Time with Ombline!

Our exchange student, Ombline, just left our house today, and we miss her very much. Ombline's English is very good; she has been learning English since she was 7 years old, and improved every day!

The day Ombline arrived was pretty low-key. We just hung out around my house and talked. Then we drove around my small town, Middletown. We pointed out the schools, and I explained that high school is similar to "lycée," middle school is similar to "collège," and elementary school is for the little children. I pointed out the pool, my grandparents' houses, and a mini market that is called Souders, because that is our last name, too, but we have nothing to do with the mini market.

The next day, we went to Hershey's Chocolate World. Ombline had never heard of Hershey's Chocolate. We live about 15 minutes away from Chocolate World, so I had been there countless times as a kid, and I will take the kids I babysit to Chocolate World because it's entertaining and the ride that pretends to give you a tour of the chocolate factory is free, and so is parking if you stay for less than three hours! On our drive to Chocolate World, we saw people park their car on the side of the road and take a picture with the sign pictured to the right. Because I have lived so close to Hershey for my entire life, I always forget that it is a tourist destination.


When we walked into the doors of Chocolate World, we immediately smelled the chocolate. That smell has become rather comforting to me. We walked to the beginning of the ride. The moving floor, which I have become so accustomed to walking on from visiting Chocolate World so often tripped up people from out of state. We sat in the cars of the ride, and Ombline and I sat in the front row so that we could hear better.


The ride at Chocolate World outlines the process of how Hershey's Chocolate is made, from the selection of the cocoa beans to the wrapping the candy bar. I, personally, get the most amusement from the cows! At various points throughout the ride, there are three cows, Gabby, Harmony, and Olympia, who sing a repetitive song about milk and Hershey's Chocolate. Ombline and I couldn't help but giggle!

In that same day, we went shopping at the Hershey Outlets, which I'm sure are called by another name, but I think Hershey Outlets sounds much better. Ombline told my mom and I that brands that are popular in the United States, such as Hollister and Aéropostle, are also very popular in France.





Ombline

Moi

The next two days were spent swimming- one day at my grandparents' pool, and the other at the Middletown Swim Club. We took these pictures at the Swim Club.


We spent a day in Harrisburg. First we went to Barnes and Noble to get me a pocket dictionary. It is very thorough, unlike my previous small dictionary, which didn't have the verb "cook," or the word "tuna."

We saw the Capitol Building, and took pictures on two different staircases. I, being in Youth & Government, knew my way and showed my mom and Ombline around. Of course, I didn't know any of the ever-so-valuable information about where the marble was from, but I could tell about rooms only the Youth & Government kids, and well, the real government, had been allowed to enter. Then we went to the State Museum and walked around. No matter how many times I go through the State Museum, the exhibit about the Native Americans that has the life-size sculptures freaks me out!

Then we had my birthday party! A lot of my friends were there. We took a lot of pictures, but I'm only going to put up this one. It is a picture of me and my friends doing an imitation of the High School Musical jump into the pool. I am the first one on the left, and Ombline is the second one in from the right. We took far too many High School Musical jump pictures, but it was fun!



Because I don't like making decisions, when my mom asked me what food I wanted to have, the only things I could say were, "Iced tea, bruschetta, and some sort of cake." Since one cannot have an entire party on those alone, I let my grandparents make some creative decisions.
The cake was from Pennsylvania Bakery, and it was called a "raspberry torte." It wasn't very extravagant, but it tasted very, very good! My grandma picked the cake and I made absolutely no decisions about it, and she did a very good job! See for yourself!

The next day was my little cousin's birthday party. She turned ten years old and her name is Olivia. Ombline and I made some Oreo cupcakes to eat at the party. Olivia asked Ombline and me to play tag with her, so we did. The only catch is that we played tag in the dark, and Olivia decided that the person who was "it" had to wear a goofy head light. I haven't played tag since I was little, so this was definitely fun for me.

A few days later, we took a trip to HersheyPark. When you buy an admission ticket to HersheyPark, you also get a two and a half hour preview the night before where you can go to the park. We rode all of the rollercoasters, minus one. Ombline and I both like rollercoasters, so the only reason we didn't get to ride that one rollercoaster was because it was pouring rain! At around four o'clock in the afternoon, it started raining. Since we were enjoying ourselves, Ombline and I decided to try to wait out the storm. In the rain, we couldn't ride any rides, so we ran around, watched karaoke, and goofed off until 9 o'clock. Since the park closes at 10, we decided that it was time to quit. I called my mom to pick us up, and we ran through the rain to get there.

We took off our flip-flops so that we could run without them falling off and decided to wait under the ticket booths, and everything was fine for about ten minutes, but in fifteen seconds, our safe area went from dry to covered with three inches of water, and the ticket booths were flooding. Trashcans were being lifted by the water and floating down hills. Outdoor staircases looked like waterfalls. Ombline and I were giggling like little girls. My parents and my brothers came to get us, and we went to a restaurant, even though we were soaked!

We went shopping at King of Prussia one day. My grandparents drove us down and dropped us off, and we shopped for hours. I only got a dress and a sweater for H&M, but Ombline got things from Hollister, Aéropostle, Abercrombie, Forever 21... and maybe more! In Forever 21, we decided try on the worst outfit we could come up with. I would post a picture, but it would make excellent blackmail material. We found studded leather jackets that looked dangerous, black and white striped pants that were mostly cut out around the knee, and a superhero tee-shirt.

We went Baltimore, Maryland one day. We went out to eat, to an aquarium, and we watched a wonderful street performer. In the aquarium, my mom asked me if it would be inappropriate to ask for butter to go with the fish. YES, MOTHER, IT WOULD BE! There isn't much to say about these pictures.

Posing in front of inner harbor

The restaurant where we ate lunch

 Jonathan Burns, one of the best street performers in existence! His show is called Flexible Comedy.

A random picture we took inside the aquarium

After the 4-D movie

I'm not sure what we're doing, but we look adorable!

 

One day, Ombline and I went to Alexa's house. Alexa is one of my best friends in the entire world.

From left to right: Alexa, Zoey (Alexa's little sister), Natalie (me), Ombline 

 

We also took a trip to Washington, DC. First, we had to go to my visa appointment at the French Consulat. In English, it is spelled "consulate," but it's French, so I'm spelling it the French way.

 

Ombline and me being important with out little badges!

 

The appointment went very well, and then we went off to hit the city!

The White House, or La Maison Blanche

Washington Monument (under construction due to an earchquake)

The US Capitol Building

Secret Service agents on the roof of a building

Ombline and me in front of the White House. Don't ask why I am still wearing a pencil skirt.

 

Washington Monument under construction

 

 

When It was time for Ombline to leave, we were all very sad. It was nice to have another person in the house, especially for me, because I don't have a sister. Ombline will be going to college in Lille, so you'll surely hear about our adventures again during my year abroad, since she is so close. Instead of saying "Goodbye" to Ombline, I told her, "See you soon." To me, goodbye sounds final, but see you soon implies that I care enough to want to see you again.

 

With that,

See you soon!

-Natalie

 

(The three pictures of Hershey's Chocolate World and the one picture of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building do not belong to me. Their rights belong to their respective owners.)