A D V E N T U R E R.
California Trip!In January I went on a trip to California for a week with a group of kids from my school. It was for Interim week and we stayed in Yorba Linda with my teachers very nice, welcoming, and giving family. Every day of that week we woke up to eat breakfast and go out and start our activities for the day. One the first night, we were so tired from driving all day we didn't have anything to eat but cookies after oour small meal we chose where we were sleeping, and went to bed. On the first actual day of being in Cali, we went to Six Flags Magic Mountain for the day and road roller coaster rides all day. I got sick on the Goliath and refused to ride for the rest of the day. Until my friends showed me the TATSU which literally picks you up and makes it feel like you're flying through the entire park. That was my favorite ride of the whole park and I wish I would have found it earlier, because it was the only one that didn't make my stomach turn. After spending the whole day at he park we went back to where we were staying, and ate home cooked chicken terayaki with rice. Delicious! The next day we went and volunteered at the Homeless shelter on Skid Row in LA. We prepared and cooked for over 500 people that day. I had alot of fun working in the kitchen and actually made friends with a few people from the staff. It was a great experience. I heard alot of stories and made some good food. I felt really accomplished afterwards. Helping others that are less fortunate than me was a learning experience for me. After we were done working in the kitchen, we took a drive down to Hollywood Boulevard and went sight seeing. I saw basically all of the stars except the one I really wanted to get a picture of, Marilyn Monroe. It was covered by red carpets for a movie premier happening that night. After rounding up everyone and getting pictures with a Transformer (Optimus Prime) and mini Mr. T we went back to the house to another delicious home cooked meal. On this night we had one of my favorite meals, spaghetti. After finishing our food, we all talk about what happened during the day, what our favorite parts of helping people out, and the impact it made on us. The next morning we actually got to sleep in for the first time during that week and then we went to the Holocaust Museum in LA, got a feel of what the people went through while there. We did a whole walk through of look alike german streets, remake gates of Auschwitz- Birkenau death camp and a replica gas chamber. At the beginning of the tour we were given cards with a child that was in the Holocaust on it. In certain parts of the tour, we would put the card in a machine and it would give us a little bit of information on our child. At the end of the tour we put our cards in the last machine and it told us if they survived or not. The child I had didn't survive, she died in the gas chambers in Auschwitz. It made me really sad to think about how many kids of all ages died during this horrible time. For no reason at all. After learning about this, we got back on the bus and went to Venice beach! Venice was such a fun place I bought so much there for so cheap, it was great. We even stayed long enough to watch the sunset. You haven't seen a sunset until you do it on the beach in California. Once the sun went down we went back to the house and ate taco salad that the owners of the house prepared for us. We had to start packing up some of our stuff because the next day was the last full day we had in California. Our final day in cali, we went to Huntington beach. Holy cow does this beach have views! It was much bigger than Venice and it had pier in the middle of the beach that you could walk on and see both sides of the beach and if you wanted to, you could eat at the restaurant on it. While there Molly, Kyi, Hailey and I met 2 guys from the area and hung out with them for the entire day playing guitar and singing. It was really cool to meet some people we could possibly see again in the future. After a long day at the beach we went back to the house for our final home cooked meal, steak and baked potatoes. We talked afterwards about our week, and thanked the homeowners for letting us come in and stay at their house for a week. After dinner and chatting, we all went and packed our stuff to go home in the morning. This trip was the best experience I have ever had with any school. Our group that i went with was really chill and the people that we stayed with were very open, and nice. Not to mention the lady of the house was a superior cook. I actually found myself excited to go back to the house for dinner every night. This trip was the highlight of my senior year. I went with a group of really cool people and got to experience California for the first rime. I can't wait to go back!
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After high school I plan on going to college. Just not right away. I really want to take a year off so I can settle myself and start saving money. I will probably end up starting at a community college part-time to get my GPA up to my culinary schools standards. In the future I want to go to Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts in Boulder, Colorado. After researching the school, and even talking to a few people that work at the school, I really liked it. All the food used and prepared in the school is from local markets, and farms. I thought this was really cool and I really want to learn things from Colorado so I can take them back home with me to show my Australian family what American food is like. I hope to get a tour around the school sometime this year, to really decide.
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