Hello,

My name is Ole, I am a 16 year old and I live on the outskirts of a big city. I have a forest and a large river almost on my doorstep (approx. 300m). My family includes my parents, my brother and my sister.  We also have a cat called Lana and my sister has two guinea pigs. My father works as head of portfolio management fixed income for an international insurance group. He lives a few streets away. My mother has a small practice for psychological counseling. I live with her most of the time, and one day a week and every other weekend I spend with my siblings at my father's house. This arrangement has many advantages for all of us.

For me, school starts at 8 am and ends at 2 pm. Unlike in the USA, there are hardly any leisure activities at school. That's why I go straight home after school and have lunch with my siblings and my mother. After lunch, I do my homework before I have free time. In my free time, I go to the gym almost every day. I like to meet up with my friends. We play soccer, for example. I play a lot of table tennis in the garden with my brother. I like to go fishing with my father or we go jogging together along the river. Every year during the Christmas vacations, the five of us go skiing in Austria with other families. I've been doing this since I was 4 years old and I love it.

I am friendly, helpful and interested in many things.  I would be happy if I would have the luck to find a nice host family where I can get to know and experience what it means to live a normal life as a 16-year-old in the USA. I would like to bring my curiosity and openness, my willingness to help and my friendliness with me. And perhaps a few typical German habits, which can definitely be complemented by typical American habits. Even though I have always lived in this city, I am curious and want to see more of the world. Together with my parents, I have already traveled to several countries in Europe (France, Spain including the Balearic and Canary Islands, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Norway) and have enjoyed getting to know new cultures. For my whole family, going abroad for a while is a matter of course. My father and his brother spent a long time in the USA during their school years and my mother spent a year in France. She later lived and worked on a Spanish island for a year. My father worked in London for two years until I was born. My godmother lives near Los Angeles and my uncle lives in Barcelona, Spain for many years. So it has always been clear to me that I would like to do a year abroad as soon as it is possible in our school system.

So far, I've only seen the USA in movies, series and stories. I really want to get to know this fascinating country for real. My parents and friends who have already spent a year abroad in the USA have told me many positive experiences from their host families and high schools.

I have been learning English since I started school. French and Spanish were added later. I also like sports and history. The English/American language is very familiar to me because I watch a lot of things (movies, youtube) in English.

In my future I would like to do my Abitur, which is the German high school diploma. I don't yet know what I would like to study afterwards.

I would be delighted if you have become curious about me and would like to get to know me. Would you like to do a zoom call with me and my family, for example? Please also feel free to contact me by e-mail.

Yours faithfully

Ole

Interested in hosting—whether 6-8 weeks or the entire school year?