Outbounds 2008-2009

Chris’ Bio

 Hello! I’m Chris Foley and I live in Jacksonville, Florida. I am 16 years old, but I will be graduating a year early from Bartram Trail High School this semester. I was born in a suburb of New York City called Goshen, New York, and moved to Jacksonville in 2005. Although I left behind my dad, my little brother, and many other relatives, Florida has finally become a place that I can truthfully call home.

I live here in Jacksonville with my mom, step-dad, and our dog Finny (the favorite child). My sister, Brianna, lives a few minutes away at the beach. A normal day in my house consists of my mom doing yoga and my step-dad working on a new painting, while Finny chews all of our shoes.

I love to travel, meet new people, play many instruments, and collect records. Among my favorite types of music are jazz, soul, folk, and hip-hop. I am very excited to go overseas and discover new types of music and new cultures. I also enjoy biking, skateboarding, soccer, and anything else outdoors.

After seeing a few friends of mine experience an exchange I am very excited to embark upon my own. Thanks to everyone who worked hard to make this happen!

August 19 Journal

 Today is the two-week point of my life here in Thailand. The last two weeks have been very exciting, eventful, and confusing. I landed in Bangkok, a day later than expected, and I didn’t know what to expect. I went to get my bags and Alina (Outbound to Thailand) came along because her connecting flight to Phuket was not until the next morning. We soon found out that our baggage was still in Tokyo, but we couldn’t be mad because the Thai Airways man we spoke with was just too nice to us. We went to search for my second host family, who had offered to come and pick me up. When we found them, they put a flower necklace around my neck (I don’t know the name of this yet, but I’ve seen so many of them) and gave both Alina and me a rose. It was impossible for us to explain Alina’s situation to them in Thai. Eventually, they understood what the situation was, except for Alina’s problem. I said goodbye to her and left with my second host family, without any bags. On the ride from Bangkok to Ban Chang, we had confusing conversations. We went to eat somewhere (at 1 AM) and then went to their home. As much as I wanted to see everything and chat, I was tired and I went to sleep.

In the morning, we ate rice and meat (breakfast here is usually leftovers from dinner the night before). My first host dad came to pick me up and we went down the road to my new home. Later on, I met my host mom and host brother, Pon. I have another host brother who I haven’t met yet because he is in Canada for summer camp until next week. We went out to eat quite often when I first arrived. I ate some of the most delicious food I’ve ever had. My host mom and dad were surprised that a “farang” can like so many Thai foods and fruits. They told me I must have been a Thai person in another lifetime. So on my first day in my new home, my host dad took me sightseeing around Ban Chang and to the beaches nearby. Everything was very beautiful. At night we went out to a restaurant on the beach, literally. After we ate, I was taken back to my second host family because O was leaving for Orlando the next morning. At their house, I met many of O’s friends and we played ping-pong and “poking” (a type of poker that I’ve never played). I made many friends on this night. We stayed up all night because O’s flight didn’t leave until 6 AM. I’m sure this didn’t help my jet lag situation too much, but I got my bags back from the airport! We said goodbye to O, took some pictures, and then left. On the way back, around 7, we all woke up in the van because we stopped to eat some heavy food for breakfast. Soon I was back at my first host house and I slept for a long time.

The next few days were spent adapting to my new life. I got to know my host family and I really like them! Anytime I have a problem, they are always there to help. My host dad speaks English, which is good because I can ask him how to say anything in Thai and he tells me what is in all the food we eat. My host mom and host brother, Pon, are both learning English (they’re pretty good!) so sometimes we speak English and sometimes Thai. In the end, we both get better at the language we are trying to learn. Pon always likes to play games and ride bikes, which is fine with me because that reminds me of my little brother back in the U.S.

Two days after my arrival it was my birthday. My host parents knew this and they planned for us to go to Pattaya for dinner. My family does not make a big deal out of birthdays, which made me feel better because my host mom’s birthday was three days after mine and I was worried about what to do. We ate dinner, saw some sights in Pattaya, then went home. It was a very nice night.

Before I knew it, I was in school. Thai high schools started about 2 or 3 months ago so I had to start right away. I was delighted to find that the same friends I made at O’s house were in my classroom. When I walked in, the room exploded with noise. Everyone was excited and wanted to talk to me. Everyone came up to me and tried to speak English. They told me their names, but I forgot them just as soon as they told me. It was not stressful or overwhelming, just fun. My classroom here is very different from the classes in the U.S.A. There are hardly any dull moments. We joke around, sing and play songs with a guitar, and play football in the back of the class. Of course, these are all when the teachers are not in the room. Teachers switch from classroom to classroom here, rather than the students. Many teachers in my school teach in English because they are foreigners who came here to do so. I talked to all of these teachers, but it makes me bored because I want to be able to speak to the Thai teachers. All in all, I love my school. Now I know almost everyone’s nickname and my friends speak to me in Thai. I play basketball after school, and everyone asks me to dunk. My school is for kids of all ages. Everyday a little boy will come up to me and wave to me or shake my hand, or I will hear someone yell out “Kiss-toh-fer.” Everyone knows me, but I don’t know them, so I just smile and wave.

After my first day, a group of girls asked me if I wanted to go to some temples in Rayong over the weekend. So I got to go to many beautiful temples and we had a great time. My new friends told me that they are happy when I smile and they hoped I had a good time. Many times they would ask me, “Are you boring?” I haven’t been bored since I arrived here!

I’ve been to so many places in the past two weeks. I went to Pattaya one more time (for my host-mom’s birthday), Bang Na on Thai Mother’s Day/ The Queen’s Birthday (a quiet town north of here), the beach near Koh Samet (very beautiful!), and Bangkok (a very fun weekend!). I can’t wait to see more!

November 17 Journal

 Well it’s been almost three months since my last journal. My life has changed so much in those last three months. I wasn’t looking forward to writing this journal, but I want to let everyone know what’s been going on.

First, the bad news. Everything about my exchange seemed to be working out perfectly. My first host family was awesome and I was glad to be in Thailand. On September 17, 2008, my father passed away. The morning that I found out was the worst, weirdest day of my exchange. I felt like I was still asleep and I just needed to wake up for real this time. I realized it was all true and I wanted to instantly transport home. My mom set up a flight for the next day. The day that I had to spend in Thailand before I left felt like an eternity. My host family was very supportive, and whatever they could think of doing for me, they did. I asked to go buy presents for my mom, my brother, and my sister because I didn’t know what else to do. The next night I left for the airport at 2 AM and flew out of Bangkok at 6 AM. Then I was alone. For 30 hours I thought. I tried to make sense of everything, but then it would become overwhelming and I had to stop. I cried so much when I found out in Thailand. The strange thing is, I hardly cried, or felt any emotion, on the way back to the U.S.A. I was numb to everything, and the jetlag made my mind even fuzzier when I arrived in NY. I was met by my sister, my aunt, and her kids. I expected to cry a lot when I saw my sister, but we were excited to see each other, so it was blocked out for the moment.

I am not going to explain how my father died or what happened within the time that I was in NY. All I will say is that there was a wake, a funeral, and all my family came together to support each other. If I didn’t have such a big family, I might have decided to stay in NY to be with my brother. So I decided that I would come back to Thailand. On the same day, my sister flew back down to Florida and I flew out to Thailand. At a time like that, you are never sure what the right thing to do is or how to act. It is the most difficult thing that anyone can ever go through. My dad was my best friend and I will never stop missing him. With that said, know that in every day in Thailand since then, I think of him.

Life here is very busy. When I got back I hung out with some friends in my town and played basketball with my friend Atom at the local park almost every night. In October, I went to Chantaburi for the inbound camp at Jaolao Beach Resort. I went three days early to stay with some of my inbound friends there because my host family was going away that week. At Jaolao, I got to meet everyone. It was instantly a good time, as it mostly is with exchange students. The camp was 5 days long and was a mix of volunteer work (beach clean-up, paint a fence, etc.) and relaxation.

After the camp, I went to Pattaya twice to travel with my friend Adrian from Mexico and his host family. The first time we went to Apmpawah, a place famous for its floating market in the canal. We went to four temples by boat, which would’ve been more fun if it wasn’t raining the whole time. Regardless of the rain, it was good to see this aspect of Thailand. A few days after this trip, I was invited to travel with them again. This time we went to Koh Laan, a nice island off the coast of Pattaya. It was a more relaxing trip; we were either on the beach or eating the whole time. We stayed for two days then took the ferry back to Pattaya and I went home.

I changed host families shortly after I got home from Pattaya. I liked my first host family a lot and they had done so much for me. I was sad to say goodbye to them, although I knew I would see them again. My new family is great. I now live about 5 km from where I used to live. My host father is a doctor and my host mother used to be a nurse, but now she stays home to take care of the boys. I have three younger host brothers here. Their names are Bink (14), Boom (11), and Book (9). My host parents can both speak English, but I asked my host mom to speak to me in Thai. She asked me to speak English with Bink because he wants to practice. My two other brothers don’t understand when I speak English, so I speak Thai. Weekdays with this family are usually filled with school and either tennis (for Bink) or swimming (for Boom and Book). It works out well because I play basketball in the same place where Boom and Book swim, so we can go together. On the weekends, Bink and my host mom always go to Bangkok so Bink can practice tennis. Last weekend I went with them. I got to see the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace in Bangkok. We stayed at my host grandmother’s house. It is always filled with people, so I never really know who is related to my host family and who actually lives there. The next day I went to Jatujak market (a huge market in Bangkok) with my new host cousin, Poom. He was an exchange student in Kentucky two years ago.

This week was a busy one. On Monday and Tuesday I played on the school basketball team for the first time. After school on Monday, the coach taught me all the plays, which is difficult to remember in itself, let alone in Thai. We played at a park in Rayong, which I’d never seen before, called “Suan see muang” (purple garden). They had an announcer and every time I went for a lay-up or took a shot, he would say “Kiss-Toh-Fer!” We lost both games, but I was just happy to play and that I could understand the coach in Thai.

Wednesday was a holiday in Thailand called Loy Gratong. It is a celebration on the full moon day in November where everyone makes a “gratong” out of banana tree, banana leaf, flowers, a candle, and incense. At night, people gather at a body of water, light their candles and incense, and float their “gratong.” Some people fly paper or plastic lamps, by lighting a wick on fire under it. It works like a hot air balloon, just without people in it. It’s a very beautiful celebration, with lots of people, music, lights, and food. During the day on Wednesday I was in a competition at school for Mr. and Mrs. Loy Gratong. I had to dress up in traditional Thai costume and wear make up on my face. The costume was shiny gold and I felt like Prince. In the U.S., I would’ve definitely been laughed at, but at my school a lot of people told me I looked handsome. When me and my partner Janny came out, we got the loudest cheers. Janny and I made it into the final 3, which meant that we would have to show some kind of talent. Janny did a Thai dance routine and I played guitar and sang the Loy Gratong song in Thai. I won the prize for “Kwan Jai,” which means something like popular vote, and “Nai Napamahs,” which meant that Janny and I won the contest! It was a good feeling to win and an even better feeling to change out of that costume (it was too hot!). Before I went home, a few of my friends asked me to play and sing the Loy Gratong song for them one more time. Later I went to a “Ngaan Wat” or festival at the temple, for Loy Gratong. It was held near a temple at the beach. There were lights from hundreds of gratongs in the water and lights from the flying lamps above the water. There was a stage with singers and Thai dancers and many food stands. It was a good time; I even saw a few of my friends there.

I am starting to feel more at home in Thailand and less like a tourist. My Thai is coming along well. Now I can read and write, which makes it easier to study. I speak to most of my friends in Thai now, although a lot of them can speak English. Many Thai people are very surprised that I can speak to them in Thai. I can remember when my friends used to tell other people “poot tai mai dai” or “He can’t speak Thai.” Then it changed to “poot tai nit noy” or “he speaks some Thai.” Recently people have told me “poot tai geng!” or “You speak Thai well!” It’s nice to be reminded that you are making progress. Of course, there are still times when I’m completely lost, but I’m confident that I can fill in those gaps by the end of this year. I have a lot of awesome friends here and that’s the main reason I want to keep learning every day.

I have to say thanks to Rotary, not just for making this experience possible, but also for taking care of me during one of the saddest times of my life. The Rotarians I know back at home and the travel agency made it possible for me to go home and be with my family. I want all exchange students to be sure that if anything happens, that support will be there. This exchange has helped me to live with losing my father; I have no doubt about that.

คริส

Chris

 February 14 Journal

 This morning I woke up refreshed because for the first time in a long while I’d gotten a long night of sleep. As the “cool” season comes to an end, the weather shifts back to very hot. Students are happy because after the final exams, summer vacation will begin. The mangoes and berries in our back yard are ready to be picked and eaten for dessert. Everyone I come across seems as happy as I am that this time is here.

As for me, I am happy for many reasons. I’m happy because I have all of my friends here in my city and around Thailand. I’m happy to make many new friends every week. I’m happy because I feel at home every time I walk in the door of my house and because I can talk to my mom about anything. I’m happy because I can go swimming at the beach and play basketball every night. I’m happy for the new experiences that present themselves every day.

Although some things have changed here, I always remain very busy. This is not me complaining. This is the best type of being busy that I’ve ever experienced. I am busy enjoying myself. Traveling with friends, going to temples, shopping at markets… even going to school is really entertaining. After this week, we will have a 2 or 3 month vacation. I am excited, but now it will be more difficult to see a lot of my friends. My school is a private school, so many students come from surrounding cities to study there.

Last night I went with all of my friends from my classroom to eat a pork buffet. This is the best place to go eat with a big group of people. You can take any variation of raw pork from the buffet and bring it back to your table to cook it over hot coals. They even had pork heart and stomach, but I guess I wasn’t… in the mood to eat it (I’m afraid to try it : p). I like everyone from my class so much and I’ve gotten to know all of them really well. I don’t have to say goodbye to them yet… but soon they’ll go off to different universities and I’ll stay here.

In December I went with my exchange friends on the first Rotary trip. We went to the Northeast (Isaan) and North of Thailand. In the Northeast we ate a lot of sticky rice and somtam (a spicy papaya salad). We traveled along the Maeklong River, seeing many views of Laos on the other side. During the days we went to see temples, waterfalls, orchid farms, and other cool places. After going up through the northeast, we reached the Golden Triangle. This is the area along the River where Thailand meets Myanmar (Burma) and Laos. Then, we went to a temple (Wat Rong Kuun) in Chiang Rai, which was the most amazing I have seen in Thailand. The outside is filled with statues of Buddha, dragons, skeletons… all completely white. It sparkles in the sun and looks spectacular. Inside the temple is a shrine to Buddha (as in all temples) and murals on all the walls. The murals are so cool because they’re modern art style. There is even one part that depicts the World Trade Center. After visiting this temple, we went on to Chiang Mai.

Staying in Chiang Mai was definitely the best part of the trip. It’s a very nice city, with the excitement of Bangkok, but a lot cleaner and nicer looking. Many Thai people travel to this city during the cool season because this is where the coldest weather in Thailand can be found. We went to markets, the zoo, a mountaintop, a hill-tribe village, a Mexican restaurant, a disco, and stayed in a massive hotel. We even got to ride elephants. We had a Christmas celebration together… Secret Santa and a foreign-style dinner. The gifts we gave to each other were funny… some were nice but most of them were jokes. The time spent with exchange student friends is always fun, no matter where we go. When I got back home I had no time to settle down because we were off to Bangkok for New Years. I counted down the last sixty seconds of 2008 (or 2551 by the Buddhist calendar) with what felt like the rest of everyone in Bangkok in an area called Siam. I realized how difficult it is to count backwards in Thai! In Thailand, a lot of people give presents on New Years… I got a few from friends and family  I didn’t miss my familiar traditions during the holidays this year, but I thought about my family a lot. After New Years, we went to Hua Hin, where the King lives during the summer.

After the holidays, I got back into the swing of normal life at home. I was happy to go back to school to see my friends and hear what everyone did during the holiday break. Unlike most schools in Thailand, my school had a Christmas break because it’s a Catholic school. I went to Bangkok two different times… each time to say goodbye to a Brazilian. Two of my exchange friends had to go home because they came half a year earlier than the rest of us. However, we all had a lot of fun together in Bangkok both times. Bangkok is so different from any other city I’ve ever been to. It’s colorful, crowded, old and new at the same time, and exciting. There are taxis of all different colors, tuk-tuks everywhere (3-wheeled motorcycle taxis, which can fit a surprising number of people), food stands everywhere, canals, markets on sidewalks, and many nice malls. Also, you can find foreigners from every ethnicity on Kao San road… a place where many backpackers can be found. It’s a cool road to go to because they always have something interesting, like drum circles or elephants walking down the crowded street.

Last weekend I went to Pattaya, where my friend Adrian lives. Two other exchange student friends came too. Adrian’s Rotary club had a bed race and we raced in it! It was so funny because each team decorated their “bed” (most were actually chairs on carts) in a different way. We raced a team of foreigner cross-dressers, a team of proud Irishmen, and so many more. Pattaya has many foreign residents and most of the Rotarians were farang. We didn’t win but it was fun. Afterwards we got to ride go-karts for free! At night, we ate dinner on the deck of a mall, with a nice view of the sea, dotted with the lights from the boats out on the water.

Last Monday, the day of the full moon, there was a Thai Buddhist holiday called Wan Mahka Bucha. I went with Adrian and his host family to a huge temple near Bangkok (I forgot the name but I’m sure it’s the biggest in Thailand). This temple has a stupa made from solid gold. At the bottom of the stupa were hundreds of monks sitting in meditation. Everyone sat next to one of the thousand metal lanterns they had set up on the grounds near the stupa. Many foreigners came to this celebration, even the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka came and made a speech. The monks chanted, and then everyone meditated together for about 15 minutes. Finally the lanterns were lit and fireworks were set off before the Luang Por (Head/ Eldest monk) spoke. A procession of people holding candles walked around the stupa three times. The full moon shone over all of this. It was amazing.

I’ve become used to the things which seemed so foreign and new to me only 5 or 6 months ago. Sometimes I have to stop myself and say like “Wait, there’s an elephant walking past me” or “I’m eating grasshoppers on the beach right now.” I’m still speaking Thai every day and steadily improving. I love to speak to Thai people, I can’t explain it but it’s very different from speaking English. The best thing for me to hear is when people ask me, “How many years have you lived here?”

So, here I am, at the 6 month point in my exchange, and now I know why everyone always says that going home is the curse of this year. I hadn’t thought about it until I had to pick a date to return. In some ways I feel like I’ve just gotten here, and in some ways I feel like I’ve lived here forever. I still have a lot of time left, and there’s still a lot I want to do. So I will continue to make the most of every day, and stay tuned for more. ^ ^

-Somkit สมคิด

 April 28 Journal

 Sawatdee Khrap!

Today is a perfect day to write a journal because it is the hottest day of the year in Thailand. Leaving the house doesn’t become appealing until the evening time, in this time of year. As usual, a lot has happened since I last wrote.

At the end of March all of my exchange student friends met again to go on a tour in the south of Thailand. This meant that we would be relaxing on Thailand’s most beautiful beaches, cruising on speedboats to picturesque islands, and snorkeling in the blue waters. However, this also meant that we would have to sit on the bus for hours and hours until we could get to paradise, but the bus rides are always fun when you’re with all of your friends.

Before we knew it, we had arrived in the South. In the South, the food, scenery, accent, and people are quite different from where I live. In Krabi, we went by speedboat to many small islands, where we swam with schools of tropical fish. After going around to about 4 different islands, we were all exhausted and slept on the bus to Pha Nga. In Pha Nga we went on a boat tour in the Bay, where we saw towering limestone cliffs emerging spontaneously out of the water. In some spots, small villages built on stilts were hidden at the base of the formations. We got off the boat at “James Bond Island,” an island where “The Man with the Golden Gun” was filmed. Here, we had fun taking jumping pictures and James Bond style pictures. From Pha Nga, we got on a ferry boat, for a 4 hour ride to the Similan Islands. This was the best stop on the tour. The water was the clearest and bluest here. When we arrived, we were all pretty tired of sitting on the boat. As soon as the boat anchored, we all started to jump off the boat and swim right away. Most of us swam to the island instead of getting a ride from a smaller boat. None of us wanted to stop swimming, but a storm rolled in so eventually we had to get out.

For two nights we stayed in tents on Similan. Those were two very uncomfortable nights, but I have no complaints because in the mornings, we woke up to paradise. We also got to go explore the other islands in the archipelago (I think there were 8 in all). On one island, we climbed up to the highest point, to a rock formation that resembles a sailboat. Here we took way too many pictures, probably because we weren’t ready to climb back down after the trek to the top. At the bottom we went snorkeling some more and saw so many cool fish and coral. The rest of the day was spent snorkeling around some of the other islands. On that day I found NEMO!! There were 4 Nemo fish swimming around a big chunk of neon pink coral. Even though it hurt my ears, I swam down many times to get a closer look. On Similan, I got to see giant crabs that live on land, not in the sea. I got to watch the sunset while swimming in a lagoon filled with coral and tiny fish. I got to see more stars in the sky than I have ever seen before in my life. I even saw a shooting star. Needless to say, I enjoyed staying on Similan so much and I would love to go back some day. After Similan, we made our way to Phuket (a 4 hour boat ride back to Pha Nga and a 2 hour bus ride from there). We watched the sunset over the beach when we got to Phuket. While staying there, we went to an aquarium, Central (the big mall, which they have in every big city in Thailand), and the Puket FantaSea show. After Phuket, the rest of the tour was spent on the bus going back home. The tour was very amazing and I will never forget it. Sadly, I had to say goodbye to some exchange friends, who I know I won’t likely meet with again. I won’t soon forget them.

So I headed back home, back to real life… kind of. When I arrived at home, I knew I had to switch families very soon. I took a short trip to Bangkok with my second family, and then it was time to move already. I was sad to say goodbye to my second family… I lived with them for 6 months and felt very close to them, but I know I will see them again often. I knew my third family, the Lee family, before I moved in. They were the ones who picked me up from the airport last August. Of course, last August I couldn’t speak with them because they couldn’t speak English and I couldn’t speak Thai. Well, now they still can’t speak English, but luckily I can speak Thai . They were happy and relieved to see that we could talk together. Their son, O, is an exchange student in Orlando this year. Since I moved in life has been pretty easy at my new home. It’s still summer break for me, so I can relax. My host father sells pork, and takes me to the farms sometimes. It’s not the most exciting thing to do, but the locations are very beautiful. Sometimes, I forget how beautiful my province of Thailand (Rayong) is until I go to the rural parts.

In my new family, I have 2 younger sisters, Aey and Eye. Right now they are studying the summer term at school, but when they are home we play badminton and basketball, or watch Korean TV shows together (Aey likes everything Korean, as do many Thai people). The Lee family is of Chinese ancestry. My new home is full of Chinese things. We also have a lot of animals… 3 dogs (I think), 2 cats, 3 kittens (just born a week ago!), a GIANT fish, some smaller fish, and a turtle. I’ve learned a lot about Chinese culture since moving here. Although both my host mother and father were born in Thailand, they preserve their Chinese background. My family takes a trip to China every year. My host parents can speak some Chinese too.

Last week was Songkran festival in Thailand. This is a 3-day long festival where everyone throws water and puts powder on each other. I decided to go to Bangkok, to a road called “Tanon Kaosan.” This road is known for having a steady flow of tourists and backpackers. I was afraid that it would be all foreigners there on Songkran, but actually it was mostly Thai people. I think all of the foreigners went to other places because of the problem with the Red Shirts protesting in Bangkok. I won’t go into this issue because it would take a long time to explain and maybe I would explain it incorrectly. To make a long story short, right now there are some differing views about the government in Thailand and the Red Shirts want the government to change. But not to worry, because on Tanon Kaosan there was no problems and I had an amazing time during Songkran. I went with two exchange student friends, Jean-Phillipe from Quebec and Adrian from Mexico. For 3 days we went around throwing water, shooting water, playing with powder. We met some friends and made new friends. For those 3 days everyone on Kaosan seemed to be so happy. I can’t think of a better holiday to have in the hottest month of the year. So, the official Songkran came to an end, but I went back home to play one more day with my family. We got in the back of my host dad’s pick-up truck, equipped with 2 giant barrels of water, buckets, and water guns, then drove down the main road, stopping at every big group of people for a quick water fight. Still, I felt I really wasn’t finished with Songkran, so I went to Pattaya to play one more day with Adrian. Some cities like to throw water on later days than the rest, which means I get to play more 

Rak tuk khon!

-Chris สมคิด

June 25 Journal

 Sawatdee Khrap!

Once again, another 2 months have passed by in the blink of an eye and I find myself struggling to remember all that I did in that time. I can start by saying that I’m very happy with my last host family. We speak only in Thai together and that has definitely helped me to top off my language skills. The time I spend with them is always passed very easily. My host mom and host dad work pretty hard during the day, so by the time all there jobs are finished and they get home, we just eat dinner together and relax. Our favorite TV show to watch together is a Korean game show, called X-Man, dubbed in Thai. Sometimes, during the day, they take me and my two younger sisters along with them to check on the farms and the new house they are building in a town called Baan Kaai. I’m happy because we have all grown closer over the short amount of time spent together.

In the past few months I started to go see a bunch of concerts, mostly in Bangkok. The best part is, most of them are free. I’ve really taken a liking to Thai music, of various types. So far, I’ve seen some Rock, Indie, Jazz, Reggae, and Ska concerts. The best one was a music festival in Hua Hin called Summerfest. A lot of famous Thai bands played on a stage set up on the beach, to a crowd of thousands of people. Eventually the tide rose and everyone was splashing around, trying to dance in the sea.

My mom and my sister came to visit!

I was a little worried about their visit to Thailand because even the day they came, I had only a vague plan of where I would take them. As soon as I met them in the airport (wearing my student uniform of course :p) I realized it didn’t matter because anything we did together would be fun. I took them around Bangkok for a day, showing them the popular temples, Wat Po and Wat Arun. My mom and my sister enjoyed the original Thai massage at Wat Po before taking a ferry across the JaoPraya River to Wat Arun. I was glad that my mom and my sister liked to try all kinds of Thai foods. Thai food is the cheapest food here and, in my opinion, the best.

We headed two hours east, back to my city and my first host father took us to stay in a hotel overlooking the beach. That night we ate at a restaurant on the beach… me, my mom, my sister, and all of my three host families throughout this year. It was nice to see all of my host families meet my real family. My mom (the real one) really liked the fried, whole fish we ate, something you don’t see much in the states. The next day, my second host mom picked us up from the hotel and brought us to the market under a hospital (I think of it as the secret market), “kao chee jan” (the mountain with the golden Buddha image engraved on it), a vineyard, Wihan Xien (a Chinese temple), and a floating market. These were some of the first places my friends took me to see when I first got here. Next we headed to the island off the coast of my city, called Koh Samed, where we stayed for two nights. Here we got to go swimming, eat a lot, and see a fire show on the beach at night time.

After taking the boat back to the mainland, the plans were pretty much up in the air. We headed back to Bangkok, where my friend Adrian joined us. We searched for a hotel for a long time, until we got lucky and found a really nice one. In this hotel, each room has a different theme, a different design and you can choose which one you like from a catalog. In the lobby they like to play American 80’s music which my mom likes to dance to as she walks up the stairs and accidentally hits her head on the ceiling. :p Adrian and I got massages in the hotel while my mom and sister went for pedicures, etc. across the street. Then we enjoyed eating “Thai style” at one of the street vendors. Here you can eat for about a buck each.

Next day was set aside for Jatujak Weekend Market… the biggest market in District 6970 Asia (or maybe just in Thailand). At JJ, you can buy pretty much anything, from clothes to pets. It was really crowded and hot as usual, so my mom and sister didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought they would. At the hotel, we saw a brochure for a resort in the South and decided to head South next instead of North… my mom liked the idea because it meant less hours on the bus. So the next day we headed to Lumra Resort in Prachuap province. We got off the bus, after about 5 hours, where the resort worker told us to. She told us to wait, that there would be a “car” coming to pick up. Well, I forgot that in Thai the word “rot” can mean either car or motorcycle. Our ride showed up…. a motorcycle with a side cart type thing, which has a bench seat on it. We buzzed through some very quiet roads near the beach until we reached our resort about 15 minutes later. The resort was very… quiet. In fact, I’m sure we were the only guests there. :p I think this was the point where my mom started to lose trust in my trip planning skills.

In the morning, we did some yoga, took a walk on the beach, then hired a guy to take us to see a temple on top of a hill nearby (very nice view) and then to the train station. We took a train that’s free for Thai people, only a small fee for foreigners (less than $1 each). On this train there’s no air, and just normal seats, nothing special. I enjoyed cruising through the jungle-like landscape, but by the time we reached Chumpon, it was clear my mom didn’t enjoy it much at all. Not to mention I didn’t have a hotel booked or a plan of how to get to the popular island in that area, Koh Tao. When we got off the train, a lady called us over and solved all of our problems, booked a hotel and tickets for a ferry to Koh Tao. The next day we got on a commercial catamaran and clipped through the waters of the Gulf of Thailand to Koh Tao.

The best part of our stay on this island was snorkeling. My sister and I went exploring for a good beach to snorkel at. Finally we found the best one, with neon colored coral and multicolored fish swimming around it. It was my sister’s first time snorkeling and she really liked it, so it was worth the grueling walk back up the side of the mountain. We stayed for two nights on that island then headed back to Bangkok again. Then it was time to say goodbye to my mom and sister… again. We got to sleep a few hours before I sent them to the airport. I hope they go back with a lot of good things to tell their friends about Thailand!

Today is the last day I have to send in this journal because for about the next 11 days, I won’t be able to use a computer. Tomorrow, I’ll be going to stay at Wat Samnakatorn, a local temple. I will study some prayers in Sanksrit and help out around the temple, until I ordain to become a “Nayne” (a novice monk who is under 20). I’ll stay at the temple for 7 or more days and wear the scarlet robes. And yes… that means I’ll shave my head and eyebrows too.

So be sure to check my next journal for pictures!

Sawatdee

-SOMKIT

July 21 Journal

 Hello Friends,

A good chunk of my time here in June was spent in one place: the temple. I had told my family that I was interested in becoming a monk for a week or two, and they were more than happy to help me out. I would ordain as a “Nayne,” or novice monk. Once you are 20 years old or older, you can ordain as an actual monk, or “Pra.” A novice monk has just 10 rules and prohibitions to follow, whereas a monk must follow some 273. So one day, we decided to go see the “Luang Por,” or head monk, at the local temple. My host dad asked Luang Por if it was possible for me to ordain in June. Luang Por agreed and said the day to ordain would be on the 13th. However, he asked that I stay at the temple for a week before that date and wear all white clothes. In this stage I was called “Naak,” or someone who is going to ordain in the near future. As a Naak, you must observe the temple lifestyle, study the books of prayers/ chants (called “Suat Mone”), and help with chores around the temple. Normally, novice monks don’t have to go through this stage, but the Luang Por wanted me to get a full experience at the temple. Also, I was the only one ordaining as a novice monk on the 13th.

So, for the first week, I stayed at the temple, wearing all white, along with about 7 other Naak. I became good friends with all of these guys. We worked together, ate together, and they helped me memorize the part of the “Suat Mone” that I was to recite on ordination day. These guys were all in their twenties, except for one who was older. I learned that it’s tradition for Thai men to ordain as a monk in their twenties. They ordain for their family, but mostly for their mothers. When a mother’s son ordains, it’s believed that she will receive a lot of merit and go to heaven. Most guys ordain for 3 months or longer. To me, this seemed like a long time, especially when you have a job or a family. However, ordaining is a very respectable thing to do in Thailand. Families and bosses alike are glad to make it possible for a young man to ordain.

The first day at the temple, I felt very anxious and had convinced myself by the end of the day that I didn’t want to go through with the ordination. But, I went back the second day and I changed my mind back again. On the second day, I met more people; even found that two of the monks could speak English. I started to see the temple as a different place, a nice place. I realized that no one forces you to do anything while you stay there. My roommate was a 13-year-old novice named Say. He came from Laos about 6 months ago, but already speaks better Thai than I do. He had a head start because Lao is very similar to Thai. Many of the words are the same, but the tones are sometimes different.

I had to memorize about 4 pages in the Suat Mone in about 5 days. The Suat Mone is not in Thai, but in an Indo-Aryan language called Pali (the language of the Buddha), written in Thai characters. The Pali language is one with no written characters, so it must adapt to the language in the region where it’s being studied. Many of the monks were surprised to see that I could read Thai. If I wasn’t able to read it, I don’t think I would’ve been able to memorize it. I knew ordaining would take a lot of language skill and that’s why I waited until the end of my year to do it. So I studied those 4 pages day and night, read the translations in Thai, recited them back to the monks. One monk who helped me the most in memorizing the Suat Mone was nearly blind (he had some peripheral vision) and deaf in one ear. He can recite the entire Suat Mone in order, and knows what material is on which page. He brought out coffee, sugar, and a mug full of hot water every time I came to practice reciting the Suat Mone. It amazed me how well he could maneuver around with just a small amount of vision.

On June 12th, we didn’t have to wake up at 4:30 AM because it was the day for the Naak to get their heads and eyebrows shaved. After eating lunch, the ceremony started. My current host family and my second host mom came to the temple on this day. All of the Naak sat in a row of plastic chairs as people came up and cut off the hair, piece by piece. On this day, anyone is pretty much free to come up and touch your head, something that’s usually frowned upon in Thailand. Of course, they say sorry and “wai” to you after they finish. So, I watched all of my hair pile up in a bowl made from banana leaf, until I sensed I had none left. My host father was the first to cut my hair, then my other host relatives, followed by anyone else who wanted to cut a piece for good luck and merit (a lot of people wanted to cut my hair :p). Then a monk, “Luang Ruung,” came to shave my head first, then my eyebrows. After he finished, they poured water on me and told me to go take a shower. My head burned a little bit… this was the first time I’d ever shaved my head.

But the day didn’t end there. I got dressed in dry, white clothes, covered by a special, fancy shirt, made especially for the Naak. We loaded into the back of pick-up trucks sitting on plastic chairs, holding 3 lotus flowers and 3 incense sticks in our hands. Each truck had somebody holding a large, colorful umbrella to shade the Naak from the hot, afternoon sun. The motorcade was about 6 pick-ups in length. The truck at the front wasn’t full of Naak, but a traditional Thai band, which played loudly as we paraded through the town of Samnakatorn to a temple in Yelah. It wasn’t a far ride, but I felt very special as people stopped what they were doing to get a look at the soon-to-be monks. I heard most people make a comment about the “Pra Farang” (foreign monk)… maybe it’s something they’ve never seen or expected to see.

