Science Olympiade

Last Saturday, the 17^th March, was the Science Olympiad regional competition. We went there as a high school team and everybody had his own competitions to compete in. For me it was a rush, I hurried from one competition to the next one.. My competitions were:

1. Experimental Design - With Cindy Yu & Caitlin Acey
2. Optics - With Camden White
3. Thermodynamics - With Cindy Yu
4. Gravity Vehicle - With Cindy Yu
5. Sounds Of Music - With Jason Lim

All the teams.

How it came to so many competitions: In the beginning I just had four competitions: Experimental Design, optics, Fermi questions and thermodynamics. For Fermi questions I didn't had to learn anything. But then Logan Adams couldn't do it anymore and we had to mix it up. So it came down to three competitions: Experimental design, optics and thermodynamics. I was perfectly fine with that. But then Gravity Vehicle and Sound of Music “happened”...

- Gravity Vehicle: It was one week before the competition when Cindy came up to me and said: “I need somebody else to do this competition with me... Nathaniel never comes to the meetings and I can't do it alone... Lara can you please do it with me?” Me: “Sure...”

- Sounds of music: This was probably one of the most ironic situations ever. On the Wednesday (!!!) before the competition Rebecca went like: “I really need a partner for sound of music! I can't even play an instrument and we still have to build two instruments!” … “Please.”... Me: “Alright... I can do it, I guess..” Fine! So far it was alright. We wanted to make up a meeting for Friday. Then, on Friday morning, ONE DAY before the competition she came up to me with the following words: “Hey Lara, I am SO sorry, but I already do three (!) competitions so I won't have any time to do a fourth one. I'm so sorry but you have to find a new partner.” She excused the whole day through but anyways it was kind of dumb for me. I am so glad that Jason did it with me. By the way: Thank you for that Jason!


How it worked:

Our team-shirt... :D

- Experimental Design: Our task in experimental design was to perform an experiment and write it down. It was a mess.. Caitlin and Cindy should do the experiment while I am writing down what we are doing. Because our adviser came twenty minutes too late we were in a rush. After we all were finished and we compared we suddenly realized that I written something they actually didn't do in the procedure. I deleted everything and written it down supposedly right. Then they realized THEY did it wrong and I had to delete everything again. I don't know why but they had some weird data anyways and at that point I had to go because of the next competition. So I don't really have any clue how they both fixed the problem but I hope they did. Anyways, we didn't place in that competition.

Optics 3rd place.

- Optics: Optics was my favorite competition. It was really fun. Camden is a senior (12^th grade) anyways and he knows a lot. It was all about mirrors, lasers the human eye, light and that stuff. It was really, really awesome. One part of the competition was a multiple-choice test and the other part was about getting the light of a laser through a small area with three barriers by placing mirrors as close to a marked point on the other side. If I remember right we were about 7cm off this point what probably is very good! We made 3^rd place and I'm so happy about that!! The work until 1 am in the two nights before finally had his purpose.

- Thermodynamics: Thermodynamics was kind of a mess... We had to do a test about heat and that stuff and we didn't really have any plan what we were doing and guessed on most of the questions. Furthermore we had to prepare a box that mustn't be taller than 20cm x 20cm. She didn't really know what contains heat and I was just guessing on aluminum foil, many layers and air above the beaker. During the competition they put a water of 76 degrees Celsius into the beaker in the box and 76 degrees Celsius water into a beaker outside of the box on the fresh air. The fresh air was 22 degrees Celsius. Then we had to estimate how high the temperature would be after 20 minutes in both of the beakers. We said it would be 22 degrees in the outside beaker and 53 degrees in the inside beaker. The result was embarrassing... The temperature inside the box was almost the same as the temperature outside the box: 41 degrees Celsius. Our teacher Ms. Adkins said that this might have been because she gave us one beaker out of plastic for the outside and the other beaker was out of glass... However, the next time has to be much better.

- Gravity Vehicle: Another mess... For gravity vehicle we had to build an actual car with a ramp that travels five to ten meters. The advisers would give us the exact length for expected traveling during the competition before our first run. Then we were allowed to adjust or take away height. Anyways, I've been at Cindy's house the weekend before the competition to start that but we didn't get finished so it was her task (because her host father is good in things like that) to finish it until thursday because on Thursday I was supposed to come over to her house to try the car with the ramp. Well... She didn't finish it so that we couldn't try it on Thursday and I didn't have any idea of how it should work on Saturday. Furthermore she and her host father changed the wheels from normal wheels that I bought to wheels out of wood and they didn't work at all. Our car traveled like 2 meters.. It should have traveled 6.5 meters. I know, very bad... So we didn't place.

