July 9th- San Franciscooo!

We began the day at Pier 39- the Fisherman's Wharf

Lucas, Teodora, Rodolfo, Victor and Juan Diego had fun shopping at the pier.

Antoine, Joscha, Jorge and Victor were entertained by the sea lions there.

Sabina, Augusto, Olympe and Camila hung out for dear life up and down the hills of San Fran

While others safely rode on the inside of the antique car.

Lucia, Shari, Pedro and Mina liked the fountain at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park

Alix, Antoine, Adrien, Jorge and Margherita enjoyed the view from the top of a hill during our city tour with Jette and Joyce.

We saw cute convertibles as we walked down the windiest road in the U.S.- Lombard St.

It really must be the cuviest street in the U.S. (Hendrik, Jessica, Manon, Lucas, Krzysztof and Joscha)

We rode by the famous Alamo Square and the house from Full House!

Shaskya, Indhini, Anjeli, Ayaka and Mina gathered at dinner in Chinatown!

Dear All,

We woke up a bit early to go visit beautiful San Francisco. It was almost freezing with the windchill but we didn't let the weather ruin our enthusiasm to walk around Pier 39, which was our first stop of the day. We shopped for post cards, souvenirs and Hard Roc sweatshirts and saw like 100 sea lions laying on floating platforms and playing in the water. Heather was right when she said it would be pretty cool there.

Then after a long line with a nice view of the harbor, we took the famous cable cars which are quite an institution here in SF. It was really nice and it gave us the opportunity to see that the city is indeed full of hills. We rode from the coast inland to Union Square for lunch and more shopping.

In the afternoon, two guides took us on a city bus tour. We started with the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park then made our way over to the Civic Center to see City hall and some action around there. We continued the tour with very pretty Victorian houses, beautiful landscapes and the famous Lombard Street. We also learned a lot about the city's history and what areas were famous during which decades. It was interesting to see how those areas are still influenced by their past.

After that, we went to Chinatown for dinner (which was very welcomed by our bodies because we needed the energy after such an exciting day). We had tons of yummy Chinese food and learned how to se chopsticks. After reading our fortune cookies, we headed to the hotel for a well deserved rest.

We cannot believe this trip is gonna be over so soon and we are enjoying every moment of it. It is not the end yet!!! See you tomorrow!

Sabina from Italy and Pauline from Belgium

July 8th- We Are Going to San Francisco

Welcome to the final city on our fabulous West Coast adventure: San Francisco!

Cristina, Rodolfo, Clara and Olivier walked together through the city streets.

The girls liked the artwork that lined the walls of some buildings around town.

We didn't need a bus to see the sights... Walking was nice after our bus ride from Yosemite!

We all had fun exploring the city on this beautiful sunny afternoon!

To our followers of the best trip ever,

Today we had time to sleep later, we are all really tired because we have such a great time! After a nice breakfast at the hotel in Merced (near Yosemite) we left for San Francisco. The city looked very pretty from the bridge that we passed on the way in. We could even see the famous Golden Gate bridge from the bus. We arrived after less than two and a half hours driving and we went directly downtown where we had free time to walk around little Italy and Chinatown where we made the best deals and bought a lot of souvenirs! We eventually made our way to Union Square where the busses were waiting for us. After those three hours in the city, we went to the Hilton hotel and got settled and then had a great dinner around 6.30 pm. After dinner some of us went to the movies, most of the girls watched Eclipse while some others watched Grown Ups or Toy Story 3. We all loved it! Other students stayed at the hotel and chilled in the pool or in the lobby.

Just a note: The weather is clear but it is much cooler over here, so we are all buying San Francisco sweatshirts since we are not accustomed to the cold weather anymore after being in the desert for a week! It is a nice change and yet another sign of the contrasts of the West Coast!

Lucille (France) and Kao (Japan)

July 7th - Yosemite National Park

Welcome to Yosemite! ...And look at that mountain!

Granite rocks make Yosemite one of the most famous rock-climbing spots in the world!

Students from Mexico, Argenitina, Poland, Finland, Germany and 19 other countries hiked Vernal Falls in the morning.

We took a break from hiking to enjoy the view from 4500ft altitude.

Today was a beautiful, tragic and exciting day.

At 8 o’clock in the morning we left to see one of the most famous and beautiful national parks of the U.S. and of the world – Yosemite. The park covers an area of 761,266 acres of nature

and has designated almost 95% to the wilderness.

While parts of our group stayed at the Yosemite lodge area to watch the semi-final

of the Fifa World Cup- Germany vs. Spain (1954, 1974, 1990... 2014 perhaps), the other

students embarked on a challenging adventure- an exciting and exhausting hike up to Vernal Falls. The hike was totally worth it. We saw unbelievable waterfalls, huge and ancient trees and even beautiful rainbows over the water. We also saw some squirrels who wanted us to share our lunch with them. We arrived back in the Yosemite Valley around noon, tired and wet but ready for more adventures.

We had the possibility to do another hike, water raft or rent some bikes. Most of us

decided to raft, only 2 decided not to take the water challenge. For many of us it was our

first time rafting and all of us enjoyed the unforgettable views and the fun in the small inflatable boats. We split into groups of four and took turns paddling down the clear Merced River for about three miles. Some of us even stopped at a bridge to swim and jump in the water.

After our diverse and fun activities, we came together to enjoy our delicious dinner.

Exhausted and tired we travelled back to our nice hotel, dreaming about our amazing day and

our next journey which will be to famous San Francisco.

Marie Madeleine Müller (Germany),

Shari Kießling (Germany),

Gosia Zawadzka (Poland)

July 6th- Beverly Hills!

Welcome to the real 90210!

Cotta and Viki head straight toward the shops off of Santa Monica Boulevard

Lucille and Kao enjoy the park in Beverly Hills

Other students spent their time eating at the diverse restaurants in the area.

And when everyone was done looking at the fancy cars, houses and shops, we got back in the bus and headed for Yosemite National Park! A long drive (6 hours) but well worth it when we saw how nice the rooms at our new hotel were!

July 5th 2010 - Disneyland!!!

Alix (France) and Margherita (Italy) at Disney!

Group in front of the castle

Andhini (Indonesia), Anjeli (France) and Ayaka (Japan)

July 4th 2010 - Independence Day!... Hollywood and Huntington Beach!

Hello everybody!

Today we left the hotel at 9 0’clock to see Hollywood. After 1-hour we saw the Hollywood sign and the Hollywood walk of fame. Then we had 2 hours time for shopping and looking around.

After shopping we left Hollywood to go to Huntington Beach, which is very famous beach. It was 1-hour ride again. On the way we saw beautiful houses and we really saw the real California!

We had 5 hours to get tanned, swim, and shop, Of Course! We were playing soccer, volleyball, and Frisbee at the beach. It was an awesome day. The ocean was crazy and the waves were big.

After the beach we came back to the hotel and we went to the pool and hot tub. Today is also the 4^th of July and we saw some fireworks. It was a great day to celebrate an American holiday!

Kaisa – Finland

Nayra - Brasil

July 3rd 2010 - WELCOME TO CALIFORNIA!

Universal Studios...