We arrived at a Chinese temple and proceeded inside. We went through the various rooms of the temple, to “wai” to the shrines inside and pay homage. When we exited the temple, I was surprised to see my best friend, Atom, standing there. He had come home from his university for the weekend, saw the motorcade, and followed it to the temple. We had to get back into the trucks, but Atom said he would follow us back to our temple. So I got back to Wat Samnakatorn and ate my last dinner for 1 week with Atom. That night we had a festival at the temple… people came to dance to their favorite songs like “Jang Si Man Tong Tornnnn!” People like to drink and go have a good time at the temple, which I don’t really understand, but it’s funny anyways. I painted little toy statues for 10 baht each with some fellow novices for most of the night, then went to sleep, to get rested for the long day ahead.

June 13th was the day that I ordained. It started similar to the day before… wake up leisurely, eat breakfast, then get into the pick-up motorcade to ride to Yelah. Only, this time we went to a temple called Wat Suwan Rangsan, nearby the Chinese temple. And, on this day, I got into my host dad’s pick-up truck, not someone else’s. After we parked, I was directed out of the car to follow the other Naak. The others had gotten ahead of me a bit, so this guy who was holding the umbrella was pushing me forward, into the people walking ahead of me. At the same time, two people were holding onto my shirt from the back (it’s a really long, fancy shirt that almost touches the ground). So I was basically being pulled in all directions. I didn’t focus much on that though. I was just trying to take in the whole experience. We were a huge group, parading through the gates of a beautiful temple.

The same band from the lead truck was now leading the parade on foot, followed by a group of people dancing traditional Thai dance in front of the Naak. I was told that if you dance at the front in a ceremony like this, you will be reborn as an angel in your next lifetime. When we reached the temple, we paraded around it 3 times (three is a number that you start to see a lot in Buddhism, but I still don’t know the meaning or reason for that). I noticed my Mexican exchange student friend, Adrian, was there with his host family, walking around the temple with us and snapping photos. I was directed to walk up the stairs to the entrance of the temple, people reaching out to touch me as I went up. At the top, I was handed a bowl of Thai 1 baht coins and was told to throw them to the crowd below. So I tossed them, trying to give everyone some and not hit them in the eyes at the same time, but apparently I was giving it too much thought because a man started rushing me to throw them all and move on.

The second I finished, I was pushed to the entrance of the temple, where I saw another Naak being lifted up and told to slap the molding over the door (a pretty tall door). At the same time, a man yelled, “No need to lift them! It’s very dangerous!” Of course, no one listened to this guy and within a few seconds, I too was being lifted up to slap the top, then lowered down inside the temple. I kneeled down and waited for my fellow Naak to make it through the chaotic entrance process. The monks chanted, we were given robes, presented to us by our families, and then we recited the “Suat Mone.” I sensed that many people were watching me closely to see if I could really recite it or not. Next, we were taken behind the big Buddha statue and changed into the saffron robes. After that, we kneeled, as the monks chanted and we were presented with more things… necessities for the temple life, etc. Then I was officially a “Nayne.” As I exited the temple, many people put money into my bag. I took pictures with my host families and Adrian, then my host family drove me back to my temple. To end the ordination ceremony, we went around to many statues of monks and Buddha at my temple, lit 3 incense at each, recited a prayer, then we were done.

After I became a Nayne, things changed a lot. My host family no longer called me by my name; they called me just “Nayne.” I had to call my family “Yohm,” no matter who I was talking to. At the temple, I started to spend more time with my fellow Nayne because the new monks were very busy memorizing chants and who knows what else. An older monk, “Luang Rung,” the same one who shaved my head, began to take me to meditate every evening. Sometimes it was just the two of us, sometimes my roommate Say would come along too. We started with sitting meditation, then he taught me walking meditation. He also told me the story of Buddha, telling me a new “chapter” each night. This monk taught me so much about Buddhism and about life in general. Each night, after meditation, we would sit on the floor in his room, watch a concert or movie on DVD, drink coffee, and he would teach me about Buddhism, or tell me some stories form his wild past, depending on his mood. He even had a few ghost stories to tell (real ones). Luang Rung can speak English because he had a wife and a son in New Zealand. We spoke half and half, sometimes in English, sometimes in Thai. It was nice to have someone who spoke fluent English because many of the Thai words about Buddhism were difficult for me to understand. Each night I felt that it got easier to meditate for a long time. Basically, the goal of meditation is to clear your mind and have no thoughts, which is very difficult at first! The monks at my temple knew I would only be there for a short time, so they made sure I got the most out of my time… I’m very thankful for that.

In the mornings, we woke up at 4:30, to the sound of someone pounding the giant bell. As I drifted out of that dreamy daze, me and Say helped each other to put our robes on and went to chant and meditate for a short time. Then we had to split up into a few groups and walk around to different areas to collect food from the “Yohm.” As we walked, we would see someone waiting in the front of their house, with rice and food in a bag. They put the rice in a big metal canister that the monks hold, then take off their shoes, kneel down, and receive a blessing from the monks, and we walk on. We walked a really long way in the mornings, about 5 kilometers and back. When we got back to the temple, some people who help out at the temple every day divided up the food and rice and set it out for the monks and novice monks to eat. The food at the temple was very delicious, and we always had a plethora of Thai fruit and desserts to eat after each meal.

Some days, I went to study with the novice monks, but it usually turned out to be pretty boring for me. Other days, we had a job to do, like dig 3 meter deep holes, which are soon to be part of the foundation for a new building at my temple. The temple life is a nice one, but it’s not necessarily easy. As a novice monk, I slept on a mat on the floor, with no air conditioning. There’s no washing machine, you must wash everything by hand. These conditions didn’t really bother me so much, but before I went to live at the temple, friends and family were sure to remind me of them. It’s a life without too many complications and distractions, which I think is really nice. After just a week, I went up to the Luang Por, he chanted something and I repeated it, and then I was finished as a novice monk. I changed back into my white clothes and said my goodbyes around the temple as I waited for my ride back home. I made many true friends in such a short time at the temple. A part of me feels as though I should’ve stayed for a longer time there, but I was feeling the end of my exchange year creeping up quickly. It’s an experience I’ll always remember. I think I came out of it as a better person, with more understanding.

Of course, when I was finished at the temple, I still had no hair and eyebrows. This meant I had to answer many of the same questions over and over again, like “Why did you want to ordain?” or “What did you get out of your time there?” The first time I was asked, I had to think for quite a while about my answer. I’ve concluded that I ordained because I wanted to see Buddhism in its true form and see what it has to offer me. In doing so, I have realized that it’s a very good philosophy that makes a lot of sense to me. I will continue to meditate because it’s a good exercise for the mind. If my mind is clear, then I will make correct and sensible decisions in my life and that will lead to good experiences.

That’s the end of my ordination story… now I’m back to my “normal” life here. I admit I’m happy that my family is calling me by my name again and I can eat dinner at night :p

Raktuk kon!

-สมคิด Somkit

Alina’s Bio

 Hi everyone! My name is Alina and I live on the St. Johns River most of the time. I can say “on the river” because I live on a boat. My family and I just go wherever there is a body of water. I live with my mom, step-dad, and the newest addition to our family, Booser, our new puppy. My dad lives in Fayetteville, NC and his family lives in Alabama. I have a lot of fun visiting my dad and my numerous cousins.

My mom is always trying to keep up with my busy schedule. This year, I am proud to be a cheerleader for my school, Fleming Island High. Last year I was on the dance team for Fleming Island. For nine glorious years prior to that, I was a competitive gymnast, making it to level 8, practicing sometimes 5 hours a day and going to almost 100 meets on the weekends. I also enjoy helping to support the Invisible Children Club at my high school. Making chances, taking risks, and discovering my limits, is where I excel the most.

As I sit on the boat which I call my home, I reflect on past experiences and look out over the horizon. I think of the fantastic journey that lies ahead of me. I am so ready for my next journey as a Rotary Exchange Student. I cannot thank Rotary enough for giving me the chance to go overseas and experience a new culture. Thanks Rotary!

August 17 Journal

 Alright so I’ve read mostly everyone else’s journal and they all seem to be so insightful. I thought I’d just give you the plain old facts of Thailand and my experiences. So I guess there is no better place to start than the beginning.

OK. The failure to depart on the first day dampened my spirits a little. But the excitement was still there on the second attempt. So Chris and I left on Saturday and the plane ride was exhausting. When we got to Narita, Japan they told us that our flight on US Airways to Bangkok had been canceled so they transferred us to Thai Airways which was nice, but already I was afraid to eat the food. You would think that if shown a menu that had tuna sandwich on it, it would be, you know, the chicken of the sea. But no this tuna sandwich was two pieces of bread with a raw slab of tuna in the middle. This was on the flight. OK ok so when we finally arrive in Bangkok at who knows what time, Chris and I went out to get our luggage because that was his last flight and I was to spend a night in a hotel because my flight wasn’t until the next morning. So when we get to the baggage claim, it’s so hot and there is no air conditioning. So we wait for our bags and we wait and wait and wait and wait and then there are no more bags. So we find someone to help us and this really nice Thai guy takes us into an office and gets our information to send us our bags. After we settle the whole baggage thing we go to find Chris’s host family and the person who is supposed to be taking me to a hotel. So we go through Customs and we find our way through the Bangkok airport and find where everyone is to be picked up. There is a sign that says Chris Foley but no Alina Walker. So we go to the Chris Foley sign and the family greats us with extremely broken English we both get flowers and then we try to explain that our luggage was lost, but they didn’t understand so they tried to take us through the whole process again. Then finally we got through to them by saying “already…already”. So after that ordeal I didn’t want to hold Chris and his new family in the airport any longer so I said my goodbyes to him and I went on my way to try and figure out what my sleeping situation was going to be.

I had thought about getting a hotel room close to the airport, but my flight was at 7:30 the next morning and it was already almost 1:00am. So I decided to rough it in the airport. I showered in the sinks of the airport along with another lady from who knows where…we didn’t speak the same language. I said hello and she said something weird. So then I tried to get back into the terminals, but they wouldn’t let me without a ticket. And yeah the ticket counters didn’t open until 5:00am. All of the restaurants were also in the terminal except for one, which said it was open 24 hours, but had construction tape all over it. So scratch that. Thank goodness I didn’t listen to my mother about packing so many sweets. So I found a bench to myself and dug in on the sweets that I had brought with me on my carry on. All I have to say is thank God for butterfingers!! By then it was about 2:30am so I decided it was safe to try and catch some Z’s. At about 4:30 I wake up and I am surrounded by sleeping people on benches all around me. So I decided to stay awake and find the line for my plane ticket to Phuket. So it takes me an hour to find the darn line and then they tell me there is another line and that I am in the wrong one. So I tell the person behind the ticket counter to get someone to take me there and he did which I am very thankful for. And I finally got my ticket and all of the panic was lifted…just a little though. I got through the gate and met some Australian guys who were very kind and took me to breakfast. They were also going to Phuket, but on a different airline, but the same time. So we stuck together until 7:15 and then we split telling each other that we would see the other in Phuket. Which we did because, as my luck would have it, I didn’t find my family for about 20 minutes which was a total panic. But they stayed with me until I found them.

Ok so now that I am with my host family, I am started on round one of Alina vs. Thai food! My host family never eats at home. Since I have been here I have been to a different restaurant for every meal every day. I didn’t even know an island could have so many restaurants. Ok so anyway my favorite words in Thai are mai pet pet. Which means no spicy spicy!!! And they all just laugh and keep piling food onto my plate. So I have now learned the words eem lao. Which means full already. And they stop putting food on my plate. My host mother always says “just try little see if you like.” But I always end up with a bowl full of scary looking noodles floating in some kind of liquid. I never know what I am eating EVER!! They tell me the name and I used to ask what’s in it, but I have completely given up on that. So I just eat and eat and eat. And everyone keeps telling me you eat so little. My host mom says she is worried about me. But thank goodness we live next to a spa with a fitness room (with by the way NO AC). My host father loves to walk every where. He owns two guests houses and a gallery which right now is under construction. I love going to the guest house because the staff is so funny, and sometimes there are farang (foreigners) so I can get an English fix and help translate so that they can get the room that they want and accommodations. Today there was an Indian movie that was shooting close to the guest house, but I didn’t go because I was helping my host sister pack because she is going to Ithaca, NY on an exchange, also with Rotary. My home is on a hill so the water pressure in the shower isn’t that great. And when I say isn’t that great, I mean the water kind of dribbles out of the faucet. But that’s the hot water. The cold water pressure is great. So I’ve been adjusting to taking cold showers! 🙂 Instead of using air conditioning, we just open the windows, because there is always a breeze even though its a hot one. My family says that this is one of the colder months and I am dying of heat already! I don’t know what I am going to do in the summer months. I guess I’ll just have to go to the air conditioned mall everyday!

Ok so places I’ve been in the past two weeks.. Patong beach!!! Beautiful. I like it better at night though, I have to say. Kata beach is better in the day time and the views from the mountains are amazing!!! Trang is beautiful with its giant plateaus and crazy caves with bats that are good luck. My school is nothing special. It’s just a school, but the students and teachers are all extremely helpful and kind. When I got here though at first they told me I would have to cut my hair, but because my mom works at the school, she talked to the headmaster and she got me into an M-6 class which is like being a senior, so I didn’t have to cut my hair, even though I was prepared to do it, but not willingly!! Anyways, we are taking my host sister to Bangkok to send her off to America and we are going to stay an extra few days to sight see after she leaves.

So that’s Thailand in two weeks in a nutshell. There is so much more to Thailand and before I left, I didn’t know if I was ready to be faced with such a challenge, but my family has made it so easy and effortless. Opportunities are falling into my lap with every day and I don’t want to miss a thing, so I am going to wrap this up and go eat something with four legs and no head!!!

Love from Phuket,

Ari

(oh by the way they gave me a Thai name because my name with some intonations means “what” so now Alee, but always sounds like Ari means “kindness”)

November 3 Journal

 First I just want to thank Rotary for giving me this experience. It’s everything that I thought it would be and the people that an exchange student meets are incredible and unforgettable.

Alright so I haven’t really been keeping up with my journals so I have a lot of catching up to do. September was pretty uneventful. I just went to school every day for what seems like forever. School days here are extremely long. I start school at 7:45 and school ends at 4 or 4:30 depending on the day. However, I have extra Thai classes that I attend so I am usually getting home around 7 at night. In the class room, the students don’t change rooms for every class, the teachers do. The students in the classes have been in the same class for their entire school experience so they are all extremely close to each other. This does make it a little difficult to fit in, but they are all so extremely nice and friendly. So that was September.

October was fun because I didn’t have to go to school. The school takes a month long break after midterm exams. So I took a lot of trips with my family to the beach and to different cities around Thailand. The beaches in Phuket are absolutely beautiful. Also the exchange students from my district in Thailand came to Phuket to tour the city. We went to a few of the many islands around Phuket, including Phi Phi and James Bond Island which is one of the settings for the movie The Beach staring Leonardo DiCaprio. If you haven’t seen that movie, you need to! It’s fantastic! J We also went to a butterfly garden, museums, and a tour of the famous Patong Beach on Phuket Island. Which by the way my home is only 10 minutes away from.

Oh and the vegetarian festival is brutal! I helped give water to the people with swords through their faces. Ok so I guess I should explain the vegetarian festival. It’s this Chinese festival that most everyone in Thailand participates in because most of the people have Chinese ancestors. So during this nine day festival you can only wear white, only eat vegetables, cannot have sex, cannot drink, and pray to one or more of the nine gods. This experience was extremely scary. Some people give demonstrations like climbing a ladder of knives, getting into boiling oil, walking over hot coals and the most common demonstration was to parade around the island with swords through their mouths. But it wasn’t just swords, there were bicycles, trees, motors, fruit, really just about anything that they could fit. And it was really weird to see the same people with the things through their mouths at the store the next day and they look totally fine just what looked like a long cat scratch or something down their cheek. One of my friends from school actually did a knife demonstration. He said that one of the gods consumed him, or possessed him, and he could not feel any pain and the next day he was fine, still with no pain but a hole in his mouth.

The last week in October I went to Bangkok with my class to visit all of the universities. I feel like I got so much more close to them and I think that my time here will be even more enjoyable because of this trip. I actually might be interested in going to one of the universities that we visited. After the university stuff, we got to go shopping! So much fun! We went to Siam and then to JJ market and to the floating market!

Well Thanks again to Rotary for giving me this opportunity!

Sawasdee ka!!

Alina อารีน่า

 January 19 Journal

 Ok so I am way behind on the journals. And Rotex told me that writing journals would be extremely hard and they were absolutely correct!! I have been so busy I just haven’t had the time to stop and reflect so I have time now and this is a reflection time.

Ok so December. School exams, what else can you say about school? Ok but other than school exams I went on a Northeastern trip with the YE’s in my district. That was a blast! The 10 hour bus ride from Phuket to Bangkok was not fun at all, but once I saw everyone waiting for me when I got off the bus, it was so worth it!! So we spent Christmas together and did a gift exchange. That was funny because we all gave presents like an electric fly swatter and bug spray (which by the way is hard to come by) some elephant boxers and slippers. The day trips were great too. We went to see cave paintings and to a Thai ranch, we went to see lots of temples and we got to see an ancient Cambodian temple. Very cool.

January hasn’t been that interesting. So I thought I would give you an insight on a typical day in Thailand. Just some things I see around here.

In the morning, after showering and having my breakfast of rice and fish, we leave the house and usually there are a few monks around the town accepting food from shop owners.

When I get to school, I am usually late because my mother goes on Thai time, I have to stand with the late people in the assembly. After singing the national anthem, and praying, and the daily announcements, I stay with the late people and our punishment is to meditate and think about why were late. I don’t understand why we have to think about why we were late, I’m late because my mom doesn’t wake up early enough. Maybe I am translating a word wrong or something. I don’t know.

After the meditation detention which lasts about 20 minutes, we go to our class rooms and stay there until the day ends. The students don’t have to go anywhere, the teachers are the ones who travel from class to class.

Lunch in the school. Any meal for a Thai person is a big deal. Not like a celebration big deal, just like I am so excited to eat and I enjoy eating so much that I want to share my experience AND my food with you, deal. So my friends and I get all kinds of different food from the cafeteria. Most of the food includes rice, different fish, curry, soup, fried eggs, maybe an omelet, vegetables, and maybe some shrimp. In the cafeteria you have to be careful for insects. Not just a few flies, but swarming bees, armies of aunts, cockroaches, dogs, cats, and the occasional monkey. Yes I have only seen one monkey, but it was not a pretty sight. Lunch lasts an entire hour and my class has a free period after lunch so we usually eat lunch and socialize for about 2 hours. Then back to class.

After school gets out, all the students rush out and go across the street to use their cell phones and wait for their parents. Vendors wait for the massive number of hungry students to get out of school, and take their money for more food. Some sell sweets, fruit, fried chicken that is cooked right there on the street and when everything is over they dump the grease into the street.

So my mom is late picking me up and so that means we will be late picking up my three other siblings. First we get my oldest sister, she is usually putting makeup on with her friends and talking about her latest boyfriend, then we pick up my youngest brother and he is always playing with his foreign friends on the soccer field, then last my oldest brother who plays basketball all the time!! And then we finally go home to grandma and the maid, and my sister and I help to make dinner. My dad doesn’t get home most nights until 1 in the morning.

Dinner is served on the floor in front of the television and we watch the Thai soap operas which are absolutely terrible. So unrealistic and the camera work is awful. But the Thai people love them. They especially like the Chinese and Korean soaps but they are translated into Thai which I find hilarious because the Chinese man will stop talking and the Thai goes on for another minute or so.

After dinner, I help my little brother with his English homework and then I am off to bed or listen to some music with my sister in our room. And that is the day in the life of Alina in Thailand.

I just want to thank Rotary again for making this experience possible for me. I am really enjoying my time here.

อารีน่า

Angel’s Bio

 Hello there! My name is Angel Jones and I’m going to be an exchange student! My hometown is the quaint beach city of New Smyrna Beach, Florida. I am proud to have called it my home for the last seventeen years. I attend Spruce Creek High School (home of the Hawks!) and have aspirations of becoming a doctor one day.

I am most definitely a Florida girl inside and out. I adore the beach and warm sunny days that make you just want to melt. I can most likely be found at the beach surfing and sunning almost any day over the summer. If not there, I am with my friends having endless amounts of fun.

I am the epitome of a “people person.” Laughing and smiling are two of my most favorite hobbies. You can say I am outgoing and a positive attribute to any situation. I encourage others to have a good time with whatever the circumstance may be. I am strongly active in the culinary and visual arts. Cooking and food are a great pastime I partake in regularly. As well as drawing and painting, which have always been passions of mine since I can remember. They are all ways which I can express my self and emphasize my individuality and personal imagination.

For school related hobbies, I enjoy being active and participating in physical enduring sports. In past years, I have been on the cheerleading squad as well as Track & Field. This year, I decided to be adventurous and join the Swim Team. It was a lot of fun and I loved it, even the gallons of water I swallowed everyday in practice. At school, I am a member of about five different clubs. I feel it’s important for the students to be active in their school’s student body and really give voice to problems or changes the kids want to happen. I mean, if you do not put your mind and heart into it, how is anything supposed to get better?

With this opportunity of a lifetime, I plan to have the “time of my life.” I am going to make every day count, with not a moment to waste. Every experience from here on, more so than others, will be cherished as those which can not be replaced or duplicated. The trip for me will not only end once I return home, but instead will continue the moment I step off that plane back home.

October 5 Journal

 Well, hello there everyone =) I must apologize for not updating my journal sooner, but if only you knew how busy and occupied I have been, you would certainly understand. So to compensate, I’m going to do my best to fill you in with everything that I have gone through in the last 8 weeks. We can just call this the “crash course” of an exchange student in Denmark, ja? Okay well to begin, I think I’ll show off my Danish speaking skills and give you my introduction I have memorized quite well…

“Hej alle, Jeg hedder Angel Lee Jones, og jeg kommer fra Florida i USA. Jeg er sytten og min fødselsdag er 27. martz. Jeg kom til Danmark tredje august og jeg elsker det nu. Jeg bor i lille byen af Svendborg på Fyn. Min familie i USA er min far og mor og mig og tre hunder. Jeg savner dem meget men jeg har mange sjovt her. Jeg kan godt lile at stege og at tage billeder og at gøre kunst og at være med venner. Jeg elsker min familie og bedste venner og Danmark! Jeg hader mennesker hvem smiler ikke og edderkopper. Mest af alt jeg elsker min liv!”

Okay, okay, now that I’m done showing off, I will translate all of it for you…

“Hey everyone, my name is Angel Lee Jones, and I come from Florida in USA. I am seventeen years old and my birthday is March 27th. I came to Denmark the third of August and I love it now. I live in the little city of Svendborg on Fyn. My family in the USA is my dad and mom, me and three dogs. I miss them a lot but I am having a lot of fun here. I like to cook, to take pictures and make art, and to be with friends. I love my family and best friends and Denmark! I hate people who don’t smile and spiders. Most of all I love my life!”

And that is me folks, in Danish! So, as you can see, I haven’t just spent the last two months making tons of friends, feasting on wonderful food, and having an amazing time all the time. Although I have done all of that, I think I have learned a lot as well. I have decided to split this journal entry into sections, making it well organized, better to understand, and easier for me to write and remember. So first up, I’ll go over the basics of my exchange so far; including Denmark in general, family life, school, language, fashion, cultural differences, problems I’ve faced, life back home, and highlights of my exchange scattered throughout. Let’s get started shall we?

Denmark in General “Danmark i generelt”

Denmark in general is a glorious, gorgeous, greatly under looked country. It seems that every picture I take of every place I go is postcard perfect. Everyone I meet is friendly and welcoming. I feel that the Danish people in general, are very accepting. Those who I have met are all very interested in me and my exchange.

It is quite easy to get around in Denmark. It being a fairly small country, almost everything is accessible by train or bus. The currency is in kroner, with the exchange rate being about 5 kroner to every 1 US dollar, roughly. The climate has been relatively nice. When I first arrived in August, it was the latter part of summer, so most days were warm and cool in the evenings. With fall now setting in, the days are much cooler, and very windy. In Denmark it does not rain, at least not like back home. It mists; just enough to mess up your hair and your shoes. I have yet to see a thunderstorm. It rains, and winds gust as if in a hurricane, but yet no thunder. I have been told from now on most days will be overcast, cold, windy and rainy. Wonderful I think, but then again it can be wonderful if I’m home and cuddled up with a blanket and hot coffee. I am looking forward to the holidays. Most Danes are relatively modern, not many go to church other than baptisms, confirmations, or Christmas. But those traditions they do have, they adhere strictly to them. With Danes, once you have been accepted, you’re not like family, you are family.

Denmark is composed of a lot of countryside, with scattered cities throughout. My city of Svendborg is one of the largest of the smaller cities. Its population is around 35,000 people. Everything is conveniently close, and available. The downtown is pretty good size, but can still be covered on foot. We have a train station, harbor, library, several schools, tons of cute shops and boutiques, as well as chain brand stores, a McDonalds, handful of bars and clubs, great pizza shops, grocery and department stores, and just about anything else you could need or want. I really enjoy my town. It’s not too big or too small, kind of like the Goldilocks story, “just right.”

Family Life “Familie Liv”

As you may or may not know, I will be living with four different families over the course of my exchange. I think this is to better one’s exchange by giving the chance of adapting, learning, and growing with different kinds of families, who live in different places, have different views, and essentially lead different lives. In essence, this idea is ingenious. It not only benefits the exchange student, but also the families. In the end, more people are touched and experience the wonders of an exchange.

It is my first host family who I am living with now. They are wonderful people who I absolutely adore. There is a father, mother, sixteen year old daughter, and one fat cat whom I have named Mr. Kitty. They also have three older sons, who are in their twenties and live elsewhere in Denmark. We live on a farm with pigs, chickens and two ponies. It’s nice living on a farm, for it has been ages since my own family has had farm animals. However, I could do without the strong stench of swine first thing in the morning when walking to the bus. My host mom, Helle, works in a fabulous purse boutique in the city, while my host dad, Hans, spends most of his time harvesting or with the pigs. My host sister, Signe, is a darling of a host sister. We got along famously right away and now we are the best of friends. She actually spent a year in Canada on exchange last year, so is fluent in English and familiar with all the North American amenities that Denmark doesn’t offer. While living here, I have given her some cooking lessons in exchange for Danish lessons. I make dinner for my host family every Wednesday, which they really love. May I suggest that to any other exchange students, for it is a sure way to win the heart of your host mum!

As far as family life goes, we pretty much go about as a normal Danish family would. It’s as if I’m not an exchange student or stranger at all, but instead I’m a real member of the family. It’s a fantastic feeling, one that I don’t feel will ever end, and one I can only thank my exchange for. At night, we all watch television together, drink tea, and eat cake. It’s is the essence of “hyggelig,” the Danish term which can not be directly translated, but means warm, cozy, good-feeling.

I have already met two of my other host families. Both of which seem great, and I don’t think I will have any problems becoming just as close with. They too, have host siblings who I go to school with. All speak English if necessary, but I encourage them to speak Danish to me. So, in general, my family life is great, and I can only look forward for more to come.

School “Skole”

I must admit, I never expected to enjoy school so much, especially when I don’t understand half of what is being said. However, I really am enjoying school and I absolutely love my class. In Denmark, the school system is quite different. First off, there is no “high school.” There are Gymnasiums, Efter skoles, Business skoles, and Technical skoles. Gymnasiums are the ones most similar to that of a normal high school. It is average curriculum with multi-subject courses offered. It is a three year program and is public. Efter skoles are usually attended before going on to a Gymnasium or further education. It is a type of boarding school where you live on campus with other kids your age in dorm-like residence. It is thought to build life skills and encourage development and maturity. Business skoles are really self explanatory where business skills are built and developed. Most of the student body is male whereas in the Gymnasium there are more females. In technical schools, the subjects of science, art, and mathematics are explored for specialty careers and scholars.

I attend Svendborg Gymnasium. I am in the second year, class 2.a. Although I would be a senior back home, they usually place exchange students in the second year. This is because while the first year “freshmen” are too busy getting adjusted and comfortable to really bother with an exchange student, the third year “seniors” are busy preparing for excruciating exams and applying to universities. I have no complaints being placed in the second year. We actually get a class trip, in the spring, where every class raises money to travel abroad for a week or two. My class is going to Barcelona, Spain. A trip I hope to attend, for it would be an amazing time to bond with my class and travel even more.

Well, in school, I have about ten courses; English, Danish, Spanish, Biology, Mythology, Religion, Ancient History, Social Studies, Physical Education, and Geography. The schedule is also quite different and a bit confusing. It is set up in increments of two weeks. Depending on the day, I may have one to 4 classes. The longest day lasting from 8:00 am to 3:15 pm. Classes are one and a half hours long, with a 30 minute break between each class. When I told you my class was “2.a,” it was because you are with the same people all day. It is only the subject, room, and teacher that changes. You do everything together as a class. You walk to class, you scrape through class, and you have break and lunch as a class, all together. My class has 21 students, with only 5 of them boys. Like I explained, Gymnasiums have more female students than males. It’s okay though, because the guys we do have are more than enough entertainment. Now, you’re probably puzzled on how I get through class, being that all the lessons are in Danish, and I don’t speak Danish. Well, I draw pictures. No, I do attempt to follow. But it can be extremely difficult at times. As frustrating as it can be to not be able to participate, I try anyways. And I really think my classmates respect me for that. They know I must not be able to understand anything, and yet I still act like I’m interested. The teachers understand as well, most of them put no pressure on me at all, while others encourage me to participate, even if I have to respond in English.

I feel as the year goes on, and I learn more Danish, it will of course become easier, and I look forward to that.

Language “Sprog”

Ahh, the wondrous language of Danish… My theory of the evolution of Danish is as follows, “Danish was formed by Vikings whom were constantly drunk and thus slurred their words while making many up.” Surprisingly, most Danish people would agree with my theory. Their alphabet is the same as ours with the addition of three extra letters; æ, å, and ø. Danish is said to be a very confusing and challenging language to learn. I agree. However, I find myself not having as much trouble learning it as I had previously predicted. Currently, I attend Danish lessons every Wednesday from 8 to 1:30. That may not seem like a lot. But trust me; speaking, listening, and comprehending a foreign language, especially one like Danish, for 5 hours straight is no easy task. I also speak Danish when at home. My host family is very helpful and patient when conversing with me. I watch Danish television, and when watching English television, it is with Danish subtitles. They are actually quite beneficial and have really improved my reading skills. So far, my Danish is fair. I read Danish the best, can understand conversations second best, speak it okay, but when it comes to talking directly with someone, forget it. It’s as if I freeze on the spot, and all the hours of Danish lessons, all the children’s books read, everything just flees my brain. Luckily, I have found that Danish people in general are very accepting and patient. They merely chuckle and find my confusion cute and amusing. How happy I am to be of some entertainment.

In school, when asked by my friends if I would like for them to speak in English or Danish, I replied Danish. They asked why, and I told them I would rather have trouble fully understanding, maybe only catching a few words, but build on learning the language, than knowing exactly what they’re saying but not benefiting me at all. They agreed and so far it has not been a problem. If I don’t understand something they are talking about, they simply brief me at the end in English. At least that way, I listened to all they had to say in Danish and may have caught a few words, which in turn is better than none.

Fashion “Mode”

Let me first start of by saying that European fashion in general rocks! Danish fashion in particular is fabulous. Basically, it’s sophisticated meets chic. Every girl wears tights or leggings. That is a daily fashion essential. Second must is a scarf. Scarves are not only for girls either, guys sport them too. But, I’ll explain the guys later. I own seventeen scarves myself; yes it has begun to be an obsession…

Black is also very basic, yet trendy. If someone wore all black in Denmark, it would not be seen as gothic or even emo, but stylish and fashionable. It’s chic and modern. A typical Danish outfit would be a cute dressy top long enough to be worn with just tights. Then it would be paired with heels, boots, or flats. Accessorized with a scarf and a number of different hair styles. Of course in the winter time, fashion changes slightly with the temperature. So a jacket would be accompanied by Ugg boots and legwarmers.

Not all males in Denmark are gay, they are merely well dressed. This can be a common misconception by foreigners, I being one of them. Guys here are simply more stylish than those in the States. They care about their appearance. Sure, sometimes it is too much, but generally just enough. An average look would be fitting jeans, fitting top, possible cardigan, scarf, nice shoes, and styled hair. I find the Danish guys to be quite attractive. This may just be my weakness for blondes with blue eyes, but I’ll also give credit to their fashion sense.

Cultural Differences “Kulturelle Forskelle”

I could probably go on all day about the cultural differences. I must admit, I did not expect there to be that many, because Denmark is European. Well, I was very wrong. I think to make it easier on myself and for your viewing benefit; I’ll just make a short list of those which come to my mind:

• Adolescents are given much more responsibility and freedom.

• There is no drinking age, but the age to purchase alcohol is 16.

• Drinking is a huge part of the Danish culture; it is viewed as casual, family oriented.

• Many young people smoke (about 90% I would say)

• Danish people eat a lot, more than back home. They have about 2 to 3 (full plate) helpings at meals.

• They walk or bike everywhere. This would explain the ability to eat so much, while still being fit.

• Every car is manual, and they are crazy, fast drivers.

• The driving age is 18, and it is very expensive and hard to get a license. Thus, most teenagers bike or bus.

• They treat bikes as cars, and will literally brush the side of a biker on the road. For the person biking, this can be terrifying enough to pee your pants.

• They like to sing. Whether it be at a birthday party, luncheon, Rotary meeting, whenever, they sing.

• They eat a lot of fish, pork, potatoes, bread and licorice. Luckily, I am not a vegetarian nor do I care about carbs, my host sister however is and does, sucks for her.

• They are coffee fiends. I now drink about six cups a day.

• Denmark is very expensive. The only things cheap here are phones and alcohol.

• Light switches to bathrooms are always on the outside of the room, very annoying when you are in a rush to go, and you forgot to turn the light on.

• There are no grocery bags. You bring your own reusable bags, and if you don’t, then you’re carrying everything.

• Almost all Danish beds are twin size, pity for me who had a full back home.

• The furniture, architecture, and general Danish design are very modern and contemporary. Every house is catalog perfect.

• Water is as expensive as soda, beer, and everything else. There is no free water with meals.

• I am convinced there is a Danish gene, which blesses everyone with beautiful looks. Whether you are six or sixty, if you’re Danish, you’re gorgeous.

• Regardless of the fact that it only takes about 6 hours to drive from one side of the country to the other, Danes will complain if they have to travel two hours (as if it was all day).

