Highlights in language stay

I arrived here in Victoria with my host family the day before my birthday. Since I didn't want to impose, I didn't mention that my birthday was on Sunday and let the day pass like any other. A week later, my fellow student had a birthday and it was celebrated. On this occasion, they also asked me when my birthday was. I said 22nd September. After a short pause, they quickly realized that I was already with them on my birthday. The response came promptly: Why didn't you say anything? They quickly understood that I didn't want to impose. So we celebrated my birthday this week with my favorite meal: Cordon Bleu. They didn't know it and so I prepared it. I brought cheese from home and used steaks as meat. The family loved it and wrote down the recipe. Next week I'll make Cholera.

Occasionally, I have to send them cheese and chocolate. I agreed, but in return they have to send me maple syrup and maple cookies.

Now the third week is already over and it's also halftime in school and my adventure in Canada. Often after 100 days or similar, a conclusion is drawn. My conclusion: I have learned a lot of English, certainly not perfect yet but something. And I enjoyed these three weeks. No duty, no cell phone, just peace and quiet. Ok, when it comes to the duty, there was a fire alarm and two alarms from the Aletsch treatment plant. But otherwise it was quiet.

This week I went to the Butterfly Gardens and enjoyed this trip. Butterflies are a real mystery and wonder at the same time. A caterpillar turns into a butterfly, completely different. The caterpillar can suddenly fly. Although so light and fragile, there are butterflies that cover long distances, flying from Scandinavia to Africa and back in 6 generations. They need 4 generations for one distance and 2 generations for the other. Simply unbelievable.

I also did other activities offered by the school such as pool and billiards, curling, scenic walk, conversation club, etc. specifically to be able to use English.

This weekend, I will participate in the Rocky Mountains Tour with some people from school for 4 days. Hiking, nature, enjoying and long drives are on the program. I will definitely report about this tour in the next blog.

At the moment, I am strongly occupied with the final exam next week and the preparations for my last week. The question is still: what exactly am I going to do? At the moment, I am considering renting a car and exploring Vancouver Island. Not on the highway, but more on side roads, so that I can see some of the nature and not have to pay so much attention to the road and traffic.

I'm curious to see what else awaits me.