I can’t believe that a week ago I was sitting in Dean Park writing my blog to let my German family and my German friends know what’s going on in Canada and now, a week later, I’ve traveled half way around the world, I am sitting at my German dining room table telling my Canadian family and my Canadian friends what’s going on in Germany.
When I woke up on that Friday morning last week, I didn’t even realize that this is the last time Zach knocks on my door to wake me up, the last time I will have a peanut butter and jam sandwich and the last time I’ll have a morning talk with Tanya.
Not until I was standing at the airport with all my suitcases I knew it must be time to say goodbye. I felt like never letting my little Canadian brothers and sisters go, but holding on to my Canadian family forever and telling the airport guy that they belong to me. I also would have loved to put all my Canadian friends in my suitcases, because I knew how well you guys would have gotten along with my German friends.
After 3 hours in Vancouver and a last Tim Horton’s sandwich it was time to leave Canadian ground. With a last deep breath of west coast air we left the place that has become our second home to go back where we came from. Franzi and I got a seat next to each other. We were trying to sleep but there was no chance we would have been able to. I really love little children, but 2 of them right in front of you, screaming, crying and not stopping on a 10 hours flight? NOT FUN.
Arriving in Frankfurt and knowing that we will now see our parents again after 5 months was WEIRD. I was super excited and the plane was emptying itself way too slowly. Getting off the plane was like entering the oven. It is FREAKIN hot in Germany. I was dying in my jeans and also lost my sweater quickly. We had no idea when we would see our parents. Every time we went down some stairs we thought we’d see them at the end, but it took us quite a while to show our passports and to get our luggage. We realized pretty quickly that we must be in Germany now, when we tried to get Franzi’s golf luggage and the airport guy told us grumpily that he is NOT in charge. The Canadian airport worker would have walked us to the place, smiling, wishing us a good day. Where did the Canadian friendliness go?
Finally we had our entire luggage, walked upstairs, the door opened itself and there they were: OUR FAMILIES. It was an incredible feeling to hug and kiss my parents again. I was shocked when I hugged my 14 year old brother as he grew a lot in the last 5 months.
The car ride home was unusually fast, since there is no speed limit on the Autobahn and the streets scarily narrow compared to Canada. When we drove up the hill to our house there was WELCOME HOME sign for me put up on our front yard fence. Seeing it somehow made me cry again.
My friends and my family told me that I didn’t change, which is a good thing I guess. Some funny people even discovered smilingly that I didn’t grow. Only my lovely grandmother told me that I must have gained weight, which is exactly what a 17 year old girl wants to hear before she’s going out with her friends.
That I’ve settled in well again in Germany does not mean that I forgot about Canada and its people.
Every time I get into my car I think of how nice it would be to have Alicia and her Galician music with me to talk about Quesnel, cougars in the size of golden labs and how awesome the German soccer team is compared to Ghana. Alicy, if I will be able to catch the next time you throw something at me you have to make that moose call, DUDE! Every time I hear Katy Perry I think of Christina and remember our nightly beach adventure and how her sarcasm always made me laugh so hard. When English frustrated me in Block C you always made me happy again with a “Hi sunshine!” for another boring, boring Math lesson. Blingwings, Baby! I will never forget the moments with Ashley on the soccer fields. We are the best motivators a team can have. I really liked how we were having our juice boxes. You are the happiest person I ever met, Ashley. GO CHAMP! Bryony – or better said the outskirts of Europe? The West Coast Trail would have never been the same without you and your laugh. You are hilarious. Thanks a lot for letting me know how to pronounce weather. My German friend must have thought I am dumb when the radio lady made me laugh so hard by saying weaDer the other day. Miko impressed me daily with her language skills and even more with her bus schedule knowledge. Rheanna always had a smile and a hug for everybody. It’s funny that I even met German friends in Canada like Laura and Franzi. When I woke up the other day I almost tried to call Franzi to go into town today and I even more miss our starbucks meets.
The biggest THANK YOU goes to my wonderful host family!
I had an AMAZING time in CANADA and you are the ones that made my stay so unbelievably AWESOME. You made me feel welcome right away and I soon knew that there will always be somebody at home that would listen when I needed to talk.
I had great times with Mac and my hockey skills improved almost as much as my English. I never minded Skateboarding above my head at 7 o’clock on a Saturday morning, as a surprising “hello” jump into my arms after school always and every time made my day! Zach always made me laugh and reminded me a lot of my brother at home. I enjoyed watching his soccer games and I am super jealous of how well he knows my cell phone better than I do! I miss the girls talk with Ash, as well as, I will miss getting my nails done and my hair braided.
You guys became brothers and sisters to me!
I miss my favorite puppy Brewster and the exercise I got by running around the dining room table chasing a stuffy. He is an adorable dog and I love him (most of the time).
I miss sitting with Jason at the dining room table, drinking tea and doing our homework. Thanks for the chai tea latte!! Math after dinner would have been so boring without having a little German small talk every night. Your Deutsch is pretty amazing, Jason! It was so funny how you were trying to read our German newspaper. I think it’s time for you to improve your skills in Bopfingen! I enjoyed EVERY single minute of your sarcasm. It makes me laugh every time again when I remember how you we’re telling the Christmas story on our way to the eyemax. “Jesus got killed on Friday…” You probably forgot about that since this day ended up being not one of the happiest days you’ve had during my stay… I am telling this story over and over again in Germany, as well as the story of how lovely you’ve described the German chancellor.
Thank you for my awesome stormtech deals and thank you for my beautiful bathroom..
As every year on mother’s day I have the problem to express my feelings and my thank you to my mum I simply can’t put into words how glad I am that YOU became my Canadian mum, Tanya! You and how similar you are to my mum would not have allowed me to get homesick. I enjoyed every talk we had about Babies, Teenagers, grandmas or pasta eating girls during math class… Almost every day at school I thought “oh I have to remember to tell Tanya about…” I can’t even tell how much this reminded me of home. Little things like you remembering that I’ve had a math test always made me happy, when you bought shampoo for me to get my curls going again, not to forget those awesome lunch sandwiches, everybody was jealous of and your super fancy pyjamas, which changed – to my surprise – daily!
Our German-Canadian family was an everyday adventure. Getting lost, preparing for the west coast trail, and losing that green jacket, teenagers in our backyard stealing toys, wet suits and more... I guess your peanut butter supply right now lasts unusually long. I already tried the German one, but there is no way it tastes the same as the real North American one…
Thank you for being so wonderful. Thank you for making my Canada stay so awesome. THANK YOU FOR BEING YOU!
I will never forget the time I had in Canada,
You guys will always be in my heart.
We will see each other again next year, either in Canada or in Germany…