5 days ..

I apologize for not blogging in so long. Let me catch you up :

I found out ALL three families !! I have known two for a while but found out the third one today. They all sound amazing - let me start with the first one:

The Leuenberger's - My host father is Simon and my host mother is Gabi. They have four children, Tamara (23) , Linda (19) , Isabella (16) and Marius (12). Isabella will be in Canada while I am in Switzerland. They live in a village with about 1000 people, and is located between Basel and Zurich. Their family is really close and they like to hike, cycle, play around and go on trips. My host siblings are apart of many sporting clubs in the city.

My second host family:

The Geiger's - My host father's name is Andre, and my mother's name is Elke. They have three kids: Sarah (15) , Tim (13), and Simon (8). They live in a different village, called Lupsingen. My mother is a nurse, but starting to slow down from that to be at home more with the kids and my father is a doctor. My house is 25 minutes away from my school, and 35 minutes away from the second largest city in Switzerland, Basel.

My third host family:

My host father's name is Silvano, and my mother's name is Denise. They have two sons: Luca (17) , and Elia (14) . Silvano went on a one year exchange to the United States and met Denise, they moved to Switzerland and got married!! Silvano is an accountant and Denise is a nurse and once a week she is an English teacher. They love to run and Silvano competes in marathons!! Luca and Elia are also very athletic and are on different teams. I will be in a city of 16 000, called Pratteln. I am 15 minutes from Basel, and the alps are an hour away! :)

I have also been receiving emails from different Rotarian's that belong to the club that I go to. They talk about their hobbies such as sailing, hiking in the alps, snow shoeing, skiing, snowboarding etc.. They ask me if I am interested in them as well, and I obviously say of course! I will NOT let an opportunity pass me by on this exchange, even if I'm apprehensive about it, (as long as it's safe and a smart thing to do) then I will not turn anything down!! They sound so kind and welcoming, and it has definitely made it a lot more relaxing to know that I am going to a great place.

All three families sound so different from the next, which is perfect. Not only will I be living completely differently every four months, I will learn so many different things. My flight is on August 8th, leaving Toronto and arriving in Zurich, Switzerland at 10:45 a.m their time.

Switzerland is 6 hours ahead of us which makes communicating very convenient. Before I go to bed, I can quickly hop on and send an email to home or talk on Skype. They will just be getting home from work and I will be going to bed, it makes it a good time.

As for my emotions: I have never been on such an emotional roller coaster in my life!! Don't get me wrong, it's the BEST feeling. It's so hard to explain, I can't do it but I'll try my best. It's that feeling of the unknown, it's thrilling and a little scary. It's going to be really hard to leave my family and friends but then again, it's only a year and they'll be here when I get back so I have to keep reminding myself about that. I have one secret that has been getting me through all the emotions that this trip has brought: "Oh, the Places You'll Go" by Dr Seuss. Anytime I feel sad, happy, excited, nervous, that is the book I read. It gets me (or keeps me) in such a good mood and makes me SUPER excited!!

This is the trip of a life time, and I am going to live every day to the fullest.

I can't thank District 7010, Muskoka-Lake Rotary Club and my Basel Rotary Club enough. There are so many people out there, doing so much for me and I can't wrap my head around how amazing that is. These people, are going to change my life forever.

So here I go, GOOD BYE CANADA, and hello to an opportunity of a life time in SWITZERLAND! :D