On August 27th, I embarked on the adventure of a lifetime: a three-month exchange to Canada as a student. I left Queenstown with everything packed and ready. I traveled through Auckland and Houston before finally arriving in Toronto.
I spent three days in Toronto attending a welcome camp with students from Australia, France, Italy, and Norway. We spent our days in Toronto being tourists — visiting Niagara Falls, exploring the Toronto business district, seeing the CNN Tower, and ending it all with a yacht tour around Lake Ontario. Those three days were filled with nonstop sightseeing and meeting incredible people. It was finally time to head to where my exchange journey would begin.
The trip from Toronto to Ottawa was only 45-minutes, which was so good. My exchange was in the small town of Arnprior, about the same size as Gore and located 45 minutes from Canada’s capital. Arnprior was gorgeous and super-hot; however when I arrived it was towards the end of summertime and slowly cooled down near the end of my stay as it was coming into fall.
School was less nerve-wracking than I had thought, and I loved everything about it. Schoolwork was not as challenging as I thought either, as that was one of my biggest worries. The memories I made will stick with me forever—whether it was meeting my friends for the first time, attending the Carp Fair, or joining social gatherings.
Making friends was super easy too, as you are from somewhere completely different, so everyone is interested in getting to know you. I made the most amazing friends, and they made the exchange experience so much more memorable.
I would recommend a student exchange to Canada to everyone. I loved it so much, I would go back in a heartbeat. You must be willing to try everything, even if it’s outside your comfort zone.
I’m thankful to my parents for giving me this opportunity of a lifetime. My exchange was organized through Student Exchange New Zealand and Australia, and they helped me achieve my dream of becoming an exchange student to Canada.
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