Dear Future Host Family, My Name is Marla, and I’m so exited that I can finally write this letter and my biggest dream is turning into reality! Thank you for giving me this opportunity to follow my dream and move to Amerika for six months. Since I was around 11 years old, I dreamed of going on exchange, and I tried to search everything about an exchange year. Now I’m here and just cannot believe this time has finally come. I’m already looking forward to the time in the USA, and I’m exited to learn everything about your culture and your lifestyle. I live together with both of my parents, Heide and Gregor, and my two older siblings, Lotta and Joris, together in a village in Germany. I think we have a pretty good bond, because we spend a lot of time together on weekends or holidays, for example during vacations, small trips or restaurant visits. I particularly love when my siblings and I just talk or drive around in the car in the evening, having fun and joke around. And thanks to both of my siblings, I actually understand every fun and know how to defend myself If necessary. My brother especially taught me as we have the same group of friends and therefore do even much together. I would even say that I have a very pretty bond with my mom because we had spent every day a few hours together practicing my old hobby, horseback riding. Furthermore we have already taken short trips just the two of us and went shopping, eating and something like that. I’m a very open and happy minded person who always tries to see anything positive even in bad situations. My friends really often say to me that I’m such a "Sunshine“ who tries everything to make other people happy. I would say that I don't have any problems getting to know new people because I'm very open and I like to talk to people, but I also know in which situation it's better not to say nothing and stay quiet. In my free time I love spending time with my friends, just chilling, going shopping, visiting new places and creating new memories together. I personally think that memories and time especially with friends and family are so much more important than money. I really like doing sports and being active, which is the reason why I did horseback riding for almost 10 years. I also had my own horse for about five and a half years until recently and competed in many competitions with her, especially in eventing and show jumping. But last year I unfortunately broke my finger really bad, so I could only ride with great pain. That’s why I decided to quit. My finger is now fully healed and I have no problems nor pain any longer. At the moment I’m going to a Partner dance class with a few friends, where we are training for a graduation dance performance and simply having fun together. I also really enjoy to bake or to try new dishes and spending some time with myself to relaxe. When I need even a little bit more time to relax, I really enjoy to look movies or series. My favorite movies have always been "Fast and Furious“ and " Harry Potter“ and my favorite series are "OC California“ and "Gossip Girl“. I also love animals very very much and enjoy spending time with them, like especially cuddling. A few more things about me: -I love food -I love coffee so much -I absolutely love shopping -I love music, especially Coldplay ,Adele and Olivia Rodrigo -I love to laugh -I’m not very good at ball sports because I just can't catch & score well, but I still have fun playing -I can bake very well, but unfortunately, I’m very untalented when it comes to coking I’m a person who completely love to travel. I’m very grateful that I’ve already been able to travel to 8 different countries beside Germany and to discover so many different and amazing cultures, people and traditions. I personally like warm countries a bit more because I love the sun, the sea, and spending time on the beach, I just feel very comfortable. One of my biggest goals also is to travel after my graduation as much as possible and to create unforgettable memories all over the world. As I mentioned before, I’m incredible excited for this journey, and I’m very thankful to my parents that they make it possible for me to follow my dream! And I am so so thankful for the opportunity to become a part of your family and the everyday life in America, as well as your own family traditions and your food on thanksgiving or for example Raising Cane's!!! And I'm also looking forward to everything that is coming, but of course I'm also very exited for the Highschool, the football games, the typical yellow school bus and homecoming. Thank you very much for reading my letter. I hope you enjoyed it. I’m so exited and happy to meet you guys pretty soon! Yours, Marla