Bit busier this week

 This week started with a trip to Spirit Halloween after school, where I brought a 7-foot-tall inflatable rex from a Toy Story costume. Even though it's 7 ft tall, I am still slightly too tall for it, as my eyes don't line up with the see-through part. I guess that's a good thing, though. Then off to Olive Garden for dinner, where I got the shrimp alfredo, which was amazing. We then went to Kroll's diner for dessert, and I got a peanut butter milkshake.

Shrimp Alfredo

Kroll's Diner

My Halloween costume

On Tuesday, I went to a park with my friends, then saw the new Resident Evil movie, which wasn't really my cup of tea, but I still enjoyed it. The movie had lots of guts and gore, so I didn't eat any of the snacks I brought 😂.

Squirrels at the park

I survived

On Wednesday after school, I was greeted with a surprise package from New Zealand. Mum and Dad sent me some Cookietime cookies, which everyone I've given one to so far has said are really good. 

On Friday I was taken to Grand Forks (about an hour away from Fargo) by my band teacher and his family to go and see the University of North Dakota Hockey game. I've been told that this arena is the best college arena in the country and is even better than some NHL teams' arenas. There were nice cushioned seats, and they even shot fireworks inside everytime there was a goal was scored. 

Ralph Englestad Arena

Warmups

Pep band

Cheerleaders doing figure skating

5-0

We then went to my teacher's parents' house, and they had the biggest ride-on lawnmower I'd ever seen, so I had to include that.

Ride-on lawnmower

On Saturday, the whole school band was invited to our teacher's house for pumpkin carving and games. I sadly forgot to get a photo of my pumpkin, so that will have to be included in next week's post. After that, the fam and I went to Space Aliens for dinner, which was a cool space-themed restaurant.

Space Aliens

And finally, today we went to NRG to get rid of all our energy 😂. This place was just like a bigger (and more fun) version of Junglerama at home. They had this huge knitted rainbow net there, which was pretty cool. 

Rainbow net at NRG

And tonight I am going to yet another movie with my friends. We are watching Street Fighter tonight, which could be quite cool. Back at the lake house next week, which will be a nice, relaxing end to my 3-day school next week 😁.

I forgot to take a lot of photos this week, so it will be a short one this week. On Tuesday, I went to Slick City, which is a place full of dry indoor water slides. If that doesn't make sense, you will understand when you see the photos. But first, a stop at Absolute Studios, my host dad's marketing business. They had a really cool studio with an awesome recording room for voiceovers. 

Recording studio

At Slick City, they had 2 slides that launch you up into the air, which were really fun but a little scary doing them for the first time because of the vertical drop.

Mega launch slide

Super fly slide

Skipping straight to Thursday, we went to Chilli's, which is a chain restaurant, but don't let that fool you; the food was still amazing. Almost too amazing. I had 6 huge mozzarella sticks and a slice of cheesecake. That was clearly too much because I soon felt sick, and let's just say the cheesecake ended up on the ground in the parking lot 😂. I also went to a friend's house, and they had a bearded dragon there, which was really cool to see.

Bearded dragon

Friday was a boys' night as the girls headed up to the lake house early. So we went to Suite Shots for some dinner and golf. There were 3 floors of driving ranges with ball tracking, so you can see how far your shots go. My longest drive was 160 yards (146meters), which I was pretty happy with. The driving ranges also had heaters, so you can go year-round, which is definitely needed here.

Suite shots

Driving range 3 stories up

On Saturday, we went up to the lake house, about an hour and a half drive from Fargo, similar to going from Wellington to Himatangi Beach. It was a nice house with a great view of the lake. As soon as I got there, I jumped straight into the water, and everyone looked at me like I was crazy because they all thought it was freezing cold. I just told them they should try swimming in NZ, as this is nothing compared to at home. After a quick swim and a kayak, it was time to go to Zorbaz for dinner, which was a nice mexican/pizza place right off the lake. 

Cybertruck

The lake view

My fish I caught

THC drinks at Zorbaz quite the difference from NZ

And then finally on Sunday, we cleaned up the house and got it ready for an Airbnb guest who was staying there after us and headed back home for the night. Sorry for the lack of photos and stuff to write about this week; I have been really enjoying hanging out with my new friends and completely forgot that I was meant to be taking photos 😅. I will try to remember for this week.

Sorry but the next post will be out tomorrow is been a busy day today.

Lots of Ice Cream and Fun.

I had my second week of school this week, back into the usual routine now so I got to experience normal American school. Each class is 80 minutes long, which I'm not really a fan of, but at least you can actually finish work in class as opposed to the hour-long classes at home. I still had a really fun week; it started off on Monday with a serious thunderstorm, which was nothing like what we get in NZ. There was lightning almost every minute and very loud thunder. I also finally got a school computer, so I can actually start doing work now. While I was in the office setting up my computer, I noticed there was a lockdown button on the wall. I'm unsure as to whether or not we have these at home, but nevertheless, it was still a bit freaky to see. 

Hazel (host sister) clearing the drains during the thunderstorm

Lockdown button

On Tuesday I was invited to another ice cream parlour with my friends. They had an event going where they would fill up your Stanley cup with 4 scoops of ice cream for only $10. It was a steal, to say the least. This was followed up by a productive trip to Target, where I got to stock up on some lollies. 

My stanley

Me and the Target dog

On Wednesday I got to go to Costco for the first time, and let's just say that it was amazing. They literally had everything, and it was all in huge sizes. I got a 36-pack of Diet Dr Pepper and some nice sweatpants. I also got a famous Costco hot dog, which has stayed the same price ($1.50) for 40 years. After Googling, I found out that the hot dogs in Auckland's Costco cost $2, which is $1.12 USD, so our hot dogs are actually even cheaper than theirs.  

