Dear Host Family, I am really excited to write this letter to you and tell you a little bit about myself. It feels a little strange to write to people I have not met yet, but I am really looking forward to hopefully becoming part of your family and sharing everyday life with you. I would describe myself as helpful, communicative and caring. I can be a little shy when I meet new people, so I sometimes need some time to feel comfortable. But once I get to know someone, I am very open and enjoy talking and spending time together. I live with my parents and my older brother. We have a very good relationship and are always there for each other. My brother also spent a year abroad in Canada, and he had a really great experience. Hearing about his experiences and seeing how much he enjoyed his time abroad made me want to have my own experience and create my own memories. We also have two cats, Abby and Micky, who have been part of our family for almost nine years. I have a small but very close group of friends. We like going shopping, going for walks, cooking and baking together, or just doing different activities. I do not make new friends very quickly because I can be shy at first, but once I trust someone, I really value the friendship. Honesty and loyalty are very important to me. In my free time, I spend a lot of time with my horse. I also enjoy jogging and swimming. I love animals and I really like cooking and baking, especially trying new recipes that I find on social media. I also enjoy watching movies and series, especially comedies like "Modern Family", but I also like drama and romance. I love traveling and even enjoy flying because I think it is amazing to be so high up in the air. My everyday life in Germany is quite normal. After school, I usually go to my horse, meet my friends, study or stay at home, watch TV and cook something. I am also used to being independent because I am often home alone in the afternoon. I want to spend a year in the United States because I have been interested in American culture for a long time. I would love to experience everyday life with an American family and see how American schools are different from German schools. I am especially excited about things like Halloween, Thanksgiving, football and prom. I also want to improve my English, become more confident and make lots of new experiences. I would love to share German culture with you as well. I could show you some German food, teach you funny German sayings and tell you about everyday life in Germany. Maybe we could even cook something together. I hope my host family will be open, kind and interested in spending time together. I would love to go on trips, watch movies, cook, bake or have game nights together. It is important to me that I feel like a real part of the family and not just like a guest. I am also completely okay with helping around the house because I already do that at home. I am really excited to get to know you, your family and your everyday life. Of course, I am a little nervous about living with people I have never met before and whether we will get along, but I believe that this feeling will disappear once we get to know each other. I hope that this exchange year will help me become more confident, meet great people and make memories that I will remember for the rest of my life. Most of all, I hope to find a second family in the United States. I am really looking forward to meeting you and hopefully becoming part of your family! Warm regards, Annemarie