“I’m Leonie and I’m from Germany. I really like Baldwin City, especially the lake and all the people I got to meet so far. You are all so kind. The American school system is different in many ways. In Germany middle school and high school are together in one building. All students from the 5th grade to the 12th are together. We don’t have sports opportunities in our schools in Germany. So if people want to do sport they have to find their teams outside of school. We also don’t have school dances in the high schools in Germany. That’s why I’m really excited to go to homecoming, winter formal and prom. I’m doing cross country. It’s hard, but it’s also really fun with the team. Maybe I’ll try basketball in the winter time and I’ll do soccer in the spring. I’m also in the environmental club and in the art club. My trip to Baldwin was long! I traveled for 32 hours. I flew from Berlin to Frankfurt, from Frankfurt to Chicago and from Chicago to Kansas City where my host family picked me up. I was really tired after all the flights but I also was really excited to finally meet my host family in person! I really want to go to New York City, Florida, Hawaii and Colorado.”