In my introduction to this blog, I talked about how I had been all over before finally settling in Cleveland. One of those places, and experiences that went along with it, does and always will hold a special place in my heart. And that is the Czech Republic. The year after I graduated high school, I spent 10 months living in Jihlava, Czech Republic. I lived with four different families, attended a high school, spent many weekends with the other exchange students and traveled all through Europe.
It was definitely a crazy year. I had some of my lowest times during those 10 months- let's be honest, living in a foreign country when you can barely speak the language and living with a family who acts like you don't exist isn't easy. But I had some of the best days of my life in those 10 months. And a large reason for that was the other exchange students. And even though it has been more than 5 years, and many of us have fallen out of touch, that is a group I still consider my family and my best friends.
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| We went on a 4 day canoe trip...canoeing and site-seeing during the day, camping and drinking during the evening. Best. Time. Ever. |
The trip that the picture above is from is the last time I saw many of them. My time in the CZ ended shortly after this photo was taken. It makes me incredibly sad that I haven't seen many of them since then...but that's what you get when a group of 20-30 kids from all around the world are thrown together...especially when you spend two weeks traveling Europe together on a bus with a crazy mullet bus driver, but that's a post for another day! If any of you read this, I love you guys- so much.
Anyway- the whole point if this, is that one of my exchange friends is coming to visit this weekend!!!!! Cassie Jo is the one who I have probably kept in contact with the best...not only was she the closest (distance wise) to me when we were there, she lives in WV so she is also close to me when we're home. We have seen each other a number of times since we have been home, and every time is amazing! It is always great to catch up and of course, to reminisce about the amazing times we had!
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| Cassie is on the left, next is Marie- my birthday twin from Canada, and Selina from Australia. And me...with the ridiculous red face. |
Traveling back has been on my list for a while now...and will stay there until I finally do it. I would LOVE to take my fiance (hubs I'm sure by the time we get around to doing it!) back to see where I lived and visit my host families. One of my host brothers is actually moving to Cleveland in a few months...our awesome city attracted him enough to move here with his wife!
