At age 16, Sara Galvan and Nora Kleffmann left friends, family and familiarity for the sake of experience.
"Everything is different but at the same time is beautiful," said Galvan, a sincere smile on her face. "After six months I'm much more comfortable and Canada is becoming more like home."
Galvan's real home is Asturias, Spain and Kleffmann is from Osnabrück, Germany. Both girls are attending Howe Sound Secondary and live with host families as part of the long-term Rotary Exchange program for one year.
They came for different reasons.
"I wanted to experience the nature and everything I was interested in," Kleffmann said. "I fell in love with Canada before I came because I knew it would be the perfect country for me to visit."
Galvan's sister coaxed her into coming.
"My sister lived in Toronto through Rotary and she said it was the best experience of her life," Galvan said.
"The friends she made in Canada came to visit in Spain and they said, 'You really need to come to Canada,' so I'm here."
The Rotary program encourages students to engage themselves as much as possible in their new life, so they aren't allowed to visit home for the year and parents aren't allowed to visit them.
"I think it makes sense because this is something you have to do alone," Galvan said. "And it's been so busy you almost don't have time to miss someone."
Kleffmann agreed and said time in Canada was limited, whereas she could spend the rest of her life near her parents.
"We know we'll see our parents after one year, but we won't see all this after one year," said Kleffmann.
This appears to be the girls' motto for their time in Canada - despite the language barrier, they are throwing themselves in and loving their new community.
"We are making sure we don't waste time and we keep ourselves busy," Galvan said. "We have one year here and we may never come back."
"It's really our time and we don't want to waste it," Kleffmann said. "You just have to be so open to everything."
However, being open to everything doesn't mean there weren't some difficult moments in the beginning, particularly with the language barrier.
Galvan wasn't too confident with her English skills when she arrived and she found some people weren't willing to put in the time or effort to understand.
"The hardest is when you are trying to speak to someone and they don't understand and they say, 'Never mind,'" said Galvan, adding that older people are more open to speaking slowly and simplifying their sentences.
Kleffmann found herself more worried than normal about others' perceptions of her.
"It was hard to gain that self-confidence," she said, but worth it as time went on.
"You can change and as your comfort zone expands, you become more independent," said Kleffmann. "There are so many skills we learn here."
Most of the other international students Kleffmann and Galvan befriended left before Christmas, so they are finding themselves becoming more ingrained in the Canadian culture without the appeal of "spending time with other foreigners."
"It's so easy to end up hanging out with other foreigners because you have the same culture and you're in the same mindset," said Kleffmann.
However, instead of dwelling on lost friendships, the girls are embracing the opportunity to better appreciate Canadian culture and encouraging everyone to have a similar experience.
"It's an amazing opportunity and everyone should do it," Galvan said.
At the end of the school year, Rotary students from around the province will participate in a cross-province "B.C. Tour."
"We go from Vancouver to Williams Lake, to Blue River, to Jasper, to Golden, to Banff, to Fort Steele, to Christina Lake, to Kelowna, to Manning Park, to Vancouver, to Victoria, to Port Alberni, to Powell River to Pender Harbour and finish in Vancouver," Galvan said excitedly, adding that with each passing day her love for Canada and the experiences she's having only increases.
"When you know something is not forever, you feel everything more."