• Every Danish person will make you say “Rød Grød med Flød,” because you will sound stupid saying it, and they will laugh.

Problems I’ve had “Problemer jeg havde”

Really, I have been a lucky ducky. I have not had many problems so far. I have yet to be homesick, I get along very well with my family, I have made many friends, I love the culture and people in general, so “why do I have this section?” you ask. Well, I want to tell everyone about my encounter with the Danske Edderkop! (Danish Spider) You see, in Denmark, there are many bees, flies, and spiders. There are at least two to three spiders in every room in every Danish home. They are not big spiders, quite tiny actually, and have been known to be completely harmless. That is until I show up.

I had only been here two weeks when I was bitten by one of these spiders. It is something completely unheard of in Denmark. But of course, it happened to me. I suppose it bit me during my slumber because I don’t recall such an event, I merely woke up one morning with a mosquito looking bite under my arm. I brushed it off as no big deal; after all I am from Florida, the capital of millions of mosquitoes. Well, after a couple days it got a little sore, and a bit swollen. I looked at the forgotten bite and found it to be the size of a quarter and inflamed. Puzzled, I showed my host mom, and she thought it might just be a little irritated but instructed me to keep an eye on it and let her know how it goes. Well another few days went by with it getting worse and worse, but with me being the new exchange student I didn’t want to come across as the little baby who can’t take a bug bite. So I hid the infected wound until my host mom noticed me favoring my left arm. She asked to see it, and when I showed it to her she was relatively shocked to see just how bad it had gotten. It had grown five times the size, and formed a knot under the skin. It was extremely sore and red. She decided it would be best to take me to the local doctor to have him check it, for it was clearly infected. He confirmed the suspicion and said it was either an insect bite or spider bite. I freaked, but remained cool, thinking that all I needed was a little Penicillin.

About 4 days went by, and the bite just got worse. The Penicillin was obviously not working, and I was beginning to get worried. We went back to the doctor and he too was surprised at how bad it had gotten. He told me I needed to go to the hospital and have it lanced. At this point I was hysterically crying. I mean, come on, what are the chances that in my third week in a new country I would be bit by something, have it infected, and need to go to the hospital. I think it was really the thought of being in a foreign hospital with doctors speaking in a language I didn’t understand, handling sharp instruments, unknowing if they use anesthetics, all combined that freaked me out. It was all of that, without my mom, my real mom. My host mom was great through the whole thing, completely reassuring and doing her best to comfort me. But, it just wasn’t the same.

So, we went to the hospital, but because Denmark is under universal healthcare the wait to see the doctor would be about five hours. Those five hours were like torture for me, not knowing what they were going to do or how they were going to do it. We returned when they called, and we saw the doctor. Luckily, she spoke English well, and even reminded me of my doctor back home. She examined the bite, and told me it was indeed a spider bite and that it would have to be lanced. Lanced meaning cut open and let the poison drain. I was mortified. But, then she continued to tell me it wasn’t ready yet. I would have to wait another day or so for it to mature, and then do it myself. Goodness gracious, could my luck get any worse? Well, being the hardcore kid that I am, I did it myself, just like she told me to, and sure enough it healed within a few days. Yes, it hurt like hell, but I knew it would be better than having my arm amputated. Haha… so that is my story of the danske edderkop and my awesome exchange student survival skills.

Other than that, Denmark has been wonderful and I love it so.

Life back home “Liv tilbage hjemme”

As I have said, I’ve yet to be homesick. I find myself to be very lucky of this, because many of my exchange student friends I have spoken to are or have been. I however, have had no problems being able to call or email with family and friends without feeling sad or depressed. It merely makes me feel happy to hear how well they are doing, and to tell them how well I am doing. After all, I know that I only have one year here, and then I’m going back home. So, I feel it’s more important to enjoy all I can, and take advantage of my time in Denmark.

I miss my family and friends tons, don’t get me wrong. But I know that the year I have here is precious, so embrace it as much as I can. For everyone reading this, I miss you and love you! “Jeg savner dig og jeg elsker dig!”

Lastly, thank you Rotary for making this exchange possible. Dow “Peace.”

January 10 Journal

Hej venner og familie,

Knus fra Danmark! Hope everyone is doing well both back home and on exchange. Let me first give my apologies for not writing in some time. However, I hope the amazing stories and adventures I am about to tell will make up for it. I figure it builds a sense of anticipation and excitement. Plus, it gives me far more to talk about.

Well, I have been quite busy (to put it lightly). Exchange, I must say, is one of the greatest experiences I have had in life so far. I try my best to describe the feelings and thoughts I have to my friends and family, but they never seem to come out right. It’s as if the experience of being an exchange student changes both your mind and soul. It certainly has changed the way I think of many things, and my perception of the world. Thus making only fellow exchange students capable of sharing these changes and experiences with.

I’m already seriously considering writing a book based on my year abroad. My host sister, Silje, and I have already begun making our own cookbook combining both American and Danish into our own delicious creations. I’ll be sure to credit Rotary somewhere in the Dedication. Haha.

So, in the past several months, life in Denmark has only gotten better and more exciting. Denmark as a country is ideal in my eyes. I know in my heart I will one day live here, again. The culture is rich with so much history and tradition. For example, during “Juletid” (Christmas time), there were so many little traditions, I could barely remember them all. The entire month of December is filled with Christmas spirit and anticipation. Just walking through town, you can see the glow on people’s faces; knowing that soon everyone will be together for the holidays. My family, in particular, is very into the spirit of Christmas. Practically every day, the house was filled with the scent of Christmas cookies and spices reminding the nose of how wonderful Christmas is. I’m not afraid to admit I gained more than the normal amount of weight over Christmas break. Instead, I completely embraced the numerous new and diverse delicacies. I also made a copy of every Danish dish recipe that was a must-have for Christmas. So, next Christmas, is going to be awesome; American and Danish!

During December, Danes tend to go the extra mile when it comes to keeping themselves entertained and busy. It’s a way of keeping their minds off the miserable weather (which I will tell about later), so I have been told. Also, instead of one special feast on Christmas night, there are these lunches called “Julefrokosts.” They include many Danes (both friends and family), tons of food, lots of drinks, and sometimes these fun little games where you can win presents. Quite frankly, it is a genius idea, and one which I certainly plan to take back home. I attended several Julefrokosts of my own. One exclusively with my class; everyone had to bring a certain dish which we drew from a hat. Another was with my host dad’s family on Christmas Eve. Then it was only two days later when we had another with my host mom’s family; that included 23 people and continued until the wee hours of the morning. By the time Christmas was over, and the house was reasonably back to normal, I was ready for a vacation from vacation, haha.

Spending Christmas away from home was far easier than I expected. Although I have been lucky enough not to experience homesickness in the time I have been here, I felt maybe as though the time of the season would bring back far too many memories of home for me to avoid depression. I have my host family to thank for this. They have been amazing by far. And instead, a part of me felt as if I was indeed home; home in Denmark.

Here, Christmas is celebrated more on December 24th, rather than the 25th. It is the 24th when you have the great Christmas feast, and also when you open presents. However, “Danes work for their presents,” is what I like to say. After Christmas everyone gathers around the Christmas tree to hold hands and begin dancing (really walking steadily) around the tree whilst singing traditional Christmas songs. I found this task to be a bit challenging. So, I participated by being the backup humming. Then with the last song “Nu er Jul igen,” you begin running (still holding hands) around the house, into each room singing. By the time we returned to tree, everyone was panting and laughing hysterically. Now it was time to open presents. Everyone gathered in the living room, each bursting with happiness and excitement. I adored all of my gifts, all which will be sure to remind me of Denmark in the years ahead. The next morning, I made my mom’s traditional apple doughnuts, which she makes every Christmas morning. My host family loved them and said they would adopt the recipe too. Then they gave me one more present. “A present from Santa,” they said, “he must have come during the night, and knew you were here.” I was thrilled, and felt that little piece of being home resurface again. The remainder of the day was spent watching Mamma Mia with my host sister, singing along to the songs at the top of lungs; wearing our pajamas all day long, haha. Christmas this year will certainly be a special one in my heart, and one which I could never forget.

Friends I have made here will be with me for life. Both Danish and fellow exchange students. My class continues to be a wonderful asset to getting through a day of school. They make it fun and one could even say, enjoyable! Haha. They invite me out to coffee after school, and movie nights with the girls. We speak in both Danish and English, and they assure me I’m doing wonderful in the language.

I have yet to have a full dream in Danish, which I am so greatly looking forward to. But lately, they have become half and half. So, I suppose that must mean that I am making some sort of progression? I can watch “Go’Morgen Danmark” (which is like the Danish equivalence of the Today show) and almost fully understand it. I have recently been purchasing my favorite movies, only with Danish subtitles; for when I come home, I can watch them and revive my Danish!

With it now being winter here, the weather is expectedly quite cold. And with the temperature being measured in Celsius, it has lately been around -4 degrees. This past week, it snowed 3 times, and the ground remained blanketed with a quilt of white until the weekend. My friend Siri, from Australia, and I made a snowman after the first snow. Only, it was no normal snowman, oh no. It was a Viking snowman of King Harold Bluetooth (the Danish king who conquered and ruled Norway in the 500s). It was very impressive, if I do say so myself. We continued to spend the day playing in the snow and then sipping hot cocoa by the fireplace. It was utterly “hyggelig.”

Every day, I feel like I’m growing; growing into a more mature, more social, and far wiser person. Denmark has become a part of me. It is of my being. Regardless of how cliché that may sound, it is completely true. I not only love Denmark, but respect it. I even defend it, as though it is of my own origin. Thanks to Rotary, Denmark is a second home.

Conrad’s Bio

 Hello World,

My name is Conrad Troha and I have lived in Florida for my entire life! Moved from Daytona (which is where I was born) when I was about 4 and lived in Palm Coast ever since then. I love it here, but I have always wished that there was a way I could get to see the world…

THAT is why I’m so absolutely excited and honored to have been accepted as a Rotary exchange student! I’m fairly well rounded and very easy to get along with. About 5 times a week I attend jukido jujitsu, it is the thing I enjoy most in my life! It has helped me with friends, grades, and even home life, definitely the most beneficial thing that I have ever done! After my training sessions at the dojo (training hall) I stay to help the youth of Palm Coast gain respect for themselves and others and improve themselves in their daily lives as they train.

When I get back from my exchange I want to be a teacher. But I plan to teach language so I will study Spanish in college and I will study the language of wherever I am going so that maybe I could teach it as well! I have never been more excited to leave home in my life! 🙂

August 26 Journal

 Japan…where do we begin?…

Ah yes! the airport! So it was Friday night and time to say my goodbyes. The truth is that I didn’t think that it would be as hard it was, I would say to myself, it is only a year, I will be back in no time. Haha..yeah right. I said “I love you and goodbye” to my mother at home then my dad at the airport…both times letting out more tears than expected.

Nevertheless I was on the plane to Chicago. 3 hours wasn’t so bad. Met up with an agent from Bokoff-Kaplan in O’Hare and other outbounds going to Japan! We walked around and got to know each other for the three hour lay over and I went ahead and exchanged for about 9000 yen. Before we knew it, it was time to go, we boarded the plane and endured the 13 hour flight to our knew homes. I ended up reading a book and watching a few movies but do you think that I slept? No way! I couldn’t, I was too energized and excited even though I hadn’t slept for a day prior to the flight. Tokyo, Narita…that was my next stop and where I would say goodbye to my fellow outbounds. Truth is though that goodbyes never happened, after we went through customs and immigration we got separated so fast I have no idea where they went! Nevertheless I found my way to the connecting flight that would land me about an hour away in Osaka, Itami Airport.

After getting off the plane this is where I was supposed to meet up with my host family, but coming through Customs I didn’t see any signs or Rotarians at all! I was so confused…so I asked as best as I could where a telephone was and the airport attendant kindly showed me the way. After a lot of struggle in figuring out how to use the phone I called my host father Kobayashi-san. In broken Japanese I told him that I was at the airport and after much confusion he assured me that he was on his way. Two and a half hours later a taxi pulled up containing my host mother and father with a very big greeting! I was so relieved to see them! Come to find out the next day I had arrived at the airport a day earlier than scheduled! We are still figuring that one out…..

It took about 2 hours to get to the hotel in Okayama which my family owned. That is where I would stay the night and after 2 days of no sleep and stress I would have the best night’s sleep of my life. I had a dream that night of a normal day back home and thought that I was still there when I awoke the next morning! Then it hit me that I was in Japan! That first day was hard, I was very homesick, and missed my friends and family more than you know, I figure it was due to the lack of communication with anyone in US. My parents were worried too, I know, seeing how it took me a day or two to figure out how to call internationally from my house. Thankfully though everything worked itself out. I have to say though that the food is very strange here. I had Tako (octopus) for the first time, and we went out to the super market and bought some fresh octopus tentacles for dinner hah, I have to say though it wasn’t bad. It has been 5 days and I have been so many places I don’t even know where to start…..

Korakuen garden – My first day there my host family took me to one of the most famous gardens in Japan. It was absolutely beautiful – the fish, the birds, the trees, and Okayama castle! That is where I had my first cup of traditional Japanese green tea and kibi dango. It is….rather bitter, kind of like drinking mashed up leaves I could swear they made me eat grass too…..anyway! Unfortunately I didn’t have a camera at this point because I left mine at home….took me a day or two to get my host parents to understand that so the next day, me and a Rotarian and my host father went to the electronics store and I bought a Japanese camera, luckily it has English settings or I would be done for!

Joypolis – This is a very very big arcade close to the supermarket in Okayama, my host mother was showing it to me asking me if I knew about anime and about sonic (there is a giant gold sonic statue in there!) and mario hah, it was interesting. So she asked me if I played arcade games and I told her yes so she asked me to show her by playing a gundam game….I lost….very badly….

7/11 – That’s right 7/11! It is a convenient store here…not a gas station and it was sooooo different. That is where my father took me to get lunch the other day, we had Onigiri (rice cakes). The best food of my life….I could eat onigiri allllllll day long. Oh and if you ever go to Japan and are eating rice, do NOT leave rice in your bowl when you are done…you better eat it ALL! I learned that the hard way….

Okayama University – It is a very famous school in Japan, right down the hill from my high school. It is MASSIVE! My high school is uphill so when you look over the side you get a beautiful view of all of Okayama city, it is absolutely amazing! I was introduced to my high school principal and vice principal. And there was a gentleman there that I thought was Japanese until he said “Hi, I’m Zack”. I was shocked, until he told me he was the English teacher there! He is American and extremely helpful. They are going to put me into a language school down the hill from my high school to help me every day and they had to measure me for my seifuku (school uniform). I am bigger than they anticipated. I hit my head on EVERYTHING too! I have hit my head on the light above the dinner table…all the doorways in my house and even a ceiling or two…

According to Zack sensei, jetlag takes a few weeks to wear off and I am still extremely tired. School starts on Monday, I hope that I am prepared, hah I hope I can even find my way there! I have to walk to the train station and then ride a train to the bus stop where I will ride the bus to school….that is not going to go well I already know xD. But I am taking pictures of everything, my family laughs at me when I stop to take pictures of things like like signs and vending machines, but hey it’s all new to me! 🙂

Everything here is sugoi (amazing) I don’t know how else to explain it. The Japanese are interesting people, they don’t need to worry that cigarettes and beer are in vending machines because they know that no one under age will even think of taking them, I haven’t seen one police officer in the time that I have been here. And I have never seen so many bikes either! The sidewalks are lined with bicycles – it is insane, everyone here rides their bike. Needless to say I haven’t seen one fat Japanese person yet 😀

Everyone bows and says thank you, everyone is polite and smiles. It is truly amazing. I have befriended my dictionary as well, I don’t go anywhere without him, and the Rotarians here were kind enough to give me an electronic dictionary to use during my stay even though I can’t read it 🙂 Anyway, my rambling has to end abruptly due to the fact that it is dinner time and I have to go. More entries will come soon and so will some pictures when I figure out how to get them onto the computer! Arigatou Rotary for everything, I already know that this is going to be the best year of my life! Until next time journal….

Ja mata ne

-Conrad

September 20 Journal

 OK everyone…..It’s me again!

All in all it is very hard to organize my thoughts over the period of a month but I will do my best! Where did I leave off last time…….

Oh YEAH! School! Now you might be thinking oh woopdy doo it’s school….but if you are, you are COMPLETELY wrong! School in Japan has more differences than I can imagine, and for the most part, I like school here way better! I have to wake up every morning at about 7 to eat breakfast and put on my uniform and leave the house by about 7:30, 10 minute walk to the train station, train ride to the central station in Okayama city then it’s on a bus to school. Worst experience I have had with the train thus far was a couple of days ago…I was the first one off the train and clumsy me (it was too early…) stepped in between the train and the platform leading to me face planting in front of EVERYONE! My phone flew out of my front pocket and both my bags flew out of my hand….I was alright…but boy I will never be more embarrassed than I was then….

On to a happier memory! =) School starts at about 8:50 and there are 7 classes everyday…..the problem is that every day the schedule is completely different D= I have to keep mine with me and look at it every day between every class! Nonetheless it is a private school but it’s more laid back than Florida public schools! I was amazed when our math teacher just didn’t feel like showing up to class one day…so he didn’t…we just hung out and talked until the class was over.

My absolutely most favorite class is my 書道 (calligraphy) class! Yes I said calligraphy…that means a piece of paper, a brush and some ink! It is amazing. I went as far as to join the Calligraphy club after school every week! Nonetheless, every day is a new challenge, Japanese is difficult and easy at the same time, some things make a lot of sense and others I just don’t understand at all =) Some things I can’t help but laugh at though…my teacher was amazed when I told him that every street in Florida has a name… That’s right…only main streets have names in Japan! (with the exception of Kyoto)

Ah, so a few days ago I was able to officially say that I turned 18 on the other side of the planet! 🙂 My birthday was a blast, the kids made a cool card for me and signed it, my host parents bought me a birthday cake and got me presents – it was a lot of fun!

Every day my Japanese gets just a tiny bit better, but I still have an incredibly long way to go…it’s amazing how one word can mean 4 or 5 different things….somewhat aggravating too -.-; I think everyday that my Japanese gets better my English gets worse though…’tis a funny cycle….

Today is the first day that I am out in Japan by myself as well!!!!! I can simply walk around and just enjoy the sights…check out some cool stores or go to the arcade (which I might do when I am done with this ^^)

My cellphone is my best friend by the way….hahahahah it comes with me everywhere! It’s pretty sweet, I don’t use the internet on it though simply because I am paying for it annnnnd….yeah no thanks, but I like to use it to write messages to mah Japanese buddies….I like to think of it as a study tool. =P

My school was also kind enough to hook me up with some Japanese lessons at a school not far….just a bus ride down the hill! (My school is basically on a mountain, thus I have the most amazing view of all of Okayama city from my classroom!) But yeah those lessons will start first thing next week, hopefully my Japanese will pick up a little faster after that point.

I have now decided that the greatest invention in the history of mankind is Onigiri…I’ll explain: You have your favorite kind of fish – for example my favorite onigiri is tuna and mayo…then that is wrapped in a rice ball…that rice ball is then wrapped in seaweed…even if you don’t like fish or sushi, I guarantee that you will like Onigiri….it’s that amazing….I am going to buy as much onigiri and bring it with me before I have to leave Japan in 10 months!

There are Konbini (convenient stores) literally on every block…if you have a wallet and two feet to get you there you can go and buy anything you want to eat for extremely cheap, it’s rather amusing. I have found myself making quite frequent trips to the local Konbini. (Yes, to get me some Onigiri!!!!) heh

My house!

Right….Japanese homes are extremely compact…it’s rather amusing – there are secret compartments in the floors and ceilings so that they can store stuff, yes…it’s really that small! Hhahahaha

TV

Talk about amusing, they have some of the craziest game shows you will ever see in your life! It’s so funny…I will sit and stare at the TV for hours trying to understand what is going on…But at the moment it is Sumo season so you could say I have been rather attached to television. Sumo is incredibly big in Japan, but the reason I like it so much is that you can see Japan almost embodied within Sumo…the actual sumo match is only one aspect…a real treat….

!!!!!!

I have been here for an entire month! I have no idea where the time is going…it’s insane…It definitely is going to be over before I know it, which is why I have to go out and explore the wonders of Japan! Next I think I will visit a local book store and see if I can’t pick up some (more or less) easy Japanese reads so I can study!

Until next time Everyone!

今良侍　- Conrad (that’s my kanji name) =)

P.S. Still haven’t gotten used to the cockroaches in my house xD (Not a joke…)

October 30 Journal

 Hi everyone!

So it turns out I’m not very good at writing these things…my head goes blank and I cant remember what I did xD not to mention the fact that while I’m typing in English I forget English words and use bad English grammar…..but here goes….

A lot has happened this past month and it has been incredible! I’m slightly worried about the fact that I’m not even the slightest bit homesick….but I have a feeling that the homesickness feeling is going to come in a month when I have to change host families for the first time…I’m absolutely dreading it. At this point, when I am at home I actually feel like I am at home! It’s hard to explain, but you know that feeling you get after a long day – you walk into your house and you’re simply relieved that your finally home and can relax? Well that’s finally how I feel when I am walking up the hill on our incredibly narrow street knowing that I am almost at the house that I have been living at for the past two months and I am almost with the family that has been so incredibly kind to me no matter what the circumstances. I didn’t think that I could develop such an attachment to people I hardly know. My host mom is a blast, me and her make fun of each other almost nonstop….it’s a lot of fun! =)

School has become a lot easier, I like gym class the best….It’s the easiest to understand! We were playing handball the other day and the ball almost went outta bounds so I dove for it and threw it back in, everybody started screaming ‘sugoi sugoi’ and started clapping…I dunno, I just felt like ‘I was part of the team’… sounds corny but it is an incredible feeling to be accepted by my classmates, absolutely incredible! I went and hung out with the girl from my class the other day, we went to the arcade and she ended up forcing me into the purikura….(basically a camera room, and after you take pictures you can draw on them and make them…..unique xD) it was interesting….after that I proceeded to win a giant stuffed stitch doll from one of the grabber machines…took me about 1000 yen….I was determined -.-

AH! So I went to the onsen for the first time about 3 weeks ago! Needless to say it was highly awkward! We went into the little locker room (this onsen wasn’t coed by the way) and found our lockers, then my host father proceeded to strip right then and there! I looked around and their were naked old men everywhere! I hadn’t even noticed it! So….I took my clothes off and had my little hand towel covering what was left of my dignity, then we went on into the shower room. It wasn’t weird to them though, fathers had their children in there and it simply wasn’t anything abnormal. There are little stations in the shower area where you sit on a tiny little stool and there are shampoo and body soap provided, and you wash…..everything, total scrub down. After that you proceed to the actual hot spring itself. At this point the fact that I was naked didn’t bother me anymore…It just was. And in the hot spring, there are various kinds of hot springs – some are outside some are inside, some have massaging bubbles and there are even little personal tubs you can relax in if you want. Come to think of it….I really rather enjoyed myself! And am definitely looking forward to going again! (Bradley when you come to visit next summer I’m taking you to one whether you like it or not! xD)

So I definitely think I’m going to be fat by the time I get back to America…after dinner every night me and my host mother make sure to enjoy some Ice cream! Just for future reference….Japanese Ice cream is 10 times more delicious than American ice cream! I came to find out though that sweet foods are associated with women and bitter foods are associated with men….that made me sad…because I love sweets! There is a kind of chocolate in the conbini (convenience store) that’s actually called ‘men’s bitter chocolate’ ……It’s disgusting! X(………..call me a girl if you want, I like the sweet stuff! Speaking of bitter foods though, I have become rather accustomed to tea without sugar, traditional green tea, and nearly black coffee. As disgusting as that sounds…it’s not half bad once you get used to it! One thing I haven’t gotten used to is the slabs of fish they put in front of you and expect you to eat! It’s not the taste either, I’m actually rather fond of the taste of raw fish…..it’s when they give me cooked slabs of fish and there are little bones in it! I feel like they are trying to kill me, it takes forever for me to eat too because I have to find the little bones and pull em out, I don’t know how they do it….. I haven’t mastered the art of noodle eating either….the Japanese eat their noodles really really fast, I’m pretty sure they don’t chew, they simply inhale…..But I have to say I love my chopsticks! It’s simply more fun eating with them. Hah, when I get back to the US I will continue to use my chopsticks, I refuse to use a fork! >=D

I can’t believe it’s already in the third month though! I am rather disappointed in my Japanese thus far, but I know that it’s just me being picky with myself! There are times when I understand what people are saying without thinking about it and times when I feel like its my first day in Japan again! It’s a funny system…but I love when I can’t remember English words! It’s amazing! I was talking with a couple of other exchange students in English and forgot how to say vending machine…..’uhhh uhhhh…..you know that thing the drinks come out of! x(‘ It was hilarious! Because I would say it in Japanese and they had no clue what I was talking about…..=) Every Monday and Friday I have a special Japanese class down the hill at a language school for exchange students, there are only two other people in that class both from America and their Japanese stinks =) so the class is extremely easy for me, the teacher goes ahead and makes up harder reading and writing assignments for me. And I just found out that apparently they want to throw me in a Japanese class at the university every Thursday to see how I do ;; Not gonna be fun!

I’m getting too used to the walking on the opposite side of the road thing….I have a feeling that when I get back to America it’s not going to be safe for me to drive…..I’ll be driving into oncoming traffic! =) I learned not too long ago that to get your driving license in Japan it cost like 200,000 yen…..that’s like 2000 dollars! I was appalled….but it’s for the driving school, which is apparently really difficult, but it’s a good thing they go to driving school in Japan because the roads are incredibly narrow! And I don’t know how they do it but Japanese people can fit the biggest cars in the littlest places at incredibly high speeds…..it’s scary to say the least….

All of my friends think that I am crazy…I LOVE the fall weather! It is absolutely amazing! nice and chilly, the leaves are absolutely beautiful! It’s an amazing experience. The mountains are covered in forest so it is absolutely amazing, something you definitely can’t see in Florida!

I went to Osaka about a week ago as well. It was with my grandpa’s host club though, so I felt really awkward….luckily I had my host mom there to keep me company and talk too. We went to one of Japan’s most famous aquariums. It was absolutely amazing and beautiful. Seen everything from penguins to otters to sharks and octopus to crabs…..it was neat! But a little strange cuz my host mom (the entire time) kept pointing at things and telling me how badly she wanted to eat it….highly disturbing!

Two days ago, with my host club we went to see an old traditional style play called kyougen. There actors dialects were very strong and were very strange, it’s the oldest style play in Japan so it was very difficult to pick up what they were saying, but even though I couldn’t understand the verbal part of the play I understood the body language and I found myself laughing along with everyone else. Came to find out later that because of the way the actors were speaking it was even hard for the Japanese to understand….I didn’t feel so bad after that =)

And today I discovered the book off! Its basically a store with any comic or video game you can think of at incredibly low prices! Needless to say I was in heaven! ^^ Call me a dork, but I have found that reading comics is an excellent way of studying the Japanese language and picking up kanji and different expressions!

I have to say, though I am not homesick….I do miss my friends and family dearly! I can’t wait to see you all again! But at the same time…I really don’t want to have to leave my new family….

I am torn….

But no worries! I am going to go and study and brush up my Japanese and become fluent! So I will talk to you all again soon! Don’t miss me too much!

Until next time folks!

Jyaaa mata!

February 4 Journal

 Ok folks….it’s been a while…lets do this!!!!

When I last left off in my journal it was mid fall and all of the leaves were absolutely beautiful, the red, yellow, and orange shades covering the vast ranges of mountains as far as the eye can see! Things have definitely changed…it’s now well into winter and it’s cold, the trees look sad and bare, the sign of the end of what was and the start of something new. Something that can’t be seen in Florida. Though I am slightly disappointed in the lack of snow in Okayama….hey I can’t really complain can I? I’m in Japan!

Well before the current winter befell us all, me and an exchangee from California and two English Sensei’s made a trip to Himeji castle! That may not sound all that exciting to you guys but Himeji is the last standing original castle in all of Japan. All the others have been rebuilt, destroyed, or are in the process of being remodeled. Needless to say it was absolutely amazing! The castle’s foundation is huge and is made completely of stone! They actually had to move stones in from different prefectures in the process of building it. The inside has basically been turned into a museum at this point with swords, spears, armor, ancient scrolls, and statues lining its innards. Absolutely breathtaking…. Oh yeah the two English teachers I spoke about, they made me feel really good about my Japanese by the way. They have lived in Japan for nearly two years and understand almost none of the language….I almost wanted to tell them to get out of Japan….I was slightly appalled….but needless to say at this point I can have a conversation in Japanese for a good amount of time, I can read Japanese comics, and I can play my video games in Japanese as well…..and understand it Sure I can’t understand it all but I honestly don’t expect to at this point. If I simply continue my studies the way that I am, I am very confident that my Japanese will exceed anything I ever expected when I first left for Japan.

Dressing for winter…..something I was definitely not used to at first. My host mom would tell me “it’s cold outside! Maybe you should put on a few more layers,” and my response was always, “Thanks but I think I’m alright”…..NOT xD As soon as I walked outside I felt like I was going to turn into an icicle! Hah….and I’m in one of the warmest parts of Japan. It’s the Floridian in me ;; trying to let me freeze…..rather sad really….

Me, my previous host father, and a few Rotarians made a trip down to Shikoku just before winter as well. I have to say it was relaxing. Shikoku is the island just south of Okayama. The drive was about 3 hours there; we first drove to the top of a beautiful mountain range to see the windmills at its peak. When I first stepped out of the car and breathed in that fresh mountain air it was….indescribable….the view was intoxicatingly beautiful, the air was clear, and I just wanted to sit up there and gaze for hours. However, the little old man that came with us was kind of creepy with his camera….hahahah he took way to many pictures of me for comfort xD Anyway! After we descended the mountain we hit up a local fish market! I don’t really know why though…they just walked around pointing and saying how delicious everything looked (we didn’t buy anything…..) needless to say it was interesting. Following that we went to the place that we came to Shikoku for…the ONSEN! (hot spring) I have to say, though the first time was strange, I have really grown to like it. It’s not weird to me anymore to strip and bathe with other men xD We actually ended up staying the night at a nearby hotel, went and ate REALLY expensive food (which was the MOST delicious thing that I have ever eaten) and then hitting the onsen one more time before returning home. Then it was back to school before winter break…..

At this point school had grown redundant and boring. As bad as that may sound, the only part I liked about it was my friends. Now that I could talk to them, lunch and after school were my favorite times. And not to mention the amazing attachment that had grown between me and my first host family in those 3 and a half months. But….it was finally time to change host families! I didn’t want to go….I had a bond with my host family that I didn’t want to share with anyone else in Japan! Sure they weren’t my real parents and they could never replace them! But they were the next best thing….I packed and before I knew it was in a new room and house with strange people I didn’t know again….the worst part of my exchange thus far was that day, though no tears were shed between me and my host family. I felt like they had been torn from me on that day….

But I soon realized the fact that that wouldn’t be the last day I see them and that my new host family was actually very very nice and cared for me just like my previous family did! And so as things went on I adjusted to the different cooking style of my new host mother and learned my way around the new area of Okayama that I had never explored before while eagerly awaiting Christmas in Japan.

Things were fairly normal up until break, not much had happened. And as things drew closer I decided to ask my host mother about what Christmas was like here in Japan! And to my extreme disappointment she basically explained to me that because almost none of Japan’s population has any set religion they don’t make Christmas a very big deal…I’m not religious either but I mean come on!!!!! So I didn’t see any Christmas lights at all this winter, and only an occasional Santa-san here and there. Or we would pass a KFC and the colonel would be dressed up as Santa xDDD. Needless to say I wasn’t going to spend Christmas lounging around at home all day so I decided to go to a friend’s house…and lounge around all day there hahah. I made sure not to impose on anyone, and because no one was celebrating Christmas here it was just like another day off of school. I was actually pretty happy because that was the first time I have gotten to ACTUALLY talk and have a serious conversation with my family. It made me feel better. And so did the fact that new years in Japan was NOT in anyway disappointing!

It started with New Years Eve actually! Me and another exchange went to her host grandma’s house and we made rice cakes!!!!! It is a really old Japanese tradition, and not many people nowadays do it. It’s an interesting process actually…they first bowl a bowl of rice, when its nice and soft they then put it in a big stone bowl thingy and the guys (who wait outside in the cold -.-;) get to take a very heavy mallet and smash the rice until it turns into a goo…then the women (who are inside with the heat -.-;;;;;) roll the goo into little cakes! And then they add flavors and stuff, ’twas fun ^^ We were out there from about 7 in the morning til 1…….but I don’t regret the experience! After that I went home and that night after dinner everyone sat around talking and it was just….nice =) then around 11 o’clock everyone had soba (Japanese noodles) just like everyone else in the country to watch the countdown on TV!

Upon awakening the next morning and going downstairs to greet my family I see the traditional new years breakfast! (Way too hearty of foods to be eating that early xD) and If you would like to know what we ate…..I don’t really know ;; I find that happening to me a lot…. (-.- 😉 sorry….

And I was not expecting the hordes of money given to me on New Years either! It’s called Otoshidama and it’s simply a tradition that on New Years day adults give money to the kids – once you hit 20 it’s your turn to do the giving! Well I knew about it but I was given a LOT more than I was anticipating! I ended up getting different amounts from different relatives and all together collecting about 50,000 yen…..that’s the equivalent to about 500 dollars! (well probably more than that now….thank you exchange rate -.-; ) And after the receiving of the money we made our way to the temple to pray for a good year! A tradition that nearly everyone in Japan keeps so there were way too many people at that lil temple! Hah but needless to say that too was a good experience, and kind of hard to explain the feeling of it all. You simply had to be here!

And from then on, January has simply become amazing! It’s the little things that simply make me smile each and every day! I go to school and understand homeroom, can have conversations with my friends, I can make jokes, and I understand my classes! The classes that are not understandable at this point are classical Japanese….I don’t even know contemporary Japanese yet -.-; and chemistry….but I didn’t understand that in English so I’m not all that worried about Chemistry hahhahah.

Among the closing of January came one of the funnest things that I ever done in my life! SNOW!

That’s right folks! I was allowed to tag along with the younger grades on their trip to Tottori prefecture and visit the mountain Daisen! And the trip was not just to visit this mountain of course – what would be the point in that? So instead we went and the younger kids hit the ski slopes and me and the other high schoolers hit the snowboards! It was AMAZINGLY fun! We stayed on the mountain for three solid days to simply go snowboarding and nothing else! I just remember getting going as fast as I could and trying to stop…..hah…I hit the brakes a lil to hard ^^; Needless to say I made quite a few rotations while rolling down the rest of the slope hahahah and then simply laid there thinking to myself “Wow……”

I am very very confident that I am going to do that again in my life! Don’t know how or when but I WILL see snow again and I WILL go snowboarding again! No doubt =)

And that’s all for my adventures thus far! At least the big ones =D

Will make sure to update more often too. Hope you enjoyed, readers! I’m out.

