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Summerland Rotary exchange student adapting to school

Josie Mehrnusch, from Külz, a city in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, is in Summerland this year under the Rotary Student Exchange Program.
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Josie Mehrnusch

Josie Mehrnusch is adapting to a lot of changes in a new school this year.

“The whole school system is different,” she said of her year at Summerland Secondary School.

Mehrnusch, from Külz, a city in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, is in Summerland this year under the Rotary Student Exchange Program.

One of the changes she has noticed in Canada is the class block system, something she did not have in Germany, where the school day is less formally structured.

She also said the school work is not as difficult here as what she had known before.

“It’s really easy here,” she said, adding that classes at the high school feel relaxed. “We can use our phones and we can even eat during class.”

Studying in an English-language school has not been too difficult, she added. She is able to understand teachers and classmates, although it is sometimes challenging when she is talking about specific topics.

“I don’t know some of the words,” she said. Slang and dialect terms are not always familiar to her.

In addition to a new school system, Mehrnusch is also adjusting to new and different foods here.

Even when she is eating something familiar, the flavour is not what she expects.

“The taste is completely different here sometimes,” she said.

One of the first things she noticed was the bread, which is much more sweet here than in Germany.

Even foods from international fast food chains sometimes have different tastes here, she said. This has been most noticeable when she has had milkshakes here.

Mehrnusch is making friends and getting involved in school activities. She has been playing field hockey through the school, and when the field hockey season is over, she will be cheer leading.

“I’m really excited about it,” she said. “We don’t have cheerleaders in Germany.”

In spring, she plans to take up soccer or rugby.

She will also participate in an upcoming school drama and is considering entering the Blossom Pageant.

During her stay in Summerland, she will live with several Rotary families. At present, she is living with the Mott family, while their daughter Sylvia is in Germany as a Rotary exchange student.

 

 



John Arendt

About the Author: John Arendt

John Arendt has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years. He has a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Journalism degree from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.
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