Back home

Its been almost 5 months since I've left Canada. Its been so long since I've stood on Canadian grounds, but I still think about it every day. Some weeks I'm happy to be back with my family and my usual friends, but sometimes I miss my Canadian life more than ever.

It will be Christmas soon, and I'm missing the Canadian Christmas spirit so so much!! Our Christmas days in highschool where we dressed up in our "ugly Christmas sweaters" or the last day before winter vacation, where we all came to school in our pajamas and onesies were some of my favourite days on my exchange. There was always something going on at Myer, not like in my Austrian school. We don't have that kind of school spirit here, or days where we dress up, or Coffeehouse, or dances. I miss these things a lot.
I've been so busy with school work the past months, because in Austria we have exams every week throughout the whole year. It's been so hard to keep in touch with everyone i love, because they are everywhere around the world and there hasn't passed a day when I haven't missed them.
I'm still trying to adapt back at home, trying to find my place and deciding on what to do with my life. Things are getting pretty serious now- Ill be done with school soon and need to decide on what to do next. My year in Canada feels like it has been a dream, a place where I was carefree and happy. Not that I'm not happy now, I really am, but some things have changed during the year I left and I have to get used to that.

I really hope I can return to Canada soon, to see my friends and "family", to speak some real American English again and remember my best days on my exchange. I really miss every single one of you and I'm waiting to come back and visit as soon as possible.

It all comes to an end

How it ended:

Right now I am sitting in my bed, its midnight and I will be leaving to fly back to Austria tomorrow. I was just counting the hours I have left in my favorite country, my home... there are only 18 hours left. It feels so unreal, because it feels like I have lived here forever. And I feel like I am just as much a part of Canada as I am a part of Austria. And it's so incredibly hard to leave.

Today I was trying to fit all my tons of stuff I have bought over the year in my big suitcase. It took me hours and hours and now I couldn't fit a single thing in there if I wanted to. In 12 months you buy a lot of souvenirs, clothes and its harder than you think to fit everything in one suitcase.

This morning I was very lucky to see one of my host families once again before my departure. We met up for breakfast and had a wonderful morning together. Seeing the sun rise above Canada once again was so nice. After the breakfast we baked cookies together and then, once again it was time for me to say goodbye. 

The rest of the whole day was just full of packing and getting everything ready. At night, when I was sitting in my room staring at all those full suitcases, I thought it can't end like this, right? 

So I met with one of my good Canadian friends, who was on exchange in my hometown Vienna while I lived in Canada. She literally saved my last night. I am also so glad I got to see one of my favorite Rotarians, Jeannie again. We just talked and enjoyed our last hours together in Niagara. It was one of the best and one of the worst nights at the same time. 

This past week has probably been the hardest week I've ever experienced, full with goodbyes or should I say see you soons?

The hard part of saying goodbye to everyone is, that it is so uncertain when I will see all the people again, who have become so important to me over the year. Will it be in a few moths, a year, many years or maybe never? I can't stand the thought that I may have seen some of them for the last time in my life. But I am always hopeful that I will, one day, see them again. 

Right now it's hard for me to write everything down that happened on this exchange, things that made me  happy, everything I cherished and loved. Because it would take me hours and a whole book to write about everything positive of my exchange. For many people, an exchange student is a person going away for a year in their life, but for us students, this was a whole life in a year. A life that changed us forever and a life that will never, ever be forgotten. Looking at everything from a whole new perspective and feeling like a new person all in once, feeling still like the same person but feeling completely different at the same time. 

I cry, because I know that this year, this wonderful experience is over, but I smile because I know it changed me to a better person and I have all these memories, moments that are more worth to me than any money in the world. 

So now it's official and it's so unbelievable. My exchange is over and I am going home. But honestly, will I ever stop being an exchange student? Will this adventure ever end? 

A throwback to the best weekend of my life with my favorite people

Week 44: US TRIP STARTS

Week 44:

Day 1&2: Washington DC

So July first, the USA Trip finally started. I was so happy to see all my friends from my district again. And I also met 75 other students from different districts in the USA.
We started driving at 5am in Rochester and were in Washington DC by 4pm. It was soooo hot! Much hotter than anywhere else I've been in the states. First we stopped at the Washington Capitol Building. It was so beautiful! I was so glad to finally see old, ancient buildings again, like there are in Austria.

