LAST WEEK...

Dimanche soir, en rentrant des Rockies, je suis allée chez ma troisième famille pour passer la nuit et le lundi avec eux.

Lundi; Nandi, Narain, Surbhi et moi-même sont allés golfer. C'était la deuxième fois que j'allais golfer. Nous avons bien joué et nous avons vu trois chevreuils, quelques marmottes et quelques tortues sur le terrain de golf. Nous avons ensuite déjeuné dans un resto. Puis, l'après-midi, nous avons fait des gateaux avec mon frère et ma soeur.

Mardi, j'avais ma présentation à faire pendant la réunion Rotary. Ca s'est bien passé. C'était ma dernière réunion ce qui était très émouvant pour tout le monde. En un an, j'ai crée une famille de 28 membres grâce au Rotary. Je me suis sentie bien et accueillie par mon club. Ils vont tous beaucoup me manquer. Je n'arrive pas à m'imaginer que cette année se finit prochainement.

Voila mon speech que j'ai fait ce matin après avoir montré quelques photos:

What can I say; I have to make a summary of a year I had never lived before.  It’s not only because I came to Canada, this strange country with weird people but also because it was the best choice I had ever made. You, Canadians, shouldn’t be proud because now I don’t want to go back to my own country where my real family is waiting for me.

When I came to Canada, I could not imagine that my year would be this amazing and life changing. In only a few months, I experienced a lot of wonderful things, I met amazing people and I improved my English.

During my exchange, I moved a lot. I had the opportunity to stay with a lot of families and doing it was a great and unforgettable experience. By the way, does someone want to adopt me?

I got to travel with my families. I went to Victoria, Vancouver and some other nice places. I got to know a lot of people, Canadian of course but not only. I also met people from all over the world. I hope I will keep in touch with them. During this year, I learnt two new cultures, the Canadian one and Indian one as well. My host families were all very different and all really awesome. I felt like a family member when I lived with them and I know I’ll see them again because I love them and I have incredible memories with them.

The school was a big change in my opinion. The Canadian system is way easier and I really enjoyed it. I had great subjects that I don’t have in France.

The landscape was also an important difference. I’m not used to living between mountains and a river.

I broke my wrist in Canada when I was skiing. It was sometimes a challenge for me to take a shower or to get dressed. I had never broken a bone before. Even this experience was positive because I learn how to write with my left hand and how to do things with one hand.

I didn’t have issues to adapt myself to this new country. I tried to be positive and enthusiastic because nobody can live a such experience more than once in a life time. Nothing is worse; everything is different…and sometimes even better.

I wasn’t homesick here because I felt good with my families and I was too busy to think about them. I felt really far from my family during Christmas time only.

In one year, I did more things than in my entire life. Being open-minded is definitely something that I gained coming to Canada. There wasn’t a day I wasn’t busy. I spent a lot of times with my families and my friends.

It helped me become more independent, and adapt myself to new situations. It allowed me to know what I really want to do later: travelling. Thanks to you, I lived the best year of my life.

Being a Rotary exchange student is a huge advantage. We get to know more than one family and we have some trips with other Rotary exchange students. Being with Rotary allowed me to have Rotary meetings where I met wonderful and successful people. Also when I go back to France, I will be able to remember this trip thanks to the meetings.

I can’t believe that this year is almost over. The time goes by so fast and going back to France will be hard. Going abroad for one year is the best choice I’ve ever made.

I lived one year in your country and I felt like one of you : I watched hockey and I say “Eh?!”

To conclude, Canada is the country where you find big trucks; where you take water from your fridge; where you always fing the garbagge under the sink; where you are surronded by mountains; where you have three remotes for the same TV; where you can see a person in the toilet through the gap between the door and the wall, where you eat Timbits and where everything is bigger. Canada is not only that, it’s also the country where I lived for a year and where I grew up so much. It’s the country where I became canadian in my heart even though my blood is french.

Ce midi, je suis allée chez une amie. Nous étions entre "international students". Ma copine avait une piscine donc nous sommes allés nager...tout habillé parce que un copain m'a poussé à l'eau et ensuite tout le monde a sauté dans l'eau habillé. Ce soir, je suis allée manger chinois avec ma maman.