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The Hensen Family is welcoming Annka
I was born in my hometown, Eckernfoerde in Germany. It is a little town near to the baltic sea. I live 5 minutes away from the beach. When I was born, I already had an older brother his name is Sebastian. He is one of my biggest inspirations. -
There is nothing like home
We moved in our own house. When I was born we lived in the same neighborhood but we had an apartment and while my mom was pregnant, my dad and all of our friends worked on our own house. My dad and my mom build it how they ever imagined it to be. -
My cousin that's like a sister to me
My little Cousin, Ann-Sophie, was born and she lives 2 minutes away from me. I remember us playing all the time. When we had a snow-day, we spent our days together. When she slept over, we shared a bed and with her I have the best childhood-memories and she is like the sister I never had. -
All I really need to know... I learned in kindergarten.
I went to kindergarten with my best friend. My mom still tells me how I never wanted to go in the morning and never wanted to leave at the end. My teachers said I was one of the happiest kids and always had a smile on my face. -
Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet.
My little brother gets born on the birthday of my older brother. They are exactly 10 years apart and since then, we celebrate two birthdays on one day. His name is Jannik and me and him have a great relationship. -
Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.
My older brother went to the hospital and stayed there for over 4 weeks because he had got a concussion during a soccer match and they couldn't find out how dangerous it is and he wasn't allowed to do anything. For me as a little girl it was very hard because I was too worried about my older brother. -
My dad goes to Afghanistan
I don't really remember how I felt like the first time my dad went away. It was for four months and I don't have a lot of memories about this, and back then, I didn't know how dangerous it was for him and what he had deal with. I am kind of glad my mom didn't tell me though because she had to deal with a lot and me worrying would be too much. -
Princess for a day
This was a very happy day for me. I remember that the day before my graduation I got the crone for the princess of my school. I remember me walking home with my cousins and my little brother and I was so excited to tell my mom, and I was so proud. -
Graduation from elementary school
I remember that day. We had a little "Open house" at my house with my family and I got presents and it was a great start into the summer. -
A shock all over the world
World trade Center. Even though I don't live in America, this was a very special and sad day for the whole world. Not only America was affected. I was sitting at home with my family and we had friends over and we watched the news. I was so shocked to see the videos and pictures and saw all the people crying. I cried too after my dad told me what happened, just because I was so touched. I prayed a lot with my family that day. -
Saying goodbye is never easy
I had to deal with my first goodybe for a year. She was my best friend, my better half, my sister. I know her since I was born because our moms are best friends. She lived in my street and every morning we went to school together and when my parents had to work I went to their house and we had dinner, and the same was for her when her parents were busy. Our dads were almost never at home, so we were in the same situation and we grown up together and I missed her everyday. -
Death leaves a heartache no one can heal
This was the first time I had to deal with the death of a family member. My great grandmother lived right next to us and when I think about her now I see her watching me learning how to ride a bike, how I started inline skating and how I played outside with my friends. She was a big inspiration to me. -
Life can bring you down, but never forget to smile for what you have.
My grandfather had a heartattack. I see it in front of me how my dad was running out of the door and sprinting in his car. I heard the car driving so fast and I listened until I couldn't hear it anymore. Then I was running into my brothers room to check if he was okay, and then into my other brothers one and then I went to my mommy and she was on the phone. I saw her having tears in her eyes, because they didn't know if he would make it. I prayed because I was so thankful God didn't take him. -
Grief is like a ocean
This day my mom's cousin died in an car accident in our town. He had a wife and two kids: A son and a daughter. He was one of the happiest people I've known. He was always friendly to everyone. Had a great job that he loved and had a family, a family that meant everything to him. And he did because of a mistake of somebody else. His wife is still not over it, and is struggling a lot. There's not a day I don't pray for them. -
My mom gets diagnosed with SDH
I remember us being in Turkey while my mom had back problems. We were in this awesome hotel and everything was so great, but I saw my mom suffering and she couldn't move, she didn't want to go back home though, because we just got there so she took pain killers and I felt so bad and when we got home, she went to the hospital. -
Best friend moves to America again
After I had her back for a few years we kind of grew apart.. and then she told me she had to leave again, but this time for 3 years because her dad had to work in Washington. Her dad works for the government, and was really important. And she had no choice and then I realized how I didn't spend enough time with her. She came back when I left for America. I still talk to her and we have a friendship for a lifetime, I can feel it. -
My dad goes to Kosovo for 4 months
This time my dad went to Kosovo for 4 months and I received letters from him a lot and now that I look back I see that I didn't write him enough. I feel very bad. -
When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.