Some of my best friends this year ♥

On the second day, we went to the Washington Cemetery. It was so impressive. There are graves of over 400.000 soldiers from different countries, who served the USA in wars. We even saw a funeral, where the coffin was on a horse carriage and soldiers in their uniform where standing around the grave.
We also saw the famous Guard Change on top of the hill. We learned that it is very hard to get a job like this and there is a long training time for the soldiers. Every step, every movement in that guard change has a special meaning to american history and is in honor of the fallen soldiers.

In the afternoon, we went to many museums.Luckily, they are all fro free!! Its so nice because you can see so many different museums on one day and can enter and exit without paying anything! Also the museums in Washington are huge and have lots of interesting exhibitions!

Not to forget, we went to the White House that same day. Its a very beautiful house with a huge lawn. We took lots of pictures there and I even got some grass from Obama's backyard ;)

At night we went to see all the important monuments of Washington, DC. We saw the  Lincoln Memorial, Korean War memorial, Vietnam war memorial, Washington Monument and a few more I can't remember.

Lincoln Memorial

 

washington memorial

Day 3: Myrtle Beach

On the third day we had to get up at 5am and drove for 6 hours to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We were planning to have a beach day there, but unfortunately it was raining and not very warm there. So we went to Broadway on the Beach for the night, which was so much fun! Its like a shopping "street" or "quarter" at the water with tons of little stores and souvenir shops. It was so much fun! At night we went to a typical american diner, which looked like it was from the 70's. 

us infront of the diner

Day 4: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

On July 4th (Independence Day), there was a big celebration party in Pigeon Forge. There were many stands with food, fake USA tattoos and USA bracelets. I got a little tattoo for my cheek and had some lunch there. Later, a band started playing american country music while we were sitting in the grass listening or dancing and singing to the music. It was one of my favourite nights.

us at the festival

Day 5: Dollywood Themepark, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

That day was one of the most fun experiences. We went to Dolly Parton's Theme park. Its not like a normal theme park, everything looks old and countryside- like and the whole park looks like a little town in the South United States. They have lots of really fun rollercoasters, souvenir shops, shows and many other things. We rode all rollercoasters (of course) and also saw one of the many shows there. We went to the Bubble Show, where and artist made tricks with bubbles. It was awesome!! 

Day 6: Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee 

We got up early in the morning again, had breakfast and went straight to Memphis, Tennessee. When we came to Memphis we went to Graceland, where Elvis Presley used to live. We saw his beautiful and crazy house, his yard, all his (approx. 30) cars, planes, outfits, awards and alot more. They also had like 10 giftshops there, because America is not America with a gift shop at every street corner. 

At night we went out for dinner. In Memphis, Americans have a really strange accent. It was so hard for me to understand that I had to ask the waitress to repeat herself. It was soo funny! When we ordered dessert, I think I said something wrong and she put my dessert in a box. I love all these southern United States accents!

Elvis's records

Elina and I ♥

Day 7: New Orleans, Louisiana

Unfortunately we didn't get to see the city of Memphis, because we started driving to Louisiana in the morning. But Louisiana was awesome! We stopped after a few hours to go on a Rotary Picnic. The Rotarians were all really nice and welcoming and there was lots of good food. They also took all of us on a boat ride in a river and told us that there were alligators in the river! unfortunately I didn't get to see any. But they had an alligator on land with its mouth taped shut for us to hold and pet. It was actually very small and pretty cute! 

us on the boat

the little alligator

The first week was awesome and so exciting! I met and got to know so many new people. I really enjoyed it! I'll post the second week very soon.

Week 43: School ends and Canada's Wonderland

Week 43:

I feel myself  running out of time. I never realized that I only have 10 days left in Canada (excluding my trip to the US) and I don't know how to feel about it. On the one side it feels so depressing to leave this year, this new life behind, but on the other hand I can't wait to see my family and friends in Austria again. I mainly think that being uncertain about when I will come back or when I will see all these amazing people I have met ever again makes me feel like I am loosing something.

I had my last days of school this week and I didn't get to say goodbye to many people that are very important to me. It breaks my heart to think about never seeing some of these people ever again. But if any #myernation kids are reading this:
Thank you for everything. Thank you for being so open minded towards me, for embracing me and making me feel at home. Many of you have supported my throughout this year, made me stronger and made me feel like somebody was always there for me.
This year in this highschool has been like a dream for me. As I always say, it felt like in one of those american movies, it felt so unreal. And I had the time of my life. Of course there were times when I felt alone, but my dearest friends -who I have only met a few months ago- have always supported me.
I hope that one day, I will get to see you again.

