Reflective Blogging 5

The next Skype Exchange will be the last one and therefore I want to write about this experience. When we did the first Skype exchange, I was quite nervous because I did not really know what to say to a person that I had never met before. It was a strange feeling. “What if everything goes wrong? What if I cannot utter a word? What if the other person asks me a lot of questions which I cannot answer?” These were basically the thoughts that crossed my mind when I entered the classroom (I’m not that pessimistic normally – I just had a bad day).

I started to talk to my classmates and I realized that they felt quite the same way. We logged in on Skype, creating a new account and talked about the questions to ask our American peers. “If I don’t know what to say I’ll read one of those questions,” I thought.

Finally, they were calling us. “Hello?” “Hello can you hear me?” “I’m Nichole.” “Hi Nichole, I’m Susanne!” Surprisingly, it was not difficult and she sounded really nice. I suddenly felt at ease and had no more doubts about what to say. It was just an enjoyable conversation between two girls of the same age talking about their different life experiences. I nearly forgot about the questions…;-)

After this first skype exchange I brimmed over with enthusiasm for having had the opportunity to speak with a native speaker for almost one hour. It was an amazing experience. We left the classroom, but we went on talking about what we had learnt from our American peers. We all enjoyed this first exchange.

The following week, I had to attend another class and could not participate in the Skype exchange. I was very sorry about it. While most of my class mates talked to the same person every week, I had a new peer every week. I did not mind to change every time, because I enjoyed talking to different people and getting to know different points of view.

Now, I am looking forward to the last Skype exchange. We will do the last exchange all together as there will be a web cam and we will be able to see each other! I really hope I will be able to attend this lesson. I have to do an exam on Monday and, as it is oral, I do not know how long it takes me to finish, but I will do my best.

Susanne

I took this picture last september in my hometown