Gertrud's speech
Posted by Stephen Rhodes
Gertrud Renner, our Austrian Youth Exchange student, gave a marvelous address to club members at last week's meeting, talking about her native Austria, her life at home and her new life in Canada.
Gertrud provided a description and some historical information about her native Austria.
She also talked about her parents and four sisters.
She said her time in Canada was truly memorable.
"With out your help and participation in Rotary, I would have missed a whole year of amazing and unforgettable experiences. The hardest part will be going back home. Leaving everything here and continue my normal life in Austria will be more difficult that I thought it would. But now I know that I have three sisters more, a whole bunch of new friends all over the world and the knowledge that I managed to live one year in a completely different country all on my own."
On her host families she said:
"My first host family consisted of John, Patricia, Elyse and Lauren Digby. They made my first 5 month so memorable and filled with help, understanding and love. Thanks though to their enthusiastic participation in the youth-exchange program, I got to know what a perfect first host family should be like. I was blessed to spend thanksgiving, my birthday, Christmas and several other excuses for a party with them. That way, I got to know almost half of Brampton's population. But they always told me that I don't have to remember all the names and explained to me that this is only one side of the family-there are many more to meet.
Elyse and Lauren were very helping host sisters. They introduced me to the 'Sound of Music', which I had not known before and to the latest Barbie-movies with Terra Banks. They inspired me to find my creative side by explaining me the basic rules of painting and crafting.They showed me their traditions, like Halloween, Santa Claus and I showed them some of mine.
In January, I moved to my second and last family, Ian, Kathleen, Amanda and Pablo Douglass. No, they don't have an adopted South American son, Pablo is the snake. The change from a family like Digbies to a very adult household at Douglass's was really dramatic. Looking back, I'm very glad that I had two so different families, because it really enriched my experience.
Thanks to Kathleen's job and her desire to play tourist guide, I saw almost all of Ontario. Ottawa, Kingston, London, St. Jacobs, Kleinberg, Niagara Falls were all on the program.
Whenever Kathleen gave me time to rest, which didn't happen very often, I enjoyed her movie collection. The Douglass family possesses over 150 videocassettes. On warm and sunny days, they even put the TV in the backyard, in order to see all of them at least once.
Certainly I can say that both of my host families were the most important part of my exchange year. They helped me out wherever they could and supported me in everything I did. Talking to other exchange students, I know how lucky I am and that not everybody was always happy with their host family. Thanks to John, who really found the creme de la creme for me."
To read Gertrud's speech in its entirety click here.
Pictured with Gertrude is John Lomax and Club President Jerome Dawson.
She also talked about her parents and four sisters.
She said her time in Canada was truly memorable.
"With out your help and participation in Rotary, I would have missed a whole year of amazing and unforgettable experiences. The hardest part will be going back home. Leaving everything here and continue my normal life in Austria will be more difficult that I thought it would. But now I know that I have three sisters more, a whole bunch of new friends all over the world and the knowledge that I managed to live one year in a completely different country all on my own."
On her host families she said:
"My first host family consisted of John, Patricia, Elyse and Lauren Digby. They made my first 5 month so memorable and filled with help, understanding and love. Thanks though to their enthusiastic participation in the youth-exchange program, I got to know what a perfect first host family should be like. I was blessed to spend thanksgiving, my birthday, Christmas and several other excuses for a party with them. That way, I got to know almost half of Brampton's population. But they always told me that I don't have to remember all the names and explained to me that this is only one side of the family-there are many more to meet.
Elyse and Lauren were very helping host sisters. They introduced me to the 'Sound of Music', which I had not known before and to the latest Barbie-movies with Terra Banks. They inspired me to find my creative side by explaining me the basic rules of painting and crafting.They showed me their traditions, like Halloween, Santa Claus and I showed them some of mine.
In January, I moved to my second and last family, Ian, Kathleen, Amanda and Pablo Douglass. No, they don't have an adopted South American son, Pablo is the snake. The change from a family like Digbies to a very adult household at Douglass's was really dramatic. Looking back, I'm very glad that I had two so different families, because it really enriched my experience.
Thanks to Kathleen's job and her desire to play tourist guide, I saw almost all of Ontario. Ottawa, Kingston, London, St. Jacobs, Kleinberg, Niagara Falls were all on the program.
Whenever Kathleen gave me time to rest, which didn't happen very often, I enjoyed her movie collection. The Douglass family possesses over 150 videocassettes. On warm and sunny days, they even put the TV in the backyard, in order to see all of them at least once.
Certainly I can say that both of my host families were the most important part of my exchange year. They helped me out wherever they could and supported me in everything I did. Talking to other exchange students, I know how lucky I am and that not everybody was always happy with their host family. Thanks to John, who really found the creme de la creme for me."
To read Gertrud's speech in its entirety click here.
Pictured with Gertrude is John Lomax and Club President Jerome Dawson.