My last day at school

My last weekend before the USA trip, I went to Canada's Wonderland with my great hostfamily, a thing that had been on my list for the whole year. It was just amazing! This amusement park is so much bigger than the one in Vienna and the rides are just so much fun! I am so glad I went before my year ends. 

These weird drinks they had at Canada's Wonderland

Week 42: Beach Day and my final presentation

Week 42:

I spent my weekend with two of my very best friends -Rio from Japan and Allison from Taiwan- in Port Dalhousie, St Catharines. Port Dalhousie is right at Lake Ontario, surrounded by the lake and nice beaches.
My friend only lives 5 minutes away from the beach and we could just walk there.

Rio, Allison and I

It was really nice weather, but the lake was so cold, it even hurt to put a toe in the water!! The area around the beach is really pretty. There is a very old carousel, some ice cream shops and nice places to eat. Many people also like to sail in that area.
Its very pretty and also easy to get around, because St.Catharines actually has buses, other than Niagara-on-the-Lake *sigh*.

Beach day

My last Rotary presentation:

At the end of an exchange year, every Rotary exchange student has to do a final presentation to talk about their life in the home country, their exchange year and what they have learnt or how they changed through their exchange. Well, I did one too. And I was soooo nervous. The presentation had to be 20 mins long and everyone who knows me well, knows that I am terrified of public speaking. But it was quite good after all. I talked about Austria, about my life in Canada and how it changed me, made me more open minded and made me grow mature and independent. 

I really want to thank Rotary. My club has been so supportive and caring for this past year and has helped me though my hard times when I felt lonely. The Rotary Youth Exchange Organisation isn't just about the exchange student, it's more about being a community, meeting people around the world and exchanging stories. My Rotary Club has made me feel like a part of something, a part of a community. There was always somebody who cared about me, and if it wasn't anybody else at hard times, it was the Rotary Club.

And we have also shared so many great memories together! Thank you for showing me this whole new world, I would have never known existed. You all have a special spot in my heart.

My favourite supporters 

Week 41: Last Rotary Weekend and USA trip destinations ♥

Week 41:

Early in the week, I finally found out where the USA bus trip in July will lead us! It is just so exciting!! We will see 24 of the 50 states and will go to so many famous cities and places! I can't wait for this awesome last adventure!

The bus trip route

On Saturday the last Rotary Weekend started. I went to the meeting early because I helped set everything up and was the Greeter *yay*. I stood in front of the Community Center (where the weekend took place) and greeted everyone coming in. 

On Saturday we had a soccer tournament. It was so much fun! I actually love playing soccer, even though I haven't played in Austria yet. I really hope I can do that in the future, because soccer is so much fun! I even scored once which made me happy because all the guys were so good at playing soccer. 

Inbounds played against Outbounds, we were 4 soccer teams. My team won!! 

It was so so so much fun!

Later that day, we went to downtown Niagara-on-the-Lake to see the stores, the park and the lake, where we had some free time. We had ice ream and walked around the old town, which is beautiful! Unfortunately I can't walk there because everything is just so so far away from my house :(

On Sunday was the last day of the Weekend and we had to say our goodbyes. It was just so sad. I didn't have to say goodbye to lots of people because almost all of my friends are on the US trip with me in July, but some of them will go home earlier... 

I love you, Anabel, Allison and Alejandra! 

On the last, day I brought a Canada flag for everyone to sign. We also had to say good bye to the Outbounds, so a few of them signed my flag too. That flag-thing is kind of a tradition and it's just so emotional. When I hang this up on my wall in my room in Austria, I will always remember this wonderful year that changed me so much to a better person. I never want to forget.

My flag that my friends signed

I also had to say goodbye to some of my very favorite Rotarians, who chaperoned us on all our trips. Greg, Mike, John, Lisa thank you for making our exchanges so wonderful. You have become so important to me in this year and I hope I will see you again in the future. Thank you for everything. 

Its not a goodbye, just a see you soon ♥

Week 40: School-a-Palooza and Burglary

Week 40:

That week wasn't one of my luckiest weeks unfortunately.
On Thursday my host grandma took my host sister and me shopping in Toronto. We went to Sherway Gardens about an hour away from my house.