Jason and me with our instruments... :D

- Sounds Of Music: My loved one... Jason and me just did it to get some “extra points” for the team because you get points for already being there. Jason can't really read notes so it was a huge mess. We had to build two instruments, play a given song which was “St. Anthony's Chorale” and a chosen song which was “The Bad Necessities” from Jungle Book. On Friday we met after school and he stayed at my house until about 8:30 pm and we still didn't get finished. Our instruments were supposed to be creative and they mustn't contain any electrical stuff. And we only had three hours... So here comes my last-minute idea: For the first instrument we are going to glue straws together and cut them into different sizes, glue the end of it so that it makes a noise and finished! They want us to be creative... For the second instrument we're going to take some cans, two glasses and one plastic box and put different amount of stones into the cans, different amount of water into the classes and nothing into the box. We're going to hit on it with a pencil like a drum. Actually the practice on the Friday before the competition was really funny. I had a lot of fun while practicing. The competition though was SO embarrassing! We didn't get to practice a lot and we kind of messed up. Jason wasn't really able to play different notes on his instrument so he just hit random notes. We saw some of the other groups' instruments... They were all so fancy! They made whole tables out of wood with whatever kind of stuff on it... And what did we? Haha..! During the competition I cracked up. Jason and me were alone in a room with the tester and he asked us if we had any background-knowledge of music and actually we don't really because I can't understand most of the terms in English. However, he asked us a question I didn't get first so I didn't know the answer. Later on I understood and I would've known in german... However, he asked us to play the first song... I started playing and after about the first quarter of the song I cracked up. I couldn't stop laughing AT ALL! I just saw me blowing into straws and Jason hitting onto PEPSI cups... I cracked up, it was so funny. And it sounded so awful. Then we tried again. I cracked up again... Oh my gosh, this was so embarrassing. I couldn't stop. Maybe you know this feeling, I know Isabel does. It was the same with her and me as I dropped the french fries with Currywurst in our elevator. We couldn't stop.. It was bad, haha. The third time we finally kinda got it. I just tried to straighten up myself and in the end as I was nearly about to crack up again some girls were coming in to ask the tester a question. So as they were done I just said we've been done with the song too. This was our chosen song “The Bad Necessities”. The other song was even worse. Because Jason couldn't read notes and play them and the song was kinda hard to remember we decided that I would play it alone. It was bad I guess. But anyways we got some extra points for the team and this was probably the funniest competition!! I had a lot of fun during that one.

What comes now? Out of ten high school teams our team made 4th or 5th place (don't know for sure) which means that we're going to state!! The best teams of Kentucky are going to compete there. Camden and me made third place in optics and I hope we're going to do well at state too. Optics is actually the only competition I wanted to do... My first reaction that we're going to state was like: "Yeeees! Yeaaaaaaaaah!" My second reaction was: "No...! Noooooooooooo!" I have to do so much for thermodynamics, gravity vehicle and sounds of music... So wish me luck while studying until the 21^st of April...

Sweet 16 Bethany!

"Have a long life" hahaha the boy's card lol

Yesterday was Bethany's 16th Birthday Party. Bethany is one of my best friends here. Probably my best american friend haha :D She's so nice and such a kind person, I just love her. I mean: Everybody loves her ♥ She's just wonderful.
Anyways her sister Emily threw a surprise party for her and it was just awesome! Marta, Jason and me gave her a brown bag with many sweets, hair jewellry and a purse to her. It was so emberassing because she opened the presents in front of the whole crowd and anybody before us had EXACTLY the same bag just in another color for her... Hahahaha I bet she loves them both though so anyways! :D
Victor, Christian and Daniel had the best present though: They brought a balloon saying "Congratulations!". Hahaha, this might be a thing you say in Germany or Mexico on somebody's birthday but in America it's like: "Good job!". So... Good job that you turned 16 Bethany! :))
And then Christian (the german) had written a card in the name of the three guys and as polite as germans are it said some stuff like: We wish you a happy and long life! ... and whatsoever.
Those foreigners are just awesome. Or Cindy - she didn't have a birthday bag so she gave Bethany her present in a yellow Dunham's bag haha, it looked so bad!! 
It was just a great evening, thank you guys and we will always love you Bethany, angel ♥

Ready for the weekend?

This weekend was amazing. We got family visits: Michele's (my host mom) brother and his two sons came over from Florida - The smaller ones are CRAZY!! :D
We actually took off of school on monday to spend more time with them and on Saturday I didn't get to spend time with them because I was at Cindy's house to build a "Gravity Vehicle" for Science Olypiade which comes up next Saturday, then went golfing with her and in the evening we went to the cinema to see "The Vow". It was such a wonderful, romantic movie! And it's based on a true story. If you didn't see it yet - Go watch it!!


