First 10 days in the USA

Hello everyone,

I have been in the United States for 2 weeks now and I have already experienced a lot. Unfortunately, time is flying by and next week I will start my courses at my university, Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff.

My exchange began on August 11th, when I flew from Stuttgart to the United States with my exchange partner Patrick from Konstanz. Of course, the thrifty Swabian booked the cheapest flight, which meant no direct flights and layovers. So, I had the shortest flight of my life to Frankfurt (28 minutes), before continuing to Seattle and then to Phoenix, Arizona. We finally reached our destination, Phoenix, after 26 hours and 3 flights. First tip: You should bring plenty of time at US airports; there are strict and quite annoying controls and when I finally had my luggage, one of the straps of my backpack was cut:D

In Phoenix, we met Eva, another exchange student from Konstanz, on the evening of our arrival. The next day, we flew to San Francisco for a 10-day road trip through California. My first impressions of Phoenix, which is 2 hours away from my university, NAU: Quite hot and a taxi driver who looks like a mix of Snoop Dogg and Morgan Freeman.

Phoenix airport

August 12th - 14th: San Francisco

The first stop on our road trip was San Francisco, the city of the famous Golden Gate Bridge by the Pacific Ocean, where we spent a total of 3 days. After arriving at our first accommodation, the International Hostel, which scored points mainly because of its outstanding location in Union Square in Downtown, we immediately started explorations of the city. In the evening, we had the best burger since I've been in the USA at Superduper, a small chain in San Francisco.

On Day 2 of our stay, we took our first ride on the world-famous cable cars in the extremely hilly city (it's a masterpiece to build a million-person city on this kind of terrain!)

This land of fast food also has amazing fruits and vegetables!

We then walked through downtown to the Mission District, the new trendy but also poor and gang-ridden district of the city. Seeing the poverty and the vast difference between rich and poor in the USA is shocking. This is one negative aspect that stuck with me.

The Mission District itself, apart from the poverty, is comparable to Berlin's Kreuzberg/Prenzlauer-Berg area: lots of street art and some food and fashion startups. There is also a beautiful park from where, as a die-hard Bayern Munich fan, I was able to watch the successful German Super Cup final live on CityWLAN (free city Wi-Fi).

Last but not least, we visited Alamo Square, one of the locations of the famous TV series 'Full House', before having dinner in America's oldest Chinatown.

In the evening, another participant of our road trip, Karo, joined us. She is also a student from Konstanz and is doing her semester abroad in San Diego. All in all, it was a great start in the USA, and I felt that 3 days were just right. We also set a new step record every day, with 17.9 km on Day 3 :D.

August 15th: Drive towards Yosemite National Park along the coast

On August 15th, now as a group of three, we started our actual road trip through California. After picking up our rental car early in the morning, we drove along the Pacific coast towards Santa Cruz.

As our first highlight of the day, we had the rare opportunity to see whales and dolphins near the beach, as pointed out by a local resident. Many more natural highlights were yet to come.

In Santa Cruz, we enjoyed the California beach atmosphere once again, including an amusement park and a sunset, before heading towards Yosemite Valley.

August 16th and 17th: Yosemite National Park

After a short night's stay somewhere in a motel between the coast and the mountains, we entered one of the most famous national parks in the world, Yosemite. Initially, we explored the less touristy part of the park, which, in the afternoon, had an extremely refreshing but chilly mountain lake.

After an overnight stay at one of the campgrounds (we were lucky to get a spot), we continued to the main part of the park, Yosemite Valley. This part of the park is so touristy that you can take a shuttle bus to visit the attractions :D

First, we visited the unfortunately dry waterfalls, upper and lower Yosemite Falls. Then, we did a hike to three smaller waterfalls that fortunately were not dried up yet.

In the afternoon, we visited my absolute park highlight, Glacier Point, which offered one of the most breathtaking views I have ever experienced.

In conclusion, Yosemite is incredibly beautiful, but also crowded with tourists. It's worth coming early in the day.

We then continued to our next road trip destination in the evening, Sequoia National Park. Here is a small impression of the journey :)

August 18th and 19th: Sequoia National Park

The next day, after a late arrival the previous night, we took it easy in the morning.

First, we went to the visitor center, where we were promptly invited by the rangers to participate in a beer pong tournament, which I will tell you about. In the afternoon, we did a guided hike through the national park, which is famous for its giant sequoia trees. We also saw the widest tree in the world, the General Sherman Tree.

We then attended the beer pong tournament in the headquarters of the park rangers. Unfortunately, we didn't win, but we did get a free accommodation for the next night and a bear walk.

So the next morning, on invitation from Ranger Laura, we went on a bear hunt. We had success right on our way to the starting point and were able to observe the first black bear mother with her cubs. But it got even better: after the ranger left us, we continued to roam the park and shortly after, we came across another bear mother with her two cubs, this time without a car and sometimes only 15 meters away. I have to admit, it was quite scary :D All in all, it was a unique experience. If they had been grizzly bears, which are much more aggressive, we probably wouldn't have stood a chance.

We recovered from the short shock and went on to Moro Rock and in the evening, following another great tip from our ranger, we went to another small mountain for the sunset. After that, we made ourselves comfortable on the sofas in the ranger headquarters.

August 20th: Continuing to Los Angeles

Early in the morning, we continued towards Flagstaff, our study place in Arizona. We spent a short time in Los Angeles at noon, specifically at Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach. Karo said goodbye to us there, as she continued towards San Diego. I'm sure this won't be my last visit to Los Angeles after this short lunch. In the evening, we continued to our final stop, Joshua Tree National Park.

August 21st: Joshua Tree National Park and arrival in Flagstaff

On the last day of our road trip, we explored Joshua Tree National Park for 2 hours before driving 8 hours through the desert towards Arizona, to my new home for the next six months, Flagstaff.

Sunday at 5 pm, we arrived at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and our dorm Campus Heights (International House). On the first evening, we went to Walmart to buy all the necessary items for our house, a true shopping experience. Yes, you can even choose from 20-30 different weapons and simply buy them there.

Now, I have reached the end of my first experiences in the land of unlimited opportunities. It was an unforgettable start in the USA with an amazing road trip!!