The best part about being an exchange student is that you get to spend the year of your life with the most awesome teenagers on the planet. It's amazing how strange names (you can't even imagine how to pronounce) on a piece of paper become your best and closest friends. As an international student you get the sense of belonging to something greater and stronger than friendship. Cheesy or not; we are a big family.
To be honest, I am extremely excited to go home. On the otherhand I can not believe I'm not going to see all my international friends every day, everywhere, anymore. I spend more time with these people than I normally do with my real family. I have good friends in Norway too, but I have never been part of such a big, loving and supporting "social network". Neither did I think that I would feel so attatched to so many people in such a short matter of time.
As the quote says: "Regardless of our differences, we are all the same". There is always someone who will understand exactly how you feel (Ok, they don't know your whole life story or as much as people in your home country, but the people in your home country won't know how to confort you like another person studying abroad, will). You don't have to worry about eating lunch alone or being bored a Saturday night. The person you end up hanging with might not be your favorite person. You probably speak different languages, look different, have different interests and laugh at different jokes but you are both international students "kicked" out of the comfort zone. You are enjoying a new culture and having similar difficulties at the same time. Even though you don't have any hobbies in common, you can chat for hours about your homeland and experience.
These are only a very few benefits. However, I think the feeling of being a part of a group like this is what I will miss the most from my year in Canada. It's not about the place you go, but the people you meet. Hopefully with all this fancy technology we will be able to stay in touch, at least virtually and let the world wide connections grow stronger, also after leaving.
Like they say in North-America: LOVE Y'ALL, and thank you for taking this crazy roller coaster with me!
As the quote says: "Regardless of our differences, we are all the same". There is always someone who will understand exactly how you feel (Ok, they don't know your whole life story or as much as people in your home country, but the people in your home country won't know how to confort you like another person studying abroad, will). You don't have to worry about eating lunch alone or being bored a Saturday night. The person you end up hanging with might not be your favorite person. You probably speak different languages, look different, have different interests and laugh at different jokes but you are both international students "kicked" out of the comfort zone. You are enjoying a new culture and having similar difficulties at the same time. Even though you don't have any hobbies in common, you can chat for hours about your homeland and experience.
These are only a very few benefits. However, I think the feeling of being a part of a group like this is what I will miss the most from my year in Canada. It's not about the place you go, but the people you meet. Hopefully with all this fancy technology we will be able to stay in touch, at least virtually and let the world wide connections grow stronger, also after leaving.
Like they say in North-America: LOVE Y'ALL, and thank you for taking this crazy roller coaster with me!