Katarina Sesic, a YES Student from Bosnia and Herzegovina, shares her story of Christmas in her host community of Bellaire, TX.

"Since I arrived here in the U.S. I couldn't wait for Christmas because I know it's a big deal here, especially with the decorations. But it's even better than I ever expected it to be. Almost all the houses here are full of lights. One house even had all the walls and the roof covered in them and the front yard was full of decorations, just like in a fairytale. I decorated my own house too - a gingerbread house - with my friends. It was so interesting because I have never done it before and we had plenty of candy to decorate it. It was actually a bit difficult, my roof fell off just as I finished it and I had to do it again.

Two weeks ago I went to a Christmas tree farm with my host family to cut one down and it was so fun. Last week we decorated it and the rest of the house too. It was really nice to spend time with my host family and to share my customs from back home too, which are pretty similar.

In the spirit of Christmas giving, I went volunteering for the 'Elves and more' company with my group of YES, FLEX and A-SMYLE students in my host community and we assembled bycicles for underpriviledged kids for Christmas.

One day I also went to my friend's house with other exchange students and we sang christmas carols and it was so amazing, just like in some movies. I do something every week and I have had more experiences in a month than I usually do in a year back home. Next week I am planning to make some Christmas cookies that I usually make at home to share with my family and friends. I also can't wait for the christmas shopping, I heard that there are big sales."