Graduation Ceremony - June 13th 2015

To be honest, I have a fear of flying. Although my parents had offered to let me take part in the actual ceremony in the United States, I had always been apprehensive.

Just last week, I made the decision to be brave, because of this once-in-a-lifetime event. My mother arranged everything in the very last minute and off we went to the United States of America! 

Out trip to the United States

We went by plane, but because of several unfortunate events (being sent to wrong lines and such), missed the plane by seconds. A nice lady from Schiphol Airport Amsterdam managed to get us on the next plane.

During the flight we had some turbulence, which I do not recommend for fearful flyers, but at last we landed on Detroit Airport.

The man at the customs, was very nice and congratulated me for my graduation!

We had one day to make some final preparations (don't try travelling to the USA without a credit card and expect to rent a car...) and we were all set for the ceremony.

The Ceremony

It was exciting to finally meet the people who have, until now, been names on a screen. Mrs. H and Mrs. M, thank you for your support. 

Some of the students had prepared an on-stage appearance. I was a bit... ok, let's say really, nervous. Once my name was called out, I received my high school diploma!  

Hearing what all of the other students had achieved was also very impressive. 

After the ceremony I had the chance to speak to some of the other students and even met a few German-speaking people. Everyone was so nice! We stayed in Ann Arbor that night and planned our next tour. 

Sightseeing in the USA and Canada

I would love to see Niagare falls, so that is where we were headed. We passed the Canadian border and booked into a hotel. We will keep you updated about the rest of our surprise journey!  

Niagara Falls  

We drove to Niagara Falls and visited the National Park. We walked underneath the falls. We drove deeper into Canada and will spend another day there, before going to Washington DC to see the White House and the Smithsonian Museum.

Whitby

Because of a problem our rental car, we had some delay and we arrived in Whitby, Ontario. It was very late and we decided to visit a late movie (Jurassic World) and call it a day. 

Cobourg

The next day, we drove to Cobourg, in Ontario were we saw the Victoria Park and the Lake Ontario beach and the harbor. There were many neat shops downtown, like a small traditional perfume shop where you could make your own perfume.