My first week in Canada was an exhilarating experience that I will never forget. On March 15th, 2024, my biology teacher, Ms Franziska Wöll and I boarded a plane destined for Toronto, Canada. During the ten-hour flight to Alberta, I was thrilled and eager to embrace a new country.
Upon arrival in Toronto, we waited for four hours for our connecting flight to Edmonton, Alberta. To adjust to the time difference, I forced myself to stay awake until we arrived at our hotel in Edmonton. After a seven-hour time difference, we arrived at Edmonton International Airport at 1 am local time and were chauffeured to the hotel by Mrs. Linda Labbe, one of the organizers of the student exchange program.
The next day, we explored the city of Edmonton, and Mrs. Labbe kindly gave us a brief tour. We visited the Alberta Aviation Museum and the Telus World of Science. Later that day, we went to the West Edmonton Mall, which is renowned for its size and diversity of over 800 individual shops spread over an area of about 104 football fields. It is one of the leading tourist attractions in Edmonton and features a standard hockey rink, an indoor racetrack, and an indoor swimming/amusement park. In the evening, we watched a local cheer competition that was held within the mall.
The following day, we headed north towards Grande Prairie and Beaverlodge, where I met my host family, the Sudniks, in unusually warm weather. Mrs. Sudnik picked me up from our meeting point and introduced me to the entire family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Sudnik and their three children Brody, Rylan (Photo), and Shevie. They live on a lovely farm not far from Beaverlodge. I subsequently got to know Rylan, who is about my age. After supper, the Sudniks gave me a tour around their farm, showing me their cows and goats. I have my own room throughout the three weeks I’m staying in Canada.
The next day, I went to Beaverlodge Regional High School (BRHS) with Rylan and Shevie after having waffles with Canadian maple syrup for breakfast. Their schedule differs from the German one in that their day is split into four blocks instead of lessons. Additionally, they could choose four subjects and keep them for an entire semester and do the same every day.
For the first block, which started at 8:55, I joined Rylan in his Home Electrical class, where they learned about electrical and mechanical components relevant to everyday life. Our week’s project was to construct a 3-way switch and later on, add a receptacle. Using aluminum boxes, various kinds of cables, screwdrivers, pliers, and instructions from our teacher, Mr. Paulson, we were able to build a fully functional 3-way switch with a receptacle by the end of the week (Photo).
The second block’s subject was called Social Studies, which is a combination of History, Politics, and Economics. Our teacher, Ms. Byers, introduced us to German Second World War history, after which we watched a short documentary and then worked on our assignments, consisting of a multiple-choice test and various questions to answer in a short text. After the second block, there is a 40-minute lunch break, during which the students could meet in the school’s lobby, called the „Pit,“ and eat their food. After lunch, I headed to the third block, which was Construction class. In Construction class, they learn practical things like carpeting, and coding. All the students in construction class had an individual project going on, for instance, building a wooden stool or a bowl in the school’s carpentry. On the first day, I got familiar with the carpentry and the machines and took a look at other students‘ work. Then I started my project. With the help of Mr. Dirkson, our teacher, I started constructing my wooden box with a sliding lid (Photo). This week we chose the lumber we would use, cut smaller pieces, jointed and trimmed them, cut the necessary grooves, and on Friday, finishing this week’s run, we glued all the pieces together.
Between blocks, there is always a 5-minute break to ensure that we had enough time to change classes, go to our assigned locker, or change for gym. After the third block, I went to gym class, where this week’s topic was volleyball. Each day, we did various drills, such as passing (e.g. forearm passing or controlled overhead passing). We also practiced serving and attacking until we started playing our first real volleyball games.
School ended at 3:15 pm, at which time Mrs. Sudnik picked us up, and we either went grocery shopping or went to their home. My first week in Canada was filled with plenty of off-school activities too. On Monday and Tuesday afternoons, we played board games, such as Risk, and talked about cultural differences in Canada and Europe, during which time I learned a lot about the Canadian way of life. On Wednesday for supper, we had the food highlight of the week, which was homemade organic brisket slices (Photo). After that, Mr. Sudnik showed me around the farm, and we took a ride through the neighborhood.
On Friday after school, we went on a road trip to Jasper National Park, which is located between the Rocky Mountains (Photo). After a four-hour drive and a constant lookout for Sasquatches, we arrived in Jasper. The next day, Saturday, was definitely the highlight of the entire week. The entire day was filled with activities. After breakfast at the town’s oldest hotel, we set off to the Athabasca Falls. As soon as the clouds cleared around noon, we got to see the majestic beauty of the Rocky Mountains, which are wider, taller, and fuller than the European Alps. At Athabasca Falls, which was mainly frozen as it was still winter, we entered a small winter wonderland with ice spikes, frozen rivers, and glass-clear whirlpools. Other attractions such as the hot springs or various roads that lead deeper into the mountains were still closed. After that we stopped at Medicine Lake, whose stories go back to the Aboriginal people, who used its water for healing. Furthermore, we visited Love Island, which lies in the middle of the frozen Pyramid Lake (Photo), surrounded by mountains up to 3400 meters tall. After our road trip through the reserve, we explored the town of Jasper, visited local candy stores, and looked for gifts for our families. 😉
On Sunday, we enjoyed a gorgeous sunrise as there were no morning clouds, followed by our drive home, where we got to see wild animals such as mountain goats, Canadian geese, deer, and big elk.
All in all, the first week I spent in Canada was filled with excitement, countless new activities, and encounters. I’m so thankful for my extremely kind host family, and I’m looking forward to the following week and the Easter break. I also want to thank all the people who made my first week in Canada as great as it could have been. Therefore, I especially want to thank the organizers Mrs. Linda Labbe and Ms. Franziska Wöll, who made the entire trip possible and spent time with me in Edmonton. Furthermore, I really do appreciate the warming welcome I received at BRHS and want to thank all the teacher for helping me out and especially Mr. Rourke, for making everything possible.
