Friday 14 November 2014

What An Adventure!! Quelle aventure!!!

It seems like only yesterday that Fanny arrived and yet here I sit typing about her last day.    The entire ISE (International Student Exchange)  experience has far exceeded our expectations.    We have gained a life long friend in Fanny and look forward to keeping in touch not only during Brooke's stay in France but for years to come.   Last night during dinner we gave Fanny a card which contained a short letter from Brooke and another letter from Lydia and myself.  In it I talked about how our goal was always to be the best host family we could be and that we hoped that Fanny had enjoyed her time with us as much as we had with her.   I went on to list some of the highlights from her 3 month adventure in Canada of which I took 1886 photos!!


·        Visit our Nation's Capital Ottawa
o   Eat a Beaver Tail * Not as bad as it sounds
o   Tour the Royal Canadian Mint
o   Walk the Rideau Canal 
o   See the Canadian Parliament buildings
·Visit Montreal
o   Eat Poutine
o   Visit old Montreal  
o   Take a tour of the McGill University
o   Climb Mount Royal
o   Play a piano in the streets of Montreal
·        Visit Quebec City  
·        Visit New York City
o   See the Statue of Liberty
o   Go up the top of the Empire State building
o   Go to the top of Rockefeller Center
o   Visit Times Square
o   See a Broadway show
o   Eat NY pizza
o   Ride bikes in Central Park
·        Spend a day at Cedar Point  in Sandusky, Ohio, U.S.A.– The world's best amusement park
·        Go to the Ilderton Fall Fair
·        Play Fastball, participate in London Lightning Fastball tryouts  & watch a ball game
·        Attend a London Knights hockey game at Budweiser Gardens
·        Attend a concert – Cody Simpson
·        Go zip lining
·        Visit Grand Bend
o   Swim in one of the Great Lakes – Lake Huron
·        Visit SpringBank Park
·        Go up the CN Tower
·        See Niagara Falls
·        Spend a day in Toronto (just you and Brooke)
·        Do the Icebucket Challenge
·        Visit the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) – Toronto
·        Visit Ripley's Aquarium – Toronto
·        Attend a Remembrance Day service – November 11th
·        Walk the trails in Coldstream  
·        Watch a local hockey game *Amy
·        Visit Collingwood, Ontario (BlueMountain)
·        Beat Lydia at Mario Kart 
·        Go to the Western Fair   
·        Visit a Tim Horton's * too many times to count
·        Volunteer at the London and Area Food Bank 
·        Survive a family Thanksgiving Dinner
·        Have a campfire
·        Try s'mores
·        Visit the Eaton Centre in Toronto 3x
·        Take a ride in a limo (Knights hockey game)
·        Dress up for Halloween
·        Carve a Jack-o-Lantern
·        Participate in the annual Terry Fox run
·        Visit Stratford, home to Justin Bieber and the famous Shakespeare Festival  
·        Kicking  our asses at Monopoly 
·        Watching the entire first 4 seasons of Pretty Little Liars  
·        And so much more…………………………………………….

Some or our best memories I told Fanny were of the little things like the first weekend when Lydia and I tried and tried to pronounce her name correctly, how proud Lydia and I were of her when she did well on a test at school, the expression on her face when she first saw Times Square, the look that she would give me when I was asking for just one more photo, the day she came home from school singing our national anthem and just the great conversations we would have about Canada, about life in France and all the laughs we had together.   

We'll miss Fanny's smile, her singing, hearing her favourite expressions, " oh my god" or my personal favourite "what the hell" and her easy going personality.

Lydia and Brooke will take Fanny to Toronto later today for her 8:25 departure for Paris.  Fanny is packed and surprisingly considering the amount of shopping she did while in Canada is under weight for her suitcase.  lol   

We look forward to Brooke's 3 month adventure in France beginning in mid February and we are confident that Fanny's family will open their home and hearts to Brooke just as we have with Fanny.   
Safe travels friend.   








Part 2 of the adventure, Brooke's 3 months in France begins in mid February!!  Check back for updates.




Update:  Found the following on the white board in Fanny's room.



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