Hey guys! I hope you're all doing well - I am!
So, at the end of my last post, I'd promised a packing list would be my next post, and I also said that it would be fairly soon. Well, I guess I'm not delivering on either of those (sorry!), but I have good reasons (and exciting news, later in the post).
As soon as I posted my last post,I realized two things:
1) I personally have not done my final packing for Germany, and I have never before been to Germany, so I don't quite feel qualified to make that kind of a post yet.
2) I also realized that I was packed for something else. I hadn't really forgotten but I'd just not thought out the logistics of it. You see, all of my family lives in Ontario, and I live in Nova Scotia. Before I go to Germany, I was wanting to see my family and friends once more. I'm not entirely sure where I got the notion that amidst all the traveling, family and friend visiting, and last minute Germany shopping - all in Ontario - I would be able to quickly write an in depth post filled with travel packing recommendations.
So that didn't end up working out.We've been fairly busy, but it has been lots of fun. I got to see friends and family, and not long ago, my mom, sister, and I got to play tourists for the day, seeing local attractions that we'd never really stopped to appreciate when we used to live here (my parents, sister, and I moved to Nova Scotia 4 and a half years ago).
Here is some really exciting news, though: I got my host family information! I know their name, where they live (where I will live!!) and how many host siblings I have. My host mom had written me a letter that was sent with the host family information packet, so that I could get to know them better. She seems extremely nice, as does the rest of my host family! I'm more than a little bit excited, and would like to say more about them, but I have not yet asked them for permission to speak of them in it, and want to respect their privacy until I have an answer. I replied to my host mom's letter, but forgot to ask permission in my response. They then sent me another email fairly recently, and I asked them when I wrote back, so now we will just wait and see.
I'm just glad I'm not on the other side of the coin though, not having much, or any, information about my host family. That, by the way, is completely normal at this stage, from what I've gathered from other places on the internet. I see and hear of stories a lot where people don't get their host information until a week before they leave, sometimes only days before they leave. So if you don't have your host family yet, don't worry, you have plenty of time, although I know how hard it is to wait. When I learned about my host family, I'm not even ashamed to admit that I did a little dance because of how happy I was to get the information package.
I don't think I have all that much more to say at the moment (aside from that there's only 19 days until I go to Germany!!).
Are you or someone you know getting ready to go off on student exchange (whether for high school, college, or university)? Are you considering it? I would love to hear about it! Even if you aren't, but have a comment, it would be great to hear from you!
Alright, I'll sign off for now -talk to you again soon!
-Jason
So, at the end of my last post, I'd promised a packing list would be my next post, and I also said that it would be fairly soon. Well, I guess I'm not delivering on either of those (sorry!), but I have good reasons (and exciting news, later in the post).
As soon as I posted my last post,I realized two things:
1) I personally have not done my final packing for Germany, and I have never before been to Germany, so I don't quite feel qualified to make that kind of a post yet.
2) I also realized that I was packed for something else. I hadn't really forgotten but I'd just not thought out the logistics of it. You see, all of my family lives in Ontario, and I live in Nova Scotia. Before I go to Germany, I was wanting to see my family and friends once more. I'm not entirely sure where I got the notion that amidst all the traveling, family and friend visiting, and last minute Germany shopping - all in Ontario - I would be able to quickly write an in depth post filled with travel packing recommendations.
So that didn't end up working out.We've been fairly busy, but it has been lots of fun. I got to see friends and family, and not long ago, my mom, sister, and I got to play tourists for the day, seeing local attractions that we'd never really stopped to appreciate when we used to live here (my parents, sister, and I moved to Nova Scotia 4 and a half years ago).
Here is some really exciting news, though: I got my host family information! I know their name, where they live (where I will live!!) and how many host siblings I have. My host mom had written me a letter that was sent with the host family information packet, so that I could get to know them better. She seems extremely nice, as does the rest of my host family! I'm more than a little bit excited, and would like to say more about them, but I have not yet asked them for permission to speak of them in it, and want to respect their privacy until I have an answer. I replied to my host mom's letter, but forgot to ask permission in my response. They then sent me another email fairly recently, and I asked them when I wrote back, so now we will just wait and see.
I'm just glad I'm not on the other side of the coin though, not having much, or any, information about my host family. That, by the way, is completely normal at this stage, from what I've gathered from other places on the internet. I see and hear of stories a lot where people don't get their host information until a week before they leave, sometimes only days before they leave. So if you don't have your host family yet, don't worry, you have plenty of time, although I know how hard it is to wait. When I learned about my host family, I'm not even ashamed to admit that I did a little dance because of how happy I was to get the information package.
I don't think I have all that much more to say at the moment (aside from that there's only 19 days until I go to Germany!!).
Are you or someone you know getting ready to go off on student exchange (whether for high school, college, or university)? Are you considering it? I would love to hear about it! Even if you aren't, but have a comment, it would be great to hear from you!
Alright, I'll sign off for now -talk to you again soon!
-Jason