DFH-Stipendiatin Lisanne Teil 9

Neunter Monat - Canada is a home for me

May started of with a wonderful sunny weekend at Canada's Wonderland, a fantastic amusement park.

I was so happy to be able to go, because I was supposed to have a 12 hour rehearsal for Drama that day, but as luck would happen( or better destiny), it got canceled last minute and I was able to spend a wonderful day with a bunch of wonderful people from our church youth group at a wonderful place. It was so much fun! I remember the huge rides, where I really had to ignore my fear of heights and where I screamed like a baby or as the guys said " like I was getting murdered" but also the small rides for kids, that I love the most, simply feeling free, like a bird swinging through the air!

Drama baby, drama! The first week of May was filled with Drama every single day. From Dress and Tech rehearsals over a Feeder School Show to Opening and Closing night. Every single day was so much fun, even though exhausting. It was probably the hottest week of the year and being on stage was one of the sweatiest things I have ever done! Not only wearing long clothes and holding stiff positions for a long time, but also being in the heat plus the stage lights! But how much more rewarding was it to have finished a show well and hearing the audience applause. For sure not everything was perfect, for example the disappointment when my scene partner and really awesome actor found out the day before our first performance, that he couldn't play, just like in a really cheesy movie! Or the moment when I skipped some lines and my partner had to improvise on stage, the part when I almost slipped on the stage, but luckily in the perfect moment, when it totally fit into the script. Or the moment, when suddenly my scene partner's voice cracked and I couldn't hold back my laughter and almost made him laugh. But exactly those little imperfections gave our play character and will make me remember it even more.

The best part of this Drama class was that we were all so close by the end! We were having such a great time working towards our goal together, which really was building relationships. We enjoyed a cast dinner at a nice restaurant and a chill out night at Tim Horton's, on the day of our Closing Night Performance, which was also my 250-day-anniversary.

May was a month where I really tried to spend a lot of time with friends, because I knew I wouldn't have them much longer.

One of my friends, Joanna, who will leave Canada at the same time as me, because she's moving to the Ukraine, took me to her family's farm one weekend. It was wonderful! It was just so nice, to get away from the city once in a while and to just embrace nature and the simple joys of life. The millions of dandelions, the animals on the farm, the bushed blooming in their beautiful colours, the fresh air, the sun set.

This weekend made me realize how precious it is to be true to nature, true to yourself and true to your creator. To spend time outside, spend time with people you love, time without technology, time to realize that life can be amazing if you just open your eyes. Time without worrying about how you look, what you have or have not or what the world thinks of you, because all that matters it the here and now, and if you accept yourself and the people that surround you, you will find happiness.

This family was filled with true happiness. How they welcomed me, how they cared for me, how they were telling me stories and jokes, and how everyone was playing hide and seek in the darkness of the night together, it all was a testimony of love and happiness for me and I didn't want to leave anymore.

In May we also got another exchange student in my family: Liana, a 10 year old girl from Columbia. I still can't get over it, that she's only 10 years old and so brave to go to a different country with a different language for a month!

She is really a great girl and it was awesome to have her with us. It is funny, because even though I am an exchange studet myself but having her here with me made me feel like I am not only an exchange student anymore. I live here. Canada is a home for me and also I feel like she brought me and my host family closer.

In May I signed up for playing Softball, which I always wanted to do, . It was one of the things that I was looking forward to the most, before I came to Canada. Unfortunately the season started really late and we only had about 5 practices until our tournament, where no wonder we lost all of the games. But stil it was so much fun! That day I finally understood most of the rules and I actually got kinda into it! I love Softball, even if I suck at it! :D

Playing felt like being in on of these typical North American movies, except the people (even from the other team) were super nice and encouraging and no one really cared about winning!

Too bad, that it was over so fast and I didn't get to actually become good at it...

Praaaaam! YES! I went to Prom! It is so weird how normal it feels to say that now, when a couple years ago it was such a big wish of mine, that I never expected to become real. BUT dreams come true...

but to be honest it wasn't actually that great. It was nice, for sure but all those super high reputations that it is so amazing and you can't miss it.... I wouldn't say they're true. It was just a nice day, where you get dressed up and you take pictures with your friends, then you have dinner and a dance, where stupidly everyone just left, because everyone pretty much just cares about getting drunk at the after party, which got crushed by the police after an hour anyway...

So I was happy that I chose to not go to the big after party but to just go to a smaller house party with a bunch of cool people.

I am really glad I went to Prom, because it was a good experience and now I can at least say I went to one! :D But for sure it is way to overrated, especially because some people spend a ridiculous TON of money on it!

May had a lot of nice and warm summer days, although it rained a lot, but we finally got to open our pool, which is great. I remember when Victoria was cleaning the pool and it suddenly started to rain cats and dogs, so we just jumped in, even though I was still wearing my pajama and then we ended up staying in the pool for hours, playing games with our little cousins.