and cultural moments so we went apple picking, to a lights festival, a sunflower maze, a drive-in-restaurant, an amusement park, and to many more places. 
Of course I would really like to cross off all the items off my bucket list by the time I leave the U.S. to go back to Germany again, so my host family and I are planning to achieve this goal by visiting a national park during spring break for example (one of the things on my bucket list that I'm really looking forward to).
I'm definitely not just excited to cross off the items from my bucket list, but also to experience more cultural traditions here in the U.S. (for example celebrating Thanksgiving or Christmas) and many more wonderful “American firsts" that I'm sure I'll be encountering as the year goes on.

I'm really looking forward to seeing you next month when I'll share my new blog post with you all.
So keep your eyes open for your personal "firsts" (maybe even "American firsts") till then because everyone experiences little first times once in a while!
Love,
Mara