Conrad

July 27 Journal

 Hey all its my final journal,

And It has been a LONG time. So there is plenty to tell right.

Well around the end of January I was given the chance to see snow for the first time. To be honest I was nervous about going because I didn’t know the people that I was going with. I went with the sophomore class at my high school, so sure we have met before but I didn’t really KNOW them. So on an early winter morning I dressed snug and grabbed my bag, my host mom took me to the bus station where we met the other students. And off we went, 2 hours north into the snowy top of one of the most beautiful mountains in Japan. From far away it can be mistaken for Mt. Fuji if you’re not looking carefully. The first time I stepped out into that cool mountain air … it was a feeling that I can never forget. I looked at one of the kids next to me then at the ground. And without having to think about it grabbed the biggest handful of snow I could and hit him right between the eyes with it. The beginning of a beautiful friendship I say =). After the relentless snowball fight everyone was herded into the resort that we were staying at and we checked out our rental gear, suited up, and back out into the snow we went. This time a bit more cautiously (thanks to the teachers breathing down out necks) and finally onto the lift. Seeing how I don’t like heights and there was nothing to fasten me in…I didn’t enjoy that part. And not to mention the jerks on the lift behind mine that brought snowballs with them. hah Upon arriving at the top we were introduced to our snowboard instructors. After that we were assigned rental boards and the 3 day snowboard lessons began. It wasn’t very rough but I will say this, the guys on the TV make it look reeeeeallly easy! Around the second day the instructor told me to go as fast as I could down the hill WITHOUT losing control. I said ok, and simply went as fast as I could. Nonetheless lost it and rolled 7 or 8 times, which was extremely fun hah. All in all the experience was amazing and has made me decide that I will have to make a few road trips up north during the winter.

After my snowboard experience I returned home to Okayama and the next day it was back to school like normal. Things were normal for a while, friends, study, school, video games, and comics until my host parents told me that I would be able to go to Tokyo! I had told them how badly I would have liked to have been able to go nonstop and so my host father decided that seeing how they were going to Tokyo to see my host brother it would be a good idea to bring me along! With that I packed a few things and off to the bullet train we went. While riding the train, it took us right past Mt. Fuji (another place I would LOVE to go) and I was able to see how beautiful it really is. After about an hour and a half we were there. Tokyo, the heart of modern day Japan. And the biggest impression I think that I got from it was…there are way too many people in one little city. I lost my host parents a couple times in the crowds (thank god for cell phones) and it’s ridiculous how fast people walk in that city. I was walking at what I would consider faster than a normal pace and this little old lady comes shoving past me with her cane in hand. And though it was crowded and hectic…it was a good experience. The first thing we did was go visit my host brother at his job. He works at Tokyo Dome, which is where the biggest baseball games in all of Japan are held. With that I went and saw my first baseball game AND my favorite team won! ^^; After the baseball game we went and stayed a hotel next to Tokyo station. My host brother came to visit with his fiancée and it was off to bed. After we woke up and checked out, we went on over to the buses and it turns out that my host father had bought us tickets for a tour bus. And so we toured about various sights of Tokyo and eventually came to Tokyo tower. Tokyo tower is 330 meters tall and from that high up…the view is absolutely beautiful. Past the tall buildings it’s nothing but mountains and rice fields as far as the eye can see. From that tower you can even see Mt. Fuji which is quite a few prefectures away. After our tour bus we ended up back at the station, ate Korean, and were back on the shinkansen (bullet train) home.

After Tokyo came our Rotary Orientation. And I was more than looking forward to this one. See in my district here in little Okayama there is only one other exchange student, making things a little bit lonely. And when the orientation came, various districts gathered together allowing me to meet exchanges from all over the world. (Finally!) Through the orientation we had to do a talent and talk about our experiences which wasn’t a big deal, then after that we basically had free time to just hang out and get to know one another. We talked, played games, joked, and simply had a good time. The next day everyone went to Kurashiki (a small but very old city in Okayama) and bought souvenirs for family and friends.

Following the orientation it was time to change host families again. And I don’t know if this is bad or not but I was excited to be going back to my first host family. Don’t get me wrong, Koyama san (second host family) was very kind and we talked and did things together but it simply wasn’t the same bond as the Kobayashis (first and third host family). We simply click, and get along so well that when it comes to host families I don’t believe that there is a better one out there for me. I honest and truly feel like I am at home. Which is why things are going to be a bit tough here in 10 days when I have to go home to America. Backtracking-Not long after moving back in with Kobayashi san we were to take a trip to Kyoto, the old capital of Japan. The reason for the trip may sound silly when I tell it … but it was worth it. We went to see flowers, yes that’s right, the cherry blossoms. These are the most beautiful flowers that I have ever seen in my entire life. Seeing them blowing in the breeze with that beautiful pink tint in front of and old Japanese style shiro (castle) is something everyone should come and see at least once their lifetime. No question in my mind. We walked the streets of Kyoto and visited various old houses, temples, and castles. Maiko (geisha in training) were walking the streets in their kimono and kasa (paper umbrella), that together with the old buildings and cherry blossoms is an image that is only able to be seen in Kyoto Japan and nowhere else. hah now that I think about it that was the first day that I ever ate green tea ice cream (which is absolutely amazing! and also cant be found in America ;;).

On my famous places that I wanted to go to in Japan list I had almost been to them all. But not quite, and once again thanks to the efforts of Rotary and their generosity, me and the other exchangee in our district were scheduled for our trip to go to the wondrous and mysterious island of Okinawa. I have to say, I was a bit…confused I suppose is the best way to put it. Seeing how the original culture and language of Okinawa is so different from that of the rest of Japan, it really isn’t the same feel as everywhere else. After getting off of the plane and getting settled into the hotel we went out for our first Okinawan meal. And it was … well … nasty hah. I have to say I loved goya (a food grown only in Okinawa and is extremely bitter) but the rest of it was a bit weird I guess cuz I’m not used to it. When the dishes came out with the food on them and I picked up my chopsticks said itadakimasu and picked up the closest thing to me put a bit in my mouth and tried to chew it up though it was very difficult. I wasn’t going to ask but the Rotarian sitting next to me looks at me and says, “do you know what you’re eating?” Unfortunately I told him no and he was more than happy to tell me I was chomping on pig ear. A bit shocked I looked at him, put my bowl down and said ever so queasily ” we feed that to our dogs”. Needless to say that’s how the entire dinner went but afterwards we enjoyed a traditional Okinawan dance and song which was very entertaining and neat to be able to experience.

The next day we went out to one of the old bunkers used in the war which was now a museum and looked around at how horrible things were. But to brighten up the day a bit we went canoeing and snorkeling which was an absolute blast! Swam through the coral reef which was incredibly beautiful and played with the fishes in the ocean. The instructor we were with picked a puffer fish outta the water and poked the poor guy till he puffed up and rolled off the side of the little floaty he was on and swam away.

After the fun it was time to eat so unfortunately we went to the most disturbing place in all of Japan. The fish market. I swear it is like hell, they have no sympathy for anything in there. Remember the puffer fish I was talking about a second ago, unfortunately his cousin was at the market skinned and waiting to be bought. Alongside every other fish that swims in the ocean. The weirdest thing that I was while I was there though was definitely the pig face. It was the skin from the ears all the way down to the snout and was just hanging in the market, very grotesque. After the hell market it was time to depart Okinawa and return home.

After going back to school the next week my teacher came up to me and was delighted to tell me about the kanji test that I would be taking in two months. The level that I was to take was that of a middle school Japanese student in kanji proficiency. That’s approximately 1009 kanji. When I was told about the test I knew about 650 kanji roughly. This shocked me, scared me, and had me studying my ass off every single day not missing one not even for the weekends. One of the most difficult tests that I have ever taken and wasn’t prepared for it in any way. So for a good two months of my exchange I woke up to go to school and study. When I got home I ate dinner and studied. Took a bath got dressed and studied before going to sleep. There were only a handful of days that I wasn’t studying until my eyes wanted to fall out of my head (these days were usually on the weekend) but I didn’t care, I was not ready to fail this test! During the last week of my studying my brother made it to Japan to visit which left me a bit strapped for time. But nonetheless the day came and I did not feel ready. On top of all the stress I had going for me that day…I was late. Thank goodness for me I got lost somewhere where the people were nice enough to guide me in the right direction. So I’m here. What all the anticipation for the last 2 months was for, stuck in the middle of a bunch of 7th graders. It was a very short test, about an hour long and 100 or some questions. Once It was over I was simply glad to be done with it. All that there was left to do was wait. It would be a month before I knew whether I had passed…or had studied my ass off only to fall face first in the dirt….

Bradley! That’s my brother’s name! It was incredible to finally see him again after 10 months! Like I said he came just before I was to take my test but I didn’t care hahahah. And one of the craziest things is that he was going to be staying for an entire month! I would be able to show him around and teach him about Japan and make fun of him in Japanese with my friends and family and he wouldn’t understand! hahahahah >3 The first night I felt bad for him actually…he had just gotten off of an incredibly long plane flight, hadn’t slept, and we were going out to eat udon (Japanese noodles) and I didn’t even consider the fact that he couldn’t use chopsticks. Things didn’t go horrible, he just ended up eating a lot slower than usual. And I think the reason I felt so bad for him was because I knew exactly how he felt. That first week especially was like looking at myself a year ago. The only difference was that he liked to look at me for translations of things all the time. I didn’t have that. But nonetheless it was amazing to see how clueless he was. And it’s not just him, any of you reading this, if or when you go abroad you will feel the same bit of confusion and hardship. You won’t know why people do the things that they do, sometimes you will regret having made the choice to go but it’s the people that fought through the hard times and became a part of their host country, making a bond like no other, those are Rotary exchange students, and I’m proud to be one of them. Even though you don’t realize you did anything….thanks Bradley you helped me realize how important this place is to me and how I have changed this year.

And as things are wrapping themselves up over here on my exchange, I am preparing to make my way back into my “normal” American life…for now. I’m not sure what the future holds for me or where it will end up taking me but I am positive that this year’s experience will help me to make the choices that will guide the right path to the future I want to create. And I owe it all to Rotary for opening this road up to me that seemed to be in the farthest reaches of my wildest dreams a year ago. All of you, including my fellow exchangees and Rotex. Everyone played a part, and I wish there were some way for me to pay it back to each and every one of you. And I can’t leave out my family. They have supported me through this entire year, mentally and physically (cash). You guyz never let me down, and I love you all so very much. From here I have to get in as much time with my host family as I can. It’s weird to think, but I love them too. They have done so much for me. And it’s coming to its close. This chapter of my life is ending only to open up many many more.

One more time, thank you Rotarians and thank you family.

From yet another certified adventurer,

ｰ今良侍ｰ

Drake’s Bio

 “Professing to be wise, they become fools.” – Romans 1:22

Bliss can be found in ignorance like the old saying “Ignorance is Bliss,” but bliss can also be found in wisdom. Therefore, if we are wise, we are blissful, but if we are ignorant we enjoy a close-minded form of bliss which is a transparent form of happiness; in other words we can only be happy with what we see because it’s all that we know.

If we only could step out of our comfort zone and accept that we cannot change some things and use courage to change the things we can, then we become wise, and we remain blissful, but this time without walls and blinders and hindrances we are finally open to the world, then we see that with wisdom we become too blissful, thinking that we know it all, so we attempt to humble ourselves. When we hear people say “Oh, some people just think they know everything,” you think to yourself “That’s how I feel, like I’ve got everything figured out,” so we tell ourselves, or we should tell ourselves that it’s best that we not act like we know it all and that we have everything figured out. However, we tell ourselves this but we do not act upon it, so we continue on believing that we are indeed wiser (and it’s inevitable we all make that mistake) but that’s what makes us fat and happy and eventually those words, thoughts and actions of wisdom become obsolete to us and we fall from our point of nirvana and clarity; and we as livers of life professing to be wise become fools.

I do not want to be a fool, I have no intention of being blissful through ignorance, and as a matter of fact I refuse it. I’m fifteen years old and I’m going to Hungary for an entire year and although you don’t hear that every day I say it just about every day yet it somehow doesn’t lose its zeal. I could tell you all about my hobbies, friends, family and whatever else is usually found in a biography, however I’m telling you this instead because it’s something that will hopefully show you more than “Drake Starling” but his inner thought, so here it goes.

I find myself wanting wisdom, although right now I think I have everything figured out, probably the teenager talking in me, I have enough sense now to know that when I feel that way, it’s just a feeling. I hope – no, I know that this year will make me into something great. For every exchange student I know that he/she will become something great. When we tell people about what we’re doing this year they look at us like we’re crazy and they’re absolutely right, because no normal person would do this, it takes a certain person to do this; and if that’s what qualifies as crazy then so be it, we’re crazy, and I’m proud of it.

I look back at former exchange students and there is something in their eyes that tells us that they are a different type of people, and I see the naivety in our eyes as we embark on this experience and I can’t help but think “Will my eyes tell people that when I get back?” I sure want them too, but I guess that depends on whether or not I want this badly enough, I want this like I’ve never wanted anything before but what’s going to make me blissful is if I step out of my comfort zone and embrace all that this has to offer, even if it is going to be difficult.

No one ever said this was going to be easy, it’s going to be the furthest thing from easy, I have to let go of what I know and love and learn to start all over, a fresh start. That’s an enticing yet scary idea. I’m ready to do this, I’m ready to let go. It will definitely be worth it. Thank you to everyone who has had some role in this; Mom, Rotarians, and all my family for supporting me to do this. I’m ready to let go and begin.

July 30 Journal

 All right, I have 25 days left…. 25! When did that happen? Everyone will tell you something that starts off like “It seems like just yesterday I signed up for the program,” they’ll say something about the past and how they prepared for leaving but I want to forget the past, well, not forget it entirely but more like, press the pause button, take the movie out, put in a new one and restart later where I left off.

I haven’t left yet but I already feel changed by this experience, not in its entirety but I feel much more mature than your average junior. Maybe it’s just nerves, but this doesn’t seem as unreal as I thought it would be. I went to the mall today to get some winter clothes for Budapest (I hear it gets cold there hehe) and when my mother was telling the cashier why we needed the clothes, which she always does even if they don’t need to know why, he was gladdened to hear that I wanted to go study overseas, but he asked that one question that I don’t have the right answer to. “Are you fluent in Hungarian?” “UHH…. well, I… a little?” I mean I have studied a lot of Hungarian, and I can hold a minimal conversation with a native speaker, a two year old perhaps, however I don’t want to be minimally fluent. My goal is and has been to be fluent by the time I get there and if I try to and continue attempting then hey! What’s stopping me?

August 26 Journal

 All right, here we go. It’s day two for me and I haven’t slept properly since I got on the plane, I’m too excited to be here.

This city is nicknamed “The Paris of the East,” and I can see why. I’d like to talk about the flight but I’m trying to repress some horrible memories, and well…I….it…just wasn’t good, but the airplane food is gone now, far away from me.

I have the top floor of the house all to myself, it has two secret passageways, yeah that’s right SECRET passage ways! It’s almost the size of my house and it’s all mine. Plus it has the best view of the city, every morning I wake up to a sunrise over the mountains of Buda and look down the river at Pest. It’s quite a sight.

My Hungarian has improved a lot since I’ve been here. Today I was listening to a conversation my host sister was having and I finally understood how to say “I have.” Hey! I know that you other outbounds are saying that that’s the easiest verb in any language, but guess what, there is no way to say “I have” in Hungarian, so they have to use several other words. There are at least three ways to say I have, and I just learned them, so ha!

Everyone says my Hungarian is AMAZING. I was so happy when I met my rotary club tonight, and they told me that…. Well, they didn’t have to say too much, their mouths were open the whole time. However, I’m still not satisfied with It so I’ll improve it.

OH, by the way the reason I’m so tired is because last night I opened my windows since it’s so cool outside and I fell asleep and woke up at 2am because I heard a buzzing and it was a moth the size of my hand, and I’m not gonna lie I was a little…”Startled.” So guess who had to battle a 5 inch moth monster at 2am….that’s right me. Now… guess who won. Haha, I think the neighbors must have heard it because it was quite a noise I made, and then today we went around town and everyone and their mother wanted to meet me. So I met everyone and I tried to remember all their names but it wasn’t working.

My host family is extremely hospitable, and just about perfect. I couldn’t ask for a better one. So many things to do, such little time to do them in. HAAAA overload. I start school in a week, so I have to be fluent by then or else. This is the best feeling I’ve ever had. I can’t wait for tomorrow.

A viszontlátásra

August 28 Journal

 I know I wrote yesterday but there’s something that I just have to say. Today I read some of the student journals and many of them described the feelings they had before leaving and while they were leaving, and I hate to say names, but Joe…you’re awesome. I liked your journal, it shows more than you let on.

Anyway, when I said goodbye to everyone, it didn’t hurt as much as they said it would, and I just told myself that It was because it hadn’t sunk in yet, but I’m here and I still don’t feel sad, or deeply missing family or friends. I didn’t find myself crying at the airport or when I got off the plane, and I was waiting for the roller coaster of emotions as I reminisced about my memories at home, but still nothing. At this point, I was forcing myself to be sad, but it wasn’t working. I was too excited so I thought I could try it later, and I did but still NOTHING.

OK, that’s a lie. I was a little sad to leave, but not the depression that the Rotex speak of. I think I realize (after 3 short days) that it’s because I know I’ll be back. I know I’ll return, but life back home isn’t going to wait for me. But if I wait for it, then I’ll lose out on life here and there. I can’t hold onto both for now, but I keep on thinking that when I do return home, how great it’s going to be to have both worlds in my hand – such power and knowledge and wisdom I’ll have, and no one will be able to take it away from me.

However if I do fall prey to emotions, which I know I will, then I’ll know it’s because I’m absolutely unique…just like everyone else. Life is good….and it only gets better because we want it to.

September 29 Journal

 All right, it’s been a while since my last journal, I know. I write this in my bed, covered in sheets with tissues and medicine everywhere and as I look out my window I see the city, hustling and bustling. People are going on with their lives. I like days like this because then I can reflect back on what I’ve done, and then I learn what I have to do. I went to Lake Balaton, the Hungarian “SEA.” Even though there are puddles in my backyard that are bigger, it’s still a sea to them, I love it. It was supposed to be a getaway tennis tournament weekend for my host father, which it was, but I was planning to go swimming, ping pong tournament, volleyball, go to the beach, bicycle, and everything under the sun, but plans never really work out how I want them to anymore, I was stuck indoors in the hotel, with a cold, and I am still with the same dreaded cold.

OHH! Almost forgot I went to Vienna, it was the best, beautiful, but Budapest is prettier (Don’t tell the Austrians I said that) and I went into the old Hapsburg royal palace, the national museums, and St. Stephen’s church. I swear everything in Hungary and is named after Stephen. St. Stephen’s square, St. Stephen’s hill, St. Stephen’s buildings, streets, shopping centers, OHH the agony!!!!!And then when I thought I was going to get away from it all, NOOOOOO. Everything in Vienna had to be named after Stephen too, and yet no one can pronounce my name properly, life is funny.

Also, I had my 16th birthday here, it was surprising. At first, I thought nothing of it, I almost forgot my own birthday, then I had dinner with my family and started to fall asleep from the carbs, and I thought maybe I should go rest- and then BOOM! The lights went off, the door opened, candles were lit and I came face to face with the most delicious cherry filled, turo (cheese)-cake in the world. The singing began “Boldog Szuletesnapot, Boldog szuletesnapot, boldog szuletesnapot…” etc. It was a good day.

I think the little things in life are what make us the happiest. I was late leaving the house the other day, and the bus was late, I was pinned to the glass window like silly putty, and then I ran to school, ran like my life depended on it. I had three blocks to go in 50 seconds. I barely made it in before they locked the doors, I ran up to my classroom and saw that that door was closed, so class must have started earlier, and even though you’re not supposed to come in to a class after it begins I had to. I knocked, no one answered, I banged no one answered, I said “this isn’t funny in Hungarian” and then the woman next door, came out and said there are no classes today. Just my luck, then I sat down, thought about what I should do and decided I need some fun, so I went deep into Buda, got lost, on purpose, and somehow ended up without even planning to, at fisherman’s bastion in the old city overlooking all of Budapest. Things were coming my way. I went to the mall, and then I did a double take at the large group of students headed my way, it was my class. They were coming to the dentist. Here, no one goes by themselves to the dentist, only in school groups, strange. Of course, NO ONE told me about it, so I got on the bus, and went to Pest to meet the other exchange students for our weekly meeting, where we try to teach each other Hungarian and told them how my day went, oh and I was hit by an old lady’s purse on the subway, long story it was her fault…….. mostly.

On another note, my host family is nothing short of perfect. I’m starting to grow to love them, I don’t know what I’m going to do when I have to leave them, I hope that day never comes. They do everything to make me feel comfortable or happy.

November 15 Journal

 I understand now why babies can’t talk for the first two years of their life, it’s because they’re so tired from learning the language. Everyone says, “You’re such an adult for doing this,” but usually they never finish that conversation with me because I have to go take my daily nap (yes I take a daily nap.) I think it’s the only way I’d survive here.

I’ve decided to start doing my journals a certain way. First, in every journal, I will describe the native culture. Second, I will describe the happenings and on-goings of my life. So lucky for you, you get the best of both worlds. Now I will begin.

I think I’m getting better at school. The language is getting easier everyday, but some days I’m on the ball and other days I can’t even find the ball. The teachers are more than helpful to me in my language learning. The students are nice people. However, they’re not perfect. I try to pick my friends carefully, because I think I have to here (there’s no telling what natives can get an exchange student to do if they’re bad apples.) School is probably the cleanest place in the city. Budapest could use a few renovations. Nonetheless, it’s beautiful.

However, since Budapest is so dirty, my Rotary club here has suggested a project called, “Szeretem Budapestet” Which means, “I love Budapest.” So the other local exchange students and I have decided to get involved in it. What it entails is going around the city, picking up garbage, and trash and painting over graffiti in the city. As exchange students, most of us really don’t think that we can make a change (whether it’s in our host country, community, or even back home.)

Sadly, most of us think that we’re just here to have fun and stay on vacation for a year. I don’t want to vacation here for a year. I want to live here for a year. Become a native, make my own opinions about the political happenings, and understand the history to learn why the present is the way it is, and then predict and hope for what the future may hold for the Hungarian people. I want to feel Hungarian. Just like I feel American. So I think the language is becoming less of a challenge for me. I’m so happy. It feels like I’ve been holding my breath since I’ve arrived, waiting to exhale, and I don’t think I can yet, but the pressure is definitely starting to release. It’s a really good feeling. I’ve been finding myself thinking in Hungarian lately, without even realizing it, I’m understanding so much more. I never thought this period would actually come to pass. It’s like my brain is clicking and the sparks are flying everywhere but then the ohhh so sudden meltdown comes and I feel like a blob of gelatin. I can’t make out a sentence, I lose my senses. All you want to do is sleep and then you wake up more tired than before.

Luckily for me, every morning I wake up to a great host family, good food, warm house and more good food. It’s actually quite funny and I’ve noticed this of many Hungarians. When I come downstairs for dinner and my family tells me, “Please, have something to eat,” and they go through the entire list of items in the fridge or pantry that I could eat, which is the best, who cooked it and for what special occasion. I’m telling you I know that fridge like the back of my hand. I have to stop them somewhere and say “No thank you, I’m not hungry,” then I usually get the reply, “Ok, in that case, you should try the cherry and cottage cheese pancake.” So I usually end up eating the pancake anyway. I can honestly say every day I am stuffed to the rim.

On habits, Hungarians have unique habits, that most of the time make me laugh out loud. First of all, even if there are no cars for miles around and the red “do not walk” sign is lit then they still don’t cross the road. My logic is if there are no vehicles coming then I can cross, but when I do people look at me like I’m crazy, and say things like “You can’t do that.” I usually reply “Is it illegal?” “Well, no but-“ “Is it rude, or low-class?” “No, but-“ “But what?” “We just never thought of it before” “Well, we learn something new every day. Don’t we?” Ok, it didn’t go exactly like that, I’m not rude to the natives Al, I promise.

School. School here is solely an academic place, there are no clubs, no after school activities, or anything of the sort. However, since my school is a special athletic school everyone has a sport to do after school. It could be anything from synchronized swimming to hand ball or soccer to Olympic gymnastics. That’s right I have some Olympians attending my school. As a matter of fact my school was named after a Hungarian Olympian. Csik Ferenc, maybe you’ve heard of him…….or not. Anyway, I’m making friends faster than I thought. Last night I went to a birthday party that everyone invited me to and it was great, I think it was the first time the words were coming out of my mouth without me hesitating or thinking about them beforehand, that’s when I realized I was thinking in Hungarian. However, I’ve never had such a bad headache in my life, I actually had to go home early because my head was hurting so badly, I never thought it was possible to feel that much pain in your head. I’m probably exaggerating but it hurt a lot. Oh! And, since I have no name equivalent in Hungarian, my friends gave me a Hungarian name. Listen to this, since I’m always tired (as all exchange students are) they gave me the name Almos, which means sleepy, but it also is a name of the first chief of the Hungarian tribes from Siberia. So, from now on I am Almos.

Spain. That’s right. I went to Spain. It was amazing. Well, the places were amazing, but the timing was terrible. It rained all the time when we were there and I went to bed at like 1 every night, because that’s the time we usually got back to the hotels and we had to wake up at 5:30 every morning. I was not a happy camper, and I must say we could have had a much better tour guide, she was a little too demanding that we all wake up at 5:30 yet we never left the hotel until 8. Why? I have no idea. Besides that, I had a great time. I went to the Casino in Monte-Carlo, when we were driving through. We also went to Cannes, which reminded me of Miami, ahh home. Then came my favorite city on the entire trip. BARCELONA!!! Beautiful, rich, sunny, always great weather and a sight to see. However, we only stayed in the city for a day, until we drove through Valencia, saw the market, which is a World heritage site, and took off to Sevilla. Wow! I never thought that I would have that much fun. I ate all day, I mean I had 6 meals, then I pedaled a boat on the Guadalquivir, the river in the city, and finally went to the bull fighting rings. I was supposed to go that day to Africa, but my visa wouldn’t allow it. However that didn’t matter, I still had a great time. After that, the next day we went to the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, THE ALHAMBRA!! I’ve never seen something so large and so beautiful. Also, I’ve never been in such cold weather. It’s the South of Spain for Pete’s sake, why is it so cold? Returning back to Hungary was not a pleasant trip. I was on a bus for two days, and I didn’t sleep for Two DAYS! Do you know how crazy I went? I started throwing cheese on the bus at other people while they were sleeping. I lost it. Plus, I didn’t eat for two days, ok I had some snacks on the bus, but I wanted to have an actual meal, not chips and cookies. I want FOOD! Then after the bus ride through hell I arrived home and found myself back in the safety of my host home, which really feels like my own home. I didn’t really realize how much I loved my host family until I was away from them on the trip.

I’m back in Budapest now and the weather is not………Florida. So I had to buy some clothes for winter, somehow I didn’t think that winter would actually come. Everyone tells me that I must live under a rock if I’ve never seen snow. Uh, it’s called Florida, thank you. I wear a sweater, long socks, scarf and sometimes some gloves, and it hasn’t even snowed yet. I’m still waiting for the snow.

On language. Here’s where the cultural part comes in, Hungarian is not even closely related to the languages around it. Now you may be saying, “OK, so it’s evolved a little differently than its neighbors have, other languages do too.” If you’re saying that let me give you a little history lesson. English and Hindi are more closely related than Hungarian and Slovakian, which is right across the river. This is because, if you look at the languages in Europe 1200 years ago, Hungarian was not there. All the ancestors of present Indo-European languages were here, Latin, Old German, Old English, Greek, different forms of the Nordic and Slavic languages, etc. Hungarian was not there because Hungarian is related to few languages on Earth. No one knows for sure where Hungarians came from, but many believe it was somewhere East of the Ural mountains around the Altaic mountains in Western China (However Caucasian). That’s right, in China. Anyway, Hungarians were supposedly driven out of their homeland by other peoples and thus forced to migrate, when they began to they never stopped. So, they moved over 8000 miles (roughly) to the Carpathian basin (Hungary) in the 800’s but before that they split off into different groups around 4000 years ago, from what the very shady timeline says, and this group went into northern Europe and within the last millennium split into two languages; Estonian and Finnish. After several thousand years these languages have almost nothing in common with one another. Not to mention, somehow the tribal Hungarians before I was even born or you for that matter knew that I was coming. Here’s what happened: the 7 Hungarian tribes gathered around a campfire and said “One day, a boy named Drake Starling will try to learn our language we must make it as impossible for him as possible! Quickly! Arpad, start making some irregular verbs! Almos, make every verb have several conjugations in each tense for each person and give no proper order to them, so that even our own people will not be able to tell the difference. YOU THERE! Peasant man, put all prepositions at the end of words and make all nouns have irregular endings if they are one syllable words.” If you knew some Hungarian it would be really funny to you.

So far, I think that’s all about it.

Still waiting for snow…..

-Drake

January 4 Journal

 The seven stood upon the hill top; each was a leader of one of the tribes within the crowd that they were gazing down at, looking at the multitude of people that were gathering closer and tighter to the foot of the hill. Their heads were raised up with every eye on them, no twitches, no faces turned away. Few in the background were occupied setting up the white and brown colored tents. Several of the Horses had bolted from their paddock, made of old twigs and tree trunks. Some of their roots could still be seen on the fences. Occasionally, one of the horses would gnaw at the end of the root and the owners would scream in their native tongue so they would not eat away the fragile fence made from the withering fall trees. Trees were shedding their old leaves, losing their summer glow and being replaced by dark, cracking bark. The wind had come to a dead calm, stopped. Yet there was richness to the air, it wasn’t muggy nor was it damp, but it felt like the old was being replaced by the new.

The 7 tribal leaders braced themselves for the moment that could give birth to so much love, pain, evil, destruction, power, and greatness. The wind was howling louder and louder, the leaders’ uncut hair slapped their faces and helmets. Noises came from the Shaman at the top of the hill, his chanting has progressed into a faster pace, it ran through him like fire in the prairie, he lost control of his words, only the ritual was occurring. He was unaware of his surroundings, his dancing moved quicker, his voice stronger and the tune faster and faster and then……… it stopped. He was ready. His hand lifted parallel to the leaders, a miracle for such an old man, and curled his index finger backwards as if to beckon them, he dropped his hand and waited. The seven held their chests high with courage in their blood and fire in their stare. They walked, yet that doesn’t describe the movement these beings made. They were not of this earth to their people; they were almost God-like, divine among men. A large goblet was placed at the center of the hill in front of the shaman. He was enthralled by its gaze, no emotion, not an eye blinked as he stared at it; yet remained his constant chanting.

The leaders moved around the Goblet accordingly to their places. The nameless elder, a grey bearded man with eyes like a bay with algae in summer came closer to the goblet. He grabbed his sword handle, wrapped his hands around it, and pulled it out into the sky. He ignored the cheers from the crowd. He had lost all sense of time and place. He woke from his trance and lifted up his sleeve, the other 6 were kneeled down about the goblet. The elder gave them one glance each. These men needed few words to convey their thoughts, indeed like Gods. They all held equal standing among the seven of them, none was above the other. The other 6 followed suit and lifted up their sleeves in the same fashion. Their fists were clenched and few had their eyes closed while taking in deep breaths to begin.

The elder was the first; he placed his arm over the goblet adjusting it so that his wrist was at the center. The chanting Shaman raised his voice louder and louder, the chanting pace was much quicker, the crowds threw up their clenched fists and had not anger in their shouts but hope and eagerness. They were ready. To the elder all noise had faded away, the movement of the shaman’s chapped lips, the crowd’s fist throws, and the slight blinks and heavy breaths in the cold air were all that existed to the elder. He turned to his sky-bound sword, pulled it swiftly towards his arm, stopped it and with one quick slice cut open his wrist and his dark blood spilled into the goblet, he passed the sword to the next leader, wrapped up his arm with a large piece of white cloth and stepped aside. The 6 all did this exactly as was done by the first. The shaman stepped up and limped over to the goblet while the seven stood in line on the slope of the hill, each seemingly with more strength than should have remained in their bodies after losing such an amount of blood. The shaman knelt before the eldest leader. The leader did not move his head as the shaman knelt; he only moved his eyes down and looked down his nose at the shaman. The elder took the goblet by both handles on each side and drank from it, from the mixed blood of the seven leaders several large gulps were taken and passed onto the next 6 leaders. The last leader came forward and drank from the goblet, every last drop that was left. He steadied his hand for a minute while holding the goblet in both hands. The crowd quieted, fists were lowered, the shaman abruptly stopped his chanting and the winds had died down. The last leader with the goblet held his head high and with one hand threw up the goblet to show reverence to it and to him.

The crowds began again, hugging, kissing, shouting for their new leader, the shaman stepped back and grinned. The other 6 did not feel regret for giving their own flesh for something they would receive nothing out of, but they were overjoyed. All eyes were on him, whether they were teary ones of future hopes and dreams or dry ones with simple, yet extreme approval. He rose to the top of the hill, his name was Árpád. According to tradition the last of any ritual or even bloodline was to inherit the rewards of it. Thus he became the chief leader of all the 7 Magyar tribes. This is the historic moment of how the Hungarian nation was born. There would be much to follow for the next 1000 years………………………………

That right there, was entirely true except for the parts that I added a little flavor to. Well, every fact was true in that story according to Hungarian legend; I just added several descriptions to spice it up. That is what Hungarian children are taught in schools. To me it seems pretty miraculous, or more like old-pagan, non-modern tradition of self mutilation. But hey, who’s to say what’s right and wrong?

I wish I could really describe how great this feels. I mean the whole thing, doing this whole exchange year. I feel somewhat accomplished, more confident, more humble, and much more aware not only of the world around me, but of the people around me as well. I don’t feel alone here. Not that I felt alone when I was back home, but I already feel attached to so many people here. My host family, whom only God himself could have handpicked for me. I’m not kidding you – I already feel that much for them. I love them, they’re like my family away from home. I don’t know what I’ll do if I have to leave them, but they always say that the best of things come to an end very quickly, I hope that’s not true.