When we went there, I picked up some money to buy stuff I needed and we went to the first store; Abercombie & Fitch. I tried on some stuff and looked around in the store, until I noticed that my purse was gone.
I freaked out and searched for my purse i the whole store and ended up finding it hidden under a stack of clothes. When I found it, my purse was open and everything was in there: my passport, my ipod, my headphones... But not my wallet. In my wallet I had 200$ in cash, all my debut and credit cards, student id's and giftcards worth money. I was so upset because I had lost everything that was important and wasn't able to pay anything for myself anymore. So we went to the store security and the mall security... but nothing. I didn't get anything back. I bet you I will never go in an Abercrombie & Fitch anymore, sketchy place...

Right now I'm waiting for my credit cards to be replaced and I got some money from Rotary to help me out for the next few weeks.

On Friday night, I went to Niagara Falls with some of my friends to go to School-a-Palooza.

It is an event for all schools in the Niagara Region (Stamford, Westlane, St Paul, St Mike's, and my school AN Myer). It was kind of a competition between the schools. We did many different games where all the schools played against eachother and there were little booths (??) every where on Queen's street because there was "Springolicious" going on in that street for the weekend. We could buy food and drink at the stands and just talk to friends.
    
My friends and me

Week 39: Anime North

Week 39:

My friend Katie and I bought tickets for this event in Toronto called Anime North. It is a convention where anime lovers (some type of comic) dress up in the craziest costumes and meet to talk about their fandom and take pictures. At the convention there also were lots of stands with things to buy like tshirts, little souvenirs, drawings, toy animals etc...
I've never really loved anime but my friend does so I decided to go and I had a great time!! We dressed up too and I even made my own costume! I decided to g as a character from the TV show "Adventure Time".
It was so crazy, some people are such huge fans of Anime that they made very professional costumes with crazy accessories and weapons! There were lots of asian people because Anime is originally from Japan or other parts of Asia.

My friend Katie and I

My favorite character Spider man

Week 38: Build-a-bear and Austrians

Week 38:

In the weekend I went to Clifton Hill with my friend and saw this store. Its called build-a-bear and its a store where you can build your own bear (i know very mature). I just wanted to do it, so I did!!!
Its so awesome! I could pick what bear I wanted, what color, what he wears, I could name him and put a scent inside him (i picked cotton candy hehe).

Well, so that's my bear.

On Sunday, my family and I had dinner with two Austrian Friends of my host grandma. I loved it! Their English wasn't fluent so they spoke German to each other, in the Viennese accent, that I missed so much! It felt so good hearing and speaking German again, even though I feel weird speaking German and sometimes can't find the right words. English almost feels like my mother tongue now. And I love it!

I had an awesome weekend!

Week 37: NEW YORK, BABY! ♛

Week 37:

I still can't believe it, but i actually went to New York City on my Sweet Sixteenth birthday! This was the best weekend of my life!
Sorry if this report is too long but I just have so much to talk about!!

On Thursday at night, I went to Fonthill to stay with my Japanese Friend and a Rotary member to drive to Buffalo on the next morning.
Day 1: On Friday (my birthday) we had to get up at 3:30 pm to drive to the Buffalo Airport to meet up with all the other exchange students and the leaders. WE actually didn't take a plane to New York; we drove in two Vans for 7 long hours!

In the van

Best Friends ♥

Every few hours we stopped to get something to eat and my exhchange student friends made me a cute flower crown, a card and a cupcake for my birthday! I love them so much.

the card and cupcake they made for me

On Friday at 2pm, we finally arrived in New York City!!!!! You can't imagine what we all looked like: faces pressed against the videos taking 100 pictures a minute like crazy tourists! ;)
The first thing we did was we got dropped of at the museum of Arts. We only had half an hour to look at all the amazing things in this museum, because our schedule was packed!

Me and my friends at the museum / me and my flower crown that they gave me

After the museum, we walked to the Central Park. It was beautiful, because it was a bit foggy which made the park look so pretty. We took a long walk and i saw some places in the park were actual movies were recorded! 

We were in the place were "The Happening" was recorded

At the place were "Home Alone" was shot

I also loved the image of the park, the trees, the grass and all the nature in a huge city like New York. You could see the nature combined with sky scrapers, which impressed me.

