Friday, March 23rd

Everybody's bags were packed, we were waiting for our flight from Hanover. Time of departure: 9:50. The plane would take us to Frankfurt.
There a big Boeing 747-400 was waiting for us, better, we had to wait for it.
From 12:40 we would be high up in the air for about 9 ½ hours.
The plane flew over Great Britain. Then we crossed the Atlantic Ocean and after that you could see the snowy coast and landscape of Greenland.
At our arrival it would be 4 p.m. in Chicago. We would enter the next Boeing to Omaha at 8 p.m. So there would be enough time left for making our way to the next terminal and through the security controls.
Chicago airport measures 6 kilometers in length and covers an area of 5 hectares, so you have to take a train to get from one terminal to another!
If you fly from terminal 5 the plane has to take a taxiway bridging a highway before it arrives at the runway for take- off. It is pretty amazing to look out of the window and see moving cars down on the highway.
Due to the time difference it would be 10 p.m. on our arrival at Omaha.
Did I say 10 p.m.? On Chicago airport O'Hare we had to wait for four hours because our flight had been cancelled and we had to take the next flight four hours later.
So we had lots of time to walk up and down the terminal.
The terminals are like shopping malls with McDonalds and lots of shops selling food or things you might need for traveling.
At last our plane took off at 10:50 and we arrived at Omaha on Saturday morning, well, if you call 2 o'clock in the morning already the next day...
Nevertheless we were going to have a great time in the United States.

Saturday, March 24th

Today at lunchtime our group met at Valentino's, an Italian restaurant. Our host families were invited, too, and so we got a first view of everybody's exchange partner.
Valentino's served a buffet with several sorts of pizza, spaghetti or other Italian food. They also had a variety of American sweets, like cookies and pieces of cake.
But although most of us were still tired after the long flight we soon after lunch split up in small groups of about 5 Germans with our exchange students and drove to Oak View, one of Omaha's malls, or some other place. There was so much to discover.

Sunday, March 25th

Weekends usually were at our disposal.

Monday, March 26th

Our first day at North High School! The American students took us to the Viking Center; which is a big hall between two wings of the school where students meet in the morning before class.
While our new brothers and sisters had their first lesson we sat in a room and talked about our first experiences here and stuff. After 90 minutes (American lessons are always two times 45 minutes of one subject, this is called block scheduling) our hosts picked us up in the Viking Center and we went to class with them.
At Omaha North High Magnet School they run a block system. That means, students have A-days and B-days and always only three or four different subjects a day because their classes take 90 minutes.
Your lunchtime depends on A-day or B-day. 1st lunch is from 11:01 to 11:40, 2nd lunch from 11:50 to 12:25, 3rd lunch from 12:39 until 1:18.
At first it looks confusing, but in a school that has up to 2000 students this system is quite useful.

Tuesday, March 27th

This day was to our disposal. By the way, the North High girls' soccer team had a game today, but unfortunately they lost.

Wednesday, March 28th

Nebraska's capital - Lincoln - was our destination for today.
Although it is only Nebraska's 2nd biggest city (Omaha is the biggest) it was chosen for the senators to decide on the state's policies. It is named after Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States.
After meeting in room 142, like every day, we went to Lincoln with two of the school's vans.
Our first stop was at the capitol. The big building was erected on top of the ruins of the last two capitols of Lincoln by Bertram Goodhue. It took 10 years to build it (from 1922 to 1932) because the senate didn't want to get the state in debt - so every time they had enough money, they built another part of the capitol until it was completed at a cost of just under $ 10 million and was completely paid for when finished.
From outside the capitol is designed to look older than it is. The inside walls are the same. But there are lots of modern art paintings inside. Each one with a special topic and meaning, but all tell the history of the United States: from the discovery of the United States, the construction of the railroad to the building of the capitol.
The floor is covered by three mosaics representing the earth. They are called "The Spirit of the Soil", "The Spirit of Vegetation" and "The Spirit of Animal Life".
The capitol contains the jurisdicative (we visited the Supreme Court Room which is in session the first week of each month) and the legislative, both in one building.
We also got a glimpse of the senators inside their Legislative Chamber. One senator announced our presence, which got us a polite applause by the senators. Very nice!
Then we went upstairs in the elevator to get a look on the surrounding area down from the capitol's 400 foot high tower.
After visiting the capitol we went downtown. We stopped in a parking lot at P-Street, which is pretty near the town's center.
In America streets are usually not named after persons, and if they are, then only as an addition.
You can count them by numbers starting in the town's center with 1st street. In big cities main streets that run parallel to each other are often named with letters in alphabetical order, starting in the city's center with A-Street.
Well, we parked and then we had some free time in which at first most of us went to "Wendy's" for lunch. Wendy's is a fast food restaurant like McDonalds or Burger King.
Then we spread out to have a look at the downtown area.
Lincoln contains buildings and houses built in different architectural styles. You can see skyscrapers but also buildings in colonial style.
Though neither Omaha nor Lincoln is THE city for cyclists, on every corner there were bikes made from pieces of stones and glass in mosaic technique.
And around the tourist office saw some statues, one very modern, looking like giant papers with notes on them. And another statue of settlers and Native Americans.

Thursday, March, 29th

In the Durham Western Heritage Museum in Omaha, which our group visited today you can see lots of trains the Union Pacific Railroad used and reproductions of the settlers' houses, wagons and almost everything, from salted bacon to medical things to a saloon counter.
Everything is placed in an old train station, and in the entrance hall you can still sit on the benches where a hundred years ago travelers had waited for their trains to come.

