All of the Canadian outbound students had only been together for a few days at Camp Wanakita, but as I went to North Bay and saw them again it felt like I have known them forever. The North Bay weekend was for parents and the outbound Canadians, filled with information packed meetings all weekend to make sure everyone knew exactly what we have to do in preparation for the upcoming adventure.
It started with my parents meeting the head Rotarian's that are going to be taking me through this whole process and getting me set up with all the paper work that I will need before I head out. I didn't realize how much work this takes to get me ready for this.. travel visa, health insurance, schooling information, travel plans etc! While my parents and I had a meeting with the Rotarian's, they asked me to speak some Swiss German for them. I was unaware this was going to come up and had no preparation for it at all !! I tried to dance around the whole subject but it didn't work. They told me that I will have to know "My name is Katie, I am Canadian, where is the bathroom? and where is the telephone?" because the next day each student was going to say that in their new language in front of all other students and parents. As soon as I left that interview, I ran to my phone and went on the Internet to message my friend Laura. Laura is in the same program and I met her at Camp Wanakita, she is staying in Canada from Switzerland. Luckily she is a HUGE help, and messaged me back all of those phrases and I memorized them so that I'd be ready for the next day.
Saturday night almost all of us outbounds went out for dinner at a lovely Japanese restaurant then went to the movies, we got home at around midnight and had to be up the next day very early to start the meetings again. It was so worth it, these people are amazing and it was nice to hear that we are all going through the same stuff regarding the exchange. Anxious, nervous and still in disbelief of this actually happening was a feeling that many people feel these days, including me.
It was interesting watching a movie together and knowing that this time next year we are all going to be in different countries. We are all going to be about 8 months into it and have so many stories to tell and so many experiences under our belt. This time next year we will all be on our own in this world living a dream.
On Sunday all the health, money and other issues were all talked about. The part that was most beneficial for my family and I was when the mother talked about her perspective of the whole exchange which helped my mom out a lot, also when the daughter that went to Brazil talked about the whole exchange which helped me out a lot.
Although it's still hard to believe this is happening, time is quickly winding down. It felt like just yesterday I was just getting accepted saying 9 or so months until I leave!! Now, it is almost 4 months until I leave and it's moving very fast...
Life is so exciting when you set yourself up for experiences such as this. So, set yourself up for different experiences and opportunities, what is there to lose??