Costco's version of a dairy

The menu

My hot dog

Successful trip

On Thursday, I finally got to get frozen yogurt again. I haven't been able to get in since the shop in the mall closed almost 10 years ago. Funnily enough, this was also the day when a brand new store opened in Wellington, so even though I wasn't there, I still got to have some. 

Peanut butter chocolate yogurt with Reese's Pieces, chocolate chips, and Swedish Fish lollies. 

On Friday, I got Chick-fil-A for dinner, and when we got there, I saw this car that was so terribly parked I just had to include it in this.

Saturday was a very busy day. I started off in the morning with us all going to the Red River Market, A market that they hold every Saturday in the town square during the warmer months. They had live country music, then a live choir, and even an Irish band playing. It was very cool. We then came home to relax for a bit and watch the NDSU Bison play against Wyoming, whom they beat 20-0. Before going out to Kingpin for dinner. This place was like Strike bowling on steroids. They had bowling lanes, laser tag, escape rooms, a casino, restaurants, and a huge arcade. We played a round of bowling, which I happily took second place in, and then ate dinner before running wild at the arcade for an hour. 

Red River Market

Cool mural with photos of people in Fargo

Kingpin

Bowling with sports games playing in the back

Fish and chips for dinner (not nearly as good as at home)

And to finish the week off, today we went to play Pickleball. The courts were in an old supermarket, which they had converted to have 15 pickleball courts, restaurant, and a beer tap wall, as well as a function room which you can rent out. It was cool to think that you were playing a game where people used to shop. 

A bit of a shorter post this week, as it wasn't as hectic as last week with homecoming, but it was still really fun to see more of the city and enjoy the nice days before it starts to get freezing.

Homecoming Week!

Thank you, everyone, for all the nice comments on my last post. This week was my first week at Oak Grove Lutheran High School. It was a pretty hectic week to start in. In America, schools have a week when students come back to school called homecoming week. It's all about celebrations, games and dress-up days. On Monday, it was pyjama day, and I was introduced to my schedule and classes. We have 8 classes total, 4 each day, and we rotate between them. On a "maroon" day, I have Geometry, Band, Christian Studies, and Cultures and Cuisine. On a "White day", I have English, Band, U.S. History, and Study Hall. I have been enjoying my classes so far, and my favourite is probably band or U.S. History. The school also provides lunch each day, which is actually pretty good. 

Chicken sandwich, Caesar salad, Chips, Apple slices, and Chocolate milk for lunch.

My school

On Tuesday, it was country vs. country club day; like me, you probably have no idea what this means. You can either choose to dress up like a country person or a country club person. Some examples are a cowboy for country and a golfer for country club. After school, we went to a Volleyball game being played at the school; it was quite the experience, with everyone on their feet at all times and only sitting down for timeouts or in between quarters. When the team scored, the whole place erupted with cheers and chants. 

Volleyball game

The school mascot: Timber

After school, there was a welcome home party at the airport for all the Vietnam veterans who travelled to Washington, DC, to see the memorial. They run charter flights each year for anyone who wants to go. My host family's grandad served in the war and was on the flight from Washington, DC.

Welcome home party

On Wednesday, it was "copycat" day; this is a day when you dress up the same as someone else. There were lots of people who wore basketball jerseys and onesies. After school, there was a game called Powder Puff. This is when the girls from each grade play against each other in flag football; don't ask me why it's called Powder Puff I have no idea. After school, we went to this store called Scheele's, which is just like a bigger version of Rebel Sport. There is heaps of outdoor stuff and sports-related things. There was even a huge gun section with heaps of hunting rifles, shotguns, and semi-automatic assault rifles 😬. They even had kits to build your own rifle or pistol, which was even crazier.

Scheels

Ferris wheel inside the store

Build your own gun!

On Thursday, it was dress as your favourite decade day. People dressed from the 50s all the way up to the 2020s, which was just their normal clothes 😂. After school, we had Buff Puff, which is when the boys from each grade play volleyball. Then the band played at a 5k run that the school had set up for a fundraiser. I played seven nation army on the drums and the cowbell for Me! by taylor swift and The Final Countdown. Friday is when the American activities went into full effect. It was grover spirit day and everyone wore their Oak Grove Homecoming shirts. We had a pep rally in the gym in the afternoon where everyone played games like musical chairs. After school all the other exchnage students and me were taken to Randy's diner which is a original american diner. I had eggs, hashbrowns, and biscuits and gravy for dinner. We then went to Shanley High School to watch football game because Oak Grove is combined with the shanley football team. It felt like the end of grease where they had all the amusement rides and bouncy castles up. I got my face paited with the New Zealand flag then settled into watch the game. 

Randy's Diner

Shanley High School

My face painting

The football game

The football team

After the football game we went to the elementary school campus to watch an outdoor movie and sit by the campfire. After, we went to Arby which is another fastfood chain and I got steak nuggets which were the worst thing I have ever smelt ever. I never ate them because I couldn't get past the stench that they had 😂.

The outdoor movie

Arby's steak nuggets 🤮

On Saturday it was the homecoming dance, I was invited out to have pizza for dinner before hand by my new friends and we had a great time. After the dance we got ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery, at Cold stone they let you pick you ice cream flavour then you can choose as many toppings as you want to add into the ice cream. I chose M&Ms, chocolate chips, and a kit-kat. 

Dinner with friends

Homecoming dance

Photo with the boys

Bill, another exchange student from Vietnam

My ice cream from Cold Stone

Thats all I've got for now, next week should be a pretty normal week it seems like. I will be doing posts every Sunday (Monday Morning in NZ) from now on so be sure to check in then. Thanks.