October update

In addition to the highlights, I will now do monthly updates to keep you up to date. Just to give a general overview of my well-being.

My second month here began in October and started very unspectacularly on a relaxed Sunday. The next two days were to become more exciting.

I mentioned in my first entry that my former host sister from Hong Kong had moved out. At first, this really brought me down, but my host parents had already mentioned back then that we could also take in a new exchange student who might be changing host families. This happened on Tuesday, October 3rd. Camila is from Mexico and also goes to my school. So I already knew her. I had even talked to her two weeks before and she told me she was thinking about switching. This is what happened. So she moved in with us on Tuesday.

On this Tuesday, I was also with the volleyball team in Powell River on the mainland and it was my first time getting on a ferry.

The following week was Terry Fox Day (there will be a separate post about it) and then Thanksgiving on the weekend (also about that).

On the 15th, we went shopping in Nanaimo, where the largest mall on Vancouver Island is. Comparatively, it is smaller than Eastgate Berlin. I had a German friend with me and we spent a good 1 1/2 hours alone at Sportcheck, as I always do when I go shopping with her. Somehow, my credit card went crazy that day and I couldn't pay for anything.

That fortunately wasn't a big problem, since I went back to Nanaimo on the 20th, this time with the ISP, the other international students. This time with a somewhat functioning credit card and enough cash.

On the following weekend, on Sunday, we went to Mount Washington, the mountain where you can go skiing in winter, it is the largest ski resort on the island. There was even some snow there already. I'm already looking forward to ski season.

On the way back, my host parents dropped me off at the athletics stadium. On this Sunday, I started track and field club training. And what can I say, I really missed it!

On October 24th, 2017, we had our last volleyball league game, so officially the season ended for me, as I can't play in the playoffs, officially. We won a total of 9 out of 11 games! The playoffs started the following weekend in Campbell River. Since I'm still part of the team, I will continue to travel with them. At the first playoff tournament (North Island Zone), we came in 3rd. The next ones will follow next month.

At the end of the second month here, we took a trip to Quadra Island. We had to take the ferry and since my host father has a high position at BC Ferries, I was allowed to go to the bridge or whatever it's called. I could see how the ferry was steered and how everything worked, but the crossing was only 10 minutes. Then we continued to a peninsula on the island and made hot dogs there and went out with the kayaks. The weather was particularly good those days.

So good that I went on a bicycle tour the following Sunday. My agency advised me not to ride a bicycle here, as it is like suicide, but I tried it anyway and it was really okay. The problem was more the difference in altitude and the length of the way.

The last highlight was Halloween. It was relatively boring for me. Nevertheless, there was more going on than in Germany, many people also dressed up outside of parties.

This month routine started to set in. I also did more things with friends, we went second-hand shopping, ice skating, or just ate at Dairy Queen. There's really not much to do here. It was an important phase to develop friendships and find/keep connection. I now feel like I have people I can talk to as well as people I can have fun with, sometimes both at the same time (does that make sense?). These people are mainly other international students, but there's nothing wrong with that either, right?!

I continued to be spared from homesickness. I wasn't always perfect, but overall I can really enjoy the time here and I'm looking forward to the upcoming November!

Little preview: Victoria, Vancouver, theater festival, and my birthday