Students at Cochrane High School are well into their back-to-school routines, and for one in particular, that means new friends, new teachers, new school, and new country.
She’s a world traveller who shrugs off her accomplishments, has her sights firmly set on what she wants out of life and thinks public speaking is nothing to worry about – it’s easy to forget she’s 15-years old.
For Ria Luttkus, this year’s Cochrane Rotary Youth Exchange program student, travelling across the ocean from her home in Hamburg, Germany doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. She’s more than up to the task.
It allows her to sample some Cochrane/Canadian culture. And she can help her newfound friends sample some German culture.
It’s sort of an exchange.
Talking with her just before she stepped up to the microphone to deliver her presentation to the Cochrane Rotarians last week, she was asked if she was nervous.
“Nah, I got this,” she said with a smile.
And she did.
Her presentation amounted to a travelogue of sorts, as she outlined some of the highlights of life in Germany, especially in the Hamburg area.
By the time she’s back in Hamburg next July, Ria will have a load of memories and some new friends, having spent time with four different Cochrane families.
In the meantime, the Grade 11 student has settled into her back-to-school routine and hopes to crack the varsity basketball squad when tryouts start next month.
Basketball is her first love, and her second is horses; so she will hopefully be able to pursue both those activities in her time here.
On this day her focus is on giving her audience a taste of Hamburg.
One district in her home town is built on a steep slope, and has more steps than the Empire State Building in New York.
“Shopping there is really exhausting,” she said.
One of the major adjustments, she said, is the difference in size and population density between Canada and Germany. Germany has more than twice as many people as Canada.
“But you can fit Germany two times in Alberta,” she said.
One of the differences between Canada and Germany, she said, is that in Germany, Christmas is a big deal. A very big deal – they celebrate for the whole month of December.
By the time she was done her talk, the crowd had been exposed to the traditional German festivals, cuisine, cultural activities, recreation, and geography of the country.
She got her best laugh after describing a certain type of sausage that some may be familiar with from German butchers or from Octoberfest celebrations. It’s known as white sausage.
“Some people like it and some people don’t like it . . . there are only two types of people in Germany.”
Her facial expression said she doesn’t miss white sausage.
And for now at least, she doesn’t miss Germany; although her pride in various aspects of her home clearly shines through.
Meanwhile, there are basketball tryouts around the corner. The Cobras may have to make room for an import.
She’s looking forward to snow, so she can go sledding, skating and skiing. And she’s looking forward to her first white Christmas.
The Rotary Youth Exchange program for students aged 15 to 18 was started in Copenhagen in 1927. The Cochrane chapter joined in 1993 and have had 19 ingoing and outgoing students since then.
