Saturday, August 18, 2012

Experiencing Colorado

Like everybody who reads this blog knows, I am spending an exchange year in Colorado. Flying here wasn't nice. It was horrible: nine hours with almost no space for feet at all. It was so unpleasant I'm not going to write about that anymore. At the airport there was waiting the nicest family imaginable with the coolest welcome sign I have ever seen. There I got my first true American experience when I was asked do I want a hamburger pizza. Nobody puts hamburger in pizza, that's ridiculous.

I was positively surprised that I didn't have jet lag at all. I also didn't notice the 5,000 ft. altitude difference in first few days, but I will get back to that. The second day we went to little town called Buena Vista in the Rocky Mountains and visited older brother, Brian, who worked at the Deer Valley Ranch. We had so much fun there doing stuff with other kids. One day we hiked 7 miles in a 9,000' mountain which name I can't remember. At the end of the hike there was a waterfall definitely worth walking so far to see.

When we got back to Berthoud, I started to do cross country, and after a half a mile I noticed the altitude difference, and it felt horrible. Now I know how it feels to be in very bad shape. Despite hating running here, I kinda like how it feels after that, so I kept going and attended a cross country camp. It was my second trip to the mountains within a week. It was even harder to run in 7,000-9,000 ft, but I got through and got to know a lot of people there. Last day of the camp we hiked to 12,000 ft. high mountain, and I am quite proud of myself, especially running down part of that mountain. 

The day after I got back from the camp, which is today, Brian visited here and we helped him move to college. I got my phone working today, and I like that I can use my phone here. I have already became a fan of a football team, Denver Broncos, and basketball team, Denver Nuggets. I like how they both have had superstars join them this season.

I have had a pretty busy and exiting 10 days, and busy days keep coming when school starts on August 24th with all those activities. Unlike in Finland, I'm actually looking forward to school. I won't be adding any pictures here, but on facebook instead.

Best wishes for everyone reading this,
Jake