Dear future host family,

I am very grateful to have the opportunity to do this exchange year, and at this point we are still strangers, but in this letter I would like to introduce you to my life and, of course, to myself. 

 My name is Liuana, I’m 16 years old, and I live in a small town in Germany. My family and friends are really important for me. I live with my dad, and my mom and my little sister, who is two years younger than me and our two dogs. 

My grandma is also very important for me, and I spend a lot of time with her. 

My parents are divorced, but they still have a good relationship with each other, and they only live a few minutes apart, which is very practical. They both have a new partner, and I like them very much and got along with them very well. 

I go to school in a very big town, and I spend a lot of time there because my grandma and almost all of my friends live there. I am very grateful that I grew up in a very peaceful and small neighborhood but especially in my teenage years, I love to be in a bigger city. Almost all of my friends are in the same class as me, and we are the same class since first grade, which has greatly strengthened our class community, and we do a lot of things together besides school. Every day I’m in school from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m, and after school I go once a week to tennis lessons. Tennis is very important for me and I love to play it. I have been playing it for four years, and I love to meet at weekends with my friends at court and to chat and play with them. I also tried a lot of other sports like climbing, hiking, ice skating, or riding and I’m always open for trying some new ones. My other hobby is playing the piano. I’m playing it since I’m 6 years old and it’s very calming for me to play at my piano. I don’t have lessons anymore but I teach myself everything and I love it. I also recently went to a dance school with some of my friends and at the end we had a wonderful prom. I met a lot of new people and learned how to dance. Every winter I am looking forward to the ski trip with my family. I am glad I learned skiing when I was four years old and I love it so much to ski down the slopes. 

Every weekend I meet with my friends and we do a lot of things together. Often we go in the city and try some new food spots or we go shopping. We also love to attend events in our city like fairs or in summer we went to some public viewings from soccer games or attending concerts. I spend a lot of time with my friends and we have so much fun together. One of my closest friends lives in another country and I visit her every summer. It’s really important for me to stay in contact with my friends because we have a very good relationship with each other.

As I said I also spend a lot of time with my family. Because of my parents divorce, my little sister and I switch houses every two weeks. Our two dogs are called Jojo and Otho and they live with my dad. Every Friday evening, we order food from a local restaurant and watch a film together. My parents both work full time and I am really grateful that every evening we eat dinner together and talk about our days. Every Sunday we go to a restaurant with my grandma. I love all these little traditions we have. I also visit my grandma often after school and we go the city and eating ice cream or just watching her favourite tv-show together. I have a very good relationship with my parents but especially with my mom. She’s a big role model for me. 

I had my confirmation in 2023 and it was a very beautiful and special day for me. I was confirmed with three of my kindergarten friends and after the ceremony in church we had a nice garden party and I invited my whole family, neighbours, friends and my four godfathers and godmothers. I still go to church regularly and also play the organ there.

I travelled with my family a lot around Europe and I am very grateful for it. I liked the beaches the most but we were also in the mountains or big cities. I think this is also a reason why I really want to do an exchange year in the USA. I love to explore new places. I also watched all the typical American High school films and I am so excited to live in another country for 10 months. I really want to go to an American High school, watch football games, go to prom, do a sport in Highschool and make new friends on the other side of the world. I want to try new things, learn more about American culture and improve my english because I really love to speak this language. 

I asked my family and friends how they would describe me and they said they would describe me as an open minded, purposeful, funny and responsible person. 

I am very grateful to have the opportunity to do this exchange year and I do not take it for granted. I am really looking forward to be a part of your family. 

Best regards 

Liuana 

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