Almost ready to head home
Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter
The school year is almost over and that means it’s almost time for three German students attending Holy Cross Collegiate, HCC, to head home. Alena von der Mehden and Marc Schneidermeier have been in Strathmore since August, opting to spend a full school year at HCC. Friederilce Kobel has been here since the end of January.
“I came here to learn English and because of the landscape, because I heard Canada was very beautiful,” said von der Mehden.
“I thought if I was only here for half year I wouldn’t learn the language as much as I did.”
“My main reason…I just wanted to go somewhere else for like half a year or something,” said Kobel.
“I decided Canada because I wanted an English-speaking country and just the landscape. I imagined it’s so beautiful and it is.”
She said she kind of wishes she was staying a year but then would have to do another year in Germany and repeat the grade, which she didn’t want.
“It’s for the language and also the countryside because in Germany, you can not drive like half an hour without seeing any houses or something. Here you can drive like three hours without seeing any houses,” said Schneidermeier.
The three students didn’t know each other before coming to Strathmore, but have bonded a bit through their shared experience. They said the food is different, with more choices here. They said they only have a few fast food places in Germany: McDonalds, Burger King, Subway and sometimes KFC.
None of them got to decide where in Canada they would go but are happy to have spent their time in Strathmore.
“We didn’t decide. We can only decide on the country and they pick a family somewhere out there and that’s where we go,” said Schneidermeier.
“My brother was here last year and I could decide if I wanted to go to the same family or not.”
Schneidermeier did choose to stay with the same family his brother had stayed with. The thing that stands out the most, which all of three unanimously agreed upon, is the people.
“I was in the States for three weeks and the people here are way nicer,” said Schneidermeier.
“Way more open minded. They just talk to you, even if they don’t know you at all, and everybody asks how are you,” said Kobel.
“We’re all like in public school in Germany, and this school is so much better concerning like the teachers care about every single person. I guess it’s because it’s a pretty small school.”
While the cold winter was tough to handle, it wasn’t a deterrent for the three students, who all said they plan to come back on vacations and see more of the country.