However the two boys of 6 and 8 have been crazy. Conor and Aiden didn't stop having energy!!! They both are very cute though. We played basketball, chess, softball, football , painted pictures, and all this fun stuff. But their passion was shooting toy guns. In the beginning I've been a little afraid but it turned out being absolutely funny and in the end I really liked it :) The first day they forgot that I'm staying here there too because I wasn't there on Saturday and I went to the bathroom in the morning and they kept staying in front of it because they thought Whitney was in there! The second day when they knew about me, though they kept asking "Who is Lara?" to make me angry, they kept shooting at my door until I woke up... It was bad... I texted Michele "Help me!" :DD They are so cute.
Furthermore we went hiking with them. You seriously can't compare hiking here to hiking in Germany haha. Actual mountain hiking in Germany is much harder what I got I discover last summer in Austria with my dad... But I really like it, it was fun.
Then we visited some more family and drove the four-wheeler in their garden. It reminded me on driving the Jet Ski just that driving the Jet Ski is much better and I realized I kinda miss that.
But the best thing of that weekend was our visit at a Fish Hatchery called "Wolf Creek". It was so awesome!!! Whitney and me came in and at the beginning of the small museum was a cage out of glass and I went like: "What are we looking for?" Whitney: "We're looking for that!" and she pointed on a little frog statue at the edge of the cage. And suddenly it moved!!!! I jumped. Seriously. I jumped. I got such a big shock hahaha :D The frog was actually escaping haha :D Now I can laugh about it, but at that moment I was so scared :D
We've been able to see so many things that live in Kentucky in there, it was so awesome! There was a skunk and a woman pulled it out of his cage and he was soooooooooooooo cute :))) Small, and fluffy, and simply cute ♥
There has been a whole lot of fish too but I'm not that interested in fish so whatever though the fish eggs have been quite interesting.
We've been able to watch a movie about animals in Kentucky and there've been several skins (of dead animal) to touch such as the rattle snake, a biever, etc.
The most creepy thing were the snakes though. They had to snakes and they let us touch one of them. It was weird. Snake skin is weird because snakes are like one big muscle and you can feel everything... Creeeeeepy!
The woman who worked there was sooo nice! She gave us a little part of the skin that the snake turned off once. So awesome because it's so rare but also kinda creepy haha :) And she gave a self made cooking towel which shows the landscape of Kentucky on it to me. She was soo nice! :))
All in all it was a perfect weekend and I'd love to do it all over again, haha :D
Hope you had a great weekend too! Pictures later ;) C ya

Merit Trip

Dress-Shopping with Marta

At the salt mine

I'm sorry for not writing the whole week but nothing special happened. On Friday we had our second Merit Trip. We went to Louisville with 10th, 11th and 12th grade to go to salt mines (or whatever...), Boyce College, and a mall. It was pretty awesome. I just realized that we have our "Foreign Corner" everywhere :D It's kinda like all the foreigner would stick together and wherever I go I usually spend most of the time with Marta (Italy), Josephine (Denmark), Cindy (China), Christian (Germany), Jason (Korea), Daniel (Mexico) and Victor (Denmark). I'll never complain about inegration again hahaha :D

American colleges are so much more
awesome than german ones!

Anyways this day was amazing. Marta and me always came too late - Seriously always!! The first time after our first stop on our way to the salt mine: Let's go over to starbucks, won't take too long... Yeah, took too long... The second time after the salt mine: Uh, let's get some presents for our host families, won't take too long... And yeah, took too long, haha :D ... The third time after Boyce College, though that time we've been just one of the last ones (Our guide group has been the last one). And last but not least I had to prove my clumsiness again: At our way back to school we made a stop at a tankstation and we've been the last in line to buy some food to get on the bus when I saw a coffee machine... "Oh my gosh! I hope they've got a hot milk chocolate!" So I ran there to get me a milk chocolate, hurried to put the paper cup under the machine and pushed the button. And the milk chocolate came outta the machine... And it didn't stop coming outta there!!! The milk chocolate already started boiling over and I thought: "Noooo! Don't go down to the ground!!!" So I wanted to quickly remove the cup and I reached out for it and grabbed it. Suddenly I realized how hot it was, I freaked out and dropped it :((( And everywhere was this stupid, stupid milk chocolate! And our teacher went like: "Lara, are you okay?" Me: "Depends..." Him to Marta: "Wow, your german friend is a mess...!" Hahahahaha it was awesome though :D

Smile :)

Abraham Lincoln's Birthplace & Fiddler On The Roof

Today we went to Abraham Lincoln's birthplace in Hodgenville and afterwards to the musical "Fiddler on the roof" in Danville. It was a pretty amazing day.

The small cottage Lincoln grew up
in with his sister and his parents.

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the US, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and promoting economic and financial modernization. Reared in a poor family on the western frontier, Lincoln was mostly self-educated.
It was pretty cool seeing where he grew up and all this stuff :)

Afterwards we went to see the "The Fiddler On The Roof". I remember Spring 2011 when we had a project at school in Germany over this musical. In my mind it was much better here. I really enjoyed that. All in all it was a perfect sunday!

Taryn's Party

My present for Taryn
(orininal idea by Joelle+Jil haha)

Taryn's birthday party was amazing. Though we went there a little late because of the tornado it was a whole lot of fun. We danced, sang, watched movies, ate (yeah...!) and all of this fun stuff. I really, really enjoyed spending the night there. On Saturday Whitney had an archery tournament which meant that we had to get up at 8am already. Besides that we didn't do anything on saturday. I slept through the afternoon, haha :D



American Idol (Just like DSDS!)

Tornados again

We're sitting in the basement right now worrying about eleven tornadoes crossing Kentucky. But probably it will pass away from Somerset and Whitney and me will be going to a birthday party of one of our friends :)

Studying Abroad :D

So true!!!