01 Dec Thanksgiving as an International Student

Coming from England, Thanksgiving is a new and exciting prospect, especially getting a whole week off from University for the holiday. So, me and my friends definitely wanted to make the most of this time, as the weeks after Thanksgiving will be very stressful, full of exams and assignments before Christmas. Me and my roommate decided we should do something with our American friend, so we booked an air bnb to go to Lake Tahoe! However, we then realised that we could save a lot of money by staying at our American friend’s house in San Diego and just explore there, so we cancelled the air bnb. We then were able to also experience an actual American family Thanksgiving, which was so exciting and we were so grateful that they welcomed us so kindly into their home. We drove from San Francisco straight to San Diego which was a trek and a half, taking 10 hours altogether, but we made it, with many pit-stops. During our stay, we visited Ocean Beach, and also went to San Diego zoo, which was amazing! The number of different species of animals they had there was really exciting, and seeing lions was really crazy for me as they are my favourite animal. I am usually quite cautious about zoos, but this zoo seemed to be really good for conservation purposes which we loved. On the way back to San Francisco, we decided to do a stop in LA for one night just to break up the journey home. We went to Venice Beach which I would definitely recommend going to, and we went for dinner in downtown LA. Then, we had to make the journey home. It was also great as we were able to see snow up in the mountains on the drive home. I can’t wait to return to San Diego and I would definitely recommend visiting it to any exchange student! I would also definitely suggest taking a trip during this week off as to make the most of your time here in the States!