Dear American Family, Heyy there! My name is Hatice Nur. I'm 16 years old and currently a senior in high school. I'm a part of a family of 4, I live with both my parents and my older brother who's a university student. I'd say that we are a tight-knit family, I'm especially close with my brother even though we're 8 years apart. I try and spend time with my family, for example, we have our designated movie or game nights. But as weird as it might sound my family and I spend most of the time during our dinner. Between all the work and studying we sometimes cannot find extra time for other activities, so we try and catch up with each other during our dinners. And while I love having dinner with them I love preparing the dinner too. I actually enjoy doing house chores to an extent. I try to help with as many things as possible in my house. I help with the laundry, I empty the dishwasher, I sometimes cook dinner, and I help with the general cleaning of the house. I clean my room myself because I believe that it is only my responsibility. I think that even if I can't do anything out of busyness, I still should be the one cleaning my room. I have many interests and hobbies but to be honest, whenever someone asks me about them I just forget them all : ) I really like Formula 1. I just love watching the races and following up with all the updates. Along with that, I'm very interested in astronomy. I try to attend projects and meetings that involve astronomy. I love stargazing, it doesn't matter whether it's stargazing with the most professional devices that have cutting-edge technology or just with my eyes on a slightly remote spot. Apart from that, I love listening to music. I've been wanting a record player for years and last year my parents bought me one as a birthday present. So since then, I've focused on collecting as many vinyl records as I can! I also listen to a lot of music on Spotify, it is quite lovely because I love listening to music anytime and anywhere. Additionally, I can say that I used to be a big bookworm. But as time passed and I started becoming more and more busy with school I kind of started reading a bit less. Though, I'm trying hard to get that habit back! I like reading mythology, mostly Greek mythology. I really loved "The Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller. As much as I love having some alone time with myself, I love the time that I spend with my friends even more. I could easily say that I have a big friend group that mostly consists of people from my school. I believe that I'm quite a social butterfly myself, I love interacting and communicating with others. This helps me have a lot of friends and a big friend group. Wherever I am, I don't really feel left out. I love going to coffee dates with my friends, even though we're together almost all the time we can still find things to talk about. I live in a city with a seacoast, it's mostly sunny and not too cold even in winter. I'm a big summer person so that's great:) I can't say that it's the biggest or the best city for a teenager but that's OK for now. It's cute, it's not very crowded but just a tiny bit boring. It is the place that I've been for approximately 13 years, and I really want to be in a bigger city for university. I want to study engineering, I'm going back and forth between aerospace and mechanical engineering. I would love to work at a space-related firm someday, perhaps NASA ... However, in a small corner of my mind, I'm also thinking about the automotive industry. I'm still not sure. In addition to all of these, I would love my dear host family to know that I'm a people person. I would love getting to know new people, learning about them and talking with them. In the first weeks, I might ask a lot of questions. I also would love to spend as much time as I can with you. And the most important thing is that I love cats! I've got an orange monster myself! He's the king of the house. I love pets in general but to be honest cats and dogs are my favorite, so if you have a pet that's 100% alright with me : ) Lastly, I can say that I hope to gain many valuable things from my exchange experience. I want to meet people who will become lifelong connections-those I can call anytime, just to catch up. I'd like to gain lots and lots of memories that I'll never ever forget. I'd like to discover new places. And most importantly I'd like to gain a second family I can call my own. I hope I see you soon! Can't wait to meet you :) Halice Nur