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While she is excited to return home to her family in Slovakia, Lubica "Lubi" Horvathova is going to miss all her friends, her host families and the members of the Rotary Club in Kincardine.

She arrived in Kincardine Aug. 22, 2009, part of the Rotary International youth exchange, and has spent the past year immersing herself in the Canadian culture, seeing the sights and speaking English.

"When I first arrived, I looked around and thought, 'What am I going to do here for a whole year?'" recalls Lubi, with a laugh.

At a Kincardine Rotary Club party in her honour Thursday night, she admits it will be difficult to leave. "I wish I had one more year here," she says.

Lubi lives in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia - population 85,000. But she knew before she arrived here that Kincardine was not a large place, yet she was excited about living in this small town.

"It's great here," she says. "You know a lot of people and they know you; you're like family.

"I was doing the Rotary auction on television and the next day, I went to a store downtown and the lady behind the cash register told me I did a good job at the Rotary auction."

Having studied English in school, Lubi had virtually no trouble conversing with people in Kincardine. "It was neat because I was able to joke with people right from the start," she says.

Besides touring the Kincardine Lighthouse, the Walker House, and marching with the Kincardine Scottish Pipe Band, she has travelled to Ottawa and Toronto, and, along with other exchange students, she went on a two-week trip to California.

And she finally made it to Niagara Falls just the week before. "It was great," she says. "We did all the touristy things you do there."

Back in Kincardine, she volunteered to help with the Highland dancing at the Kincardine Scottish Festival. "I was lining up these little kids for the dancing and the bagpipes were playing the same song over and over and over," she says, with a chuckle.

As she looks over the past year, she says the major difference between Kincardine and her home town is the schooling. "Here, you choose your own subjects, and the relationship between the teachers and the students is really relaxed - it's a lot more formal at home."

And in Kincardine, there are squirrels everywhere. "They're huge and black and cute," she says.

Lubi says the typical Slovakian food is not available in Canada, but the restaurant food is pretty much the same here as at home.

Lubi Horvathova (L) of Slovakia, hugs Jessica Matheson of Kincardine who just returned from a year-long exchange in Brazil

She also found that the people in Canada are from all over the world, while in her country, 85 per cent of the people are from Slovakia.

During her stay in Kincardine, Lubi's host families were Charlene Randle-Clayton and Lynn Clayton, John and Helena Hill, and Caroline Young and Angus MacKay. She has had a great time and she will miss everyone terribly. They are also going to be sad to see her go.

Meanwhile, back home are her parents and her 20-year-old brother. And the rest of her schooling.

Here, she was studying Grade 12 at Kincardine District Secondary School. Once she returns home, she will have to take two years of French Immersion to catch up on her studies.

"I have a lot to do before I decide on a career," she says. "I don't want to work in an office doing paperwork all day. I would like to work with animals, or with languages."

And speaking of languages once she returns home, "I'm going to miss talking in English all the time," she says.

Lubi, who just celebrated her 18th birthday on July 11, leaves Kincardine tomorrow (July 18).

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Friday, July 16, 2010