The community of Burns Lake has a long-travelled visitor to welcome this winter.
Justus Herlyn, 16, has moved to our remote northern British Columbia village from his home of Oldenburg, Germany, to spend the next eight months learning about Canadian culture and how to master the English language. Justus made the trek as a participant in the Rotary International Youth Exchange Program that offers students aged 15 to 19 from across the globe a chance to travel the world for cultural exchanges of one week to a full academic year.
"My hopes to get from this exchange [is] I think at first a new language [or] a better [grasp of] English," said Justus, who is completing his Grade 12 studies this year at Lakes District Secondary School. "Then meet new people…like make new friends. I think one important thing is to do more things myself." Justus only found out he'd be going to Burns Lake two months before he left Germany, but is enjoying the experience of living in this beautiful northern environment since he touched down at the Smithers airport Aug. 10 and settled in with his one of three local host parents Jean and Richard Vossen. With the rotary exchange a student can't decide where exactly they go, but instead pick three possible countries or in the place of Canada a North American destination.
He chose Canada/U.S.A. as his top pick with Argentina coming second and Venezuela following in third. Only two spots in Canada were available and it came down to first dibs, which Justus scooped up right away.
"In Germany I think it is more popular to go on exchange," he said, adding this is his first exchange but he did travel to San Francisco while on vacation with his family last year. "Rotary, there are a lot of different districts all over the world. Our district sends 65 students to different countries…and I spoke to a few [former exchange students] and they said it's a great experience if you have a chance to do it. So I'm here."
Here is quite a different place than where Justus was less than two months ago. Oldenburg has a population of close to 160,000 and is peppered with ancient castles and buildings.
Justus said a big difference too is the transportation system that in his hometown features many public transportation rides to nearby hubs such as Hamburg. The city itself relies heavily on bicycle transportation, but on streets instead of through forests as is the case with Burns Lake.
"Another difference is that here in Burns Lake it's a beautiful nature," said Justus. "I love this nature in Canada. It's great. I've been to Tweedsmuir Park at the beginning of my exchange. That was a great experience I'll never forget."
The school experience so far has been a bit of a culture shock as well. Justus said school in Oldenburg starts an hour earlier and kids can take up to 16 subjects, but the language problem evens out any possible advantages for him in Canada.
"It's harder [in Germany] because you have so [many] subjects and you have to concentrate on every single subject and you write more exams," he said. "It's a long hard day, but it's okay."
The teacher's strike that delayed the beginning of the school year didn't help Justus get use to his new environment either. He said Jean informed him about the strike a few days after his arrival, but losing almost a month of school still came as a surprise.
"You don't have such [a] long time to meet new people, but the school is not that hard," said Justus, noting he never planned on going back home if the strike continued to drag on. "Probably I would start on my studying with my host brother together because we go to Grade 12 together. It would be hard to finish my graduation if you miss so much school, [so] yeah I'm happy that it starts."