And then it was time for my great grandfather. After my great grandmother died, his wife, I never wanted him to die because he was the one of both of them I had left. Of course, I had all my grandparents, but they have been there my whole life as well. I was older so this was really, really hard for me and I miss him everyday. -
First black president
Even though I live in Germany, that was a big deal. Because we all knew that this would be a big difference, a big change. We all loved Barack Obama. We watched his election online and some channels played it and people bought a "Yes we can"- Obama T-shirt. It was huge event and very important to our history, but since I came to America, I noticed how many people don't like him. I was shocked. -
Behold, children are a gift of the Lord.
This was one of the best days in my life. I was in Spain at that time of the year, but we got a call from Germany because my uncle called my dad. Right after that call we all went out and celebrated and I checked the internet for pictures my uncle send us. I love babys, so this day I couldn't stop thinking about my little boy. I am really close to my aunt and uncle, this is why my cousin means so much to me. He taught me so much, even though he is a baby and I miss him a lot now that I am here. -
Fifa worldcup in Germany
This is an historical event for my home country. Soccer is the biggest sport in Germany, it is like Football for Americans. And the worldcup in 2008 was in Germany and one of the biggest deals for us. The whole word is playing football against eachother. It is all 4 years and we won the worldcup in 54 74 90 and every 4 years, we hope to win again and it's a big deal because our country is normally not proud. We don't wear our colors but for this we do, for this we are allowed to be proud. -
You and I will meet again.
One of my close friends wanted to do an exchange year in norway and that was time for me to say goodbye for a year. She came back that summer I was about to leave for america and she helped me alot during that time, because she knows how it is to be away from your family for a year. -
Sweet 16
When you live in Germany, you are allowed to go clubbing when you are 16 years old and you are allowed to drink alcohol. It is very, very different but when you are 16 you normally have sweet sixteen parties and it's a big deal. I had all my friends and they had a surprise party for me. -
Going to America for the first time
I was very, very excited to go and see a "new world". It was an awesome time and that's when I decided to go to America for a whole year, I wanted to make my dream come true. And I never regret it. I loved it. -
Going to Italy for the first time with my friends
The summer before I came here, I decided to take a trip to Italy with a lot of people. We were a group of 23 and we went for a week. It was so much fun and brought us all together before I left. -
Mallory comes to visit me in Germany
The summer before I left also Mallory came to visit me. She stayed for 2 weeks and we had a great time. -
My flight to America
I remember how hard it was to say goodybe to everyone I love. I had a goodybe party one day before and before I drove to the airport, all my friends were coming over to say goodybe. I cried so much but now I know that when I leave america, I will cry a 100x more. It was my first step into my new life and I would ALWAYS do it again. -
My first american birthday
I turned 17 one day before school started and it was very different not to be with my family, but it was great. My host family had a surprise party for me and I met a lot of new people and it was a great end of my summerbreak. -
My life as a typical american teenager begins
School started. I was very excited because I got to see everything I just saw out of movies. I was very nervous because I was all on my own and had to talk to everyone and introduce myself, but it went very well and now I laugh about how nervous I was. I love High School in America. -
New year, new luck.
This year I started my life with my best friends from here and my hostfamily. It was very different but I am so thankful for this opportunity.