I remember the first day here at school. I woke up, the family told me what special clothes I had to wear and what I had to bring. My host sister took me to school and made sure I was in good hands before she left. I met up with the other exchange students in the principal’s office, where we then were sent into different classrooms, according to our age. I waited outside the doors of my new classroom, my pulse was racing, I was practicing every Hungarian greeting in my head. I walked in and I felt like a sheep among wolves. I introduced myself and they didn’t seem that happy to meet me. Almost like I was anyone else to them, which I was at the time. I then met another exchange student in my class, well she was an exchange student to Portugal last year, and was one of the first kids to approach me. I remember her greeting very well, it went something along the lines of, “HI, I’m Lilli. You must be the new exchange student. I was an exchange student last year to Portugal so I know how scared and nervous you must be, so you can sit next to me until you get to know everyone.” I still haven’t left that seat to this day.

It took time, but not as much time as I thought it would take to make friends here. I’ve been invited to parties, to go kayaking, football games, birthday parties, study sessions and everything in between. I knew at some point I would go from point A to point B but how did I get here? Did it just come to pass with time and effort? Or did they actually come to grow on me? I don’t know what the future holds but I can predict that it will be extremely difficult to say goodbye to them. I wish I could drown into my sleep and let this remain the dream it has been forever. Unfortunately, I don’t get to decide that. We really don’t get to decide too much in our lives, I mean we can choose to go left or right, but not really where we’ll end up, our choices are completely different from what God has in store for us. We just have to let him do what he does and use the tools we’re given to make our life and those around us the best that we can.

I think it’s finally making sense now. This whole thing we’re doing, and the great part is, there is no moment you can really pinpoint and say, “This is when I went from Static to Dynamic.” It’s like a very slow evolutionary process, and we have to wait almost a millennium for it to show some significance, and yet once you reach the 500 year mark, kind of where I’m at right now (half-year mark) then you start to realize that a millennium is not as slow as you thought it was, it actually moves too quickly. Far too quickly. Some say life is too long, and I pity them because If they think that way then they won’t use the tools nor the time they’re given to make it the best, and they eventually will get from point A to point B but the sad part is there will be nothing in between for them. I found my Boston.

-It’s not the years in your life, but the life in your years that matters.”

-Unknown

Christmas was… SUPERB. I got a Hungarian jacket from my host parents which is used by the national Olympic team, only special Olympians get them, and I’m not too sure how they got it. I also got a yearly calendar from my host brother, an ancient Hungarian book from Anna, my host sister, plus a slang dictionary. From Kata, I received a great CD for intermediate users of Hungarian, and it’s working wonders for me. Now, it’s my turn. What did I get for my family? You ask. I got my host dad a beautiful tie, host mom a great book with law quotes for every day because she’s a judge. For Anna, my eldest host sibling, I gave her a Chinese incense box, because I know that she loves all things Asian and loves incense. What I first did was I found a really old crappy incense box at the Christmas markets downtown (don’t tell her I said it was crappy), bought it, repaired it, painted it, carved Asian symbols on it and voila! There you have the perfect gift. She really loved it. For Sari, my youngest host sister, I bought a small scarf. My other host siblings said that she would really like one that’s dark brown, just like big girls have. You know how kids can be. They all want to be adults and be grown-ups. Funny, adults always want youth and children always want to be adults. The grass is always greener on the other side isn’t it? So I bought her a small, wavy brown scarf. She really loved it, she even sleeps with it sometimes.

For Andris, my host brother, since he loves poker and I do mean he loves poker. I found one of those hand rests for the computer, and on it I wrote in white-out “MINDENÖRÖKKÉ PÓKER” Which is kind of like the equivalent to our saying “Everything poker.” Translation is difficult when it’s not literal. Last but definitely not least, I gave my Kata three candles, and since she’s very religious like me, I found special candles with the crosses made out of flowers in them, and when the flowers burn in the candle it releases a different aroma for each candle. Those gifts took time and effort to find, buy, and fix. Am I the best gift giver or what? All right, maybe not The best.

What we did here for Christmas was completely different than what I usually do at home. We got all dressed up, as if we were going to a ball or something, but we were only going to the living room. We decorated the Christmas tree not with popcorn but marzipan, which is probably the weirdest tasting chocolate in the world. Dinner was delicious and yet I didn’t stop eating for about 3 days, consecutively. We ate at home, then the next day at Grandma’s, then again at home. The amount of naps, candy, plates of cookies, and Christmas snow fights was something that I may never forget. For the next several days, I was completely in teenage sleep mode, as was the whole house.

Szilvesterkor came along, which is New year’s here, and I went out with my friends and had probably one of the best parties of my life. ANNDDDD!!!!! I had the best feeling. It was one of those moments that every exchange student hopes for. I passed for a native, and not just to one person but to three people. I don’t mean I said a word and I kind of fooled them, and I risk saying this knowing that it may sound like I’m bragging. However, I had a long conversation with 3 different friends of my friends, and 2 of them said that they could tell that I wasn’t from Budapest because it sounded like my accent was different than the Budapest area, but I still sounded Hungarian just from a different region. When I told them that I was American they just laughed and didn’t believe it. The third friend told me “It’s New Year’s not April Fool’s.” So I actually had to show them my American I.D. to them to prove that I was indeed American. I walked away at the end of the night, with the biggest smile on my face. I risk saying this knowing that it may sound like I’m bragging, but to be honest it was a great feeling.

April 25 Journal

 I am surrounded by the former Hapsburg royal palace, the residency which is located on Castle hill, one of the highest points in the city; it was the ruling seat during the Austro-Hungarian empire. It is built over the site of the former ruling castle in Hungary before it was mass bombed out by the Germans. This is less than a mile away from my 17th century school. It is located in Buda which is on the western bank of the Danube. Usually, only the very rich live in this part of the city, it is mountainous with villas that have been handed down for several generations to present day Hungarians. The old city is located on a plateau-like hill, which is encircled by a mighty stone wall, actually more like a fortress. No enemy nor foe has ever been able to break through this fortress, not even the Turks during their 150 year reign here. Across the Danube is the Parliament right on the bank’s shore, it is so close as a matter of fact, that when the river floods, which it usually does in spring, it rises past the grand steps of the parliament and can even cause flooding to nearby areas. It is one of the largest parliaments in the world; although many protest and demonstrate against the decisions that are made within its walls, that still does not underestimate its beauty and magnificence.

The Bazilika, not far from Parliament, is so outstandingly breathtaking that when directors are seeking to film a movie in the Vatican and the Vatican denies them entrance, they come here to the Bazilika. When they want to film a scene on the Champs D’elysees and are not able to… they come to Andrassy ut, where the streets and flats resemble those of the Parisian avenue. The Nyugati Palyaudvar train station was built by Gustave Eiffel, the same man who built the Eiffel tower, you can imagine how beautiful it looks. Hero’s square, which contains all the Hungarian kings, leaders, soldier, captains, etc that have led the nation to where it is today. The archangel Gabriel looks down on the city and blesses all those that pass by. These statues are carved in larger than life replicas that represent the people’s passion for their own history. The freedom statue that stands above Gellert hill on the river’s edge is a symbol of freedom after communism, the woman who holds the wreath of leaves still lives to this day. This city, in its former glory was just as rich as any west European nation and in my opinion just as, if not more beautiful. However, after all the revolutions, system changes, attacks, flips, turns, and falls this country has taken it remains an undiscovered Roman column in the sands. The city has party places, movie centers, parks, rock climbing in the downtown center, cruises, mountain climbing, a full island as the recreation center, buildings of centuries past that you can easily get lost in looking for a friends apartment. I have Matyas templom, janos hegy, parliament, westend, mammut, heroes square, vajdahunyad castle, the world’s 2 largest Jewish synagogue, the yellow villamos, BKV, freedom bridge, Turkish thermal baths, szimpla, morrisons, golgota, Cicero, rozsadomb, vaci utca and more. And the funny thing is…….to me…it all means nothing. Nothing AT ALL!!! Nothing, that is, without the people that I’ve shared these places with. Our underground church would have been an old empty former theatre without Kata there every Sunday. Learning the country’s history and going to college debates that I shouldn’t have been going to would have unbearably boring without Anna there. The first months of learning the language would have been too difficult to overcome without Lili sitting next to me translating. Coffee at Cicero would have been another good-tasting espresso without Gabor and Kati to talk to. The Blue Monkey café could have ended up much worse had Akos not been there to help. Going up to the Stumpf’s house when no one was there would have been creepishly quiet without Sari and her energetic childlike behavior. Playing poker by myself would have been less than pathetic had Andris not been there to teach me. How would I know what to do if Gabor didn’t give me a little suggestion along the way. Spain would have been no fun at all without throwing cheese at Nicole and Aniko. Budakeszi would be another village without my 3rd host family and their children. The Damjanich house would be another flat in the city without the Grafjodis to make noise in it. Csik ferenc would be another 17th century building had I not gone to school there. English class would not have brought tears of laughter to my eyes without laposneni running into the cabinet all the time. Forgacs’s class would have been a snooze had my friends not answered all my questions about their language. It is not the beautiful places we stay at, or visit or learn about those that built them and why. It’s about the people that we spent all those days and hours with – that’s what makes a place special to us. It’s not so much the places I was but the people I was there with that made this year. It’s not the years in your life but the life in your years that matters.

It has been quite a while since I wrote last. Here has what has happened since then: Gabor’s Birthday, I did a presentation in Hungarian in front of the whole school, and my mom and Aunt Kathy came to visit me. Where to start oh boy….

How did I end up there? It fell so softly and quietly, if you were blind you wouldn’t be able to tell it was even falling. On the ground in the middle of a crowded, probably the most crowded square in all of Budapest, lying down in the falling snow in front of the Bazilika at 5 am. Sounds a little suspicious to me I know, but I don’t think I’ve had so many epiphanies nor words of wisdom found in my entire life than I’ve found in this past week. Let me start form where we left off.

It was January fifth when I wrote my last journal, on January 11th I changed host families. To be perfectly honest, I found my little host sister Sari unpacking my bags before I left, and I almost cried when they dropped me off at my new family. No matter how much it hurt to move, I do understand why I must because without change we remain content and don’t learn what lies beyond the wall that encompasses our lives. I once again have the biggest room in the house, I live further from school but still can make it there in time. Time had passed quite quickly in the past weeks with so many school parties activities, and what I thought would take the cake, the Szalagavató, which is the Hungarian prom. However, all the events seemed to have been of the same importance to me. I can’t really say one was more important or impacting than the other. The Szalagavto, was completely unexpected. Everything that occurred that night was unexpected. To begin with, the Szalagavato encompasses all students from the high school grades dancing in their own class dance. The last grade, the 13th graders, are the stars of the night, because they will soon be off to college. They have the honor of dancing the Keringő, or Waltz. That’s right a Waltz in a prom. I told you it was unexpected. They dress up to the nines for this: blazers, ties, prom gowns, the whole shebang. My class, since they are only 12th graders, chose their own dance as the rest did. I want you readers to prepare for the fact that this may be shocking that all Hungarians love Mama Mia, and can’t get enough of it. This is what they decided to dance to. I think the name of the song was “take a chance on me.” Unbelievably hysterical.

As most of us were behind stage watching the dances and getting ready to go on stage next for our performances, I was supposed to take pictures for my friend Akos, which I may or may not have forgotten to do. Then, the moment came our class finale dance. I was pumping with adrenaline, our homeroom teacher was taking deep breaths in and out of a paper bag, and the lights went down she pushed us out onto the floor and said “Don’t mess up.” So basically in one ear and out the other. Our footing could not have been more off, well except falling off the stage which Marci almost did after his shoe slipped off. And all of a sudden we began to dance the szorba I know that we Americans have this dance but I cant recall its name. Sorry. Anyway, we danced the szorba and formed a gigantic circle in the center of the stage and several students were thrown into the center to perform several dances, and somehow I ended up in the middle by myself and I knew I had to do something so for some strange reason unknown even to God I began to dance like the men in Fiddler on the roof, with both arms crossed over my elbows jumping up and down screaming “Hey” and yet they loved it. I expected to be laughed at for quite a while yet they really thought it was hilarious and entertaining. It was a good day. The actual Waltz was probably the most synchronized form of dancing I’ve ever seen. They were all dressed up in blue shining lights and cameras flashing like it was the red carpet. Beautiful, it truly was. Moms and dads crying for their sons and daughters, cameras capturing every moment of the dance, and teachers throwing roses at their students, it made me think that this is what a prom should be like.

January 31st, Friday was my friend Gabor’s 18th birthday party. A very important day for a young man, Lucky for us it was a surprise party, he knew nothing of it. Let me give some background information…Gabor was one of the first people to become a good friend in my class. He heard we had an American in the class and since his life is American football he decided that it would be cool to talk to a real American. To be honest he knows more about the game than most Americans do. Every time I was free Gabor would always try to invite me somewhere. It got to the point that he was being so nice to me that I thought he was trying to play some trick on me so the whole class could have a good laugh at the exchange student or something. I was very mistaken. I usually go running with exchange students or other friends 2 a week, and so I invited Gabor to tag along and now we do it frequently. Through him I’ve become friends with his friends as well. Akos and Dani, his two good friends at school, took me aside on Wednesday and told me all about Gabor’s birthday party and how I should be there. It was in a normal restaurant where we all met up, about 13 of us, including his parents who made sure he didn’t know anything about the party. BUT!!!! And here’s where it gets a little pg-13. Akos had been pretending for weeks to be this girl Noemi online who was interested in Gabor, and Gabor thought he was going on a blind date with her Friday night when in reality we were all hiding under the table waiting to great him, and Noemi was there waiting patiently, because Akos thought it would be funny and he was quite right, if they bought a blow-up doll and called her Noemi, and that is exactly what was done. Beautiful plan. AND!!! Before the dinner Akos passed around the online conversations between him and “Noemi” to get everyone laughing and as a birthday gift to Gabor which was what the PG-13 part was. Then as I was taking tedious photos, which came out great I have to say, I was looking through my camera lens and saw the group of them in the photo and realized that all the people at the party were really close to Gabor (this occurred at the beginning of the party). For the rest of the night I kept on thinking that all his friends that he’s been friends with for years are here then what am I doing here? I almost felt like I shouldn’t be there, like the waitress was going to come over any second and tell me “sorry, your table’s over there sir.” Then it hit me, “I was invited here by them, could that possibly mean that they want me here?” “That must mean I am a good friend, even if it hasn’t been for years.” I do have a feeling that I will make very good friends with them all, as in lifelong friends. I can see the future however and I see that leaving here will definitely hurt.

The week before my mother and Kathy arrived, I was preparing for a presentation that I had to give in front of the school in Hungarian. We had been preparing for weeks, it was a joint effort, all the English classes in the upper level school (high school) had to perform a skit of some sort for the rest of the school. In English!!! So it was a challenge for them. Gabor and I were chosen to be the presenters. HOWEVER, we decided to make things even more difficult than they were, Gabor was to introduce the groups according to the script in English, and I was to do the same in Hungarian. For the first few minutes the audience was fooled into the fact that I was a Hungarian and then when I made some mistakes that no native speaker would make they then realized that I was not what I seemed. I was congratulated and it was an amazing feeling, but I realized the reason why I don’t feel so amazing is because I’m not satisfied with my level of Hungarian, and I don’t think I’ll ever be, and I honestly believe that’s a good thing. I mean the learning never ends, right?

BIG NEWS!! MY mom and Aunt Kathy came. Although they only stayed for a week I still had an amazing time with them. I took them around town, showed them every place that I usually hang out in, showed them my school, my host homes and families of course. My first host family (THE ALL MIGHTY STUMPFS) even invited us for a dinner on them at their home, well my former home. Both the families got along extremely well and I never really thought of it until now, but both my worlds came together when they were here. The home I left back home and this one here which I will be leaving soon. When I reached the middle point of my exchange I felt that it would be extremely difficult to leave, but it won’t because I’ll be back again, many times. Yes, it’s coming, and within two months I will not be in Hungary any longer. Oh boy, I feel it with every passing day. MY mom and Kathy said that I have changed, and it was great to finally sit back and not worry about the complex problems and exchange student faces. The strange thing was once my mom and aunt left, I felt this loneliness. Like I had just started my exchange year all over again. It went away within a few days, but I missed them so much and I didn’t even realize it until they left.

Freedom, Love!

I need these both

For my love I would sacrifice life,

For freedom I would sacrifice my love.

Szabadság, szerelem!

E kettő kell nekem.

Szerelmemért föláldozom

Az életet,

Szabadságért föláldozom

Szerelmemet.

Written by Petofi Sandor, a great Hungarian poet

May 18 Journal

 Day 50 and counting….

So why do we try to hold on to those whom we love the most? Our friends and family. Is it just so we have someone to turn to when we’re in a time of distress or pain? Most people want all those they love to be around when their end comes. I do not want just an ending, I’m not saying this because I feel like it’s all over or anything along those lines, but I want people to know that I want to laugh until my sides hurt and not be embarrassed about it. I want to live so much that I will actually get physically tired of doing so. I want to dance so fast that no one will be able predict my next move (figuratively). I do not want to say “I love you” to those that I do but I want to show them how much I do. I want to keep my wits about me so that I will know what’s dangerous and stupid or crazy and fun. This year was crazy and fun, I grew as a person and much more. So I finally made it to the end of this chapter’s road and from here I can see Everest, but I still need to get to the top. How do I do that? How do I satisfy this feeling? How do I go to greatness? I think it may just be the hunger I have for everything I can get. I believe most of us on this Earth don’t realize we’re really living until we slowly start to fade away and look back at the years we’ve had and say “OH, the good old days.” I never want those days to end, and people think when someone says “the good old days” they mean the time they had fun the most, or the time when nothing bad happened, but they’re wrong – “the good old days” means the days you did all you could, the days you remember the most vividly, the days when you learned the most, and I don’t mean learning from a book but learning from this thing most of us take for granted called life. So, I boldly say to you all that these are the beginning of my “good old days.”

I have a limited time left here. I will be back home soon, in the comfort of my own bed. This whole year is no longer surreal to me as it was just 11 months ago, it is now another one of my places. It is a part of me, it will not be separated from my soul as long as I live, and something deep within me makes me very proud to say that. It may not be PARIS, nor DISNEY LAND, nor the Vatican, but I like it nonetheless, and I will be here till the very end, and I’ll look back then and say “oh those were the good old days.”

I just recently went on a 2 week trip all around Southern Europe. Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, and Austria. BEAUTIFUL. I went with other Rotary exchange students, naturally, and our first stop was in Thessaloniki. The ancient Greek harbor city was probably the nicest one we got to visit. I say this even though we went to Athens because we arrived too late to Athens due to traffic and got there very late in the evening instead of early in the afternoon. Basically the only marvel we had the opportunity to see in Athens was our 3 star hotel. No worries, one day I’ll be back there. Here’s the cool part. We traveled from Athens to Bari, Italy by ferry boat over night, in the morning we were in Italy. We drove several hours and made it to Naples where we stopped for the glory of Pompeii. I have already been to Pompeii and remember it just as I left it. It carries some heavy feelings with it of the Empires of old long before our existences were even thought up.

A 3 hour drive to Rome made me feel like a kid again. I remember travelling here with my mother several years ago, and I came this time with memories as if I knew these places before, which I did, just not as well as I would like to know them. I remember standing in front of the Vatican and looking at the beauty of it all, and I turned around to tell someone how beautiful it was and no one was there that I wanted to tell. And with a rush of blood to the head I saw their faces light up in my mind. My parents, family members friends from back home and from Hungary and then it dawned on me that I never want to leave these people as long as I have the right to choose so.

I’ll skip the other cities, because I could tell you how beautiful, and overwhelmingly breathtaking they were but I’m sure you’ve heard it all before. I think I’ll get straight to Switzerland. I had been looking to replace my watch’s wristband, however I found no good offers. So I thought why not in Switzerland, and I did exactly that: for the price of 60 US dollars I found a brand new wristband. After that, and here’s the exciting part, I bought myself a Swiss army knife and as everyone proceeded to get off the bus after driving for 30 minutes to a botanical garden outside the city of Zurich, I did not get off the bus. I, instead cut my apple into pieces for lunch, and somehow accidently cut my finger in a bad location. I walked off the bus and asked if anyone had a bandage, luckily someone did. By that time the blood had dripped to my wrist and looked like I stuck my hand in a dying animal and the blood still kept reproducing itself out of my finger. Everyone looked at me with fear, which shocked me a little bit and then I said I’m fine and remember everything going black and came to with a bus driver holding my head down and a German girl holding my legs up. I felt really light headed the whole day after that. We drove through Innsbruck where we visited the alpine zoo with exotic animals from all around the world, mostly from the North American wilderness, yet still it was a different feeling than I expected.

I am back here writing this from my desk, and I want to be on Everest, somehow, someway, someday I’ll get there, but I’ve gotten here because of those who supported me. I Love you all.

July 7 Journal

 IT WAS A VERY HARD DAY’S NIGHT. I want not memories of old but oh, such a grand time with them. I don’t want photo albums of the times we hung out at the bar, or at the concert hall or even on the bridge. I want to capture the moments when I learned about them.

I want to capture the moments when Ákos told me about when he thinks you should let your political or religious opinions out to people. I want to hear the echo when I heard about the countless times he helped classmates in dangerous situations without hesitating. I want to remember when Bazsa told me about his father and his medical conditions and how I saw that he tried to overcome it. I want to look back on when Gabor said he was amazingly proud of me for growing so much not just as a person but as a Hungarian. I want to recall the moment they all admitted that they to need to grow up as well and let go. I want them to be by my side when I’m waiting for my language exam results and possibly deciding my future. I want to be by their side when they go to their fencing competitions, when they compete in the Hungarian football league, when they travel to L.A. for water polo. I want to be there until we get sick of each other.

I want them to stand up for me when the teachers bully me. I don’t want the framed photo of the entire class, I don’t want the loving cards I got from them. I don’t want the books, video clips of me and them throughout the year. I want them as my friends to be the gifts. When bad happens I want to turn around to them and hold them knowing I can confide in them. When good happens I want them to be the first that I run to to tell. I want to be able to show up at their homes unannounced as if it were any other ordinary day. I want no fake conversations about teenage drama that means nothing. I want the real thing, I want genuine, I want love, I want to fight back and forth with them because then it means it’s a real relationship; it means we’re being honest. I know it can’t be perfect with smiles and hugs and happiness all the time. And I want that so bad. I want the work to finally pay off. Finally, it has.

I don’t want regrets of not going to the aqua park with them when I could have. I refuse to have “acquaintances.” I refuse to let these people slip through my fingers. I don’t want to want to love them, I want to just love them. However I feel somehow selfish for asking for these things. These wishes of mine are realistic but they make me upset, because with all that I’ve done, more importantly with all that I’ve been given, with all that I have, I still want more. I don’t mean I’m not satisfied with what I have or I’ll be upset If I don’t get what I would like. I’m not spoiled and selfish like that. I mean that I want all this to continue as a life not just a year. I don’t want a photo album; I don’t want fake “acquaintances.” I want a lifetime with them. This year was once a dream and then came true, and when one of your dreams comes true, it makes the other ones seem a little more attainable.

Monday. This Monday was a good day. Monday was my going away party that my friends planned for me. We went to our favorite bar, chatted for a good 2 hours, a good quiet place to chat. Paid our bill, and before we left I clanged my glass and made a toast, “You have such a beautiful country, you have buildings from centuries long ago, your monuments are decorated with history of your people, you have everything in this city….but those are objects, those mean very little, it’s the people that occupy them that matter. If I didn’t have people to occupy my time with, more importantly if I didn’t have you all as my friends I would have been lost, this could have turned to be a terrible year, and for that I am truly grateful, I am honored to know you all and call you my friends.” I lifted up my glass, the others followed as I did, lifted up their glasses, looked at me and I said “To my return.” “To your return” and we left to the concert. Just like a normal day. We partied and danced until we just couldn’t for the life of us anymore. Slowly the night died away… they began to leave me. I didn’t think it would happen until it did. So I gave my hugs and kisses and they gave their wishes and greetings and like that …they were gone. The last group said several of them would come to the airport with me when I leave and got in their taxi and went home. I was left alone but only physically. I went home and slept getting ready for the next day. Today was a good day.

The rest of the week consisted of party after party where I had to continuously say goodbye to people. Friday evening I spent the night at my first family’s home and watched movies, had dinner, played games, did everything as if were a normal day. I slept in my old room; they even made the bed for me. I looked out from the 4th floor lookout as they all said “Goodnight Drake.” I had never been on the roof, so I climbed onto the very top to see the beautiful view of the city that I was going to depart from. It was never so beautiful. The towers on the parliament were lit up over the waves of the Danube, the Budavár stood out distinctly with the medieval roads and homes. It would surely be missed. I climbed down and went to bed. We woke up and everyone went to work, school, camp, as they usually do, only today they said goodbye to me. I would no longer be a part of their activities, their lifestyle, their lives, at least for the time being.

Today is Sunday July 5th. I leave tomorrow morning. I went to church today as if it were a normal day. I went with Kata and Sari, my two former host sisters, who really are my two sisters. I said goodbye to them once and for all at the tram stop. Sari wouldn’t let go of my hand. I told her it was ok and we would meet soon. I watched as the tram left the stop I turned around and found Anna, my eldest host sister, and her boyfriend Marion. We had lunch scheduled and discussed basic, everyday, normal day topics over chicken sandwiches and salads. I looked at them both and remembered the very day I shook their hands and how I would never forget it. “Hi. I’m Anna. I’m your host sister.” They held each other’s hands and weren’t looking at each other but they were looking at me. Then they paid the bill, we lifted our glasses and toasted, “To my return.” They hopped on the bus and left me alone, still physically.

I was beginning to write this journal when I was called into the kitchen for dinner. I was surprised when I stepped in. My host family made a delicious going away dinner for me. The food was out of this world. It could have been crud for all I cared – it’s the thought that counts. They gave me their gifts from every one of them. I sat down, they did the same and poured me a glass and we cheered together. “To my return,” I said, “to your return,” they echoed.

I am home, in my room, still in Hungary with complicated mixed feelings going around in my head. All I need to do is take a couple deep breaths and I’ll be fine. So I close this journal like it’s any other ordinary day, at least for the time being. I will lift my glass and toast, “To my return.” I will get my lifetime.

“People so seldom say I love you. And then it’s either too late or love goes. So when I tell you I love you, it doesn’t mean I know you’ll never go, only that I wish you didn’t have to.” – Unknown

P.S. We really are such fools professing to be wise.

Emily’s Bio

 My name is Emily Katherine Garvin and I was born and raised in a small town called Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island. I am a small town girl. I am 14 years old and the second born of three children. But I am the youngest. My oldest brother Timmy Hendren was adopted before I was born. Timmy and I are six years apart. Next came my other older brother, his name is Patrick Garvin. 16 months later I came.

But my family doesn’t end there because for about 5 years my parents were foster parents. This had a huge impact on my life because accepting children into my family as a 9 year old was very difficult. It was hard learning how to share my family, my room, and most of all my parents. But I overcame all the hardships that came with fostering. And I learned to love every child that stepped over our threshold. At that moment they became a part of my life and my family forever. With fostering I also learned how to cope with frequent changes and loss. I learned that I shouldn’t dwell on those things that I don’t have, rather cherish the things I do have, like a loving and forgiving family.

All of that has made me the person that I am today. I would consider myself well-rounded, open-minded person. I like to take risks and try new things. Recently I tried out for my high school’s junior varsity basketball team. I realized that there would be lots of hard work, time, and commitment if I made the team. And to tell you the truth I really didn’t think I was going to make the team. I had never played basketball in my life. But that didn’t stop me; I tried out for the team anyway.

Currently I am taking all honors courses. My favorite class is geometry. And quite frankly I don’t even like geometry that much but there is just something about math that I have fallen in love with. Outside of school, I usually spend time with my family and friends. I also do volunteer service around the island with my church’s youth group. And I volunteer at the local theatres.

My future is wide open and I look forward to the possibilities that will open up to me. I plan on going to college and getting a nursing and teaching degree. My mother is a teacher and my grandmother was a nurse and they are and were both very successful people. I hope that I can follow in their footsteps and become just as successful at life.

August 26 Journal

 After the sweet goodbyes at the Jacksonville airport, I proceeded through security. My first flight was to Washington DC, where I met up with the other Rotary Youth Exchange student from Maine named Allie. In DC I decided that I would show Allie how we live in Florida and I took her to the Red Carpet Club (thanks to Jeanie).

After spending the duration of our layover there we proceeded back to our gate. Allie got the pleasure of accompanying me on the 8 hour flight to Frankfurt, Germany, where we sweet-talked the flight attendant into letting us sit together. In Germany we sat around playing cards with a nice guy from California. He was on his way to visit his family in Saudi Arabia. He showed us this really cool card trick.

After playing cards for a while we went to our gate where we met two other Rotary Youth Exchange students headed for Croatia. The next leg of the trip was probably the best. It was about an hour and 30 minutes. Then we soon arrived in the Zagreb airport where we picked up our bags and walked out of frosted sliding glass doors where my host father Ratko and host sister Josipa were waiting for me, holding up a sign with my name.

The ride home was about 20 minutes, all the while my dad was pointing out the sights that I might need to know. Ratko speaks very nice English as does Josipa. My mother on the other hand is just about as good at English as I am at Croatian. My mother’s name is Mislav. They say the female names are always harder to pronounce than the male names.

We arrived at my house, where I met my other host sibling… while Ratko carried my luggage up 3 flights of stairs to my bedroom (spavaća soba). Which I am sharing with my host sister. I began unpacking while creating a sisterly bond with Josipa.

Soon after I began unpacking, I was called down to lunch where my mother had prepared veal with peas, mashed potatoes, rice, salad and tomatoes. This meal was accompanied with a homemade juice of which fruit I am not sure. I soon learned that lunch (ručak) was the main meal of the household. This is the meal that the mother prepares. The other meals, such as breakfast and dinner, are very casual. Usually you are supposed to prepare them yourself.

After lunch I continued unpacking, then my sister and I walked the dog Johnny. Josipa showed her neighborhood to me during the walk. She explained that every neighborhood has a different name and in every neighborhood there are many different houses with a number of flats within each building. There is one flat per family. After the walk we decided to take the dog back home while Josipa and I went to a coffee bar. We sat at the coffee bar for about 30 to 45 minutes as we did some more of that sisterly bonding! We soon found our way home and joined the family for a small dinner. My first Croatian dinner consisted of cottage cheese with salt and a cream sauce. We also had an assortment of ham, bread and tomatoes to accompany our cottage cheese.

Sincerely,

The Foreigner (Emily)

September 1 Journal

 This weekend my father, mother, and I went to our summer home in a small town called Tučepi. It is near Split (if you want to look at a map). The drive was about four hours, I slept the majority of the way. When we arrived at the house in Tučepi, I got my bathing suit on and headed down to the sea. It is literally 2 seconds away from the house! The water was a beautiful tint of aqua that darkened as it deepened. It was a bit colder than the Atlantic. The beaches were not sand, instead they were small pebbles. It was a change, and I have still not decided whether I like the sand or stones better. I guess I could just love them both.

The summer home is very nice. It has two bedrooms and one bathroom. The flat has a nice open kitchen and living area that leads to the porch. The little view that is, is beautiful. Downstairs there is another flat that my parents own. But they rent this one out during the summer because it is a little smaller than the other one. We spent the weekend in Tučepi where I soaked up all the sun and Adriatic that I could take. We left Tučepi Sunday evening. On our way out of town we stopped by this beautiful outdoor church (I would have taken pictures but there was a service going on).

We arrived back in Zagreb later that night. I went to sleep thinking about the next day and how my first day of school might go. I have to admit I was rather nervous to think that I will go to a school where I will know nobody and I know very little of the language. I woke up the next morning and just waited. School did not start until 2 o’clock that day. There was much anticipation. I soon decided that I could start getting ready for school. So I did just that. My mother arrived home from work and we left the house headed for school. I had a meeting with the principal before school. She introduced me to my homeroom teacher. My homeroom teacher is 4 foot nothing with heels and she is also my history teacher. I went to her classroom where I found old-fashioned tables and chairs. I took a seat as other students entered the classroom. All of a sudden it was a mad rush to meet the foreigner. God forbid you be the last one to introduce yourself to me! Of course I remembered not one of my peers’ names.

As the teacher tried to settle the class down a girl came and sat down next to me and introduced herself again. Her name was Nina. Nina speaks very good English and she explained to me what my schedule was. She explained that we are in class 2C. Which means we are in the 2nd grade (they count down instead of up.) And the C is just one of the many different classes within my grade. The school over here is very complicated so I will briefly explain. I have about 15 different subjects, all of which I will take in a different classroom with the same group of students. My schedule changes daily, and every week I alternate times that school starts. For example, this week school starts in the afternoon and next week school will start in the morning. So far I love my school, my friends and my family. I will have a meeting with my Rotary very soon and I will let you know how that goes.

September 30 Journal

 My first Rotary meeting: I met my host Rotary club, they were all very welcoming. School has been great! I am picking up new phrases left and right. During class it is a little hard to stay awake but what school isn’t like that. I listen to the teacher and pick out words and phrases that are frequently used and try to remember them. I also enjoy listening to those words and phrases that I recognize and know what they mean because that gives me a sense of accomplishment. My Croatian classes are great. My teacher is excellent. I will have classes twice a week until mid April. I have two other students in my class. They are also Rotary Youth Exchange Students. Greg is from New York and Gabriella is from Brazil. It is nice to have other students in the class because there is a sense of competition and we can practice on each other. I have had about 3 weeks of classes and I am very pleased with them.

The weather the past few days has been chilly and rainy. Today it is 13 degrees C, about 55 degrees F. Yesterday it was a bit warmer but the rest of the week is supposed to be colder. I have no idea how I am going to survive the winter with all the snow! My friends make fun of me because I find it so cold. But what can I say – I am a Florida girl.

I did my first school assignment! The assignment was to create a Power Point Presentation for my Informatika class (computer) on whatever topic you want. I chose Florida. My class really enjoyed the presentation. They were most interested in the hurricanes. I got a 5, which would be an A.

I went on my first Rotary trip. The 7 inbounds in Croatia gathered in Zagreb for our orientation. During the orientation we went over the Rotary Rules and Expectations. The next day we went to Plizvička Jezera (Lakes). It was absolutely amazing. There were a lot of lakes and waterfalls everywhere. I can not even begin to describe the color of the water. It was breath taking. The following day we went to two castles in Croatia. They were both very different yet beautiful. One of the castles was from the 18th-19th century and the other was from the 15th-16th century. The architectural work was really interesting. It was cool to see how the structures differed from the ages. Soon I am going on another Rotary trip to Vienna. I am also going to Austria with my class. I am very excited about both of these trips.

