Eight years after

This past weekend marked a very nostalgic and emotional anniversary for me. On July 31, 1996, I embarked on an immense journey that would change my life forever. I stepped onto a plane at Pearson International Airport, destined for Frankfurt, Germany. Not a big deal - people travel to Europe all the time. But I was only 17, and the date on my return ticket was for July of the following year. I was taking part in Rotary's student exchange program - spending a year at high school in the small north German town of Brake. Holding back tears, I bid farewell to my family, knowing this was the last time I would see their faces for a whole year.

I wish I could put the whole year in a nutshell. But to highlight all my amazing experiences here would be impossible. Every single day in that foreign country was an adventure. Learning German. Meeting new people. Learning more and more about myself. Seeing things I never thought I would in my life. Traveling. The notion of doing all these spectacular things at such a young age boggles my mind even today.

But perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the entire affair is that it made me who I am today. At 17, there were two nagging questions hovering in the back of my mind like May black flies: what do I want to do with my life? And what is my identity? These aren't exclusive dilemmas - every teenager mulls over these variables for years. It's bad enough to keep you up at night. But having just finished Grade 12, and having no idea what kind of career I was going to carve out, I thought the best thing would be just to put it off for a year. A year across the Atlantic, where I wouldn't have to worry about it. Although I was extremely excited about the prospect of touring Europe, in the back of my mind I was relieved that I could forget about my future for a year. I was delightfully mistaken.

At the same time, I was at a crossroads as to who I was. No kid who was raised as "Aboriginal" in this country has a definite idea of who they are. It's the catch-22 of Native culture in Canada - how do I embrace my heritage, while progressing in contemporary Canadian society? I wasn't sure exactly who I was, or how I was supposed to apply and combine all these ancient and revered aspects of life. This struggle was tearing at my sanity at the time, and subconsciously, I wanted to escape it.

After a few short months, as I was steadily picking up the very interesting (and difficult) German language, revelations came that answered both questions. These were the pre-Internet days (well, before it became commonplace), so in what became a precursor to the now-infamous "Waub mass-email", I wrote monthly reports on my dazzling experiences to Anishinabek News, a monthly newspaper out of Nipissing, Ontario. They published what I had to say about being a Nish kid in Germany. As far as anyone knew, I was the first Nish kid to do that kind of thing. So people really enjoyed reading about it. Now, I always had a knack for writing, and being able to communicate on such a grand scale like that piqued an overwhelming interest in me - I can actually do this for a living? And so began my journalism career.

At the same time, writing about being Nish changed something in me. Being surrounded by an entire culture that held my background and who I was in such high regard was monumental. In short, Germans love Indians. This not only made my exchange more welcoming and enjoyable, it taught me so much about who I was, who I should be, and who I am today. If I was confused about my Nish heritage before I left, it was all cleared up in a matter of months. I was proud of my people before, but to have that pride escalated in that calibre by people in a far-off land is inexplicable. Germans didn't teach me about who I was; they made sure I loved it and appreciated it.

On that note, I'd like to extend a huge Danke Schoen to everyone whose path I crossed in the beautiful and amazing country of Germany. I wish I could list you all here. But eight years later, that remains the best time of my life, and I thank you all for it. I will be back in 2006 to extend my thanks. I'd also like to thank everyone here in Canada who made my trip a possibility. I couldn't have done it without your support.

Macht's ihr gut - ich liebe euch alle. Ohne euch waere meinen Austausch nicht so toll gewesen. Ich danke euch! Wir sehen uns bald wieder!

Posted by waub at August 2, 2004 07:37 PM