After walking through the central park, we walked through the upper west side to the Subway. I missed all these big buildings and big cities so much! These buildings were huge and slowly disappeared in the fog the farther I looked up.

At night we went to China Town to grab some dinner. I imagined China Town being prettier and busier but it wasn't very impressive. Soho in London, UK is more beautiful.

Day 2: We also went to the place were the twin towers used to stand. They built a Sky Scryper called the Freedom Tower. Unfortunately I couldn't see the squares that were made to springs (where the twin towers used to stand) because it was under construction. 

9/11 memorial

Freedom Tower

After that, we walked through Highline Park. It was sooo interesting because the ground was made of stone, but all around you are different plants and trees growing around railway tracks. The railway tracks were used may years ago to transport things around the city with trains. Now its only used as a park and once again you can see the nature and human creation uniting. 

Highline Park

Then we went straight to the Chelsea market with hundreds of stores, restaurants and bakeries. There was also an elevator which leads you to the Youtube Business place, right across the street from the Google Building! Its just so amazing how many crazy and really important buidings are built in New York City! 

No matter where you turn your head, there is always something amazing to see!

At Lunchtime, we finally went to Grand Central Terminal! It was as beautiful as in all the music videos and movies I've seen it in.We had lunch there and ate delicious ice cream! I loved the "room" where you could stand in one corner of the room and whisper and the person standing in the other corner can understand you clearly! 

The paintings on the ceiling show the star signs and the stars of the sky. It looks so beautiful! 

Madi and Me in Grand Central Station

The afternoon of this sunday even got better, believe it or not. In the early afternoon we maid our way to the Broadway to watch a Broadway musical called "Newsies". 

The story was about around 20 boys who called themselves Newsies, selling newspapers in New York every day to earn a little money to feed their families. These boys are very poor and don't get paid well. As the government cuts their payments, the Newsies go on strike and that's how the whole story starts.

I was so impressed by this musical; these 18-25 year old guys could sing, dance, do acrobatics, act and were just the most handsome guys I've ever seen! This is my favorite musical of all time!

So when the musical ended, all girls were of course fangirling and we couldn't wait to go outside to get pictures and autographs from the boys. I was standing in line and almost got a picture with the main actor Corey Cott, when our leader told us we had to leave. I was so upset, you don't even know. So I was screaming: "NOOOOO!" and Corey Cott made eye contact with me for a few seconds! He totally thought that I was a mental fangirl but I loved this moment!!! I know I'm crazy hahahaha.....

my favorite actor Corey Cott 

A song from Newsies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBfmAZaGyRM

After this amazing musical, we went to Times Square to do some shopping. Times Square was just overwhelming, all those lights and advertisements were so exciting and I couldn't take enough pics! We had an hour to shop and walk around which of course isn't enough for Times Square.. All the people also keep you from walking fast and we had to stand in lines to pay. 'It was amazing how many different people were walking on the streets, from different countries and backgrounds, some in costumes, some business people, some tourists and all so open minded and nice!

My friends and me went to the M&M store and to some souvenir shops. I bought a few little souvenirs and of course an I ♥ NY sweater ;)

                           

At night we ate at a restaurant close to the Times Square. It was a very long and exciting day and I absolutely loved it !! 

Day 3: 

Sunday was sadly a very short day because we had to make our way back at lunch time. In the morning we hopped in the vans and drove right to the Rockefeller center. We didn't go inside but we took pictures of it. I honestly don't even know what its purpose is but it's a very cool building.

 Right after that we went up the Empire State Building. When I first looked down on the city of New York I just thought: "Is this real life?", because I felt like I was looking one of these postcards or pictures on google, because the view was so amazing. I could see all over the city, thousands of buildings covering the ground. And in the middle, this huge green area. The Central Park. I couldn't actually believe that this view was real life. 

Our last stop was the Statue of Liberty. We hopped in the Vans again and drove right to the place where the ferry would pick us up and take us to Liberty Island. The Island is actually pretty small, and so is the statue. I mean it's not actually small but from all the pictures I've seen of it, I thought the Statue would be gigantic. It was smaller than I had expected but still so beautiful! It was a pretty little island with a tourist shop, a food place and a view point to the skyline of New York, which was pretty gorgeous. 

I honestly had the most amazing weekend of my whole life. I finally got to visit the most beautiful and exciting city in the world and I would have never wanted to spend my birthday anywhere else. I'm in love with this city and I can't wait to come back as soon as possible.