Dear Host Family,

First, I would like to thank you for giving me this wonderful opportunity to experience an exchange year and make this big dream of mine come true. It’s not self-evident to have an unknown person come to live with your family for a year and I am grateful you trust me enough to welcome me to your home.

Having said that, I would like to introduce myself: My name is Marie, I am 14 years old and I live in Germany with my mother, my sister and my dog.

I am currently in the 9th grade. At school, I am most interested in science subjects such as mathematics, physics and chemistry and, of course, sport. I really enjoy playing sports, especially handball. In my free time, I play in two handball teams as a field player and goalkeeper. I really enjoy playing this team sport. But I've also tried other sports, such as swimming, football, horse riding and I even danced ballet when I was a small child.

When I'm not at handball training or playing handball at the weekend, I like to meet up with my friends or .... I am very fond of animals, so I would be very happy if my host family had pets. I would love to help looking after the pets and spend some time with them. My family has a dog, his name is Lucky and he is a four-year-old Labrador-Australian Shepherd mix. He is very lively and I enjoy playing with him and teaching him new tricks. When we go on vacation, we always look for a vacation home with a large garden for Lucky so that he has plenty of space to run around. Last year, we stayed on a farm in France with a very nice Scottish family. They had lots of different animals and I was allowed to help looking after the horses, goats and chickens as well as ride the family's horses.

I live at home with my mother and my older sister. My parents are separated, my father has a new partner who also has a daughter my age. We get on really well, she's like a second sister to me. We're always very happy to meet up on every second weekend at Dad's and catch up on the latest events.

My grandparents have a vacation home in Naples, Florida. I spent a lot of time there. When I was four years old, I was allowed to travel there for four weeks just with my grandparents. As my sister was already in first grade at the time, my mother and she stayed at home in Germany. I now regularly fly to Naples alone with my sister during the fall and Easter vacations to visit grandma and grandpa. My enthusiasm for the USA and the American way of life probably also comes from the many visits and contacts with my grandparents' American friends.

Of course, I am very excited to get to know an American high school. I particularly like the wide range of new school subjects. I would like to take lots of courses there and of course try out new sports that are not so well known in Germany. I'm really excited and looking forward to getting to know lots of new things and making new friends, and of course meeting you, my Host Family!

Best regards from Germany

Marie

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