It is a few weeks before I hop on a plane and head back to New Zealand. I can’t believe my year is almost over, I’ve learnt so much and experienced things that couldn’t have happened without Rotary. My club has been with me every step of the way and they have supported me so much.
The last time I saw all of the other exchange students together was at a Rotary event, we made gingerbread houses and walked in the Brampton Christmas parade dressed up as Christmas trees. It was raining and very cold but being with all the students, I had a great weekend and laughed a lot.
The next day, my host dad took me to another football game. It started to snow at some point in the game for a little while and the atmosphere in the crowd was so cheerful. Even though I have lived in Canada for the most part of the year I still haven’t adjusted to the cold so I was sitting with a big winter jacket and winter boots with three blankets around me while other people were walking around in shorts.
The 23rd of November was American thanksgiving; my first host family who were raised in America had a thanksgiving feast and invited me and two other exchange students over. They made a favourite of mine, scallop potatoes, and we had really fun conversations around the table. It was really nice being back in that family, if only for a night, and I loved spending time with them. There were lots of smiles and jokes that night. I had a really enjoyable evening.
On the 26th of November I helped out at an event for my rotary club, Easter Seals Christmas party, it is an event that helps disabled children have an awesome Christmas. There were art stations, cupcake decorating, face painting stations; I helped at that station, and many more fun things to do. The local police even came and let children throw snowballs at them. I think it turned out great and a lot of people left happy. After the event, my host sister had a birthday so we left to go to that. She lives in Toronto city so we went to her place then walked to a restaurant, it felt delightful to be included in their family and the food was amazing.