Living with the Stults family in Carlsbad

Wow, it's already been 4 weeks since I arrived at the Stults family's and they're still putting up with me! I consider it remarkable that they've been willing to hang out with me for so long and enjoy each other's company. Since my last blog, I haven't had any particularly special experiences, but I've been taking a look at American life and appreciating the good company and time. Unfortunately, my luck ran out one morning when my bike ride to San Diego (~60km along the coast) was cut short because my phone decided to stop working. None of the tips and tricks from the internet worked, and since my phone isn't essential to life, I started cycling. In La Jolla, I watched body-surfers who were impressively surfing with their bodies and I was quite impressed. I took a photo of it and took out my compact camera from my backpack. Unfortunately, my camera also failed me that day (a system error that I can't fix myself). Getting upset won't bring the function back, so I enjoyed that day and the following 10 days without photos a little more intensely. Fortunately, I wasn't alone on my journey, so luckily the others were able to capture some moments on their cameras. And that's why there are still a few photos for you.

Other things I have experienced; with Colt and Marcia, we went to Legoland. I've been to Legoland in Germany before, but I still think legos are cool. I'm almost vegan here because Marcia is 95% vegan, so I've already participated in a vegan dinner. Steve doesn't want to completely give up on everything (fortunately), so we still have eggs, milk, and cheese in the fridge. It even rained for a day and everything was flooded and people were completely overwhelmed, but they were happy to finally get some water from the sky. Well, the second highest hockey league is almost more interesting to watch than the NHL because there are a lot more fights and cool checks, but still very good hockey. Liesl took me to a 'bar method' class, which is a mix of yoga and ballet - it was intense and cool and gave me sore muscles. And hey, I even had time to enjoy my 'hahn im korb'. The pumpkin soup and curry were good. The self-confident winner Steve knocked me down in a ping pong duel. Apart from Forrest Gump, America is probably not a big ping pong nation, you can't even go around in North America. Since Marcia (+1 person) can get into the zoo for free and Colt likes animals, we went to the well-known San Diego Zoo. I'm not a big fan of seeing animals in zoos, but there are also positive aspects to zoos. To change things up in sports, I joined a bouldering gym for a month, so I can climb, practice, and attend different yoga classes.

I didn't think I would ever get into the Christmas spirit with this weather, but the Americans are so crazy about the holidays that it almost feels cozy when everything is lit up and Christmas music is playing. So I guess it's good to spend this time with them, Marcia, and my mom also doesn't want to spend Christmas alone in my car.

Wishing you a beautiful Advent season and happy holidays :)

Oh, and I have a phone again since 4 days..