Friday, March 30th

"City of Omaha, Mike Fahey, Mayor" the ballpoint pen says, which everyone of our group got when we visited Omaha's Mayor Mike Fahey this morning. They showed us his office, the conference room and other assets he needs for his work. The room in which he has his press conferences in looks almost like the room in which George W. Bush holds his press conferences in the White House. The high desk behind which he is standing when talking to the public is surrounded by three flags: the flags of the United States, Nebraska and Omaha.
(And the chairs for the press people, though being made from plastic, are damn comfortable :-) )
When the Mayor gives a speech somewhere else, the flags of Nebraska and of Omaha are always taken there, too. (There is no need to take the flag of the United States with them because you can find it everywhere)
After this visit we went to the Old Market, which is one part of Omaha's downtown area with very old-looking houses and shops where you can buy nearly everything a tourist would want to take home. And of course you can eat there (Just a small tip here: If you ever come to the Old Market, eat a pizza at Zio's. They serve the best pizza you can get in Omaha.)
We went to have a look at the Old Market and divided in some more or less small groups until we met again at our vans to go back to North High. We now know what Mr Kauschke is good for. He is one of two drivers to take us to places.
Back at North High we were told to sit down on the floor in room 142 with lights switched off, and we were to stay away from the windows and be quiet.
Know why? There had been a shooting in the neighborhood and the police were still trying to catch the shooter. And of course the North High teachers didn't want us to be shot down, should the shooter enter the school while fleeing.
Anyway, the police caught the shooter, and so after half an hour we were allowed to go home with our hosts.

Monday, April 2nd

Mr. Schulz, a retired teacher who still works for North High sometimes, told us lots of interesting (and of course also some less interesting) facts about Omaha today, while we were shown through Omaha in "Olli the Trolley" (an old-fashioned bus).
Oh, by the way, today was the first day of spring break. That's like our school holidays around Easter.

Tuesday, April 3rd

Because of spring break there were no group activities today. Rest and relax! Become experts of US TV Channels.

Wednesday, April 4th

Dito.

Thursday, April 5th

Actually we wanted to visit the famous Henry Doorley Zoo today, but because the weather was too bad the trip there was cancelled.

Some of us decided to go on their own.

Henry Doorley Zoo is one of the largest in the United States and people come from everywhere all over the country to visit it. The main attractions are:

• the Lied Jungle, where they have lots of monkeys, birds and tapirs
• the Scott Aquarium with fish, sea-horses and jelly-fish
• the Desert Dome, where they have built a desert to show kangaroos, meerkats, birds and lots of reptiles
• the Hubbard Gorilla Valley where you, of course, can see gorillas
• the Cat Complex showing some tigers, and
• the Bear Canyon where they have a Polar bear, his cousin, the Grizzly, Brown bears and Spectacled Bears

Friday, April 6th

Today at 12 p.m. it was party-time at Kristen's.

What a house! What a view from huge windows on the Ponca Hills! Even better the food and the fun in the basement with darts and pool billard. Kristof is such a good player.

Sunday, April 7th

Happy Easter!
Some words about the American Easter Bunny: This Bunny hides real or fake eggs. The fake ones are usually made of plastic and they are filled with jellybeans and other candy. In some families the Bunny hides whole baskets of candy.

Monday, April 8th

First schoolday after Spring Break. Fun to see everyone back at work? Some students needed sleep badly after the exhausting holiday.

Tuesday, April 9th

We went to Boystown this morning. You'll probably ask: "What the hell is Boystown???"
And we'd probably answer:
Boystown is a part of Omaha, which was founded by Father Flanagan in 1917 as a home for boys who had to live on the street. Father Flanagan had come from Ireland to the United States after World War 1.
He tried several times to become a pastor in the United States. While trying this he at first took eight boys home so that they didn't have to sleep on the streets anymore. Only a bit later he bought a bigger house with sponsored money so that more poor boys could live with him. And some months later he bought a farm outside of Omaha where the boys could produce the things they needed to live. They worked on the fields to grow crop and had their own fire brigade, police and a small government.
As Omaha is a fast growing city that develops west Boystown, originally surrounded by fields is now on the edge of the downtown area. Selling land for development projects has made Boystown a very rich nation-wide operating business.
We visited Father Flanagan's house, the museum, the Catholic and Protestant churches. Better go there without an official guide. But they won't let you.

Wednesday, April 10th

Back at class with our hosts.

Thursday, April 11th

After school the whole group, including the Americans and Mrs. Bailey, went bowling at Kelly's. We were there from 3:30 until 5 o' clock and had lots of fun. Nora actually did much better than expected. The teacher's competition went clearly to Mrs Bailey. Hard luck, Mr Kauschke, but well tried!
Coincidentally signs above the bowling lanes said: "Brunswick" :-)

Friday, April 12th

In the evening we met at Spaghetti Works in the Old Market. Our host families were invited, too.
Spaghetti Works is a restaurant where you can have spaghetti with different sauces and also other Italian food.
We sat there for quite a long time until we parted and some of us went with their hosts for a walk in the Old Market to say farewell to a great place and to the Missouri.

Saturday, April 13th

Our last day in Omaha had begun. At 12:30 we met at Omaha's Eppley Airport. We checked in our bags, took some last photos and said goodbye to our exchange students and host families. At three p.m. we, Kristof had accidentally managed to find his passport, boarded the plane and flew to Chicago.
Things went quite well. We didn't have to wait long. Only the plane from Frankfurt to Hanover was a bit late, which gave us time to sort out our boarding passes, but we made this flight in half an hour!!!
It was 1:15 (p.m.) when we arrived in Hanover. All parents were waiting there for us. Only Mr. Kauschke needed a ride to Braunschweig.
A great trip came to an end. That slowly entered our minds when we parted.

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