Ministry of Propaganda - 13/Nov/2004: "A correction from mother"
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A correction from mother
As it turns out I was wrong with an assumption in yesterdays expat bloggers update and a reliable source informs me that Anna Rae is 17 now, not 18. Her mother has a blog as well, writing about the experiences of the mother of an exchange student. Among others things she writes about how modern communication helps while still missing her. May be interesting for parents of other prospective exchange students?
I sometimes wonder how much living abroad really makes a difference in regards to staying in contact and the feeling of how far someone is away (well, as long as you're on the same continent):
Our parents still live in Bremen/Germany while my sister now lives in Heidelberg/Germany and I'm in Swindon/England. It might look like I'm much further away than my sister, but am I really? E-mail costs the same and takes the same time whereever you are. International phone calls are slightly more expensive, but apart from that no difference (ok, 1hr time difference, but that's no real issue). Which leaves the time needed to travel for visits: As far as I know it takes something like 4-5 hours by train or car to travel from Bremen to Heidelberg. You could also fly from Bremen to Frankfurt and then drive on to Heidelberg, I estimate including check-in time and all that this would probably take 3-4 hours as well. And travelling from Bremen to Swindon? Assuming a good flight connection (unfortunately not available at the moment, but that's a different topic) it would take about 4-5 hours travelling time. And suddenly it doesn't look that much different any more, at least to me.
Obviously the situation is different for Anna Rae and her parents, I guess travelling from Seattle to Annecy must take something like 15-20hrs. Then again it is only for a limited time and I hope her parents will be able to visit her in France before she returns. I remember how I enjoyed showing my parents around Los Angeles when I lived there and I still enjoy showing my parents around England and Scotland now (and I'll try to take them to Wales as well one day).
End of entry
Entry trivia
- When writing this entry the weather was: sunny, cold. Looks like clouds are moving in from the west though, so I better get out soon
- When writing this entry I was listening to: BBC 6 Music
- I'm currently reading/have just finished reading this book/publication: The Independent
- I recently visited this website/-page: bla2kay
- The last drink I had was/is: water
End of entry trivia
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