Today marked the end of an amazing experience. The day began early in the morning as usual when Sebastian’s woke me up and I went to shower. After getting ready, I ate the final breakfast with my family: fruits and yogurt. I went to go pack my bags before we had to go to school. I must have rushed too much because I forgot to take two jackets and a pair of shoes, but hopefully Sebastian can bring them when he visits us. After packing my bags, I went to give my family a gift for letting me stay with them for two weeks. After the thanks and goodbyes, Sebastian’s father took us to school. After dropping my suitcase and backpack at the office, we went to homeroom with the students. Afterwards, we were taken to the middle school where we learned what we would be doing until lunch: visiting the elementary school classes. In small groups of 3 or 4, we went to individual classrooms and spent time with the children. We started off with second graders and worked our way through every class until we finished with the fifth grade classes.
In each class, we usually introduced ourselves and then read a book and then the students usually had many questions to ask us about our life in North Carolina.
We finished a bit early, so we had around 30 minutes to relax before lunch. I spent that time outside enjoying the surprisingly warm weather. Then we ate lunch at the school cafeteria and many of the host students came to eat with us. Later, we went to class with our host students; Sebastian had math class and we spent our remaining time talking. At 3 P.M. the dreaded time had arrived where we had to say goodbye to our exchange students and everyone who we met on the trip. Tears were shed and pictures were taken as we got our bags and boarded the bus. It was hard saying bye to such amazing people, but it was reassuring to know that we would see them in December again. Then came all of the airport check-in and security; however, the lines weren’t too long. This gave us plenty of time to eat dinner. Some students ate pizza while others ate burgers and had milkshakes. After using the bathrooms, we headed over to our gate and talked about our trip.
The plane opened it’s doors for boarding and all of us got in line to get on. Luckily the plane wasn’t fully booked which allowed people to get 2 or even 3 seats to themselves. After the flight, we flew from Atlanta back to Raleigh and said our goodbyes.