Rotary exchange student Kat Weinhold has been able to see more parts of Canada, and have experiences with fellow exchange students from Saskatchewan and Manitoba, exposing her to more of Canada’s culture and landscapes, which she shared with the Weyburn Rotary Club on Thursday.
Weinhold is from Stockholm, Sweden, and is in Weyburn for this school year to learn about Canada’s language and culture by living with a host family, and taking in trips with other exchange students as they expose her to Canadian activities.
She had her first Christmas in Canada with the Doug Loden family, which included a trip to Golden, B.C., taking her into the Canadian Rockies.
Having lived for a time in Switzerland before moving to Sweden, Weinhold said she really enjoyed seeing the beauty of the Rockies, reminding her of the Alps.
She did some cross-country skiing while in Golden, and downhill skiing on New Year’s Day.
Weinhold spent last weekend in Melfort with the other exchange students from Saskatchewan and Manitoba, which she described as very enjoyable.
The group of students did some karaoke singing, and she was able to stay overnight with two other girls, which she enjoyed as she doesn’t have any sisters.
The group went skiing, but she wasn’t able to take part as she had hurt her knee, and they had fun singing and dancing afterward.
The students had discussions about their upcoming Western Canadian trip, which will take place later in the spring, and they had a wiener roast around a fire, along with a wagon ride with two horses pulling.
The group later had rides on tubes behind snowmobiles, which was exciting and fun, even when they fell off into the snow.
“I drove a snowmobile for the first time, which was really exciting,” said Weinhold. She drove slowly at first, until a fellow student showed her how to kick up the speed and they went really fast.
The exchange students later dressed up and took in a banquet hosted by the Rotary members of Melfort, and each student was given a pin and a scarf from Rotary. They also did a grand entrance with each student carrying their home country’s flag onto the curling rink ice, took a group photo, and afterward they tried some curling games.
