Bonjour Rotarians,

The last few months have been like a dream. I have done more than some people do in an entire lifetime. I am so lucky and I am extremely grateful for everything I have had the chance to see, do and experience.

          After the ‘Vacance d’Hiver’ my host family decided Miso, an exchange student from Taiwan and my host sister,   and I could take another week of vacation and took us to the Alps. We headed to the Foux d’Allos , Les Alpes in the south. It was a week of lovely skiing and a perfect chance to get to know my host parents. It was really warm and the snow was not fantastic but we had a great week anyways. Miso skied for her first time and by the end of the week she was pretty good. The Alps were unlike anything I had ever seen before, so gorgeous.

          A few weeks later I went on a little trip with my Rotary district.  We visited Luxembourg, Neufchatel, Switzerland and Colmar, France before arriving in Anncey, France where there was a huge weekend with all the exchange students in France. It was an opportunity for everyone to come together to share their culture, rejoin with old friends and celebrate our year in France. I saw Annie, the other Canadian from Simcoe who lives in the South of France which was really nice. We had a lot of fun and the Town of Annecy was so beautiful.

          Easter was the next weekend which was an interesting experience. In France, there is no Easter Bunny, it is the Bell from Rome that comes past and drops eggs in the backyards. The ‘Closh de Paques’ passed by and gave Miso and I slippers and lots of candy. Easter was not a big deal in my host family but my host sister and her boyfriend who live in Lille came for lunch and we had a big meal. We ate a typical Easter meal here that included salmon, duck, lamb, vegetables,  etc. I always have so much fun with my host brother, sister, Miso and Pierre. That night I went to my friend’s Birthday Party, so Easter was not like at home.

           On the 23^rd of April, I went to Barcelona, Spain with Caio, a friend from Brazil and his host brother. It was one of the best trips I’ve been on this year. We spent four days exploring Barcelona; going to the beach, climbing to the top of a mountain to see the view of Barcelona, seeing the work of Gaudi, admiring the Famillia Sagrada, eating some tapas, going to markets, a football game, and getting a taste of the night life. I had never been to Spain before so it was nice to explore the culture and speak a little Spanish.

          I came back to my host house for less than a day and then left for the trip of a lifetime. During the twelve day bus trip of Europe, we visited Paris, Reims, Strasbourg, Nuremburg, Prague, Vienne, Vienna, Lido di Jesolo, Milan, Mont Blanc, Chamonix, Geneva and Dijon. I cannot even explain how amazing it was. The other exchange students were awesome and we had so much fun together, without a good group of kids, the trip would not have been the same. We had awesome supervisors and the bus driver was really cool. We had perfect weather during most of the trip besides in Milan where it hailed all day. Prague and Venice were my two favorite towns. The Czech Republic was amazing and I saw some of the most beautiful things. The bridges and buildings, the water and gardens are all so perfect. It was a town with character and I really enjoyed it. Venice was breathtaking, really, it was lovely. We took a boat to the island early in the morning and had a perfect day filled with a gondola ride through the channels, Italian pizza and gelato, getting lost in the little roads and enjoying the atmosphere of the city. The city was busy with boats and gondolas, tourists, people selling their art, street vendors selling masks which are typical to Venice and yet I did not see one car, which was pretty neat. The buildings are old and each unique, the bridges are so pretty and the waterways were filled with gondolas. It seemed perfect to me, I have trouble finding a flaw with this city. The whole Euro Trip was amazing and I have created memories that will be with me forever. If you’ve never seen Europe, I strongly suggest you embark on an adventure that will surely be amazing.

I never realized how beautiful our world really is. This trip has urged me to see more of the world; I cannot wait to explore Asia and Latin America. I feel like there is so much I have to see and I cannot wait to travel the world.   I guess that is what Youth Exchange is about. To give you a taste of the world and to make you want to see more and learn more. It allows you to make contacts all over the world which permits you to stay with your friends in Taiwan, India, Brazil, Argentina, etc.

I cannot believe that the trip I had been looking forward to all year is over. It always seemed so far away and it being finished means I am going home soon. In less than 40 days I will be on an airplane home to Canada, which seems so weird. I have my best friend coming in a few weeks and some other little trips planned that I am looking forward to.

I am not rushed to go home but I think that when June 19^th arrives I will be ready to go home. I am not home sick but I miss home a lot. A year without a hug from your mom is hard. Although I love France a lot and I am super happy here, I do miss Canada. Who would ever think they could miss Brantford! Seems crazy!

          See all of you on June 25^th.

Bisous,

Paige Smitiuch

Ps. Please excuse my English, it has become horrible in the last 10 months. I hope my University understand next year. Haha.

I can't say that I've been up to much that could be considered particularly new and exciting since I last wrote, which I think was after my trip to London? Well, if you didn't know I went to London in March.

Towards the end of March I had a two-week long vacation of lunch for Easter, it wasn't overly eventful, I just spent a lot of time reading, and relaxing, and going out with friends from school. For Easter though, my host parents took me up from Helsingør, Denmark to Helsingborg, Sweden. We drove through Skåne in Sweden, and visited various gardens and parks and lovely things like that. It was such a beautiful drive along the coast of Øresund! One day that week I also spent the day shopping and wandering in Malmö, Sweden, it was such a sweet and inexpensive city, I quite enjoyed it, but I really haven't come to appreciate the Swedish language, it just sounds so vulgar and crass with its differentiations in pitch and harder consonant sounds.

At the beginning of April my school had its biggest, and most anticipated party of the year, it's called O-Show. The entire idea of O-Show is to have the last party of the year, and have it the best possible time for the 3rd grade, as it's our last year. To start, we all had to arrive in some sort of creative fashion (my friends and I went in wagons pulled by the one girl's brother's friends), after there was a show with awards and entertainment hosted by students, and then there was a dance until 3. It was the funnest night I've ever had, and it really helped that O-Show also had a 1950's theme, it was perfect!

Bonjour!

みんなさんこんいちわ。
Hello Everyone!

Much has changed since last I wrote. It’s been a very busy time. I changed host families in early December, missed a Christmas and had a crazy Japanese New Year.

Chère Rotarians,

Hi Everyone! 

I've been doing really really well here for the past few months! I can't really remember the last time I wrote, so I'll just fill you in on everything. December was probably the busiest month of my exchange so far, I couldn't believe how much there was going on! The first weekend, I had my gymnasium Årsbal - the school's birthday party. We all got dressed to the nines, had a fantastic themed dinner with our class (my class' theme was bollywood, mmmm Indian food!), and danced all night. However, before any fun could be had, we had to dance a traditional Danish dance, Les Lanciers (yes, it is french). The night was fantastic, and everyone was ridiculous. I swear, they have the coolest teachers (aside from BCI's Mr Utting) in Denmark. 

Japan so far has been an experience that compares to no other,

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we've already started to prepare for the graduation at the end of the year! I'm so ridiculously excited....

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France is fantastic, as per expected. The old buildings, the fine cuisine, the beautifully romantic language and the rich history unfold something new for me each day. I discover something new every day and am learning so much about France, the World, people, culture and myself. Although leaving the known to enter the unknown is scary and maybe a bit crazy, I am feeling very comfortable here and France feels like home, finally.

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