Host family & High School!

I have some really good news to share with you! I finally know my host family, high school and future hometown. I think EF did a great job because I couldn't be happier about my placement.



Around a week ago, I was at school when I saw that I got a call from EF. I had to wait until I was home until I could call them back, and they told me that it was finally certain where I'm going: Greenville, South Carolina!
I was placed in an arrival family with the International Exchange Coördinator (IEC) in that region. An arrival family is a temporary host family until a permanent host family is found. The IEC is the one to arrange my host family and high school, so when I got in touch with her she could tell me many things. I heard that I am going to 'Eastside High School' AND that I had a permanent host family already, which was a big surprise for me! They had to finish some paperwork, but after a few days they contacted me. I was so happy (and nervous!) to get to talk to my host family. But I had nothing to be afraid about because they are really nice.

Host family
On the picture you see my host family! My host parents are called Jim and Monique. They have four daughters: Cassidy (19), Kaylee (18), Kendall (15) and Chandler (13). Cassidy is already in college and Kaylee has just graduated from High School. They have the same hobbies as me so I think we're a great match. There are also pets living with them: a maltipoo dog and two cats. They love Disney and they are even planning a trip to Disneyworld in the fall! I think we will have an amazing year together.

City

I'll live in a suburb of Greenville which is the sixth biggest city of South Carolina. It's close to many things: the mountains are an hour away, the beach 3 hours and it's near to cities like Atlanta (Georgia) and Charlotte (North Carolina). The climate is great compared to the Netherlands with long summers and short winters. The city is beautiful and there are many cultural places and landmarks. I'm so happy to spend my exchange year there :)
I'll definitely write some more about Greenville and South Carolina later on my blog!

High School
The school I'll attend next year is called 'Eastside High School'. It's a typical American school with clubs, sports, cheerleaders and lockers! The mascot of the school is an Eagle and the school colors are blue and gold. There are around 1200 students at the school. Eastside is known as one of the best schools in South Carolina. The sport teams are also really good because they've won 33 (!!) state championships. There are teams for cheerleading, football, tennis, soccer, cross country, wrestling... There are also many clubs: drama club, photography club, math club, art club, chess club... I'm so excited to go to this school!

I hope you liked reading this post. I'm looking even more forward to my exchange year than I did before (if that's even possible) and I hope you'll follow me during my year! 

For the exchange students reading this: where are you going next year?