Just last weekend I cooked Sunday lunch for my host family. They were very impressed. But I found that it is rather hard cooking with foreign ingredients. I made meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, baked eggplant and chocolate chip cookies. The meatloaf was the easiest part. The macaroni and cheese on the other hand was rather difficult. They do not have cheddar cheese over here so I went to the store and tried all of the cheese until I found one that I thought would do. My host brother ate half of the cheese that I had gotten for the dish so I had to use other cheese that we had in the house. When it was finished it was very good, it just was not the same as when it is made with cheddar cheese. The chocolate chip cookies were a little hard to make also. My host mother is convinced that sugar in the raw is the same as brown sugar. And I could not find vanilla extract in the store. But in the end I pulled it off and everything was delicious.

I am not homesick yet (knock on wood). But there are certain things that I miss. For example, the beach being 2 seconds away, macaroni and cheese, and warm weather. The list is endless, but overall I love it here in Croatia!

October 28 Journal

 My first and second visit to Austria. The weekend of the 18th I went to Vienna for a multi district Rotary meeting. The meeting consisted of the 6 Croatian exchange students and the 83 Austrian exchange students. Vienna was beautiful, the first day we did a walking tour of a few museums, we saw a huge palace, we saw the main cathedral and we toured the oldest library in the world. That night we went to an Italian Opera. Of course, it was all in German so I didn’t understand any of the show. I enjoyed the costumes and the set very much. The next day consisted of a bus tour of the city. But I would have to say that the best part of being in Vienna was that we got to meet many other foreign exchange students. It was a blast talking to them and sharing stories with them. I even ran into a friend from Florida. Gail is in the same outbound group as me in Florida. Because there are so many foreign exchange students in Austria they had half of the group begin their exchange in January and the other half begin their exchange in August like I did.

At first being in Austria it was kind of confusing, because I had no idea what language to speak. I don’t know German, so that was out of the question. But I just got caught up on speaking Croatian all the time that I just wanted to speak Croatian. But barely anybody understood Croatian. So I had to fall back on English. Many of the Austrian exchange students were speaking German to each other. And then there was the group of Latinos and they were speaking Spanish and Portuguese. As Croats we decided to speak Croatian to each other. It was fun to have a language that nobody else could understand.

My next trip to Austria was this past weekend. I went on a class trip with my whole grade. We went to Graz, Klagenfurt and Bled Slovenia. Of course, all of these cities were beautiful. But I would have to say that the best part of this trip was learning more about my classmates and becoming closer to them. The first day we did a walking tour of Graz, then we had about two hours of free time to do some shopping in Graz. Just about all of the Croats go to Graz to do their shopping because everything is much cheaper than in Croatia. After we left Graz we headed to Klagenfurt were we stayed the night in a youth hostel. The next day we toured Klagenfurt then headed to Bled Slovenia. On the way to Bled we stopped in a few little town to check out some small tourist attractions. Bled was very pretty but I went to Bled Slovenia last summer and it was much prettier in the summer time. After Bled we headed back to Zagreb.

Croatia is beginning to feel like home. After both of these trips when we arrived back to Zagreb I was so happy just to be in a familiar place. A city where I know what bus and tram to take, a city where I can find my way around and see familiar street corners. Don’t get me wrong – I love traveling and seeing new things. But anyone who has ever traveled can tell you that it can get a little exhausting. Not only to be in a familiar place but to also speak my familiar language. My Croatian in coming along slowly but surely. Just last week both my best friend and my host mother said that it is getting much better. I was so excited to hear that.

Last week my cousin from Seattle Washington was visiting my aunt in Slovenia so she decided to take the train over for a visit. It was so great showing her my town. I gave her a tour of Zagreb then went back to my house where she met my host mother and saw the place I call home. After the visit to my house we went back out on the town and just drank coffee and talked like Croats do. It was beautiful.

I am still continuing to take Croatian classes twice a week with Greg and Gabbie, the two other foreign exchange students in Zagreb. School is school but everyday I am understanding more and more. Next Saturday is a rather big holiday here in Croatia. It is All Saints Day. My host father has explained to me that Saturday morning we will go to the cemetery as a family then we will come home and prepare a large meal which will consist of duck. And I think this meal symbolizes the beginning of a new year or something like that. My host father was trying to explain it to me. I didn’t catch everything. I will just have to wait and see. But I am looking forward to this Saturday.

Sincerely,

The Croat

January 6 Journal

 All Saints day was definitely an experience here in Croatia. As a family, with an exception to my grandmother we all went to the cemetery.. We spent about three hours visiting graves of our deceased family members.. We visited about six different graves, and at everyone of them we would pay our respects by placing flowers and or candles and saying the Our Father.. It was my first time visiting the cemetery here in Croatia. Prior to All Saints day I had driven by the main entrance of this cemetery on a city bus and I drive by what I thought was another cemetery everyday on my way to school. Little did I know that these two cemeteries were really one huge cemetery. In those three hours we walked from one side of the cemetery to the other, and then back home. The main entrance of the cemetery was about two miles from the entrance closest to my house. The whole city of Zagreb was at that cemetery that day. Every grave had beautiful flowers and many candles, it was really amazing to see how big this holiday is here. After the time spent at the cemetery we walked back to the house where my host grandmother had prepared a beautiful lunch consisting of duck, muesli (which is a traditional Croatian food), a beet salad, as well as a green salad. This meal is very similar to our Thanksgiving meals. But of course they don’t have Thanksgiving here.

Shortly after that, December came and the cold weather came with it. I would have to say that this weather is way too cold for a Florida girl. The main square is decorated with Christmas lights, a Christmas tree and an Advent wreath. Throughout Advent my host mother would go to church every morning 6 o’clock. I joined her once just to see how it was. Once was enough for me. I was surprised, there was a very good turnout. Mostly little old ladies in their fur coats and hats. As Christmas came closer I was anticipating it more and more. I was waiting for the decorations and the new traditions that I was going to be a part of. It was about a week before Christmas and although we had been baking cookies practically the whole month of December there had been no Christmas decorations. So I finally asked my host father when we are planning on getting our Christmas tree. He said Christmas Eve. I thought to myself that is rather late but I will go with the flow. The 23rd of December came and I finally saw Christmas trees being sold around town. Two days before Christmas, can you believe it? Christmas Eve was finally here and my host father and brother went out to buy our Christmas tree, while my host mother and I finished cleaning the house. She explained to me that the house is supposed to be clean for Christmas because something having to do with the birth of the new baby. So I helped her clean, like the good host daughter that I am. We soon decorated the tree with lights and ornaments just like we do in Florida. Later that night we did the whole Christmas thing. We opened presents. Every member of the family got one present each. I suppose that if we had little ones in the house we would have probably waited until Christmas morning. But everyone knows that once everyone is grown some traditions are just lost. Christmas morning came along with the first snow fall of the season. It was great, I had just got done setting the table for our Christmas lunch when I looked out the window and saw it. I ran downstairs to my host mom yelling ˝pada snijeg, pada snijeg˝ which means ˝falling snow, falling snow.˝ She was so happy for me. This was not my first time seeing snow but it was just as memorable. We at our Christmas meal which was very similar to the meal that we had on All Saints Day.

At this point I was anticipating New Years! On New Years I went with my class and some of their friends from elementary school to a party where we ate baby pig. This is a Croatian tradition on New Years. New Years passed and Three Kings day came. This is the day where we finally say goodbye to Christmas. All of the Christmas decorations came down today. Three Kings Day is a holiday in Croatia so nobody works and no stores are open.

Tomorrow I am moving to my new host family. I have mixed emotions about my move. I have bonded with my current host family for the last 4 months and it will be hard to leave. I plan on continuing going to church with my host mother at our neighborhood church because my next host mother is not a practicing Catholic. I have been invited back to go to the house on the coast in the summer with them. I think it is safe to say that I have one Croatian family that loves me and that will be in my life and heart forever. And I can’t wait to make another relationship with my next host family. My next host family has never had a daughter before, so I am excited to be their first. I will also be an only child which will be a BIG change in my life. Honestly that is what I am the most scared of. I have two brothers back in Florida and yes they can be very annoying, but I have always loved the excitement around the house. I had the same sort of excitement with my first host family too. I guess this is just one of those perks of being able to live with other families. I get to find out what it will feel like being an only child.

School will start back on the 12th of this month. In the second semester I will do my best in being graded in Croatian school.

April 23 Journal

 I am currently with my second host family. I have been with them for about 3 months now. In the beginning the living situation was a little weird.. For both my host parents and I. Of course, that was not clear through words yet through actions. Like many situations throughout this year. It was apparent that my host parents had never had a daughter before. But eventually my host parents got used to it. My new host family is practically in the same neighborhood as my old host family. It is in a great location, close to the city center. I am still attending the same school. I continue to keep in touch with my first host family. I see my first host mom just about every week at church. Out of all of my host parents/siblings I am closest to her.

Recently my host sister-in-law had a baby. So I am an aunt for the first time in my life. She is a beautiful little girl. The first girl in my family. We are all so happy.

School is going great. To celebrate Lent we had a carnival in school. It would be equivalent to our Halloween. Everyone dressed up and came to school. Following that we had a workshop week where the whole school split up into different workshops all involving money.. My workshop was a volunteering workshop. We went to a local stable where they do therapeutic riding for the handicapped. We helped out with the horses and the patients. At the end of this week the whole school got together and a representative from each workshop does a presentation on what they worked on in their workshop.

Recently I have been doing lots of traveling. I went to the annual Carnival in Venice to celebrate Lent. It was absolutely beautiful. I went with my best friend and my cousin that came to visit. I have been to Venice once before but this trip was different. There was a festive feeling in the air. There were countless beautiful costumes. And a sea of people over taking St. Mark’s Square. It was an awesome trip.

I took a weekend trip to Budapest, Hungary with other foreign exchange students that are also living in Croatia. I was planning on meeting up with a fellow Rotary Youth exchange student Drake, who is living in Budapest. But his mother was visiting him, so that didn’t happen. We visited both Buda and Pest. The river running through the city is a great touch. I would have to say that I like Buda better than Pest. But the view of the Parliament from Pest was stunning. We stayed in probably one of the best hostels I have ever been in. It was rather small but it had a homey feeling to it that made it all the more better. All in all it was a great trip.

Not only have I been traveling internationally but I have also been enjoying my own country. My Rotary Youth Exchange Chairman took some of the inbounds on a day trip and we visited one of the bigger towns in Croatia, called Osijek and we visited another town by the name of Vukovar. Osijek was a very nice city. It is one of the larger cities in Croatia, so my Rotary thought it was important for us kids to visit it. The lifestyle there is different than in Zagreb where I am living. Osijek is near the Eastern side of the country. That part of country is not known for the Adriatic Sea like the majority of the country yet it is known for their abundance of land. There are many farms in the Osijek area. Outside of Osijek, even closer to the border is Vukovar. The town is significant in Croatia’s history because this is the town that was invaded by Serbia approximately 18 years ago. Many Croatians lost family in this war and Vukovar is the town that was most destroyed and where the majority of Croatians were killed. My Rotary thought it was a good idea for us kids to visit this town because it has influenced both Croatians and Croatian history.

Rotary also took us inbounds on a trip to the well known Croatian coast. We went to one of the most popular towns on the Croatian coast named Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik is located on the South Eastern tip of Croatia’s coast. We went on a weekend trip to Dubrovnik. It was in fact beautiful. The city is well known for their high city walls that surround the historic downtown of the old city. We toured the old city, and visited the old port and ate lunch at a delicious seafood restaurant right on the water. The following day we took the hour and a half walk along the city walls. The view from the top of those walls was easily one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. We were very fortunate because we had fabulous weather. The sun was shining the entire weekend.

Recently we had Spring Break here in Croatia. I spent the first part of my Spring Break here in Zagreb, spending time with my friends and family. The Easter celebrations were very similar to American celebrations. I woke up on Easter morning and headed off to church with my first host family. My current host family are not practicing Catholics unlike my first host family. So I went to church in my Sunday bests, wished my prior host family a Happy Easter or Sretan Uskrs like us Croatians say it. Then I headed home to continue celebrating Easter. I arrived home and shortly after, the guests started arriving. Some of our closest family and friends came to lunch at our house. Lunch on this day was not only lunch, it is a tradition in Croatia to not eat breakfast but to combine the breakfast and lunch. Like our brunches. So that is what we did. We had a Croatian Brunch to celebrate Easter. The food consisted of cold sliced assortments of meats, fresh veggies, boiled eggs and something similar to our potatoes salad. This salad was used at all celebrations such as Christmas and New Years. As brunch was coming to an end so did the Easter celebrations. As you may have noticed there were no Easter baskets. This may come as a shock to you, but it comes easier to the Croatians. As you may remember me telling you, at Christmas time each child was given one gift. This country is not caught up on the materialistic side of these religious holidays – rather they focus on spending time with the family. In my host family we did not dye eggs due to the fact that there are no little ones in my family. But yes that tradition does take place over here.

After Easter I hung around Zagreb for a few days then made my way to Ljubljana, Slovenia where I visited my aunt and cousins for a few days. As I was returning to Zagreb I got a call from my Rotary Youth Exchange Chairman and he explained to me that he wanted to take the inbounds in my city to the coast for a sailing trip that weekend. So that is exactly what I did. As soon as I arrived in Zagreb I talked to my host parents and began to unpack then repack my bags for sailing. We drove to a town by the name of Šibenik located on the coast. From there we spent the night on the boat and took off the next morning early. We had good weather. The sun was not shining the entire trip but the rain held off until the night. But we did have some awesome wind. So that made the trip great. It was my first time sailing and it was a great experience. My sailing trip ended my Croatian Spring Break on a great note.

Now school has started back up. In a little over a week I will be setting off for my Euro Tour. I am extremely excited for this. My itinerary is as followed: from Zagreb I will head to Linz, Austria with the foreign exchange students in Croatia. There we will meet up with all the foreign exchange students in Austria and some from Hungary. From Linz we will start the tour. Starting off with Prague Czech Rep., Bad Laer Germ., Amsterdam Netherlands, Bruges Belgium, Paris France for 3 days, Toulouse Spain, Barcelona, Montserrat Spain, back to Barcelona for 3 days, from Barcelona we will go to Avignon France, Monaco, Cavi Di Lavagna Italy, Lucca, Pisa, Florence, Jesolo, Venice then we will end in Graz Austria. This trip will start on May 6th-22nd of May. I can’t wait for this trip to begin.

After the Euro Tour I do not have anything planned yet. I will finished out the school year then I will spend the summer in both Zagreb and on the coast. I will probably do a little more traveling, then make my way back to Florida. Until then I will keep you updated.

It is sad to see that my exchange is coming to an end. With the Euro Tour coming up, I will miss a month of my Croatian life. I will miss all my friends and family. Once the Euro Tour is over that will be when the last goodbyes will be said. I will make some of my last memories in Croatia, then head to Florida. No offense to you guys back home, but this goodbye is going to be much harder and much more sad then leaving Florida. The relationships and bonds that I have made here will stay with me for the rest of my life. I know it is far-fetched to believe that every person that I have met here will remain in my life … even for half of them, it is still far-fetched … but they will all remain in my memories of my exchange year in Croatia.

Heath’s Bio

 Hello, my name is Heath Smith, and I am currently 17 years old and a junior at Bartram Trail High School in St. Johns, Florida.

I moved to Florida about 6 years ago from a relatively small town near Kansas City, Missouri. While all of my extended family still lives in the Midwest, I have made Florida my home with my mom and step-dad (and my brother when he comes home from college).

My interests include art, music, technology, and science (or wherever they may coincide). I am involved in National Art Honors Society at my school, which hosts art shows, and has painted murals around the campus.

My travel has been limited thus far so I am very excited to begin my opportunity as a Rotary exchange student!

August 20 Journal

 Well, I have now been here for about three weeks now, and tomorrow is my first real day of school so… time to reflect on my summer here before I forget (and to get Karen, and Nancy off my back :D).

Minus the 7 hour lay over in lovely Memphis International, the traveling was pretty uneventful until Schipol-Amsterdam. After finally finding my gate in the jungle of duty free shops, and Customs, I spoke with the women at the check-in counter about the “seat assigned at gate” text on my boarding pass. They had no clue what it meant and said they would deal with it come boarding time. At final boarding call when I was pretty sure I would not be making it to Copenhagen, and quite nervous. They found that there was in fact an empty seat for me so I was able to board and return my heart to a normal rate.

Copenhagen was my final destination, and I was very relieved to pick up my luggage and head out of the airport to meet my family. My Host Parents and twins brothers, Olle and Johan (who just left on exchange to Oregon), were waiting for me outside baggage claim with a big “Välkommen Heath!” sign, written in pink highlighter. After all the hugs, handshakes, and high-fives we went to the car and drove over the Oresund into Sweden. The drive to Lund, where I am staying was very quiet but surprisingly not awkward. My host parents Lasse and Maria are as kind and welcoming as I could have hoped for and made me feel right at home (they’re also both amazing cooks). They have also been a great help with explaining things, and my Swedish. My brothers are both also very helpful and cool, but quite different from one another. Our home is the top two stories of a three story flat, just outside of downtown Lund. Lund is a charming college town, and the University here is the largest in Scandinavia.

After getting everything unpacked and eating dinner, I went with my brothers in town to get coffee and meet some of their friends. Having siblings my age has been a tremendous help with meeting people, and finding my way around. I got home entirely too late for being as jet lagged as I was, passed out as soon as I laid down, and slept until about noon.

The next day Johan decided that we should take the train into Copenhagen to go shopping, and so I could see the city which was pretty cool. The stores and clothes here are so much better than in the states. Soon after we got back in Lund, we left for the vacation cottage 2 hours north near Varburg. The house is very near the sea, and we spent the next six days there. I went sailing with my host mom and Johan, swam, and ate mostly. It was very relaxing. Olle had to stay home because of his soccer schedule, so Johan and I became pretty good friends, and hung out the whole time.

One day he and I took the train south from Varburg to Laholm, where a friend of his was having a party at his family’s vacation house. It was a really good time, and I met a lot of kids I’ll be going to school with. And learned a lot about Swedish youth. All of them love American TV, and about the only things they said that I understood were: “facebook”, “Family Guy”, and “Gossip Girls”. They also want me to have someone “Send red cups like the American parties in the American Pie films”. They sure love those red cups. They also pirate every season of every show on HBO, and know the name of each episode.

On the 6th Lasse drove me back to Lund so I could make the train to my language camp in Åhus (thats where they make all the Absolut vodka in the world!). The next six days were spent in a hostel with the 19 exchange students staying in Skåne (my province, and the best one). We ate tons of ice cream (the only thing other than Absolut that Åhus is famous for), toured the Absolut factory, and learned some of the more important parts of the Swedish language (such as what curse words you yell when you stub your toe versus when your team is losing in soccer). It was really cool to meet the other exchange students, and we all got along pretty well. I was very glad to get back to Lund however, and see Johan some before he left for Oregon. I was sad to see him leave, but knew exactly what he was going through. I think that may have been part of why we got along so well. It will be cool to share our experiences over the course of this year.

The past week has been spent trying to get better acquainted with Lund, getting to know Olle better, and watching an unhealthy amount of Gossip Girls with his friends. Today was orientation at my school, Katedralskolen, which was founded in like 1085. I’ll be in the third and final year of Swedish secondary school, and was lucky enough to be put in a class with three kids I had been hanging out with. Hadn’t I known anyone beforehand I’m pretty sure I’d still be trying to find my locker. After Orientation I went with my Host-cousins into Malmö for Malmöfestivalen, which is a huge free music festival all over the city. We saw a few pretty good bands, most notably being a Norwegian group whose organ player wore a gas mask, and would periodically jump up and bang on oil drums with a large club or crowbar….

My host-cousin Pontus also insisted that we take advantage of the street food vendors, and put me through a “Swedish right of passage” (Jenny, stop reading here). I may or may not have eaten moose, and reindeer, and it may or may not have been delicious.

So tomorrow I start class, and begin phase two of this whole exchange thing. Which means I need to get to sleep.

Hej då!

September 23 Journal

 So by this point I’m quite settled in and the “Holy crap, I’m in Sweden” moments are becoming less and less frequent. School started about a month ago (good god I’ve already been here two months). I’ve found a nice routine, gotten used to yogurt on cereal… I’d say things are going pretty smooth.

The first day of class went well enough I suppose. David and Johan, friends of my brother that are in my class, made sure I knew where to go and introduced me to some people in the class. Speaking of introductions, the teacher of my first lesson thought it would be good if I stood up and told the class a little about myself… which would have been all well and fine hadn’t my voice cracked as soon as I spoke…. There’s something about the whole “Swedish rhythm” that likes to kick your vocal cords back into their pre-pubescent glory. Luckily no one laughed… until they brought it up like two weeks later….

Swedes in general are pretty shy and aren’t ones to just come up and talk to you. This is okay; I understand since I’m also pretty shy, but there lies the problem. It has been a gradual process, but things on both ends are staring to open up. It’s getting a lot easier to meet people, and make friends. At first they would approach me in groups. You can tell when it’s coming because they’ll be standing like 5 meters away, glancing over and arguing amongst themselves over who has the best English (they assume I don’t understand what they are talking about), and will do the talking. Once a leader is chosen and they begin the approach, I brace myself for the bombarding of the same old questions over again. Pretty much everyone I’ve met has asked me: “Do you like Obama or McCain?”, “Do you have a driver’s license?”, “Do you own a gun?”, “Is that near Miami?”, and “Can you have someone send us red cups?” (okay… that one is a little less frequent, but still). They also seem to think that I look like either Seth Cohen or Frodo Baggins…. I suppose I’ll take the latter as Elijah Wood, and a compliment?

Straying away from the social aspects, Swedish school is really relaxed compared to American schools. No bells, no hall passes, they just expect you to have enough brains to know where to be and go to the bathroom without someone holding your hand. You just get up and go; it’s great! You also have a different number of classes each day, with no real structure period system or standard break length. It’s more like college really. During my lunch gaps I can go to a cafe to eat if I so choose (No crazy lady in a golf cart blockading the gate!… oh, how I hate you Bartram Trail), or enjoy free lunch at school, courtesy of the welfare state.

For the most part I have all my lessons with my homeroom class. I’m in a social science program so my core courses are on politics and history. All of my compulsory courses like religion, psychology, and Swedish are just with my homeroom. I’m also taking Art, Spanish 3, and Swedish for Foreigners (which is just me and three other exchange students). Trying to translate Swedish to English, then into Spanish and back is brutal. And I’ve come to accept that on Mondays and Wednesdays I will have a skull-splitting headache.

Another thing that has stood out to me as a major difference is the absence of “cliques”. Perhaps it’s the separation of team athletics and school? Whatever the reason, you can walk into the school cafeteria and see all different groups talking together and not worrying about who’s watching. People seem to be a lot less judgmental here. You can do your own thing, and it’s accepted.

During free time, I usually hang out with friends in town, one of my favorite things to do is ‘ficka,’ the Swedish ritual coffee break… it must be the reason there are SIX Espresso Houses in Lund, Lund isn’t that big. My host cousin also lent me a bass and amp recently, so I’ve picked that back up as well.

At home things are excellent. I really love my host family, and often have lengthy discussions with Lasse, my host dad. Most Swedes are very interested… well more concerned with US politics, and especially the upcoming election. So he often asks questions about that, and I ask him about Swedish politics, systems, taxes etc. Both my host dad and mom are very social and often entertain which means the same old questions over dinner from middle-aged Swedish couples, something that’s quite entertaining after their second glass of wine (and they start cracking on the Finns).

I could really get used to being able to get wherever I want by bike and/or train. AND hopping on a train and being in another country in half an hour. Since Denmark is so close, I have gone pretty often with friends or family. More and more I can pick out all the little differences between Swedes and Danes that I never would have noticed before. Needless to say it’s always a great comfort when you get over the Oresund and back home to Sweden. Danish sounds like you are speaking Swedish with food in your mouth.

The past week I have been rather busy with actually being assigned work at school and taking care of college applications (which I never would have gotten through without the help of the wonderful Jennifer Panitch).

Overall things are going well. I’m really starting to love Sweden more and more, even the cold cloudy weather. I was never much for tanning anyway…

Joanie’s Bio

 Hey everyone! My name is Joanie Davis, I’m 15 years old and I live in Jacksonville, Florida. I’m a Sophomore at Bartram Trail High School, and I enjoy drawing, painting, and writing. I also enjoy tubing on the St. Johns River and surfing in the summer. My favorite classes in school are Math and Fashion Production.

My family and friends are very important to me. It will be hard leaving them for almost a year, but the experience of being an exchange student is totally worth it. I live with my mom, dad, and my younger sister Ashley. She’s 12 and attends Switzerland Point Middle School (No, it’s not in Switzerland). I also have two pets, a Siberian Husky named Bandit, and a Lovebird named Sunshine. I have many friends that I enjoy spending time with. On weekends we go tubing, jet skiing, and sometimes to the movies and mall.

I am so excited, and still in shock that I have the chance to be an exchange student. I am thrilled that I will be spending my junior year in Germany. It was my first choice (lucky me), and I am so excited I don’t want to wait 5 months before I get to go. I will be spending almost a year in Germany, learning the language, culture, and meeting new people. This would probably be the most amazing thing that has ever happened in my life. Thanks Rotary for allowing me to have this amazing opportunity.

July 22 Journal

 Hi everyone! Although I have not yet left on my exchange, I would still like to write a journal about how I’m feeling before I embark on this year long journey. I have only 13 days before I leave and it doesn’t feel real yet. It has not hit me that I will be leaving my friends and family and live in another country for a year. Every time I tell someone that they look at me like I’m crazy. Often people ask me if I’m scared, excited, or nervous. But honestly, I don’t feel any of those emotions. I actually don’t feel any emotion I can possible think of. It’s something new, weird, and I just can’t explain it. This is a strange thing for me because I can usually explain how I feel in any situation but not in this one. Only someone that has or will be an exchange student knows what this odd feeling is like.

On July 11th my friend Anne went back to Denmark. It was a really sad day , and our group was crying so hard. Just like a car accident everyone stared at us as they walked by. Although it was terribly upsetting for everyone, I felt happy at the same time. This wasn’t a “goodbye” it was more of a “see you soon”. This is something I’m going to remember when it comes time for me to come back home. It takes a lot of sadness out of the leaving and makes it a lot more joyous. I think this experience will prepare me for my exchange.

Lucky for me, I’ve been talking to my first host family for a lot longer than most outbounds. I’ve really become attached to them, and I feel like I know them good enough to feel very comfortable in their home. I will have one host sister name Leonie. She is the cutest little girl I’ve ever seen. My host parents are so nice, and completely different from my parents. I am really excited about finally getting to meet them. That’s the only emotion I can find that fits any part of my exchange. I’m excited to meet my new family.

After I finished writing this, I read Katie’s journal and almost screamed when I read the part about the indescribable emotion. I think we’ll need to find a good name for it.

August 25 Journal

 Hallo! I had been homesick before I’d ever left the country. A week before I left it started. I felt like I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. The night before I left was awful. I was terribly depressed, and I was crying a lot. The next morning my mom woke me and asked if I still wanted to do this. I wanted to say no so bad. The last thing I wanted to do was get on the airplane and leave for a year. The first night in Germany I was so homesick I wanted to leave so bad. It lasted 3 days and out of nowhere it stopped. I wanted to stay, I didn’t want to leave. And everyday I am so happy that I decided to go, because I have met so many great people and I would have missed out on a chance of a lifetime.

I’m not going to write about my flight to Germany because it was so uneventful, it’s not even worth writing about. 7 hour layover in Detroit, ancient airplane, and loss of all my knowledge of the German language covers just about everything. So I’ve been in Germany for about three weeks, and it’s everything I imagined it would be. I have already been attending school for two weeks. If you think going to high school in your own country is tough, imagine going to high school in an unfamiliar place, with little knowledge of the language, and not a single friend as far as the eye can see. That was a terrifying experience for me. Never in my life have I been nervous to go to school , but that all changed August 13th. I woke up and I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital. I couldn’t stop freaking out, I was hyperventilating, and my heart was beating so hard I could hear it. It took about an hour before I could even start to get ready to go. Because it was my first day, my host mom drove me to school. As soon as we turned into the parking lot I started freaking out again. I kept asking myself ”What’s wrong with you?” I couldn’t calm down; it was terrible. I had no clue where I was going, and I most definitely couldn’t ask anyone because I wasn’t ready for everyone to know that I was foreign. I finally found my first class and quickly took a seat in the very back, and immediately a girl started talking to me. It was the fastest I have ever heard anyone speak. She must have said every word in German in about 2 minutes. I just stared at her for a really long time. My eyes must have been popping out of my head. She then gasped, grabbed me by the arm and exclaimed ”ARE YOU JOANIE?” My cover was blown and 20 pairs of eyes were staring at me. I quickly nodded my head and she smiled and looked really excited. This was just the start of a very crazy day.

School had ended and I had to take the city bus home. I was by myself, and my German is at the level of a 4 year old. I walked on the bus, swiped my bus card and took a seat. It was about 3 minutes into the ride when I heard the bus driver speaking over the intercom. I didn’t know what he was saying so I just sat there. Soon everyone on the bus was staring at me as the driver continued talking. His voice seamed a bit more irritated so I figured he was talking to me. I turned to the girl next to me and asked ”What is he saying?” Strange enough she answered me in French. I searched around panicking and the girl called out ”English!” Thankfully a very, very nice man on the bus spoke English and told me the driver wanted to see my card. I couldn’t understand why. SO I walked to the front of the bus almost falling over because he was a terrible driver and showed him my card. He thought I hadn’t swiped it , though it made a very loud, distinct ”Beep.” The whole ride home everyone continued to stare at me and whispered.

Since that day, things have been getting better and better. I’ve met so many great people, and seen some amazing things. Like the cathedral in Köln. Whoa. So big I couldn’t fit the entire thing into a picture no matter where I stood. And the only disco in Neuss. About the size of my room and 200 people inside. If you are the least bit claustrophobic I highly suggest that you never go there.

This is a terrible summary of everything that’s happened so far, but I want you to read my journals so I’ll keep all of them short.

September 17 Journal

 Hi everyone!

I’ve lost track of how long I’ve been here, although I am aware it hasn’t been long. It’s really strange because it feels like a lifetime already. Since the very first day of my exchange I’ve experienced every emotion a person can experience. Things are really bipolar all the time, and there are times when you think you need a therapist. Like I said in my second journal, in the beginning things were awful. But shortly after everything was so marvelous I didn’t think such a feeling could exist. But out of nowhere another emotion hit me. I wasn’t that excited like I used to be. When I would go to festivals, and to the the disco when I first arrived it was like Christmas morning. Now all those things feel more like Easter. There might be a present waiting for you that morning. but it’s nothing like Christmas. But now I realize I’m in the next step of my exchange, ‘Boredom’. Everything feels so routine, and I’m a little uninterested in my friends, and the plans they make. Now my bus rides are so uneventful, it’s saddening. Thankfully in 2 weeks I will be embarking on a journey around Germany, for a full 2 weeks. I’m so excited for that, because during that time I’ll probably miss my friends so much that when I return, I am excited to see them all again and do whatever it is they have planned. Whether it’s making scary movies in the basement of the apartment, or shopping in Düsseldorf. I know the feeling of boredom passes eventually, so I’m having to be really creative so I can keep myself occupied until things become ‘marvelous’ again.

Neuß Schützenfest

Enough talking about emotions, now I want to tell you about all the fun stuff I’ve been doing these past few weeks. I went to Neuß Schützenfest (the biggest in Germany) it felt so much like the County Fair, the only difference was the significant lack of mullets, funnel cakes, and country music. Last weekend I went to Rotex Weekend (which was quite unorganized I might add). There were 72 of us in a tiny gym, and we had our sleeping bags crammed in any place we could find. All night we fought one another for space and our blankets. We used our clothing as pillows and yoga mats as mattresses. (All you future Outbounds better not complain about those bunks at Lake Yale.)

Fun Facts About Germany:

*Deodorant is optional -The older you are the more ‘optional’ it becomes.

*Unlike the yellow bus you take to school, my 16 wheeled Mercedes will not wait for you. You can chase it down, swear at it, and beat on the door, you will not be getting on that bus.

*There is no such thing as ‘No room’ on the bus.

*There are only 3 flavors of chips here, and no they are not ranch, cheese, or salt and vinegar

*People eat 2-3 sandwiches during the school day

*In the grocery store, there is every jelly flavor you can think of (even strawberry vanilla), too bad Grape is not one of them.

*People will freak out if you drink water from the sink.

*People will stare at you if you are caught using hand sanitizer, but once they smell it they start covering their faces like noxious gas has just entered the room.

*The Fanta here tastes like orange cough syrup. ew

November 6 Journal

 Tonight I have decided I will stop procrastinating, and finally do my Germany Tour journal. Everyone has been asking me about it, wondering where it is, but it’s here now. This journal will only be about this incredible two week tour around Germany I went on a month ago. I’ll write another journal later letting you all know what I’ve been up to this past month.

First stop on the tour was Heidelberg. I must say, this was probably the most gorgeous city I’ve ever seen in my life. It could possibly be due to the fact that the sun was shining for once, but the city was pretty nice too. Heidelberg is home to the oldest university in Germany and has a really ugly destroyed castle sitting above the city. It looks really cool until you find out it’s not 2000 years old, the French just decided to do some renovations. Walking up to see that castle was terrible, it was so steep and so early in the morning, it was unbearable. Needless to say my legs hurt bad.

Next was Freiburg. I was also really impressed with this city. It was really similar to Heidelberg, only instead of a castle, there is the church Münster. My new host dad lived in this city. He wanted me to tell you that. Also my legs and everything else on my body hurt from the day before.

Then we went to Füssen and Oberammergau. This day was the worst workout of my life. The day before in Freiburg me and a few others got lost one night and walked around for hours so our legs hurt really really bad. Then the next day we walked up a mountain to see the castle Neuschwanstein. Normal people ride in a wagon pulled by a horse, but the tour decided to be cheap and make us walk up this terrible slope. My legs were already killing me from the past 3 days of climbing and walking. I tried to hitch a ride on the back of a wagon. My plan failed and I ended up walking uphill for another 35 minutes. We finally reached the top and I smiled at the thought that I would be walking downhill on a nice paved road. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Instead of taking the road (I don’t know why we didn’t) we took an even steeper wet, rocky, and dangerous trail back down. I slipped so many times it no longer scared me when it happened, I just expected it. I almost cried when we finally reached the bottom.

