Friedrike-2001
I was 16 years old when the idea of living in a foreign country for some time started evolving in my head. My first and main reason for actually making it happen was my fascination with the English language. I always dreamed of living in an English speaking environment. But my 12 months in the USA taught me so much more than just English. I gained a lot of self-confidence and independence. Not only did I manage to be apart from my family and friends for such a long time, I also was able to adapt to a completely different surrounding.
Even when I was unhappy and struggling with the life of an exchange student, I was strong enough to overcome any „obstacle“ in my way and make this a long lasting experience (and all in all a great one too :-) ).
During this time I learned a lot about myself: how I handle new situations, how I deal with being on my own. Even though I was never really alone since I had the support of my host family and my International Exchange Coordinator Diana Moreland, I had to make most of the effort to make this year a positive experience.
On another aspect it showed me how much one's culture affects you and what it's like to represent that culture outside your home country. I experienced everything myself and through that gained a lot of insight on what it's like to be foreign and different. I would go as far as saying that I learned to better understand foreign people living in my country and in a way knowing what they are going through.
After 12 months away from home I gained faith in my strength and my ability to do something similar again. The world just began to open up for me. I was able to discover new horizons and knew for sure that the USA was not my last time in a foreign country. I was "infected“. :)
After finishing high school, I decided to improve my French language skills and spent a year in Bordeaux/France as an Au Pair. It was a whole other experience but all in all I was re-assured that I am very much capable of dealing with new surroundings and languages.
My last adventure so far led me to Canada, where I could live in both the English and French speaking world of Montreal. I am very grateful to be able to speak both languages and make the best out of both worlds in this amazing city.
As much as I love living in Germany, because it's my home country, I never loose the urge to visit and maybe even live in foreign places. Knowing and speaking both English and French is a huge benefit for this urge. I am thankful that my year in the US has made me an (an even more) open-minded and curious person, not afraid to try new things and discover new shores.
