Student Blog
Animals in my new life by Annalotta H.
Apart from some frogs in our garden and spiders in our cellar, I don’t have any pets in Germany. Very rarely, I see a deer or a rabbit next to our house, but actually, I don’t have much contact with wild animals.
Here, it’s totally different. I live in a nice house far away from everything in the middle of BC. My host family has a small farm with pigs, horses, chicken, turkeys and of course some dogs. Sometimes, I have to wake up early in the morning to feed them together with one of my host siblings. It’s often freezing and the water is very heavy, but I really enjoy gathering the eggs and knowing that my breakfast comes mostly from our own little farm.
Our 3 dogs accompany us every morning to the school bus and pick us up every afternoon when we come back. It’s always nice to see how happy they are when seeing us.
Almost everyone has dogs and many families here have farm animals. Last week, I visited a friend who has alpacas, sheep and goats. There were a lot of newborn animals and I loved petting the tiny goats and sheep. It’s just so nice to be surrounded by living animals or to even hold them in your arms.
Apart from farm animals, I also see a lot of wild animals. Sometimes, I can observe foxes in our backyard. They usually run through the snow in pairs and sometimes they even jump into the snow, probably to find mice. Moreover, during the school bus rides, I always look through the window. And if I’m lucky, I can see some deer or even a moose. I use every car trip to keep an eye out for more animals and have also seen many special birds. I love being so close to wildlife and am always fascinated by majestic animals like moose.
My host family told me that they sometimes have bears in their backyard, too. Since spring is coming and the bears are slowly awakening from their hibernation, I am already very excited, but also a little scared. Seeing a bear would definitely be the highlight!
Photo and blog post submitted by Annalotta H, a grade 11 student at Nechako Valley Secondary School in Vanderhoof.