Since my last entry I have celebrated Halloween, which is of course a big day in America, it was so fun to see all the decorations and events around. My host sister and I carved pumpkins which I had never done before, they looked pretty cool. At school we dressed up and I went as Minnie Mouse, then a group of us went to a late night scary movie, it was so scarey and we ended up sleeping with the lights on, but it was a lot of fun. My November began by spending 2 weeks at my friend Hannah and Janie's house, it was so much fun to live with friends. We stayed up late doing homework together, watching movies and of course talking as well as often heading into Boulder for dinner and some shopping. It snowed while I was there so Janie and I spent lots of time sliding down the hill in the snow, it was lots of fun! On the Friday Hannah and I headed about an hour away to watch my High Schools boy soccer game, it was big game as it was the final to see who goes to State. We meet up with friends there and we were happy as they had brought along blankets as, as soon as we got there it poured with rain and even started hailing on us, but it was worth it as it was a very good game. At the end of the week I returned to my host family and prepared for the upcoming Thanksgiving break. At school my advanced drama class had a thanksgiving lunch which was really cool and we had lots of food. We had a week off for Thanksgiving break and on the Monday, my host father, host sister and I headed to San Fransisco. I was so excited! I had always wanted to go to San Fran as I was born there but since I moved to NZ when I was 2, I couldn't remember it. I was also really excited as I was meeting my mum there and I hadn't seen her in 10 months! When we arrived we heading off to the Golden Gate bridge, I got lots of photos by it. We then headed to Muir Woods where we walked among the gaint trees. Next we headed back to the city, to walk the world's crookedest street and drive down the steepest street before heading off to Ghirridali Square for some ice cream. That evening we walked around Pier 39 looking through some of the shops. The next morning we went to Alcatraz, where we took a tour around the jail building and heard all the stories. We then did some shopping at the tourist stores and Melissa and I stopped to get a caricature drawn of us. Next was a ride on the Cable car up to Chinatown, that was a cool experience before heading to Union square which was filled with christmas spirit, having a huge tree in the center, ice skating and christmas decorations on all the stores. The next morning we headed to a breakfast cafe 'Mama's' which was really good, we had to get there before it even opened as it always has a big line to go eat there. Next we went to the Japanese tea garden which was really pretty, there we tried Japanese tea and little dessert lollies, not so yummy. We then headed to Walnut Creek which was where I was born we looked around the town and drove past the hospital where I was born . The last day we headed to a small town to visit a friend of my host fathers before going to the airport to head home to Colorado, I loved San Fran but was excited to show mum where I had been living for the past 10 months. The day after we got back was Thanksgiving day, Mum and I spent the morning watching the Macey's Thanksgiving Parade in New York on the TV. At lunch my host family had prepared a big Thanksgiving meal including of course turkey. The next day my host father took mum and me up to the mountain to go snowshoeing around Bear Lake, it was really cold but lots of fun. We had lunch in a little village, nice to have hot chocolate to warm up, my mum tried Elk burger, which I had a bite of kinda chewy. The next day we went shopping and then had I invited a bunch friends over for cupcakes and to meet mum. For my Mum's last day in Colorado she came into my school and met my drama class before heading off to the airport. On the Saturday I had a rotary event, it was fun to see all the other exchange students again and enjoyed the christmas party. The day after I went ice skating with my host sister, we were taking lessons together on Thursday afternoons and I was loving them so wanted to go ice skating as much as possible. The following weekend we had our Advanced drama christmas party, my favourite class, it was so much fun, we spent the afternoon drinking apple cider and peppermint hot chocolate, dancing or playing pool, opening our secret santa gifts and ended the night watching a christmas movie! The next night I had about 10 girls over for a sleepover we talked to early morning, it was fun to have everyone over before it became time for me to leave. At this point I had just one week left of school which I was sad about. On the last day we finished at 10.30 so my friends took me out to lunch. It is now christmas break and I have been enjoying sleeping in and the snow! I went skiing with friends which was super fun and then had a great christmas with my host family and got some lovely gifts, it was a white christmas so I also got to spend time sledding in the snow. after christmas I spent time with friends, shopped a lot and have been to the movies a few times. For New Years I went to a friends house it was lots of fun and then today I went to the West Side Story musical in denver, Tomorrow I am off to have breakfast with a friend then ice skating in the afternoon. I can't believe my time here is almost over.