Markus Bernhart: Brief aus Texas

Ich genieße jeden Tag meines Aufenthalts in den USA. Mittlerweile habe ich schon sehr viel erlebt, in den drei Monaten wo ich jetzt schon hier bin. Es ist für mich kaum zu fassen, dass ich nur mehr drei Wochen hier in Texas verbringen werde. Mittlerweile habe ich schon einen Bericht für die Schulhompage zusammengestellt mit meinen Erfahrungen, die ich bereits erlebt habe. 

Schöne Grüße aus dem immer noch warmen TEXAS

Markus Bernhart

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I felt like writing something about my new life in the US. I have been in the States more than three months and I am still having a great time. Our journey here was quite hard and long but we finally arrived in Austin, which is the capitol of Texas. I can just tell you that Texas is huge and it takes forever to leave this state! At the airport we had a surprise because the Rotary Club stood there with a poster (Welcome in Texas, Markus, Sam, Margit and Melisa). I also met my Host Mother there the first time. After we talked to all the people there, we went home with my host mother’s big van.
The first week of my stay was kind of quiet because school was out, but after school started, it got a lot busier. You cannot imagine how different school is over here. When I first saw the school area I was shocked how big it was. The parking area is unbelievably huge for a school, because there are a lot of the students who have their own car at age 16!!!!
You can also choose the classes you want to take. I have eight different ones and I like most of them. There are almost 1.700 students at Lake Travis High School and a normal school day is a lot different that in Austria.  Our School’s football team was better than ever this year, they were undefeated into the play off’s, but finally lost a close game in the 2nd round.  I have gotten to do a lot of fun school activities such as a Robotics club competition and I got invited to the football homecoming dance.
Many people think that Texas is just cows and Cowboys, but that`s not true. I did get to go horseback riding a few times and the president of the Rotary Club, Don Gray, took me to a ranch, about two hours away from my house. It was a great experience for me to enjoy the country life. Driving the truck and shooting the Rifle was very interesting and new for me. I also went deer hunting with Don’s son Matthew, and we actually got a nice buck, which we ate later on. In the afternoon we saw thousands of bats leaving their cave at the same time, and in the evening we were watching out for meteors.
The area I am living in is very nice and luxurious with a huge lake called Lake Travis, a lot bigger than our lake in Zell am See and there are no cows or even cowboys. It is hard to imagine how many motorboats and jet skies are on this 65 mile (105 km) long lake. Some friends took me out on there boat a few times and I actually had the opportunity to try to water-ski and to wakeboard. I also rode the jet skies on the lake which can go up to 70 miles per hour (112 km/h) on the water! I have seen a lot of different stuff.   When I first got here, I went swimming almost every day, and a lot of times at night in the warm 88 degree Fahrenheit (31° Celsius) water.  I also got to see many of the local grottos, such as Hamilton Pool and Krause Springs.  We even went with the Rotary Club for a night out on a party boat on the lake.
A few weeks ago I was at a Demolition Derby, which is a crazy American sport where cars are crashing into each other until they don`t work any more.  The last one working is the winner!
One of the coolest things that I have done so far was my trip to Washington D.C. We flew up there and went to all the important and famous places included the White House, the Washington Monument, the US Capitol building, the Pentagon and the Smithsonian Institute.  The Texas State Capitol was also interesting and is even a little higher than the US Capitol building.
My Host family took me to Houston on Thanksgiving Holiday. I went wading in the Gulf of Mexico, but it was a little bit too cold in November for swimming. Of course we had a big meal on Thanksgiving Day with a lot of different foods and a large turkey, like every normal family in the US. My host father and I drove around the Houston area and he showed me a lot of things, like the San Jacinto Monument which is taller than the Washington Monument, and the huge Reliant Stadium, home of the Houston Texans Professional Football team – I got to see a professional football game!  This is a new multimillion dollar stadium which replaced the first indoor stadium in the US – the Astrodome, which is located right next door.
I also got to go to the NASA Center where all the space missions are controlled from. There was quite an interesting tour.
You all can see that I have had a great time here! I have to thank all the people who made it possible for me to come here and do all these great things! 

See y`all before Christmas

Markus Bernhart