Birthday Party

This Saturday my host brother had a little Birthday party. We went to Dave and Buster's which is a place with all kinds of different interactive and video games. I had a great time there trying out all those different gambling games. With the points I won I got myself a Jets teddy bear.

Enough snow for now

Ramapo College

Now it is official. I am a student at Ramapo College now. My visa requires that I have to take college classes in order to get six credit points. Therefore I applied for two classes at this college. They did not offer that many classes for au pairs and it was even harder to find two classes which fits my time frame. But I found two really interesting classes which I have both twice a week now. So on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday I go to college now to attend a90  minutes class for the next fourteen weeks. I am really looking forward to it. For both courses I get a total of eight credit points.
And my two classes are "The United States and East Asia" and "International Migration and Human Rights", so two political classes.

Below I just copy the description of the classes.

The United States and East Asia
The United States and East Asia have had profound influences in shaping each others's history over the past two centuries. From destabilizing the Tokugawa Shogunate and Christianizing Chosen Korea in the 19th century to contemplating a competitive Chinese superpower in the 21st century, this course will explore the cultural, political, economic, and strategic relations between the United States and China, Japan, and Korea as well as the Philippines and Vietnam.

International Migration and Human Rights
Every year between 2,5 and 4 million people cross international borders without authorization. Escaping war and civil conflict, political instability, ethnic violence, environmental disaster, and poverty, they search for a new home, and a chance to work with a livable pay. They are caught between borders in a borderless world. International Migration and Human Rights is a course about their lives, the causes of their displacements, and their treatment by others. International Migration and Human Rights shifts the focus of the study of the national interest of receiving and sending states to the human rights of the migrants. It helps the students to go beyond the popular nationalist narrative advocated by the media and politicians, to conduct a critical analysis of leading migration issues of our time. Evaluating the effects of globalization on migration, the increase in the number of people in need of protection, and the border policies of the United States and other affluent nations, the course calls for a reevaluation and reform of
the existing international refugee and migration regimes.

Thank you Jets!

- for a great season
- for two great playoff games
- although you did not make it to the Super Bowl you still are an awesome team
- for some exciting football games
- for beating the Patriots and the Colts in the playoff games
- for an awesome coach and and awesome team

Snow, snow and more snow :D

This week we had a lot of snow over here. And on Tuesday and Friday we even got that many new snow that the kids had an delayed opening at school which means school started two hours later than usual. So far they had one snow day (no school at all because of the snow) and two delayed openings at school.
We still have about 8 inches of snow over here. And this weekend is supposed to be the coldest one so far. The temperatures were about 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Pretty cold. Let's see how the next week will be.

Jets vs. Patriots Divisional Playoff

NHL Game

Today I went to a NHL game. The New Jersey Devils were playing against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Devils used to be a pretty good team. They won their divisions the last five years but this team they are the worst team in the league. Nevertheless, we decided to see the game. And in turned out to be a really great and high scoring game. The Devils even won the game against the second best team in the league. The final score was 6 - 3 and we really enjoyed this game. It was the best Devil game in this season so far.

Jets Playoff Game

Great playoff game. Jets win a dramatic game 17 - 16 against the Colt. What a great game. Patriots, here we come!

Let it snow!

Today it snowed again and everything looks so beautiful now. With a friend I went for a walk at the park and took some great pictures. We enjoyed our walk through the snow.

Jets Football Game

This Sunday I also went to the Jets football game. After I got back from Aruba and arrived home I went to the football game with my host brother. It was the last home game of the Jets for this season. Today they were playing the Buffalo Bills and I really enjoyed my first NFL football game. The stadium was amazing and our seats were really great. We had a good view on the field and we enjoyed the game. The Jets played pretty well although they rest some players for the playoff game. The first half was not as good as the second one but it was a really great game. The Jets won 38-7 and they are ready for the playoff game now.

Aruba

What a great vacation I had in Aruba. Seven days great weather and seven awesome days in Aruba. I really enjoyed this last week of 2010. I went to the beach, to the ocean and to the pool every day. The food was delicious (lots of good sea food) and it could not be any better. I had so much fun and a great time with my host family. I went swimming, played tennis and football, just relaxed or went for a walk on the beach.

First time I went to the Caribbean and I probably went to the best island there: Aruba - one happy island. The year could not have ended any better.

Goodbye Aruba

It was already time to say goodbye from Aruba. I could not believe it. This week went by so quickly and I had such a great time there. At the airport in Aruba I had to go through two security checks. One by the Aruba officials and the other one by the Homeland Security Department of the U.S.. That is the U.S. - always double checking everything.

Unfortunately, my flight was three hours delayed. So I had to hang around at the airport for over five hours. And I also will miss my connection flight to Newark. I arrived in Houston at around 11pm local time where they gave me a new connection flight and a free night at a hotel. But I only had about four hours of sleep in front of me because I had to get up early to get my flight at 6.00am the next morning. After I got up at around 4.00am I went to the airport again and to the security check. The officer at the passport check did not want to believe me that the German letter "ö" does not exist in the U.S. alphabet but is the same as "oe". He was wondering why my passport says "ö" but my boarding ticket says "oe". He even double checked it with another security guy. Finally, he passed me. Now it was time to make it through the security check. This time I even had to go through one of those body scanners.

All in all, I got my plane and arrived safely in Newark where I was picked up again. Finally I am back home now.

Goodbye 2010

Wow. Another year is over. Let us welcome the new year - 2011. What an exciting and important year 2010 has been. I finished high school and started my au pair year in the United States. And 2011 will be another exciting and important year for me. I will start studying this summer after I finish my au pair year.