San Francisco

Hello👋🏻 

I don't even know where to start, I just had a great weekend😊. 

On Thursday, I had school from 8:45 am to 11:35 am. At 1:05 pm, I met up with Nina and we went to Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market to have a leisurely lunch. However, the market was quite small and not what we expected, so we went to a Mexican restaurant near the market. Before that, we also checked out the beautiful Ferry Building, which is a bit similar to Kleinmarkthalle in Frankfurt😊. In the evening, I went to the Beach Bonfire at Ocean Beach. It was incredibly windy and cold. The fire was not very big and the hot dogs were sandy and cold. However, the evening was very nice because there were many EF students there and we froze together😂.

On Friday, I slept in first. Then I had a cozy breakfast while watching Sturm der Liebe 😊. Around 12:30 pm, I headed to Chinatown. The weather was really nice, so it was fun to walk around Chinatown alone and enjoy the neighborhood. Unfortunately, I could only spend an hour there because I took my time in the morning and had school at 1:35 pm. After 3 hours of classes, I went to "the hub" and took a nap for an hour because we planned to go to a club in the evening. Before that, we all met in a room to taste the wine😁. 

If you're wondering how I even got into the club, it might be interesting to know that there are also clubs for 18+ in the US. It's a bit like U18 in Germany. However, the clubs in America close at 2:30 am, so we were basically forced to leave. For our way back, we shared an Uber. This was safer than walking to "the hub" because there are quite a few homeless people in the area where I live now.

On the next day, we were all glad that we didn't have any plans in the morning 😂. I think Saturday was the hottest day in San Francisco that I've experienced so far, about 25 degrees Celsius. The whole city smelled, especially the area around "the hub", so we spent the day eating cookies in Dolores Park. I like being in Dolores Park because you sit in the middle of greenery and at the same time, you can see the San Francisco skyline😊. In the evening, we gathered in the kitchen to come up with a plan for Sunday and ordered pizza.

On Sunday morning, my alarm went off at 5:50 am because the night before, we had rented a car online and we wanted to leave for Muir Woods National Monument at 7:00 am. 

When we were on the bus to the car rental place, one of the five called to say that she overslept. We thought it was a pity and figured out where was the best place to pick her up. After arriving at the car rental place at 7:00 am and trying to pick up our car, we encountered some difficulties. 

In America, you have to be at least 21 years old to rent a car. No problem, because two of us are 21. Nina wanted to pay for the car with her credit card, but this was not possible because her name was missing on her credit card and only the name of a Swiss bank is written on it, so it was not accepted. Janne (also 21) couldn't pay either because she only has a debit card. She could have paid with her debit card if she had proof in the form of bills that she lives here. But she obviously didn't have it with her.

Then I wanted to pay with my credit card, but this was also not possible because I'm only 19 years old and the person who is driving has to pay🙄. Since I'm officially not allowed to rent the car, I'm not allowed to pay either.

Since we had to reserve a parking space in Muir Woods National Monument for $8 for a specific time (8:30 am), we had to make a decision. Nina drove back to her host family and got her second credit card with her name (☝🏻😂), while Elena and I went shopping and Hannah, who overslept, took the bus to the car rental place. Around 8:00 am, we finally managed to rent a car. Everyone was a bit annoyed because we couldn't keep the reservation for the parking space and there was also no free parking space for the whole day. So we had to change our plan!

Instead of Muir Woods National Monument and then Silicon Valley, we decided to go to Santa Cruz, and I think that was the best decision we could have made😊. We were actually expecting bad weather or only sun in the morning and rain in the evening, which is why we originally wanted to leave at 7:00 am.

After a 1 1/2 hour drive, we arrived in Santa Cruz and it was amazing. We had 22 degrees Celsius and bright sunshine all day. We drove to the center and immediately found a picnic spot where we could eat our 10 donuts for $2. Then we walked through the fun park at the beach and made our way back to the car.

Then it was my turn to drive the car. I was incredibly excited because I love driving and I already miss it. My conclusion is: I can definitely trust myself to drive a car this year and I definitely want to do it, and driving an automatic car is super easy and relaxing.

We drove along the West Cliff Drive and made several stops. And I think I fell a little bit in love with Santa Cruz! Everyone was incredibly happy because no one had expected Santa Cruz and the weather to be so beautiful. We also visited a lighthouse and the university, which is located in the middle of the forest, drove through the side streets, and admired the pretty houses.

In the afternoon, we drove to Silicon Valley. (Distance about 50 minutes by car)

First stop: Google.

Second stop: Apple.

Third stop: Stanford University.

It was very interesting to see both Google and Apple, but there was no opportunity to visit the buildings from the inside except for the Apple retail stores. 

Stanford (1891) is incredibly impressive. The first students entered Stanford in 1891. It was founded by a couple who lost their 15-year-old child to an illness. Stanford has about 16,000 students, each of whom has to pay $70,000 in tuition fees annually.

As a conclusion, we had dinner at McDonald's😂. Traditionally, my family goes to McDonald's in every city we visit, so I was happy that I can even say that I've been to McDonald's in Silicon Valley😂. 

Since the weekend was full of activities, I slept in today, went to school, bought food for the week, and did nothing else. 

I've been here for a longer time than I will be in the future. Time is running incredibly fast and I'm a bit afraid that I won't be able to take in and remember everything because I'm gaining so many impressions and meeting new nice people every day. 

Oh, one more thing ☝🏻: 

 On Saturday, I moved again😁. But I just changed floors and now I live together with my friend from Holland. I don't have a bathroom in my room anymore, but for the first time, I have my own compartments in the wardrobe and refrigerator and my own desk. Now I really feel like I'm living here, even if only for 2 weeks, and not just as a guest. 

Many people asked me if I felt homesick or didn't want to be in San Francisco anymore because of my constantly changing living situation, but this was never the case (Sorry Mom & Dad😂). San Francisco is so beautiful, I've met many people, and from the beginning, it was clear to me that the living situation might not be great, but I really wanted to go to San Francisco, so there's no reason for me to feel homesick (at least not yet). 

I've also been made aware that there are sometimes spelling mistakes or a missing "n