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Friday, November 8, 2013

Foreign exchange student Caroline Laurent speaks at Rotary meeting

Caroline Laurent speaks at Rotary luncheon
T. Lucas photos
Toni Lucas, Pincher Creek Voice

The Pincher Creek Rotary Club met at the Heritage Inn on Thursday, November 7.  Scott Korbett acted as the Master of Ceremonies for the event.  He passed on sad news.  Past District Governor Bernie Carriere  passed away on November 6, due to complications with cancer.

Korbett also announced that he is hanging up his Carpet Cowboy hat and closing Westwinds Interiors at the end of this month.

The featured guest speaker for the meeting was 17 year old Rotary foreign exchange student Caroline Laurent.  Laurent comes from a small town in Belgium called Le Roux.  "Even people in Belgium don't know where it is," she said, explaining how small her town is.  She came to Canada in August and will return to her home country in July.


Laurent comes from a French speaking area of Belgium.  She is very proud of her origins and was happy to teach the Rotarians about her country.  "We made Tin-Tin, and the Smurfs," she said, laughing.  "That's very important."  Having this early in the presentation made everyone know that it was going to be a witty speech.  She spoke of some of the things that Belgium is known for worldwide, like Belgium chocolates and waffles.


Laurent touched on differences between the cultures, mentioning that it is legal for a 16 year old to drink in her country.  She spoke of friends and mentioned that her best friend Justine is also an exchange student in Canada currently in Fredericton.

She pointed out that Canada is much larger than Belgium.  She spoke of many of cities, covering architecture, and the pace of different places.  She said that Brussels "Has a lot of charm," and some truly amazing architecture.  She said how beautiful and historically interesting Bruges is, and mentioned the festivals in Ghent and Mons.

She showed slides of her family during her talk.  She enjoys biking, climbing, hiking, skiing and water skiing.  Like most kids, she enjoys being with friends, and watching television.  Laurent would like to be a pilot in the future.

Related story;
Belgian Rotary Club Exchange Student Caroline Laurent to spend a year in Pincher Creek

1 comment:

  1. Very proud of how Caroline represents her country, community and family to us here in Pincher Creek. She did a great job speaking thursday!

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