I went to Abilene, Kansas to go one year to a high school. I was placed in this town by the organisation that organized the exchange program . I spent the time between August 1994 and July 1995 here, only interrupted by a two-week trip to New York City (which was really great) and Washington, D.C. I attended the local high school as a sophomore together with 6 other exchange students from various parts of the world. Unlike those other exchange students who did not like their host-families, I had the luck to find the best family in America. I enjoyed living with them and loved them as much as my "real" family back home.
Favourite spots:
Abilene is a very small town in the midwest of America. There was not much to do, except for hanging out at McDonalds or a friend's place. Even more so, I was not able to drive and with virtual no public transportation and good and safe roads for bicycles, it is difficult to just go here and there - especially when you live out in the countryside like I did. The countryside is flat with some woods, but mostly corn fields. I really cannot think of any exciting place.
What's really great:
What made my stay in Abilene great, was certainly not the town but the experiences I could make by living in a foreign country as a teen-ager for a whole year. I learned so much about myself and about different cultures and values - it has had a great influence on my development and of who I am today. As I said this has not much to do with the town - and since you as a traveller will certainly go to Abilene for different reasons than I did: there is really not much to see in this town.
Sights:
let's see: - there is Greyhound racing that can be watched - there is a Hall of Fame (but I don't know anymore for what topic) - there are lots of corn fields - also worth mentioning maybe the library for Dwight D. Eisenhower (sorry if misspelled), who was born in Abilene - and you will encounter way too many conservative, christian-fanatic and gun-fanatic people (so try to avoid those, if possible)
Accommodations:
I can't really say much to this, since I stayed in a host-family and therefore lived in their house. But there are certainly some hotels.
Nightlife:
When I was in Abilene, I was not old enough and also had no desire to go to any clubs - if there is any. So no idea about this.
Hangouts:
Same thing here, no idea about pubs in the Abilene.
Restaurants:
I liked Pizza Hut. Otherwise you will a lot of fast-food restaurants and I remember I once ate some Chinese food and visited a restaurant at the Country Club. However, I cannot really remember a very nice and classy restaurant with excellent food. But maybe you are more lucky to find one.
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