We got on the bus and were ready to go to Oberammergau. We were staying in a little house on a small mountain. My legs were practically incapable of moving and I hadn’t slept in 4 days. We finally reach our destination and were about to go up the mountain when suddenly the bus turns around, and stops. Guess what, the bus can’t make it up so we get to carry our gigantic suitcases up a mountain. I’m not kidding, it was raining, cold, my suitcase weighed as much as it did when I left the US (50 lbs exactly) and I have to carry the stupid thing up the mountain. I honestly didn’t think I could carry myself up the mountain.

Two and a half hours later we reached the top and it looked like we were in ”hillbilly town” I was shocked, I saw a small hut and two outhouses and almost screamed. ”Oh my God! We’re staying in that!!!!” Those were my exact words. But there is good news and bad news to this, good news we weren’t staying there. Bad news where were staying is another 45 minutes up the mountain.

When we actually got there I was relieved to see a cute Bavarian house and the smiling faces of the family who owned it. I was very relieved, but my legs were dead. Being the aggressive person I am I raced to the front of the line and called the room with 4 people (I had slept in the room of 16 the night before, one big bed for 16 people). I was very excited because I was going to get to sleep that night. The minute I walked into the room I wanted to walk right back out. I think the owner must have shot and stuffed every animal on the mountain. The room was filled with these scary dead animals. I had a mountain lion looking creature above my head staring at me as I slept all night. Needless to say I didn’t sleep so well.

Then we went to Munich. We went to Oktoberfest, enough said. Next we went to Dachau, 1 hour out of Munich. We went to a concentration camp and was mortified. As I walked through the gates I kept on thinking of all the people that walked through those very same gates that never made it out. We walked through the museum and then saw the gas chambers. Nobody was very cheerful for the rest of the day.

Next we went to Berlin. I absolutely love that city. There is so much history and so many interesting things. I felt so rushed, I don’t feel like I saw it, but what I did see of it I really like. I saw the bare Berlin Wall, I saw Soviet watch towers, and stood on a piece of sidewalk in front of an apartment complex where Hitler’s bunker was buried. It was a little odd thinking that there was a bunker below my feet because it was just a regular sidewalk. I also went to Check Point Charlie. I didn’t have my passport so I couldn’t get the stamps. I was bummed.

I feel that Germany Tour will be very similar to Euro Tour, so I’m going to share a little advice with everyone.

*Pack light, you have to carry your suitcase up and down 6 flights of stares everyday

*Don’t bring an ATM card with you , bring cash. You will spend all of your free time looking for a specific bank.

*Get used to nasty things. The youth hostels are pretty disgusting.

*Your diet will consist of Haribo, chocolate, McDonalds, Dönner, hostel sink water, and beer.

*Don’t forget a towel

*Bring your Ipod, Ipod charger, camera, extra memory card, and camera charger.

*Don’t expect to sleep at all

*Don’t expect to sleep on the bus, the Brazilians never shut up and sing just to make you mad.

*Don’t sleep on the bus, your friends aren’t always your friends.

*Don’t buy the souvenirs next to Checkpoint Charlie, Neuschwanstein etc.; walk two streets down and the exact same things are 2€ cheaper.

Well that’s all for now. I’ll have my next journal up in the next few days.

December 14 Journal

 ”I’ll have my next journal up in the next few days.” Ok, so it’s been a couple days later (38 to be exact) it looks like I didn’t procrastinate at all and this journal is right on time.

There’s too much to cram into this one journal, so I think I will just talk about current issues. I think I will start this journal talking about how Christmas-obsessed these Germans are. It’s crazy! They remind me a lot of the Whos from ” The Grinch that Stole Christmas”. There’s Christmas lights hanging on absolutely everything you can put lights on, there’s Christmas trees on every corner, the windows in every store are frosted and have snowflakes, lights, and ornaments from top to bottom. I’ve run into people a few times because I was walking and staring at the same time. Every city has a Christmas Market and it’s fantastic, hand-made ornaments, gifts, waffles, and of course the humongous portions of fries. During Christmas they sell a special drink called ” Glühwein”. It’s hot wine with rum and sugar. It tastes amazing, and everywhere you go someone forces you to try it no matter how many times you say ”I’ve had it before” you will end up drinking a huge mug of this stuff.

I’m going to be completely honest. Germans have the worst case of OCD in the world. Clothes must be folded in your closet as if it were in a department store, shoes go from, sandals, to converse, to heels, to boots. The hangers must all be facing the same way, clothes must be evenly spaced apart when hung, your scarves must be folded in half twice then put on hanger. Your bed must be made the way you see it in IKEA’s model bedrooms. In the shower after you’re done using it you must clean the hair out of the drain, spray it down with some nasty spray and wipe it dry with a towel. Next you have to open the window and wipe every last bit of water off of the floor. It’s literally a chore to take a shower.

There are a lot of immigrants from Turkey and the Middle East in Germany. Whenever they ask someone questions about you it’s ”Is she married?” , ”How may kids does she have?” , and ”How old is she?” Or they will randomly walk up to you and ask you those same questions. One day a Syrian woman from my German class walked up to me and asked me the three questions. I said no to the first two and sixteen to the last. She bugged her eyes out at me ”Sixteen and you’re not married!” ”What will your parents do with you?” I couldn’t help but laugh a little, it was hilarious. She then said, “I have a very nice cousin who I can introduce you to. You’re parents will thank me so much for this.” I told her no thanks and that my parents really aren’t worried about me getting married. She looked at me weird and walked to her bike.

The next day I rode my bike to my German lessons and and almost crashed into the bike racks as I saw this woman standing there with a 25 year old man. I pretended like I didn’t see her and walked toward the door of the VHS. She called out ”Johnny, Johnny!” I turned around and she was standing there beaming, I walked over and she told me that this was her cousin and she told me he wanted to marry me. ”WHAT!!” I exclaimed and I ran as fast as I could to the the door, ran up the stairs and sat in my seat 4 minutes early for class. I was so shocked, I thought this kind of stuff only happened in Thailand, but apparently I was very wrong. Needless to say my little Syrian friend has not talked to me since.

My German is not as good as I thought it would be at this point. But I understand 90 % of everything that is said to me. I don’t speak German that well, but I can give directions, order food anywhere, ask people questions, tell people what I’m going to do today and so on. I’ve been here four months, and I’ve thought about how much I’ve accomplished in learning this language and I think I’m doing pretty good so far. If in a matter of four months I have become capable of understanding the German language, imagine how well I will be able to speak German in another four months. When I think about that I’m no longer disappointed, I’m very proud of myself. Some people may know their language a lot better than I do, but as long as I am happy with what I know, that’s all that matters.

Well, that’s all for now. I promise my next journal will be a lot more exciting because there will be a lot going on here for the next couple weeks.

Oh, and by the way, I’m fat now. Thanks Germany.

January 10 Journal

 During the holiday break, exchange students can explore their country without worrying about school, visit with the other exchange students, and find themselves doing the dumbest things possible.

Christmas was a very interesting experience for me. We didn’t get to see the tree until Christmas Eve and everyone just tears open their presents and presents that don’t even belong to them. Maybe it’s just my host family, but that was really strange. It was all over in 10 minutes and then we went to bed. The next day was Christmas, but that has absolutely no significance here other than the fact that ”haha all the stores are closed! Looks like you’re going to walk around with no deodorant!” It was bad, but I stole some from my friend who has about 6 cans. But still the stores were closed so I had to find some way to entertain myself. All my friends were at their Grandparents’ house, so I rode the Regio Bahn (small train that connects with very small cities) aimlessly for a few hours. I know I’m lame, but a lot of exchange students do that, and it really gives you time to just sit and listen to your iPod for a while. I have a schokoticket so I can go anywhere from the Düsseldorf area to Dortmund. It’s pretty nice having that ticket because you can see different cities, and meet up with some people you know.

The next day was the day after Christmas, and for some stupid reason the shops were still closed, but my exchange student friends were free that day and we decided to just walk around Düsseldorf for a couple hours and sit in Starbucks for 2 hours. We are all in the HBF (train station) and we go down the escalator that wasn’t moving, it suddenly turns on and starts going up. Strike one for foreigners. I live in Düsseldorf, so I know the city and which train goes where, but my friend Stefan thought he did too. He was yelling ”This is the right one, this is the right one!” It definitely wasn’t, the ”right” train didn’t come for another minute. But he insisted. It was the end station for this train because it said ”Düsseldorf HBF” on the side. I don’t know why I got on, because no one else was on, I knew it was wrong. I figured they would yell at us so Stefan would know that he’s an idiot and should never lead the way. But instead of anyone stopping us or telling us to get off, the train shuts its doors, and goes flying off into some dark scary tunnel. Then the lights go out. I immediately screamed ”Stefan you ____!!!” I’ll let you use your imagination for that one. So, we’re underground in this train, it’s really really dark, and really really cold. Then suddenly I heard this loud slam noise as the train rocked side to side. I thought another train had hit us, but it was only the wind of another train going by a bit faster than it should have. It scared all 4 of us to the point where…I heard the sound of a bottle top popping off. ”Are you drinking a beer!?” I exclaimed to my friend Alli. She replied with ”Why not?” I couldn’t help but start laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. 15 minutes later we see a man with a flashlight walking along the edge of the train, it was the driver, so we knew we’d be out of here soon, but what on earth do we say to this guy. Luckily my friend Stefan has been studying German since her was 8, and without any trouble explained what happened. The driver rolled his eyes and thought we were the dumbest people on earth. I think that might be strike 2, possibly 3. That was pretty bad.

Sauerkraut. OK that stuff, I cannot eat it. It’s awful. I almost die every time I have to eat it. My host mom bought this industrial sized bag, filled with little bags of sauerkraut. So we’ve been eating sauerkraut everyday since Christmas. This still is really gross. She’s gotten bored with just plain sauerkraut so she’s been using her imagination a lot, and figuring out what she can make with it. Once it was mixed with pineapple, another with time with raisins (Germans don’t like it when you tell them you don’t like something, even when they insist you, don’t). This evening she was making a quick dinner for me and my host brother, before she and my host dad went to a Cabaret. I figured bread and butter. I was ok with that until I got upstairs and smelled the stench of you know what. Sauerkraut. ”Oh please no.” I whispered quietly while walking up the steps. I looked in this bowl, and it was some kind of sauerkraut soup. I was really grossed out. But never showed it. There was a big bottle of Chili-Garlic sauce on the table, and in attempt to mask the flavor, I dumped a huge blob of it right in the center of my soup. Everyone else did so, but my soup was the only one that was red. I knew I had put waaaayy too much in my soup. I was so scared to eat it, but I did anyway. It tasted like sauerkraut and really wasn’t spicy at all. Halfway through eating this stuff and trying not to gag my stomach burned like fire. But I still had half a bowl to go and I almost cried, but I ate it anyway. I had the worst heartburn of my life. Now I know what everyone’s talking about when they say Tums are a must in India.

The other day I was waiting for a friend at a bus stop. I got really tired and lazy so I leaned up against the fence of someone’s yard or something. I didn’t turn around to look. I was in deep thought while staring at the cars on the street. When suddenly something bit my elbow. It scared me and I screamed like a little girl. I had leaned up against a farmer’s house and a DONKEY bit my elbow. I’ve never really seen a donkey before so I’m just going by Shrek here. My host dad thinks it was a pony. but that thing was so ugly . If that was a pony, why on earth would every little girl on earth want one. That thing was a donkey and I will stand by my words.

Well, that’s pretty much all that’s happened since I last wrote. I promise I’ll write again soon.

Bis dann

 May 15 Journal

 I can’t believe it was January the last time I wrote a journal. Time just goes by too fast. It’s really sad because I only have 24 days left in Germany. I can easily remember sitting in my room with 9 months to go wishing it would move just a bit faster. It’s not that I wasn’t interested in the things around me, it’s just 9 months looks like a long time, too much time. But really, it’s no where near enough time. I never want my exchange to end. I’ve had my ups and downs this year. No matter how terrible it can be sometimes, I will honestly say this has been the best year of my life. I have learned and grown so much, and I have met so many amazing people, and I can speak German. I know Germany now, I can live life here as easy as I could in the US. Coming to Germany, I thought I was going to learn a language and a new culture. I’ve learned that, plus I’m the master of German transportation. The buses, trains, subways, everything. I’ve also learned the more useful measuring system. (Science will be so much easier now.) It’s just a shame that I’ve learned all these things, and I’m now going home in 4 weeks. I now understand what the Rotex meant when they said it wasn’t enough time.

I’ve been extremely busy these past few months, so I’ve been unable to write my journal. Now let’s go back to February. Towards the end of February we celebrate Karneval. Many countries celebrate it, but I’d like to think Germany has the best one in Europe. I live in Düsseldorf so I was in one of the 2 best cities in Germany to celebrate Karneval. I also celebrated in Köln, the city in Germany with the biggest celebration. I went to a Rotex Weekend for 2 of the days and had so much fun. We had to dress up in costumes, it was mandatory. If you didn’t have a costume they made you wear a plastic garbage bag.

Next in March I had my birthday on the 12th. I went out to a really nice restaurant with my host mom, my host sister, and 3 of my friends. It was probably one of the smallest birthdays I’ve had; but I was so happy to see that people I’ve known for less than a year would come to my house in the pouring rain, to deliver a cake and sing me happy birthday. Only a few days after that my parents came. That was a really weird experience. I just kept thinking that they don’t belong here. It was really unusual seeing them in this setting. It’s the same way I’m going to feel when my German friends come and visit me in Florida. It’s a little odd. I associate my parents with beach, sun, my house, Jacksonville. Not Germany, trains, my hangouts. I think it took 3 days to get over the weirdness.

The day my parents left I went on Eurotour with Andee. The tour was 3 weeks long. I have never gone that long without sleep before. I had the time of my life. in 21 days we went to Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Padua, Venice, Rome, Florence, Pisa, Nice, Monaco, Avignon, Geneva, and Paris. I got to see so many amazing things, and spend every waking moment with some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met in my life. It was incredible.

What’s also incredible is the grade I got on my German Exam. I took an exam last week with 14 other foreigners. These exams prepare you for the exam that decides whether you stay in Germany or not. (I’m only 1 exam away from taking that one. But I don’t need to take it.) I took my exam last week, 6 months behind in the book. (I took it early because I won’t be hear in September.) This exam consisted of a reading, hearing, writing, and a speaking section. It was really hard I was so nervous the whole time. I got 94 out 100 points on that exam. It was a very good day.

It’s really scary knowing that your exchange is ending in only a few short weeks. I’m homesick and I haven’t even left yet. I’m really don’t want to leave, the last thing I want to do is go home, I’m not ready yet. I feel the exact same way as I did coming over. I guess it really shows that I’ve become attached to this place. I will miss the friends I’ve made here so much. I’ve become so close to them in just one short year.

Thanks Rotary, none of this would have happened without you.

Henry’s Bio

 Hi, my name is Henry Ford, and I’m 16 years old. When I was 5 years old I moved from East Lansing, Michigan to St. Augustine, Florida. I really don’t remember a whole lot about Michigan, but I can remember I was more excited about moving than I was sad. Now I live in St. Augustine Beach, and currently I’m a 10th grader at Pedro Menendez High School. I love playing soccer, learning new things, and going to new places.

My favorite thing to do is play soccer. I have been playing since I was 5 years old, and I have been playing on a select team since I was 10. What I like about soccer is that it takes a lot of endurance, ball skills and good ball control, awareness, strength, and speed. The combination of these makes for a game that is, in my opinion, addicting. In my free time, I also enjoy going to the beach. At the beach my friends and I go surfing a lot during the summer. I also like doing things with my family. We do a lot together, and I enjoy doing things with them like playing golf or riding bikes.

I have many goals in life and right now, aside from having a great time as an exchange student, the biggest goal I have is to go to college at the University of Florida. I really want to achieve this because I feel it will open up opportunities for me for the rest of my life. Although it is a really hard school to get into, I feel if I do my best in high school I can achieve this goal.

I’m very excited about being an exchange student in a different country. Not only will it be great while I’m there, but I’m positive that this will shape me into a different person than I would’ve become without this exchange. I’m interested to see who that person will be. This will be an adventure that will last a lifetime, and I just can’t wait for it to start.

October 5 Journal

 As I drove to the Jacksonville Airport with my family and bags, I thought to myself, why aren’t I crying or at least feeling anything. The truth was I knew exactly what I was doing in leaving my life in Florida behind and venturing to a foreign country thousands of miles away, but I really wasn’t very emotional about it. I was going from a country and town I knew so well to a country that was very different.

As I walked off the plane in the Malpensa (Milan) airport I was relieved. 18 hours of flying and sitting in airports had exhausted me and all I wanted to do was to meet my host family and then go to my new house and sleep. After I grabbed my bags at the baggage claim the other exchange students I had flown with and I walked through the doors that would bring us face to face with our host families. Even though I knew a lot about my first host family due to the fact that my host sister was an exchange student close to where I live, I was pretty nervous about seeing them for the first time. Right when we walked through those doors we walked into an area where there was about 60 people waiting for various people who had also arrived. Right away I recognized my host sister, Laura, and for the first time I saw my host dad, Beppe, and host mom, Luciana. After shaking hands with a few Rotary people we walked to their car and we were on our way to Cremona. As we drove home I was so tired that every now and then my head would tilt back but then jerk forward as I forced myself awake. I had just arrived in Italy and I didn’t want to miss seeing a single thing. We drove into town around 6 o’clock and the sun was starting to set.. My host family gave me a quick tour of the house. That night I went out with my host sister who showed me the centro, which is so close to my house. I met a lot of her friends. I was overwhelmed by everything. Finally around 12 I returned to the house. And fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. The next morning I woke up around 1.

I have now been in Italy for almost a month and I’m very happy here. I love my host family as they’re incredibly nice and care about me. I also love where I live. I live about 3 minutes by foot from the centro, downtown. My host brother, Michele, has been so helpful because he always invites me to do things with him with his friends. Because of this most of my friends are his friends also. We also are playing on the same soccer team.

Because there is school 6 days a week including Saturday =(, all of the kids go out on Saturday night. In downtown Cremona there are 4 piazzas, and these piazzas are where I hang out along with a bunch of other kids. I feel that already I’ve made a lot of friends here, and just about everywhere I go there is someone I know. Another thing I really like about Cremona is that unlike cities in the United States you can ride a bike everywhere. My host parents have given me a bike to use and I used it just about every day. I ride to school, a sports club called Baldeiseo, and the centro. The only place I go regularly that I’m not able to ride a bike to is soccer training which is probably 5 miles from where I live.

As for school, currently it’s pretty boring, but I even now I can see there is light at the end of the tunnel. It’s close to impossible to understand my teachers right now except for a few sentences because they speak so quickly. So right now I participate as much as is possible and then in the times where it isn’t possible for me to participate I memorize new verbs and their conjugations and vocabulary.

My Italian has improved a huge amount since I arrived. Everyday I learn more and more. I am constantly asking what words I don’t know mean, and how to say new words. When I first arrived I could hardly understand a thing people were saying to me, but now I understand a pretty good amount. I am able to share my thoughts and if I don’t know a word in Italian usually I’m able to say that one word in English and the kids will understand me and tell me it in Italian. If I’m not able to do this I have become good at using various gestures to describe the word.

My biggest challenge is to use Italian when I’m around people who speak good English. For about week I got into a bad habit of talking in English with my host brother because he is close to fluent in English. I think it hindered my progress a little and I had to make a big effort to stop it. Now I speak about 90-95% in Italian during the day. In conclusion, so far I’m having a great time and I’m loving Italy.

November 7 Journal

 Ciao! Time for another update on my exchange in Italy. So much has happened this month that it’s hard to believe that it has only been a little over a month since I last wrote.

Earlier this month, I went with the other 3 exchange students living in Cremona to a town near Cremona called Pavia. Pavia is bigger than Cremona but is by no means a big city. It has a very old and famous university. Both of my host parents both attended this university along with lots of other people in Cremona. Allesandro Volta, the physicist who developed the first electric cell, taught at the University of Pavia for 25 years. The host mom who took us to Pavia is a physics teacher at the university there and gave us a tour of the university. It was beautiful. The rest of the day we walked around Pavia and explored the town.

About two and a half weeks ago I changed host families temporarily. My host parents went on vacation to Argentina, and I moved for two and a half weeks to a small town called Castelverde outside of Cremona. It was much more different than living with my first host family. Every morning I had to wake up at 6:15 to take the bus to school. Also, living outside of Cremona definitely made it harder to do things with my friends in Cremona. Tonight I’m returning to my family in Cremona’s home, and I’m really excited. I feel I’d become pretty close with the family and I was sad to have to leave them even for just 2 1/2 weeks.

Yesterday, I went to Milano with 2 of the other Cremona exchange students. All of us exchange students here in Cremona have become good friends with each other. We took a train to Milano and then met up with some of the exchange students there. In the morning we went sight-seeing. The duomo (cathedral) was incredible. You can see tons of pictures of it, but when you actually see it in real life it is surreal. It’s enormous. Inside was equally amazing; its ceilings are SO tall and the columns inside are huge. Also, on the top of the church there is a really cool golden Madonna statue. We also saw a cool church where there was a chamber with all these skulls and bones in the walls.

After seeing the duomo and the bone church we walked around lost for a long time while trying to find a store the girls wanted to go to. Even though we were with the exchange students who lived in Milano we still got lost a few times. That day we took the subway almost everywhere, and it’s hard to understand. After going to their store we returned to Piazza duomo. We were talking and sitting on the steps of the duomo when I looked at the huge TV screen in the piazza and noticed we were on MTV’s European TRL. That was really cool. Then after this, we went shopping even more. We went to Prada, Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana, Armani, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, Pucci, and a bunch of other really expensive designer stores. I didn’t buy anything because it was all super expensive, but I went in them all. It probably wasn’t a good idea to go shopping with 6 girls in the fashion capital of the world. I was dead tired that night, from all the walking, waiting, and telling girls, “Yeah, it looks OK.” It was really fun though. It was my first time in Milano even though it’s only an hour away from Cremona, but it was definitely one to remember. Also, I’m going back next Thursday again!

Thank you so much Rotary for giving me this opportunity to have such a great time!

Until next time. Ciao.

Henry

 December 16 Journal

 Hey, I’m writing again to give an update on how my exchange is going. I’ve been here over 3 months now. It’s strange though because at the same time I feel I’ve been here a really long time, I also feel I just got here yesterday.

Since I last wrote I’ve done many cool things, but the one that stands out to me as the most important is the progress I’ve made in learning Italian. I’m so excited because now, I feel that when I have a conversation, it’s very very rarely that I don’t understand what the other person said. I still have a long way to go, but when I look back on how much Italian I knew when I came here and then think about how much I know now, it is simply amazing. The thing that has helped me the most in learning the language has been studying by myself. Every single day I study a lot on my own at home. In addition to this I study at school and at the tutoring class the other exchange students and I have during the week. In the beginning of my exchange I was only studying at tutoring class, but now I study for hours everyday and I can see how much of a difference it’s made.

On December 8th I changed host families and so now I’m living with my second host family. For me, the change came out of nowhere. Although I obviously knew that I would be changing families and when I would be doing so, I didn’t really think about it until I was packing my bags on the day I was leaving. My new host “family” consists of my host mom because she is a single mother and her daughter is on exchange in Wisconsin. Even though I miss my first host family a lot, I’m very content with my new home. My host mom and I talk a ton and I’m glad to keep her company while her daughter is away in America. Not only is this good for her but I’m sure it helps my Italian a lot.

It’s very close to the beginning of winter, and unlike Florida it’s really cold. Every day for the last week it has rained. The weather is pretty horrible. This is one of the things I definitely miss about Florida. Yesterday, I talked to my parents who told me that it was in the 70’s in Florida. Wow, I sure wish it was like that here. Anyways it’s dinner time here so I’ve got to go.

Ciao, Henry

March 3 Journal

 Ciao, I’m writing to give an update on my exchange here in Italy. I haven’t written for a couple of months, and so I’ll try to sum up December, January, and February briefly. Cold and grey. Let me tell you, the climate here made me really appreciate the type of weather we have in Florida. The last 2-3 months were pretty hard for me at sometimes. There would be times when there was tons of snow on the ground and I had to walk about 30-40 minutes through the slush and snow to school. I would think to myself, man I wish I was wearing a hoodie and under the sun. For the first time since I arrived in Italy, I genuinely started to miss my family, friends, and overall lifestyle in Florida. Even though the winter wasn’t a lot of fun for me, now that in the last couple of weeks the sun has come out, my attitude and outlook has done a 180. I need the sun! Now everyday the weather is pretty nice and the temperature has risen quite a bit. It’s so much nicer to go out now!

The winter has ended here and loads of good things are coming from it. Along with the weather improving, I’ve been able to start traveling more, which was one of the things I was really wanting. Up until a few weeks ago I had only been to a handful of cities that are close to my town. In the last two weeks alone I have been to Venice and Milan. Milan I’ve been to 3 times already, but every time that I go it’s a lot of fun. Venice on the other hand was spectacular. It’s my favorite Italian city by a mile. I went there on a trip with Rotary for Carnivale. Carnivale is a huge holiday, and as a result, the city was packed to the limit. This just added to the fun and didn’t take away from Venice’s beauty. It was so cool because so many people there were either wearing a mask or dressed up in costume. Apparently, Venice is the place in Italy to celebrate Carnivale. It definitely was the most fun holiday I’ve celebrated in Italy. Everything from the special type of deserts, the masks and costumes, to the parties. Another thing that added to my fun in Venice, was that Rotary organized the trip for all the exchange students in the northern half of Italy. I even saw Kevin, which was a real surprise. Overall, it was a day packed full of fun. When I returned to Cremona, I looked at my photos on the computer I realized I’d taken over 120 photos. Every single canal, statue, gondola, bridge, building, and church was picturesque. Now after having so much fun on that trip, I’ve been informed that we’ll be going on a similar trip to Florence and Pisa in the near future. Also, in two weeks my parents are coming to visit me and we’re going to go to Rome, Florence, and Tuscany throughout two weeks. I’m so excited!

Everything is really starting to come together now. With a good group of Italian friends, a pretty good grasp on the Italian language, I’m starting to have a lot of fun again. One of the things that’s really bugged me about life in Italy is the fact that Italian students study nonstop during the schooldays. It’s not very often that Italians are able to hang out after school. Because of this, I’ve spent lots of time during the weekdays with the other exchange students in my town. Last week, I mentioned to the teacher at my school if she could find about some volunteering opportunities around town, and now I will more than like be spending some of my time during the week doing volunteer work at an elementary school or something similar to that. One thing that has really helped me throughout these last 6 months has been playing on a soccer team. Soccer is one of my passions in America as well as here, and where better to play than in the home of the World Cup champions. But it’s not just that, being a part of a team with other Italians helped me make lasting friends and helped me spend time with Italians during the week. I would highly recommend joining a team to any future exchange student.

All in all, tutto bene (all is good) here. I’m having a really good time on exchange here and more importantly I’m learning a lot about myself as well as the world around me.

Kyle’s Bio

 Hello! I’m Kyle Steed, and I’m seventeen years old. I’ve lived in Jacksonville all of my life so far, with my parents and younger brother, Aaron. I am a senior at Stanton College Preparatory School (’08!) and loving it. And by that I mean “not failing.”

As for things I do with my time– My brother and I are involved in the youth group at our Presbyterian church quite a bit, and I occasionally play music there. I’ve played violin for almost four years now and I’m not too bad. I got into the violin because I took a liking to classical music, and though that’s definitely my favorite kind, I’ll listen to anything as long as it doesn’t hurt to. Literature is something I’ve recently developed a greater appreciation for, and I enjoy reading the old classics. Lastly, I like learning all I can about world cultures and languages, and one of my hobbies would definitely be staying up-to-date on world affairs. I’d like to study as many languages as possible in college.

A foreign exchange was definitely not something I had seriously considered before one of my teachers suggested that I do it, but I’ve since become very excited about it and can’t imagine not doing it now. I’m incredibly thankful for this opportunity, and I plan to make the most I can out of it.

September 16 Journal

 Moin moin!

So I’ve finally gotten around to writing my journal! I apologize for keeping you all in such suspense. I’ll start with my first day here, since I find airport stories so uninteresting:

I arrived in Bremen around 10:30 in the morning and met my host brother, Peter, outside the gate. We didn’t recognize each other at first, because the only pictures my family had seen of me were taken when I had my awesome long hair, and my family (for whatever reason) expected me to be really tall. My host mother said that, before I came, she was afraid I wouldn’t be able to fit in the bed. Anyway, I eventually found Peter, and he immediately started speaking to me in German on fast-forward. I’ve taken four years’ worth of German in school and could only laugh when he spoke to me because, I’ll be honest, I thought I wouldn’t have a very tough time with the language. A minute with him, nodding and smiling as these words flew out of his mouth, made me realize how much work I had ahead of me. Ingrid, my host mother, came from parking the car, and we made our way back to the parking lot with my cart of 120 lbs or so full of stuff. The ride to Oldenburg wasn’t very long, and we had a nice conversation over the German countryside in Denglish, my combination of German and English. When we got home and unloaded my luggage, my host mother realized how much of what I had brought was clothes. She actually looked a little bit frightened, while I thought that I had done a good job of keeping things to a minimum. Relatively. She told me that here, they wear the same shirt two or three times before washing it, and jeans maybe half a month or so (we’ve recently agreed to split the job of ironing the laundry). The rest of the day is a blur, since I hadn’t slept at all on the flights to Deutschland. We ate some salad, and then I went to bed sometime thereafter.

The first week, I went on a couple bicycle tours with the family. We rode to Bad Zwischenahn, a little village situated near a lake, and on a course through the country around Oldenburg with a stop at a German Melkhus (“milk-house”), where I had a fantastic chocolate shake. My host father, Gerd, goes on real bike tours through different countries, so for him these were a breeze. I’m already boring myself with this journal so I think I’ll take a different approach:

My Family

I’m so happy to be with my current host family. Peter’s very patient with me, and always invites me to go out with him and his friends. Still though, after a month of being here, I really need to devote all my attention to understanding him when he speaks. He speaks crazy-fast. I am seriously considering organizing a party the day I can have a flawless conversation with him. My host mother seems just as happy to have me here as I am to be here. She was an exchange student in America some years ago, so of course she knows just how I feel (and can speak great English). And then my host father is awesome. He speaks English perfectly, too, and with a slightly British/Irish accent, and he blurts things out in English in the middle of long strings of German. I always find myself laughing around him. The family has taken to calling me der Keilige, a combination of my name and the German word for “holy,” heilig. And then apparently, I fit in very well with the family! A few people have said to Peter “Oh! You look like you could pass for part of the family!”

The City

Oldenburg is a great place for an exchange. With 160,000 people, it’s large enough to keep you occupied, and small enough where you can see plenty of people you know during a simple walk through downtown. We live just a couple kilometers from farms and the countryside while having all the benefits of a larger city. And at the moment, Oldenburg is having a couple-weeks-long celebration of its 900th anniversary, so on weekends there’s always plenty going on around town.

School

I’ve been in school for about four weeks now, and things certainly are moving along. My host mother arranged for me to go to Peter’s school shortly after school started, which I’m very grateful for. The first school I went to was pretty depressing, but the one I’m at now is great: it’s smaller and warmer, and now after these few weeks I’m really starting to feel like I’m a part of the school. I’ve joined the school’s choir and symphony, which are the two things the school’s known throughout Oldenburg for, and I can’t wait for our next practice. As for the lessons, I must admit that they’re pretty boring. But hey, that’s school, right? Oh! I love the situation they have here with schedules. There are some days where I’ll have two hours of classes and then two free hours before my next class, during which we’re free to go anywhere and do whatever. The school is so close to our house that I usually just ride my bike home and chill; or if friends have the same hours off, then we walk downtown (right across the street) and grab something to eat. Speaking of eating, people can and do bring their dogs inside restaurants and department stores here, which I found pretty odd. And department stores! I didn’t really believe people when they told me that clothes here are expensive, but they really are. My host mother took me to what she called “one of the cheaper stores” and I seriously thought she was pulling my leg, maybe with her German sense of humor, when I looked at the prices of everything. But she was serious. Maybe I should make a “Miscellaneous” topic for things like this to go under.

Food

I think I like the food here. For breakfast, Frühstück, on weekdays I have this incredible cereal-stuff called Müsli, with little bits of chocolate in it. Breakfast on weekends is bread (German bread is great) with butter and then wurst, cheese, jam or prosciutto-type meat; a soft-boiled egg; freshly-squeezed orange juice; and some tea. The main meal of the day, Mittagessen, is usually in the afternoon, which I really like now. It didn’t take much to get used to coming home from school to a great meal (Gerd cooks fantastically). And then the evening meal, Abendbrot (literally,“evening bread”), is bread with the things I mentioned before. I thought I’d be pigging out here in Germany, but I’ve actually kept my appetite under control. No, really.

The Language

I’m quite proud of the progress I’m making with German. It’s not incredible, to be sure, but it’s clear. I am very happy now to have been placed in Germany, because my four years of German have really made a difference. Of course I’m nowhere near fluent, but I’m at the point now where I don’t plan everything that I’m going to say to someone before I walk up and talk to them (making sure I have grammar and word order right, etc.). And boy does it feel good to carry on a conversation at a “native” speed! It seems like these words are just starting to line up by themselves, coming without thinking. And then I’m starting to think in German now! It’s still little phrases that I think in, but it feels great nonetheless. I love this language. Some words are so literal (Dasein: existence, literally “there being”) and then there are those massive words that German’s known for: I mean how great is it to be able to write words like Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeitor Stoffwechselzwischenprodukte on a regular basis in school?

Miscellaneous

Germans do have a sense of humor. Sometimes it can be a little odd, though, where you ask yourself “was he serious about that or not?” and no, he wasn’t serious. Germans overall take a little more time to make friends with than is the case with most Americans. French fries are to be eaten swimming in mayonnaise. When eating dinner at the table, I had to train myself to keep my left arm on the tabletop. The first day here, my host mother asked my why I keep my left hand in my lap when I eat and I thought “Well, because I’m not using it!” But now I’ve learned to let it not be used on the table. Our bathroom here at home has a urinal. The windows here are marvels. It took me about fifteen minutes to figure out the windows in my room. And speaking of, the Germans really like to open their windows and let the fresh air in. In school, if the students ever need to draw a straight line at all (to underline a word, draw a graph, double-underline a word), out comes the straight-edge!

I think I’ll bring this journal to a close. Before I do, though, I’d like to say how very, very much I appreciate being given this opportunity by Rotary and my family. I can say I’ve never loved a club up until now, and I thank everyone involved for such an incredible chance. I fully intend to make the most out of this year!

Tschüß!

Kyle

November 21 Journal

 Grüß euch!

After three packed months of life here in Germany, I’m feeling pretty settled and German. I eat like a German, I dress like a German (after finally having bought socks that aren’t white), I commute like a German, and try to talk like a German. As an added bonus, I even looked German to begin with!

