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Hello for the last time ladies and gentlemen,

After 11 months, thousands of kilometres, and millions of memories, I am back home.

First things first: I said I'd write a bit about Eurotour on this blog, however I'm not doing that anymore due to how many pictures I took (about 2,000) and because of how much I learnt. I can't decide which Eurotour stories are better than others and if I decided to post them all, you'd probably be sitting here reading for 3-5 business days. So instead of that, here is a link to my album on Facebook where all the pics can be found.

All of us together in Vienna

Now that that's done, time to talk about going/being home. On Wednesday July 13th 2016 at 09:35, my flight took off from Zürich Flughafen on it's way to Toronto. I was fortunate to be able to sit next to my friend Cam, who I started this insane journey with, and our other friend Tamara, who we also flew there with. We landed around 12:30 local time and sailed though customs and baggage claim to greet our families. Naturally we all ran into each other's arms and had shared some long-awaited hugs.

Coming out of arrivals

Later that day we finally made it back home. It was very weird to come back and see my house and neighbourhood again. It all seemed oddly smaller than I remembered it, but otherwise the same as always. Later that day I got to see my Nana again as well as go out for dinner at my favourite restaurant. After that I drove a car again for the first time in a year which was easier than I expected, and got to see a good friend of mine. That night I was so exhausted and completely passed out by 22:00 (which felt like 04:00 for me).

Since I've been home I have mostly focused on getting back into the rhythm of things, as well as sharing stories of my adventures. We had a party for my homecoming a few days after I got home which was great. There I was able to see most of my family and friends again which was so nice.

My welcome home cake

Through all of this however, I find myself missing my second home. My exchange year was truly the most amazing year of my life. I made some unforgettable friends and memories that I will carry through my whole life. Although I'm still having trouble accepting it, I know in my heart that it will never be the same again. Sure, I'll be back in Switzerland, but it will never be the Switzerland I got to know on my exchange.

One day this will all be far behind me, the memories will have faded, the faces of people I'm now so close with will change, and I will grow beyond my exchange. For now however, while the memories are still fresh and clear, I'm going to just have to be content with missing it. To every single person I met on exchange, from the close friends who stuck with me no matter what, to the people I briefly met on a night out, thank you. You were in some way part of my exchange which changed and shaped me into the person I'm meant to be right now, because there is truly no denying, everything happens for a reason.

Mitch Mahoney
Rotary Youth Exchange Student
Switzerland 2015-2016

Ich liebe dich Schweiz.
Ich werde dich nie vergessen.