Now I’m sure that when you saw the title of this blog-post, you all thought that I was going to be talking about coming from some extremely far off place in Timbuktu and would be coming from a completely different culture than Canada’s. Well joke's on you!
You wouldn’t know it to look at me that I’m an international student. And, to be fair, I’m a true born Calgarian with Canadian citizenship. But, I’m actually an American-German Canadian. Here’s my story. I was born here in Calgary and lived my first 7 years of life here. My mom is American and my dad is a 1st generation immigrant from Germany. I lived about 2 blocks away from my very German grandparents during my entire childhood experience in Calgary. I have amazing memories of that time, including going to the Stampede and appreciating winter to its fullest. But when I was 7, my dad, who had severely injured his back, received a promotion in his job that involved us moving to Toronto, ON. So, for the next 4 years I lived in a tiny town about 30 minutes away from Toronto and learned all about maple leaves and what it was like to go from homeschooling to being fully immersed in a public school experience. My family moved to the States when I was 11. It’s a long story about the circumstances that brought us to the States, but needless to say that two days before I was supposed to enter Grade 6, I found myself in Hershey, Pennsylvania (yes, named after the guy who invented the chocolate), trying to understand why these people around me had such weird accents. I lived there with my family until I returned here for university, leaving most of my family behind.
Here’s the deal: it doesn’t matter whether you come from a country that speaks Mandarin, or one that speaks Spanish, or one whose native language is English. What matters is that you’re leaving home and family for quite a long time so that you can go to this amazing school that we have here. If you’re an international student, you probably understand that holidays don’t usually mean going home. Most students from Canada find a way to get home for thanksgiving, and reading week, but most of us international peeps can’t even consider it as an option. So let’s just say that I understand the homesickness that can come over you randomly, and the feeling that you don’t quite fit in with everything.
But, hey, let’s not forget the perks. Coming from a different culture, I’ve found that there’s a lot that people want to know from me about the States. And a lot that I can set straight for people who are run by stereotypes. I get to be the student that people joke around with about my nationality in a goofy way. I appreciate where I’m at a whole lot more, and want to explore Calgary and beyond while I’m here. I get the incredible opportunity to build this amazing community with people that I’ll keep in touch with for the rest of my life. That means, when I travel, I’ll never have to pay for a hotel. That’s what friends are for, right?
And when I look back, I don’t really think about some of the hard things. Because it’s all worth it. This is definitely the school that I need to be at and I’m loving the chance to learn what God has in store for me. I can’t wait to see what He does in the future, but hey! I’m up for the adventure.
Love,
Anna