Dear Friends,
We are taking this opportunity to tell you a little bit
about who we are. We will start with the
geography of our region. We live in
Northern California, about 15 minutes from the ocean, but it is very cold and
only surfers venture into the ocean (wearing wetsuits, of course). We also live among the tallest trees in the
world, called Redwood Trees. We have a
vibrant agricultural community, with many dairy and vegetable farms. Our ecosystem is a temperate rainforest, so
we have very rainy winters and springs, and foggy summers and falls. It very rarely gets above 20 degrees Celsius,
and it also rarely gets below 0.
California is divided into 58 counties. We live in a county called Humboldt
County. Our town, Fortuna, is small town
with a population of about 11,000. There
are many other small towns near Fortuna whose teenagers also go to Fortuna High
School; those towns include Loleta, Scotia, Carlotta, Hydesville, Rio Dell, and
Alton. We have many wonderful festivals
in our town such as the Apple Harvest Festival, the rodeo, and classic
(old-fashioned) car shows. The Humboldt County
Fair happens once a year, and people show their animals such as pigs, cows,
sheep, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, and goats and win awards for them. Families can also go there to enjoy carnival
rides, horse races, and music.
Although we are proud of our culture as Americans, many of us
still identify with our various ethnic backgrounds and countries of origins of
our ancestors. We have many Native
Americans, Latin Americans, as well as people from all over Europe in our
community. We eat many kinds of food
from many different cultures, including Italian food such as pizza and pasta, Chinese
food, and of course American food like hamburgers and hot dogs.
Life in our town often revolves around what is happening at
the high school. American football is really
important in our community, but it is not the only thing that is important. Our town is very supportive of what high school
students are doing, including sports, music, the arts, the culinary arts, and
agricultural organizations. We have a
diverse group of courses that we can take, including art, culinary arts,
technology, Spanish language, auto mechanics, music, as well as history,
science, math, English, and physical education.
We have a few questions for you: What kind of music do you like? Do you have pets, zoos, animals, and/or
wildlife? What are you favorite things
to do for fun? What sports do you
play? Do you like your climate? What kinds of technology are available to you? If you have any questions for us, feel free
to ask! We are looking forward to
connecting with you all during this year!
Warmly,
Your friends in Fortuna