Dear host family, thank you so much for accepting me to live one year with your family and for participating in the exchange program. My name is Ruben, I am a German student and am about to finish my 10th year of school. I love to meet new people and to experience new environments, also I enjoy to travel and to learn about other cultures. My sister went for an exchange year to Arkansas two years ago. At the end of the year, my mother and I picked her up there and we got to see parts of America and the American culture which I really enjoyed. Also my sister during her year in the US learned a lot and gained a lot of experience. Seeing all of that, I would love to have that experience, too. In school I study English since 2st grade, Frensh since 6th grade and Spanish since 8th grade, so I can speak English and Frensh, a bit of Spanish and of course German. I am outgoing, curious, respectful and polite. Sports play a big role in my life, such as soccer, table tennis and going to the gym. Also I like to puzzle and to read in the evenings. Every Saturday night, I attend our youth church and every Wednesday night I go to my small group (from the youth church). There I meet with friends, we read the bible together and talk about our faith and we eat together and play games. I would love to regularly experience a youth group in America as well! I played the guitar for 4 years and in general I often hear music because it lifts my spirit and it motivates me. I don’t have a specific music genre that I listen to, most of the time I just listen to the songs I like most, independent of the genre. My father works in a pharmacy in the next village and he is also involved in helping mainly Afghan and Iranian refugees. My mother works in a hospital as a medical doctor, she likes spending time with our family and like my father is also dedicated to help in our local church and migration work. I have three siblings, the youngest is a 8 year old girl, she likes playing Legos and I sometimes I play board games with her. Next is my younger brother he is 11 years old, we have quite different hobbies, but get along really well. My relationship with my 17 year old sister is also good, she also likes sports but has a lot to do for school and work so we don’t see each other often, but when we talk we have good conversations. I live in a small town next to a bigger city with a population of about 100 0000 people. I live about 25 minutes by bike away from my school and about 20 minutes to the inner city. In school I have 2-3 close friends and several other friends from my class as well as from some other classes. I also have two other close friends from my church and my home group. For my future I am open to everything. I would like to graduate well and after that maybe go to university or first go to another country for a gap year to work with a social project. About my future job, I don’t know what I would like to do yet. My sister’s year and our vacation in the US made me to really wish to be able to go there and learn about your culture. I believe that I will also have unforgettable memories with you and my new friends in America. I am excited to become a part of your family! With warm regards, Ruben