On December 5th, 2010 my plane landed in San Francisco. My booking involved four weeks studying in Converse International School of Languages and eight weeks Volunteer English program. Also, I am living for those three months in a home stay.

I spent Christmas and New Year’s Eve in San Francisco. I didn’t wait for white Christmas and not for summer. Here I expected mild temperatures between 35 ° and 55 ° Fahrenheit (ca. 0 ° to 15 ° Celsius) perfect for shopping and sightseeing. I also met up with my classmates and fellow students to take, for example, dinner in restaurants. To fill out the program, CISL offers variety of offerings.

I spent Christmas with my family. This was a priceless experience for me to celebrate Christmas outside of my family in another culture. I could find out differences and similarities between American and my German culture. My wonderful host family is of Filipino origin. They have four grown children and eight grandchildren aged two to eighteen years. The whole family comes together to Christmas, on 12/25. There I could share with all family members everything possible and I could enjoy Christmas in a different family.

New Years Eve I spent with my classmates, my fellow students and my new friends. You meet up with them at one of your host family, residence, apartment or in public restaurants, bars and clubs. At 11 pm you should go to the “Embarcadero” because at 00:00 clock there starts big fireworks. Perhaps I’ve never even seen so many people in one place and certainly I’ve never seen so many different cultures in one place.
Then the party was into the early morning hours.

If you think you can’t go to a good baseball match in San Diego, you’re totally wrong! The home stadium of the Padres is located in San Diego, named the Petco Park. This stadium is the property of the much appreciated San Diego Padres, ‘the’ baseball team in San Diego. The San Diego Padres were founded in 1969 and through the years they have their share of awards. One of which was the National competition. The stadium of the Padres is built in the middle of town, a beautiful location where you can join a baseball match combined with entertainment.

As an international student at Converse International School of Languages (CISL,) I wanted to go to a baseball match of the San Diego Padres too. Personally, I hardly know about baseball and that’s the reason I would like to know more about this sport. I think baseball is a very popular sport in America, more than it is in the Netherlands, where I come from.  

After requesting some information about activities organized by CISL, the school turned out to organize several trips. Tickets only cost you 10 dollars. Then you leave from school to the Petco Park with a big group of international students. This is not only great fun, but it is also a good way to get to know fellow students.

But if you’d rather go to a baseball match by yourself, with some friends maybe, that’s also possible. Like many others, I decided to buy tickets on my own. These tickets are a little more expensive, nevertheless the seats you will have in the stadium are better. On the website (www.sandiegopadres.com) I easily bought some tickets with a credit card, and after buying they sent me a confirmation immediately. My pick was a match against the LA Dodgers, two rivals in California.

And now I can only agree with the fact that baseball is a fantastic sport here in San Diego. While enjoying churros, nachos and popcorn I was looking at the match enthusiastically: it was a great experience! During the match I quickly learned the rules of baseball and with great admiration I was looking at the players. To be good at this sport you not only have to be fast, being sharp and aware are necessary too. What an atmosphere! Baseball is not only a great sport to look at, but also a sport full of entertainment and sociability. In the audience you can find students, youth, elderly and even whole families fully wrapped in Padres regalia. Supporting ‘their’ team seems to be the only thing that matters. To me this is how sports should be: sportive, sociable and with respect for everybody. Without any violence or aggression.

After all the wonderful activities I’ve already done in San Diego, you definitely should visit the San Diego Padres. Baseball is really ‘it’ here in San Diego and you can see it everywhere you go. Even the streets are cleared off for a good game of amateur baseball! It’s good to see how American people are busy with sports. Yes, this is really how sports should be!

It is the place where the students normally sleep during the travel.You have a suite with everything you need (shower, microwave, fridge…). The place is very well located in Little Italy very close to downtown, the center of the city and Converse. There are more than 300 students so it is very easy to meet people from all the countries. Most of people come from Brazil, Switzerland, Korea and Belgium but there is also French, Spanish, Italian… There are a lot of things to do for students. For example if you are European or Brazilian and you like football, you can play all the days during the week in the park opposite of Vantaggio. Mexican players use to play here. It is a good opportunity for meeting people. For the people who like to go out during the night the clubs are in downtown. Besides all the evening students stay in front of the desk where there is a room where we can play billiard, beer-pong… with people who put music or mix. There is also a yard where you can smoke.   So during all the night boys and girls can dance, share or do what they want. Thursday is the day where there is the most of people, the student who stays on house family come to Vantaggio and it is very crazy, so much people, it looks like a club or a real party. So if you live Vantaggio  you can’t be bored, everybody can find something to do like shopping, jogging, visiting, playing sport, going out during the night… There is no better place for meeting students and enjoying his time.

by Nicolas Sayo, France