Embarking on a year-long trip to a foreign country is a daunting task for anyone. But for 17-year-old Kathrin Gorissen, so far her stay in Rainy River District has been a valuable success story.
“It’s just a great experience to just leave home and to start another life,” said Gorissen. “I think if I can survive this, I can do anything.”
Gorissen left her home in Markoldendorf, Germany on Aug. 25 to head off on her first long-term journey away from home. After a 26-hour trip, she landed in Canada, exhausted and overwhelmed, to be greeted by her host family for the next year–Dr. Philip Whatley, his wife, Karen, and their 15-year-old daughter, Claire, of Devlin.
“I thought, at first, they looked totally different than in the photos. I didn’t think anything else because I was really tired,” said Gorissen.
One of her first struggles was to get used to speaking English every day–an intimidating struggle at the start, she recalled.
“In the beginning, I had problems understanding people. I couldn’t understand them. They were talking really fast, and Claire had to say everything three times,” she noted.
“You get home sick in the first two months,” she admitted. “You think a lot of home but then you feel at home here. When I first got here, 10 months was really long and now it’s really not, it’s coming too fast.
“They have two horses and a dog and a cat, and they are really like my family now.
“When I left [Germany], I was excited and sad, everything together. I couldn’t imagine being away from my family for such a very long time,” Gorissen continued. “It was a really weird feeling but [the Whatleys] are very good and I think it can’t be any better.
“The people are more friendly and open to you here. They just come and say hello and ask who I am and stuff.”
Gorissen said she chose Canada as her exchange destination–after considering New Zealand and the U.S.–because of the snow.
When she’s not out enjoying winter activities, Gorissen has been playing the recorder in a local orchestra and said she is always up for any type of sporting event.
She also enjoys reading and writing, and hopes to eventually have a career along those interests. “I’ll probably do something with journalism because I like to write, or something with books,” she said.
In the meantime, Gorissen is enjoying her time with the Whatleys and as a student as the Sturgeon Creek Alternative Program in Stratton, where she is in grade 12–one grade ahead of where she was back home.
“Everything is a little bit harder in Germany, we have more subjects,” she noted.
For their part, the Whatleys have been enjoying their house guest, the first exchange student the family has ever hosted.
“Yeah, it’s been a good experience. I don’t know if everybody is as easy to get along with as Kathrin,” said Dr. Whatley. “I think it will be good for Claire to have some company.
“We like to experience other cultures and not be moronic in our view of them,” he reasoned.
And Gorissen said for all she has learned here, she will return home in July a slightly different person.
“It’s different here, in a way, but people are all the same. If everybody did an exchange, there would be more peace and stuff,” she remarked.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
