School was
an essential part of my student exchange of course. But it wouldn’t have been
the same without my host family and exchange partner. We were pretty much a
perfect match, and I was glad that they were so welcoming and treated me like a
member of their family. On weeknights we often watched TV together, went
shopping at the insanely big Canadian supermarkets or talked for a long time.
And on the weekends, my exchange partner and I often met up with her friends
(that I would now consider my friends too) or simply went for a long drive
around town. One of the best moments that I had with “my” family was a weekend
we spent camping at a lake. My host family often has big family gatherings with
15 or more people and this time was no different. It was great getting to know
all of my exchange partner’s uncles, aunts and cousins! We had a lot of fun,
sitting around the campfire all night, playing games and listened to music. In
Canada, lots of people like country music and while I was not really a fan of
it, it started to grow on me and after this weekend that was spent listening to
country all day I just loved it. My exchange partner and her sisters taught me
a dance called line dance that fits for almost every country song and that
apparently most Canadians know how to dance. When I finally knew how to do it,
everybody shouted, “She’s Canadian!” and cheered. This was indeed one of the
first moments when I felt truly Canadian and was convinced that I belonged
there, in my home 7,000 kilometers away from home.
After this
nice weekend trip, time flew by and soon it was the end of September: The
weekend I went on a trip to the Rocky Mountains with the other German exchange
students! After having seen the mountains in summer, I would have never thought
they could be this beautiful in fall, only one month later. All the leaves on
the trees were bright yellow and orange and it looked like the pictures in
travel catalogues or guidebooks. Our group went canoeing, orienteering, rock
climbing and hiking together. On the last day of our trip we went hiking to
some waterfalls and those must have been the most fascinating thing I had seen
from the Canadian landscape so far. When I put all my photos on my computer
after the trip, I wasn’t even surprised to see that there were over 500 of them
– I had to take enough pictures to try and preserve the memory of this, after
all! We all had lots of fun on our trip and it was good to be able to catch up
with the other students and see how they were doing in their host families. But
I have to admit: Even after only a couple of weeks of speaking English, I had
gotten so used to the language that it was actually really hard for me to speak
German again!
And when
the trip was over and I happily returned to my host family, time was passing
even faster than before. Before I could say, “I love Canada,” the last week of
my stay had begun. There was no school because of fall break, so we had some
time to do something with my exchange partner’s friends and family before I had
to go home. The last days were the best so far, and this was one of the few
times in my life when the phrase “Stop while you’re on top” has applied. On my
very last day in Alberta my exchange partner, one of her friends and I went
shopping at West Ed one last time. It was a great day, and the pile of clothes
I bought caused my suitcase to almost burst at the seams. After having spent
such an amazing day with two really nice people I thought it couldn’t get any
better… well, I was wrong! When we came home, exhausted from all the shopping
we did, the whole family was there and surprised me with a
“Happy-Early-Birthday-and-Goodbye-Party”! I was so happy about my surprise
party as this was one of the nicest things and the best birthday present I had
ever got. This party reminded me again of how I lucky I was to have had such a
nice host family and so I spent all night on the verge of crying because I
really didn’t want to go home. After all, I had just begun a new life with a
great family and nice friends on the other side of the world! But nothing
helped, and when the next morning came around I had to say goodbye to my
family, Canada and everything I had learned to love in the past few months. The
only thing that made our farewell a little more bearable is knowing that my
exchange partner is going to come to Germany next spring.
All in all,
the exchange to Canada was an amazing, overwhelming, unforgettable experience
that I wouldn’t want to have missed. And I really hope that someday I can come
back to Canada!
xxx
So! Das war der letzte Teil meines Erfahrungsberichts und gleichzeitig der letzte Post dieses Blogs. Ich würde zwar gerne noch weiterschreiben, aber mittlerweile habe sogar ich es kapiert, dass ein Austauschblog nicht mehr interessant ist, wenn der Austausch vorbei ist.
Es hat mir echt viel Spaß gemacht, über meinen Schüleraustausch zu schreiben und ich hoffe, es hat euch auch ein bisschen gefallen! :)
Liebe Grüße
Denise
