Yvonne, Germany

Spending half a year in Canada was one of my best decisions I have ever made in my life. All my expectation - and I had lot because of TV shows of this kind and other people's experiences - were exceeded. Not only did I get the change to go to an orientation camp to get prepared for Canadian high schools and got to know many other exchange students who attended my school but all my teachers, especially Mrs. Henderson, cared more than very well for me. The school is prepared for foreign students and they know how to care for them. There are special English classes for them in order to advance their English.

Robert Bateman Secondary was exactly how I always imagined schools in North America. The classes are awesome and eclectic. There are fun classes like sewing, choir and drama that we could only dream of in Germany. You can get prepared fo revery part of life because you do not just learn academic things but one can also learn the artistic things. Bateman even has a "Culture Club" where all the exchange students and Canadian students are welcomed to join the club and get to know new people and cultures. This was especially great for me because all the people I got to know there were very open and friendly to anyone. And with some of them I am still in contact. So even I got to know a lot of other cultures and living habits which was very interesting for me. But there were also hard times during my stay in Canada. In the beginning it is hard to get to know new students especially when they know each other for several years and I want to become friends with them, both sides knowing that I will leave in a couple of months again. So most of the friendships were just on the surface but as weird as it might sound, even these hard times were positive for me because I knew that my stay would not be all too easy and I learned from all the problems I had and the faults I made. So my stay there was exactly like I imagined it to be, just better. And what is most impressive for me is that I still write e-mails to a number of my friends I got to know there and that one of them even visited me here in Germany. And I am, myself, planning to come visit again in a year or so. There could be so much more to write about but that would not fit on one page.