Moving families is one of the biggest challenges emotionally for an exchange student. Not knowing how to feel or act. When moving day came I was swarmed with many kinds of emotions both happy and sad. As I had grown close to my first host family I was feeling horrible about leaving them. I had made so many amazing memories with the Polak family, so it was very hard to be excited about moving.
I can honestly say I was scared and I did not want to change families. Now I realize it was all in my head, I thought I was scared about changing families, but I really was scared about changing my daily routine. I am a very routined person, so when I am forced to make a new one I bothered me. Now I see that moving is not scary and I am with another amazing and kind host family, the Nikolov family. I realize that moving is a part of the exchange and I will forever be connected to the Polak’s, but I am excited to make new memories with my new family!
Christmas in the Czech Republic is something I will never forget. Znojmo has a Christmas market in the center of the town where they sell Christmas Punch. Christmas punch is very traditional in the Czech Republic unlike in the US we only have hot chocolate. There are many differences in Christmas here. There is no Santa, instead, there is baby Jesus and he comes Christmas eve after dinner. The tradition is to open the windows and ring your Christmas bells and he magically comes and brings gifts. Anyways, in the beginning of December, I had a Christmas dance performance, which was nerve-racking for me because I have never had one before. We danced on a huge stage in the Christmas market and again at half time during a hockey game. I also did lots of Ice skating and went to Prague with Rotary.
During Christmas break my new host family brought me to Vienna, Austria’s Christmas market and it was breathtaking. Truly a beautiful sight to see, there were so many Christmas lights and a huge skating area. After that, we went to Hungary! it was super cool, we went to a hot spring and swam for three days. It was very relaxing. All in all, my Christmas was something I will never forget!
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