#2 My Everyday Life, Excursions, School

Now I have been in Toronto for almost 2 months and time is flying by so quickly. In the meantime, I have settled in well and experienced quite a lot. My week usually consists of helping my host father feed and get the two girls ready from 7:30 am to 8:30/8:50 am. Around 8:00 am, one of the two grandmas comes and supports us a bit. Because in the morning it is always very hectic and everything happens at the last minute ;), because my host father likes to dawdle a bit and we always leave later than originally planned :). I often notice that my German punctuality comes through in me and I get a bit nervous when time is running out. When everyone is finally in the car, my host father takes me to the subway and takes the girls to Jewish school (the school is more like a kindergarten, where they playfully learn to count, recite the alphabet, and everything about Jewish culture). On the way to the subway, I sometimes fear for my life because my host father's driving style is a bit unusual :). But so far everything has gone well.

The language school starts at 9:30 am, where I have already met many lovely people from all over the world (Japan, South Korea, China, Brazil, Switzerland, Mexico, France, Spain, and of course Germany). In general, there are quite a few Germans in the school, including two more Leonis. The school always goes until 1:00 pm and consists of 2 lessons of 2 hours each and a 10-minute break in between. You have to imagine the lessons very casually and relaxed. Mainly, we learn many new vocabulary words and how to improve our grammar. The teachers are quite young, native Canadians, and very funny and easy-going. I also have TOEFL in the 2nd hour. For those of you who are wondering now: What is TOEFL?, here comes the explanation. TOEFL is similar to the Cambridge Certificate. So an English examination where you are tested in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. If you pass this, you could theoretically study at universities in North America. In the TOEFL course, we learn English at a more academic level. I think it could also be quite useful when I apply to universities or for an apprenticeship in Germany. It sounds worse than it actually is now. Of course, it is not easy, but somehow doable. After school, I go home again, where I am happily awaited by my two host children. My working hours vary a bit. Sometimes I start at 4 in the afternoon or not until 6 in the evening, like today. Depending on when I start, I always have to work until about 7 or 9 pm. In the afternoons, I play Lego with the girls, play with the doctor set, read books, run around in the kitchen/playroom, hide, or we just cuddle. At around 5:00 pm, there is always dinner for the two and I put the 'big' one to bed, which is not always easy, but somehow I still manage to do it.

Now I want to tell you about my relationship with my host family. After about 1 week, my 3-year-old was transformed. Not shy at all anymore, but totally lively and open. She even called me big sister twice, which made me incredibly happy :D. My 1.5-year-old is still super cute and babbles happily to herself. For about a week now, she has also included my name in her vocabulary. But instead of Leoni, she says 'Loonie', which is totally fine and always sounds very cute. I love my two host children very much and can't bear to think about saying goodbye to them. My host parents work a lot but are still always super nice and friendly. I have also come to love them and don't want to think about the end yet. Sometimes we sit together in the evenings and talk about everything possible. A few days ago, we talked about my stay and they told me that I can stay as long as I want and am always welcome :). You can't imagine how happy that made me.

On Fridays, we always go to the grandparents' house, where we celebrate Shabbat. By now, I'm not as overwhelmed with the situation as I was in the beginning. I always enjoy it very much with challah (raisin challah) and good food from grandma :). Soon we will celebrate Chanukah (Festival of Lights), which I'm really looking forward to. I am super happy in my host family and feel very comfortable.

On the weekends, I usually have free time. I met Miriam at the language school. Together we explore Toronto and even went to the Niagara Falls last weekend!! Gradually, we are getting better and better at finding our way around and slowly getting an overview of Toronto. We have already been to Toronto Island and have explored several neighborhoods.

Finally, I would like to briefly discuss Canadians/Canadian life or what differences I notice. 1. In the subway and in everyday life, everyone apologizes even if they are not guilty. For example, if I accidentally bump into someone on the subway, they apologize, even though they are not really to blame. By now, I have also adopted this.

2. Strangers smile at me, compliment my hair, wish me a nice day, and hold the door open. While I'm aware that most of them don't really mean it and do it mostly out of politeness, I still find it nice every time.

Overall, Canadian life is not so different from German life. The only difference is that they are a bit more relaxed about everything and don't get stressed so easily.