Toy Ross - Outbound to Germany

The idea of going to another country for a year seems so exciting, almost unreal.  Whenever I think of living in a while new environment, I can't describe how excited I get.  I have always been interested in other cultures.  I am fascinated by history such as Roman and Greek culture and that is why I love taking Latin.  I took French for six years because since Canada is bilingual, I believed it was my job to learn French.  It was amazing when I went to Quebec how much learning French helped.

I loved learning about Japanese culture and it is like a hobby for me to study all the different customs in Japan.  But I think the main reason I applied for this exchange trip is the excitement each day would be filled with.  Each day would be an adventure, filled with new customs, traditions, and while new lifestyles.  Every morning I would wake up and think of all about the new culture that I am going to learn about toady.  Every night I'll go to sleep excited about tomorrow and everything it promises.  There would be no peer pressure, no obligation to conform, nothing.  It seems like a dream to me.  I can't wait to meet new friends and share my lifestyles with theirs, experience their culture but at the same time show them my culture.  I hope I can give them a good impression of Canada and the people who live there.

when I return home, I hope to share every detail of my trip with my family and friends.  I want them to learn and understand all the new things that I experienced on my trip.  Maybe I could even change their perspective on the country I went to.  I think they would be very interested in the stories I bring back with me.  I believe that this exchange trip will be one of the best highlights in my life, and the best highlight of my youth.  I want to take in every aspect of my exchange and try to experience as much as I can.


I have been fairly busy lately but I give an update of what I've done in the last month or so. I've went skiing in the Alps with the other exchange students, met up in Munich with the exchange students for my birthday (We went to the zoo...lots of fun), met outbounds for my district, travelled all around my province in Germany, went bowling with my Rotary club, and met up with my friends from school. I also visited the city of Nordligen last weekend which was absolutely breathtaking. The entire city is surrounded by a wall and it was just so pretty. I am busy almost everyday of the week now. On monday after school I have big band, dance, choir, "Leichtathletic"(which is like cardio training, I do it with my host brother), and basketball. It is a really hectic day for me, but it is my favourite day of the week. I'm usually doing something on the weekends as well, whether it be hanging out with my host family or my friends.
School had been really great lately. Like really great. I talked to everyone in the class now and I have plenty of friends. I talk much more and I can now tell jokes and act more like myself. I feel like now my classmates are like my classmates in Canada . I really enjoy going to school now and it's nice having friends that I can laugh and hang out with. My German I think has gotten much better. I have been working with my German course lots lately and I have been reading and translating some light German books. I can now understand much more in the classroom and I can talk to my peers and other members of my community with little difficulty. As for whats on the horizon for me, my Germany Tour begins in three weeks and I am very excited for that. I think will be the highlight of my exchange so I hope the nextt three weeks go by really fast. After the Tour, I switch to my fourth and final host family. Our District Conference is in May and I will be meeting all the inbounds and outbounds again. Everything has been going really well here lately and all everything seems to be coming together now. By the way we haven't had snow for the last month or so which is really nice. I hope you are having a good time in Grande Prairie and I'm sorry for taking so long to update. Time just flies here though and I find it unbelievable that I have been with my new host family for a month and a half. Well anyways, enjoy the rest of your Canadian winter and I will hopefully update you a little sooner next time. Sincerely, Tory