Hi everyone,

I have a lot to tell you. First of all I want to say that I feel so lucky to be here. My dream of living the American life came true and I am so thankful for that!

I already told you which classes I am following, but I couldn't really tell you what they're like yet. Algebra II is easy, because I've had the material already. That makes it easier to work ahead so I won't have any homework. When the teacher saw my homework, he saw that my way of multiplying matrices is different than theirs. He was amazed, because with my way (thank you mrs. Gault) I would get the right matrix as result. My way of multiplying matrices was so much easier than theirs, so from now on the teacher is calling it the Tash-way, haha.

Art is really fun and relaxing. We have sketchbook in which we have to make a drawing every week. That’s our homework assignment. During class we work on a different drawing. Right now we’re working on drawing a room with dimension. As you know I like to be creative, so learning new ways of drawing is really fun.

Chemistry is my third period every day. For my class it’s their first year of chemistry so we start with the basics. This is also pretty easy for me, because I’ve had chemistry for multiple years now. But the teacher is fascinated by how much I already know haha. It’s actually not that bad to get the basics again. It refreshes my memory. The other day I showed them a video in which Harry Potter (actually Daniel Radcliffe) sang a song about all the elements in the periodic table. I’m still amazed by how he talked so fast and remembered every element.

My lunch break is from 10:30 to 11:00. After that I go to US History. Before my first test I thought it was going to be a hard class, because I remember my years of taking history and they didn’t go that well. We get a lot of notes here, but we can’t read them because the teacher has a terrible handwriting, haha. He knows that and that’s why he repeats his sentences so that in the end we all have the notes that we need. This week I had my first test and I did well. I think I only made one mistake. In school we get test prep the lesson before the test and the teachers tell you everything you need to know. That means if you actually pay attention, you won’t have to study too long. I still find it difficult to understand what’s being said in class sometimes and that’s what makes it a hard class. To really understand I have to look through my notes.
US History is also the class where I learned that American people don’t like to read (out loud for the class). At first it was only one person, but after I heard more people read the same way, I figured it was just an American thing. They read monotonous and without punctuation. When I asked someone if everyone reads that way he answered yes. So I guess I just have to get used to that, haha.

Psychology is my favourite class at the moment. The teacher is so funny and serious at the same time. He explains us the things we have to know, but at the same time he gives it a funny spin. This week we have studied the differences between men and woman in the brain. We watched a video about what makes a woman or a man attractive. It was quite funny and interesting.
We also got some information about how things are transported through the body and this is where my biology knowledge is involved. Neurons, dendrites, spinal cord, etc.

English is my last real class of the day. Every day we have to write down a ‘new’ word with its definition so we expand our vocabulary. Every Tuesday we have a test about the words we learned the week before. We also get 10 minutes of reading time every day, because we have to read a book every nine weeks. I have just started reading the second book of my favourite series. The book is called Insurgent (thank you grandma and grandpa). I also gave a speech this week. It had to be about the ten things I care about most. I already put a list of the ten things I chose in my previous blog post. I was really nervous and was shaking the whole time (just like everyone else who presented haha). The teacher thought I did really good, so that was a relief. After my presentation someone told me it was the first time he actually heard I had an accent. I understood what he meant, because I could hear myself speak different too, during the presentation haha.

My last period every day is Math Lab, this is where we get time to do our homework and ask questions. If you’ve finished your homework or don’t want to use this period to do it, you can just talk and have a conversation with someone.

Last Sunday Cassidy, Debbie and I went to the animal shelter where they got their two dogs a couple years ago (Beau and Bear). We volunteered there and are definitely going back there sometime. The dogs were so sweet and the cats (mostly kittens) were adorable! They licked me (very pleasant of course haha) and walked all over me. One of them, my favourite, laid down on my arm with one two legs on one side of my arm and two legs on the other side. It was so cute. I am a little bit allergic to cats so two days after we went there my eyes still ached. But it was worth it!

This is my update so far. I have a lot more to tell you, but I can’t right now. I have a volleyball team bonding party to attend. You’ll hear from me soon!

Love,
Tasha