I’ve been traveling quite a bit since my last journal. On the Day of German Unity, October 3rd, I went with my future host family to Hamburg for the celebrations, and to visit the city a bit. We stayed for three days and saw the biggest model train exhibit in the world, climbed to the top of a cathedral, and did some shopping. I had fun talking with their seven year-old son, Rasmus, and I can’t wait to have him as my host brother. During the two weeks of Fall Break, I went with my current host family to London for a week, where I thoroughly enjoyed being a German tourist and having little girls look at me funny because I was speaking German with my host-mom – and afterwards I went on a trip through northern Germany with the other inbounds of my district, with a stop in my favorite European city, Berlin. I had been to most of the places we stopped at before because I had come to Germany for a week as a tourist about a year and a half ago, so I knew all the sights to take my inbound friends to in our free time.

Now to Oldenburg- I’ve managed to find my place in a circle of friends, many of whom, coincidentally, have been exchange students. It seems like a fifth of the people in my class have spent a year somewhere; which is different from home, where I knew of no one in my school who had spent a year abroad (outside of Rev). Having such friends has been a blessing. They understand what I’m going through, how hard the process of integration can be, and make it a point to engage me when I’m otherwise clueless as to what’s going on (which is happening markedly less often).

Just a week ago, I went with the upper classes in my school on a Orchester- und Chorfahrt, where the school’s choir and orchestra go to an enormous youth hostel for four days and do nothing but practice. It was intense (I played violin so much that my teeth hurt- go figure), but I managed to get acquainted with students from the 13th grade (I’m in 12th) and had a lot of good conversations- being able to carry on a conversation without saying “nochmal, bitte” (say that again) always feels so rewarding. At any rate, I got to be the first violin for one night (that was an ego boost) and now I’m looking forward to our Advent Concert, held in Oldenburg’s cathedral. It should be fantastic.

Speaking of carrying on conversations, I’m doing very well with German, if I may say so. There are still times when not knowing the simplest word derails my carefully assembled sentences, or rarely when I’m thinking too quickly I do this odd regression into American English pronunciation that happens involuntarily and can be pretty funny. If any of you are acquainted with Mark Twain’s The Awful German Language, then you’ve got something of a view into what it’s like to learn German. I often find myself laughing at how true it can be. I’ve improved very much in thinking in German, though, despite occasional slip up: for example, with the way that German grammar is laid out, I sometimes start this epic sentence and totally forget what I’m talking about because of how many sub-parentheses I’ve made (Like: “The baker, who works at the bakery, which was burned down by a boy earlier, who has a mother named Martha, who knits socks in her free time, which are usually of good quality, is an honest man). The Germans make sentences like those for sport and chuckle at the faces I make as I try to sort it all out in my head.

Lately I’ve started taking tennis lessons with my host brother, and I try to go biking after school regularly around the area. My host parents have a bit of that German Wanderlust inside and we go for strolls in the Ammerland, the flat farmland nearby Oldenburg, or, like one time, in the forests near a little town called Dötlingen, which- interesting fact- was actually chosen by the Third Reich as a model village.

Halloween wasn’t really celebrated here. My host-nieces are among the kids who go around asking for candy on Halloween night, but it’s still a growing trend (that, oddly enough, started in Europe, came to America and is now on its way back to Europe). My host-dad showed his unhappiness with the little German trick-or-treaters by proceeding to drop tomatoes in their bags. It seems like the US election day was the more celebrated holiday, and I can’t say how glad I am that that’s over. My German friends interest themselves particularly in American politics and I don’t know if I could’ve taken anymore of their questioning!

The days here have gotten awfully short, to where it’s dark sometime between 4pm and 5, and just today it’s started to snow, though it’s this awful North German snow that melts when it hits the ground. And its starting to feel more like Christmas. I’ve discovered Pfeffernüsse, these cookie-like things that taste like gingerbread men, and then German Christmas cookies are pretty good too. There’s a big Christmas tree in the square in front of the city and I can’t wait to see everything lit up!

Well this is a shorter journal. I’ll be sure to make the next one longer. Till then! Enjoy the Florida weather for me!

Lauren’s Bio

 “I go to seek a Great Perhaps.” – Francois Rabelais

My name is Lauren and I live in Gainesville, FL – home of the Gators. My involvements and extracurricular activities have changed often because I love to try new and different things (especially food J). I’ve done soccer, belly dancing, piano, capoeira, yoga, and various volunteering services. Reading is a big passion of mine. Two of my favorite books are the Alchemist and the Little Prince, because both are very insightful about life.

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is.” – Albert Einstein

Ever since I first read this quote when I was twelve, it has been a favorite of mine. Having been given this life-changing opportunity to foreign exchange is truly a wonderful miracle to me. I would like to thank the Rotary for selecting me, and my family and friends for their support.

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

Since I was five years old I have wanted to travel the world. So, after eleven years of waiting I’m more than ready for this new and exciting adventure.

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharal Nehru

My eyes will be open.

December 1 Journal

 Oi, beleza? I arrived in Brazil about 14 weeks ago, yet it seems like I’ve only been here for half the time, but have done 6 months worth of activities.

Flying to Brazil was my first international flight and it was an exciting one with all of the other 30-something exchange students also headed for Brazil. I don’t have any crazy flight delay stories or any conflicts like that, but we exchange students managed to have fun anyways. In D.C. we pretty much took over the money exchange counter, so much so, they had to bring in more reais (the Brazilian currency). Of course people stared as the huge group of navy-blue blazered teenagers walked around the airport.

Even after packing, saying goodbye to my friends and family, and finally meeting the other exchange students it still didn’t hit that this was finally happening- that I was going to be living a year in Brazil. It somewhat hit me around 4 o’clock in the morning when we were flying somewhere over the Amazon. I kept thinking, “I am flying over the Amazon Rainforest right now. THE Amazon Rainforest!”

Once we arrived in São Paulo, the only dilemma was when our chaperone got detained because his passport was left in D.C.. And yes I was one of the people that Sherise mentioned getting too excited over how coffee didn’t come in to-go cups but in actual ceramic teacups with the saucer and everything. When another Rotary exchange student, a Brazilian outbound headed for Slovakia, recognized our blazers and came up to us and started talking in Portuguese, all of the inbounds’ jaws just dropped and forgot any Portuguese they may have known. So when her expression turned into an “uhh…are you guys okay?” look, that’s when I came to everyone’s rescue and piped in, “Não falamos português” which means “We don’t speak Portuguese”. Then she understood that we were now inbounds, not outbounds.

When I arrived at my final destination, another exchange student and I walked out to meet our families. As soon as they saw us and we saw them, they grabbed our arms, pushed us together, and started taking pictures like they were the paparazzi. As soon as we made the rounds with taking pictures with her family and my family and etc., we finally went our separate ways and went to our new homes. After having had 24 hours of flying and layovers, I was so tired and looking forward to sleeping in my new bed. However, when my host sister asked if I wanted to go out that night, of course I said, “Yeah!”

The next day, my second day in Brazil, I went to my first Brazilian soccer game- Curitiba vs. Atletico, the two biggest rival teams in my city. Unfortunately, my family thought that since it was my first game we should sit in the “calm” part and not in the “crazy” part of the stadium. Despite this, it was still an awesome experience and so funny to watch both adults and little kids cursing at the referee and the other team.

Already I have met all of my four host families that I will live with. Everyone is so nice and I can’t wait to know them better! My second host dad and siblings (12 and 9 year old boys and a 7 year old girl) offered to take me around the city to show me some of the sights. This was so much fun and made me even more excited to have little siblings, since I’m the youngest in my real family.

My school…well it’s a Catholic school, with nuns, a church, morning prayer, and pictures of the sacred heart of Jesus in every room. I’m not Catholic so it took some getting used to at first. My classmates are all really friendly and like to joke around with the teachers, who are really helpful. The school has all grades (elementary to high school) and it is still smaller than my high school in the States. On my first day, there was actually a point where all of the kids in my class moved their desks around me and started asking questions all at once. The most common question I get asked is what type of music do I listen to. Even after being here for 2 months, I still had people I don’t know coming up to me and saying “Hi” in the halls. I have to wear a uniform, and I’ll admit I was kind of excited to wear the plaid skirt and be a little Catholic schoolgirl, but uniforms are different in Brazil. My uniform looks more like I’m about to go jogging than to school. I don’t understand what my teachers are saying when they lecture, but if we have to take notes, then I usually understand what’s going on in most of my classes. Physics and chemistry…I have trouble understanding them in English, nonetheless in Portuguese, so I have given up hope of being able to follow along during class. Math and Geography are probably the classes I understand the most in, besides English class. Overall, school is good. At times, however, it is hard not being able to participate because I didn’t understand what was going on. I’m used to doing well on tests and in school, and now I have to adjust to getting really bad grades. I do pride myself, though, on getting the same score as some of the other students on a Portuguese test, despite how bad the grade was, and even getting a much higher grade than some students on a Spanish test.

After having been here for about 2 weeks, I had my first Rotary Inbound Orientation. It was so much fun to finally meet all of the other exchange students. There are about 25, more or less, in my city. During the orientation, each inbound had to get up, introduce themselves, and say where they are from and that kind of thing. Even though everyone said their introduction in English, I was like, “I know how to say this in Portuguese. I had to say more than this in Portuguese at the last Outbound Orientation.” So I said my introduction in Portuguese and impressed the Rotarians with my only having been in Brazil for 2 weeks. Thanks Al for that preparation.

Twice a week, from September to December, all of the inbounds have to go to a Portuguese class. Because of this, us inbounds see each other so much and have become really close friends. Every time it’s someone’s birthday, we always have a little party after class.

Fortunately, where my first host family lives is walking distance or either really near to most of the best clubs and bars in my city. It is extremely funny to watch exchange students try to samba. I’m so-so. I used to belly dance so I can move my hips, but my feet don’t really do what they are supposed to.

One thing I dislike about here is how much American culture there is (music, movies, television, even food). I refuse to eat at a McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, or Subway while I’m here. However, the Pizza Huts here are much nicer and cleaner than they are in the States, ironically.

In September, my city had a holiday weekend, so my family and I spent a few days in a city a couple hours away called Florianopolis (nicknamed Floripa). It can be described as a relaxed, surfer, and fishing town. The seafood there was amazing, and with blue waters and soft sand, I didn’t want to leave. Floripa is one of those places that wherever you look, it could be a picture in National Geographic.

On September 9, I turned 17. It was a school day so I of course had to go to school, but my classmates sang me Happy Birthday. Later that day I had to go to my Portuguese course with the other exchange students. They surprised me with a cake and presents. One of the gifts was this container made from a fruit that is used to drink a certain kind of tea that is traditional in the south of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. Afterwards we all hung around in the city. When it was getting dark we finally headed home. Well… I was taking the bus, and it was my first time taking it alone. Even though Curitiba is known for having the best public transportation in Brazil, that didn’t stop me from accidentally getting on the wrong bus and end up further away from where I needed to go. So, I got off the bus and went to a bench to figure out where I was on my map and tried not to panic. Well the place that I was at wasn’t on the map (and I later found out that I had been in the center of the city, which wasn’t exactly the safest place to be alone at night). I finally went back to the bus stop to find someone that could help me. Eventually, I found a woman that spoke some English. I ended up having to go back where I started and then take the bus that I should have take in the first place. As I was getting on the bus platform, the bus I needed arrived, so I quickly paid and rushed for the doors, not thinking that another bus come about 2 minutes later. But as I was going through the doors, they closed on me and my foot got stuck between them. So there I was, standing on one foot, the other one in pain, and praying that the bus didn’t brake or jolt a lot. Eventually, the old men around me realized what had happened. They tried to pull the door open, at least enough for me to pull my foot out, but the doors were not budging and my foot was then in more pain. After this failed attempt, they finally had to call up to the bus driver to stop the bus and open the door. By this time, everyone on the bus was staring at the silly American with her foot stuck in the bus door. But what a relief it was to have my foot back, though.

I had a birthday party. It wasn’t anything extreme, just a nice dinner with all of my friends and host families. It was good to spend time with everyone and have my friends and family meet each other.

Moving on from things I have been doing, Brazil is amazing. My city is very different from stereotypical Brazil of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. I live in the south of the Brazil, which is very different culturally from the north. People here are so generous and are always willing to help. However, compared to other Brazilian cities, Curitiba is supposed to be one of the more unfriendly cities, but I haven’t encountered that. When I arrived it was winter, so it was really cold. Now it is spring, and it is still really cold. Not exactly what people think of when they think of Brazil and it’s definitely not what I expected. The weather here is horrible and unpredictable. In the morning it can be 8 degrees Celsius, then in the afternoon it can be 25 degrees, then back down to 8 that night. Also, one minute it can be hot and sunny and the next be cold and rainy. It’s like wherever you go you have to take a coat and umbrella with you.

Brazilian food is so good. Churrasco, feijoada, brigadeiro, açai, goiabada, and guarana are all things I know I’ll miss when I return. My first host dad let me try caipirinha, which is Brazil’s delicious national drink made from sugar, lime, and cachaça (a Brazilian alcohol made from sugarcane). It was hard at first getting used to eating bread and cheese and rice and beans almost everyday, but now it’s weird if I don’t eat them.

I still can’t believe that I have been here for almost 4 months. The time has flown by, and I feel the end of this exchange year approaching too quickly. Even though Brazil hasn’t given me culture shock, there are some things I don’t think I will ever make sense of, like how even when it’s cold out Brazilians keep the windows open. Despite these differences, Brazil is so easy to adapt to. With the people being so open and friendly, you can’t help feeling comfortable. I love how people greet each other here with a kiss on the cheek and a hug. When people go to shake my hand, it feels awkward. I can’t imagine myself being in any other country right now. It’s so natural and easy for me to be here, trying to be a part of Brazilian culture. There is something magical about Brazil, and I’m so happy I was given this opportunity to witness it. I want to thank Rotary and my family from the bottom of my heart.

Beijos, Lauren

“The trees all dance, and the warm wind blows, and the same old sound; and the water below gives a gift to the sky, and the clouds give back every time they cry; make the grass grow green beneath my toes, and if the sun comes out, I’ll paint a picture all about the colors I’ve been dreaming of, the hours just don’t seem enough to put it all together. Maybe it’s as strange as it seems.” –Jack Johnson

Patty’s Bio

 Let me begin by saying: Sa-wat-dee, Kon-nichiwa, Ni hao, Griass God, and Bonjour! These, of course, are all greetings from (just a few of) the possible counties I’ll be living in next year. And trust me, there is no possible way to describe my emotions; to simply say ‘I’m excited’ would be a complete understatement.

Now to the introduction: My name is Patricia O’Brien, yet I generally go by Patty or Patty Anne. I’m 16 years old and currently a sophomore at Matanzas High School. I participate in the clubs CMPS (Community Problem Solvers), FPS (Future Problem Solves), and Leo’s club (basically just an under branch of the Lions club). I also spend a lot of my free time drawing, painting, and (my personal favorite) sculpting, which, unfortunately, I can only do in my art class. Now, add all that up to my school load and it’s needless to say, “I’m a very busy girl”, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love having something to do, anything to do, which has me constantly taking risks and trying new things when the world gets too dull. I guess you could say my life motto is “Life was meant to be lived” and I tend to live up to that at the fullest.

I’m not sure how to describe myself besides saying that I’m a ‘typical Floridian girl’. I love hanging out with friends, going to the beach, and adventuring out of the house to see and do things. I would also consider myself to be a friendly and outgoing person. I love meeting new people and making new friends. I enjoy my alone time too though; I usually spend it reading, journal writing, catching up on schoolwork, or doing my art things.

Now, there is no way I can introduce myself without talking about the important people in my life, my family. I have two wonderful parents, a bright, funny sister, and an amazing best friend (who’s practically another sister). Through out the application and interviewing process my family has stuck by my side to encourage me, share in my excitement, and listen to me ramble for hours on end about how much I want this. I truly believe they want this for me almost as much as I want it for myself, what more could I ask from them?

I’ve already fallen in love with being an exchange student and I can’t wait to meet the other 2008-09 exchangees. It is here I feel I should say: thank you SO much for this amazing opportunity Rotary! I’ll do everything I can to represent this state, our country, and the organization in the best way possible!

Until next time (when the journey really begins),

Patricia O’Brien

August 10 Journal

 I’ve yet to set foot on the island of Taiwan and already I feel like I have morphed into a new, older, and more adventurous person. If I were to go back a year and stand next to the old “me”, applying to be what I am now, you would see two complete strangers.

Of course, the immediate differences would be noted on my appearance. For years I had long locks reaching towards my belly button and braces covering my smile. Not anymore. My braces are due off in a few days and I had my hair chopped off around my shoulder and chin yesterday. I love this new mature and grounded “me”. I feel ready to take on every new adventure and tackle every new hardship thrown my way. And for this, I thank Rotary.

I can hardly imagine the way my life will be in Tainan, Taiwan. My first host family, among everyone else I’ve talked to there, seem like the kindest and most loving people I could have ever hoped for. And, believe it or not, I’m not afraid. All I feel racing through me is an eagerness to explore and a bottomless need for change. But, I guess that’s what makes me an exchange student…

It’s less then eleven days now.

(Soon to be) from the other side of the globe,

Patty

August 29 Journal

 I must have started, erased, and restarted this journal entry a hundred times now. It’s impossible to find the perfect opening, a quick intro that sums up the feelings I hold concerning my new surroundings. If at all possible, I feel everything. Every emotion to ever touch me, throughout my whole life, is now regathering in the pit of my stomach. The best way to explain this is to say that I am completely overwhelmed, but in a good way.

I love Taiwan, it’s a mystery I’m dying to further explore.

Although there are many things that take getting used to, I refuse to use the term “dislike”. There are only things I love, things I like, and things that are an “aquired taste”. This open mindset has helped me to try and retry many things.

My arrival to Taiwan was not ideal. I was sick and tired. Upon arriving at my first host family’s house, I vomited. Not the best first impression…

I brushed my teeth and went to sleep in a daze, not taking in any sights for the night. I woke up around 3:00 AM and finally took in my surroundings. My bedroom is on the 23rd floor of a building and I have a wall to wall window over-looking the city. It’s so beautiful. On the stories below me there is a shopping mall, a HUGE book store, and a Starbucks. It’s like heaven. <3

The other day my host family took me to a very nice Japanese restaurant to meet with their friends. We had our own room in the restaurant and after about five minutes, the other family arrived. They had two daughters, eleven and nine, who raced to see who could sit across from me. The oldest won and stared at me for a long moment before saying, “Oh! You’re so BEAUTIFUL!” I nearly fell out of my seat laughing. Once I got myself together I told her she was beautiful too, and I believe that comment made her day. <3

Every where I go people stare, point, and tell me I’m gorgeous. It’s soo… odd. In America I was just another teenage girl, but here I’m a fair-skinned, curly-haired, Beauty. You wouldn’t believe how many times I’m stopped in the street by people pleading to take a picture with me. I feel like a star.

After a full day wandering throughout the city I begin to forget how different I am (believe it or not) and once I return home and catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, my face shocks me. It’s as if I expect myself to magically morph into a tan, slanted-eyed girl.

Actually, since I’ve been here I’ve only seen one other white person. It was an older woman and my eyes flew to her the same way everyone here notices me; she stood out like a sore thumb. It was interesting to see the contrast though, to finally understand how I look to the Taiwanese.

Today, eight days since my departure, I took my first trip through the city alone. It was amazing. With every step I took into the unknown, my heart would skip a beat. Since I didn’t have any bread crumbs to mark my way, I developed my own system of traveling; I used the Seven Elevens. You see, Seven Eleven is found on EVERY corner here in Taiwan… So, as I made my way through the streets I made mental notes, for example “Turn right at the brick Seven Eleven, Go straight until I hit the white Seven Eleven… Turn left at the two story Seven Eleven… And when I hit the pink Seven Eleven, I’m almost home.” It’s a very amusing way to get around…

The food of Taiwan is… impossible to describe. It would like trying to describe “American food”… Taiwan is mix of Chinese and Japanese for the primary dishes, yet has influences from Korea, Europe, Thailand…. It’s like all these different cuisines came together to become “Taiwanese”… See?… it’s hard to explain.

Maybe it’s just my girly-ness kicking in, but I have to say one of my favorite aspects of Taiwanese culture is the clothing! The common fashions would be what we consider “Grunge”, “peasant”, “girly”, and “earthy” all rolled into one. Good thing clothes are so cheap here, or I would be completely broke by now. Hehe

So, With much love from my world,

Patty

September 3 Journal

 I’m going to Japan . Let me repeat that… I’M GOING TO JAPAN!

That’s right, this October I’m packing up and heading out to spend a week or two in Japan … I’m not sure just where in Japan I’ll be… But that doesn’t even matter, because I’M GOING TO JAPAN! Whoot!

Well, now that I got that bundle of excitement off my chest… I’ll fill you in on my recent adventures. Starting with… the first day of school…

So, let me begin by saying school in Taiwan is the nothing like school back here in the states… For example… here are a just a FEW differences:

Matanzas High School:

+ 7:30 AM to 2:30 PM

+ You can wear anything as long as it’s not showing your booty or too much cleavage, and you can pair it with any type of shoes you want. (Ah, flipflops are heaven <3)

+ The student body is made up of both boys and girls

+ The students switch classes every period.

+ You pretty much get to select the classes you want to take.

+The school has many clubs, sports, and activities for after hours.

Deguang Catholic Girls’ High School:

+ 7:30 AM to 7:00 PM

+ You have to wear a school uniform, sailor style, paired with solid black or white sneakers. (I have Sailor Moon flash-backs daily)

+ As it says in the name, we are all girls.

+ Teachers switch classes every period. (which is good… because there’s no way I’m going up and down 6 stories every hour)

+ After lunch is nap time, which lasts for an hour.

Anyways, my first day of school wasn’t even a real “school day”. In Taiwan, they hold a huge opening ceremony on the first day to celebrate the upcoming semester. Basically, the principal gets up and speaks for hours, and then the middle school students perform some traditional dances…

So, I sat in the auditorium (the very first row), for what felt like an eternity, and listened to the Chinese music and speeches fly over my head. Honestly, I didn’t have the slightest clue what they were saying… so I started to doze off when I finally heard my name being called. They proceed to have me climb onto the stage (Which caused me to trip and fall… like most things in the world), handed me the microphone, turned me to face the THREE THOUSAND students before me (it was like an endless sea of Asian faces), and told me to speak… My heart stopped; I was certain that I was about to make a complete fool of myself.

Yet, the second I opened my mouth to say “Ni Hao”, the whole crowd broke out into a very long “Awwwwwwwwwww”, followed by a jumble of compliments like, “She’s so CUTE!”

After they finally settled down some, I began to tell them little things about myself in Chinese. Mainly just, “I come from America, from Florida …” “I’m learning Chinese, but very slowly…” “I’m happy to be here……” and so forth.

I swear, with every Chinese word I said, they would break into a huge applause and cheer. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been a brighter shade of red.

The next day was my first day of classes, if you could even call them that… As an exchange student, I have the easiest possible schedule. I’d type out the whole thing… but I have eight periods a day, that change for each day of the week… and it’s really not that exciting of a list. To sum it up though, I have a lot of Chinese classes and free time. Also, instead of getting out at 7:00, they let me go at 5:00. Whoot!

This is only for the first half of the year though. Next semester, when my Chinese is much better, I have to attend the regular classes with the Taiwanese students.

On to more interesting things now… Sitting in homeroom today, my classmates surrounded me, then began playing rock-paper-scissors to see who had to ask the first question. (Taiwanese girls are so shy!) The loser giggled nervously for a long time, and I thought she was going to run out the door… but then she finally asked me, in very broken English, “Do you haaaaaave…. a… Boyfriend….?” I nearly fell out of seat laughing. EVERYONE asks me this…

I mean, I’m from the other side of the planet… they could ask me ANYTHING about the culture… food… even the pop-culture… but no, they’re all dying to talk about American boys. It’s hilarious.

Well, I have Chinese lessons in a few moments, so I’m going to have to cut this short.

Until next time,

Patty

September 23 Journal

 You may, or may not, have been wondering where I’ve been these past few weeks. Honestly, I don’t have much of an excuse for not writing; I do indeed see a computer everyday. However, my mind has been reduced to a similar structure as jelly, and I’m quite sure that I’m possibly the worst or most passionate exchange student here.

My understanding of the culture, although never complete, is vast enough to where I can safely say that Taiwan and I mesh perfectly together. I couldn’t imagine my life without this place; it’s as if I’m no longer that silly girl longing to have a taste of life. Now, I feel as if I have finally become the person I’ve always wanted to be, yet never mustered up the courage TO be, until now.

So why do I feel like the worst possible exchange student? Well, I must admit, I’m struggling with the Chinese language. Big time. Perhaps I’m not being fair to myself, a good portion of the other exchange students come from other Asians countries, such as Indonesia and Thailand, and have studied the Chinese language for far longer then I have. Yet, I constantly find myself comparing and feel as if shrinking in their presence.

It’s not that I don’t TRY, honestly I do, but sometimes it’s near impossible to wrap my mind around Mandarin. Lately I’ve actually been considering the reasons WHY I’ve had my difficulties and I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m trying too hard. I completely understand how all of you back home will find this comment absurd, but I’ve realized that I’ve been looking at Chinese in a far too literal way. You can’t take two languages as polar opposite as Mandarin and English and expect the direct translation to make sense. It never will. So what is my new approach to all of this you may ask? I’m going to leave my English out of it altogether. The only way to learn this hassle of a language is to relate it to things, thoughts, smells, touch… but never words. By strictly keeping my memory at Chinese-into-picture, I eliminate the translating process and thus, save myself a whole lot of confusion.

Maybe I sound a little full of myself, to consider me among the most passionate exchange students in Taiwan, but I couldn’t imagine anyone loving this island greater. In fact, some exchange students in my city spend a great deal of time crying and longing to poof home. This of which, gets under my skin and makes me want to shake them… the only reason their exchange isn’t as amazing as they had hoped, is because they refuse to adapt to the culture. They’re in their right, I suppose; Taiwan is a very hard place to settle into. Those first two weeks were a constant struggle, fun beyond belief, but a struggle nonetheless. The food is like nothing I’ve ever been faced with. Yet, smells and tastes that had made my stomach turn just a short time ago, now fill me with hunger and desire. I guess my “acquired taste” theory was right, thank-you-very-much. :]

I’m sure you all are far more interested in what I DID over what I THINK, so I’ll begin my recap now… starting with, the week before, and the day of, the 21st.

Now, all my friends and family whom were dreading this exchange can tell you that the 21st marked my one month anniversary of my departure abroad… and ironically enough; it also happened to be my 17th birthday. Go figure.

I’ll tell you now, I dreaded that day like the plague. Just thinking about it made me well up with tears. Actually, just a week before, I had been sitting in my English conversation class when we began the unit on “Holidays and Birthdays”. We all had to answer basic questions and I held myself together until finally the teacher read out loud, “How would you feel if you were alone on your birthday?” My flood gates opened right then and there.

As it turns out, I had plans that night to go to the night market with a group of classmates after school, yet at the last minute they changed the plans and decided instead to spend the evening at one of the house of one of the girls. We played Uno, ate Taiwanese BBQ, her father tried to set me up with her brother, and they brought out a cake. Of course, I’m an oblivious girl and my first thought was, “Oh we’re having cake to celebrate the Moon Festival! Yummy!” That is… until they began to sing “Happy Birthday”. It was such a simple gesture, but it was so touching that I didn’t even mind that it was the funniest tasting cake I’ve ever had. <3

Of course, that was not the end of it. Ah, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice… Well, that’s exactly what happened.

The Friday before my birthday (occurring on Sunday) went by like any other Friday. I went to the library, helped out in English class, had nap time… and so forth. Then, last period came. Generally, this time is reserved for clubs, tests, studying… so I didn’t find it out of the normal that the class was taking a test… then Vivian (my closest friend here) came over and said she was done and said she would take me outside to spare me my boredom. Honestly, I was completely tired and would have rather slept, but I gave in and we went down stairs. We walked through the school museum, went to the band room (where a few people played songs just for me), and walked around the track… Being a silly little girl, I didn’t think anything strange of the phone calls Viv kept getting; I just plowed through, talking aimlessly about nothing in particular. Finally, she said we should go upstairs, which is a big task I might add… try going up and down 4 flights of stairs 5 times a day… Not fun. Anyways, we go to the room and Vivian cracked the door open, talked to someone, and then shut it again. Suddenly, she turned to me with a look of horror and said that we were in trouble because the teacher had come back and we had left without permission. I was dreading facing the wrath behind the door; our homeroom teacher can yell like no other… But when the door burst open, all I saw were 54 girls singing “Happy Birthday”, a huge CHOCOLATE cake, the chalk board decorated beautifully, and cards and presents. Tears swelled my eyes as I repeated “xie xie” to everyone. I’ve never been so touched in my life. Finally, I felt ok with my birthday. <3

Of course, I had more plans for the ACTUAL day of my birthday… I had invited Vivian over and she, my mama, Kim, and I went out to a BEAUTIFUL Japanese restaurant, where I received my third cake. Then, Viv and I spent the whole day walking through the city and shopping.

I wasn’t even shy about all the people staring; I’ve gotten used to it a long while ago.

Which I will go ahead and agree with Kyle and say: we are treated like royalty here. Being a fair skinned, big eyed American in Taiwan is just as magnificent as glowing gold and floating in the air. I’m treated like a complete and total princess. I’ve had strangers beg to take a picture with me, shop owners give me free things, random people blow me kisses, and my host family spoils me as if I were their own baby girl.

Recently, I received a pair of sneakers from a family friend (who I though was odd to ask for my shoe size..) valued at $100 US dollars. Apparently he is the owner of a HUGE company (over 80,000 employees) that produces the materials used for major shoe brands, like Nike…

How on earth will I adjust back to my American life?

Anyways, I have plans to go to Sun Moon Lake tomorrow and the following day. It’s BEAUTIFUL. Google it, you’ll see… it’s paradise. <3 I’ll be sure to tell you all about it soon!

From my side of the globe to yours, Patty

December 25 Journal

 I haven’t written since the end of September…? Seriously..?

You know, the funny thing is that, before I came I promised myself that I would be one of those outbounds that updated their journal all the time and documented every little interesting thing to happen in their life. However, that proved to be a lot more challenging than previously thought.

Of course, I can’t make up for the lost time… However, I can offer you two things: 1. This will be the most lengthy entry in the history of Youth Exchange (perhaps not, but I intend to try) 2. You have my promise, full-on vow, that I will try much harder in the future.

First off, I’d love to address the future outbounds of 2009-2010. I haven’t even reached my half-year mark and I’m already jealous of you all. I’d trade my entire Poke’mon card collection (and mind you, I have nearly all of the first editions) to go back to the beginning of my exchange, back to the second I got Taiwan, and re-do everything I didn’t do well enough. I’d start with studying Chinese at least 4 hours a day. Seriously, you lucky kids coming to Taiwan have NO CLUE what you’re in for. We have a lot of exchange students here from Indonesia and Thailand that have been studying Chinese for years, and you’ll come here with your itty-bitty knowledge (probably waaaay off tone) and get your butt handed to you. I’m not trying to scare, just warn you. I might anger a few of our other outbounds with this next comment, but I think language-wise, Taiwan is the one of the hardest; right up there on the scale with India, Thailand, and Japan. Argue all you want, but we have TONES. Plus, Taiwan doesn’t only speak Chinese. A LOT of people speak Taiwanese, which has eight tones compared to Chinese’s four… and then we have the people that speak Japanese… and to top it all off we write in Traditional Chinese, NOT simplified.

I’ll admit, I wish I could hand pick who gets to come to my country. Right now, I feel as if there’s a lot of “dead weight” exchangees here… I get so annoyed when I’m sitting in a room and hear others go on about how they hate Taiwan. Seriously..? I get the urge to shake them and yell, “Then why are you here?!?”

Taiwan is a HARD place, there’s no changing that fact. The culture is tight, social behavior has solid boundaries, and the adults will keep you on a tight leash. Adjusting is the key to cracking this place. You can’t isolate yourself. I began doing that a few months back, as I felt the rising language pressure, food pressure, behavior pressure… and so forth… If you retreat and lower your efforts, no one is going to pick you back up. They have high expectations here, if you fall below them, you might as well go home.

My biggest nightmare is actually getting sent home. I’m trying my hardest, and feel as though I’m among the mid-top of the kids from the Americas… but I still don’t think I’m good enough. I eat what I’m given but I still can’t do certain things… Have you guys tried red sushi before…?

Well, in Taiwan, people like to color their sodas and such, just for kicks, or to please kids… whatever… Well, it’s no secret that I love sushi, so, as a special treat from my Chinese Teacher, for getting a 98% on my Chinese test (Squeeee!), she brought me in some sushi. Well… among the sushi were a few red rolls wrapped around… something or another… and I was like, “Oh pretty, Red sushi!” and I popped one in my mouth and was, right away, overtaken by this strong taste of iron. So, I broke my own rule (the Never Ask What I’m Eating rule) and asked my classmate what it was. Well, it wasn’t food coloring, I can tell you that. Turns out, it’s a famous Tainan dish where they mix the rice in RAW DUCK BLOOD until it’s nice and gooey, then they wrap it around stuff. So, I ended up doing one of the rudest things you could do in Taiwan; I spit it out. My classmate was the only one to bear witness, so I got away with it. There was a moment of silence as I tried to make my insides remain, well, inside. Then, my classmate leans over and asks, “Well… if you don’t want to eat it… can I have it?” Yup, lovely. She gobbled them all down within seconds. GEH

Can you believe these people think that I’M insane for mixing peanut butter and jelly…?

Speaking of sushi though… let’s roll back in time to mid October when I, da-da-da-dun, went to JAPAN. I’ll tell you, as giddy as I was for that trip; I was dreading the plane ride. I honestly think I could go my whole life without ever stepping foot on another plane. You should see my frequent flyer miles… Well, anyways, I get to Japan with the whole Rotary gang and their wives. I’m the only exchange student along; however, one couple brought their two children, a little girl (8) and a little boy (5). I was quickly appointed Keeper of the Children and they became my BFFs.

I’m not sure how, but me and Taiwanese kids get along so perfectly. Like, we can cross the language barrier within seconds and make up our own way to communicate. We talk through motions, games, and sound effects… it’s amazing.

So, as we practically lived on the tour bus all day, and went from site-to-site, I kept the little duo quiet and happy. We pretended to be ninjas, animals, secret agents… everything.

It was a very amazing trip; each night, we stayed in a different hotel. The second was the most gorgeous of them all… it was right IN FRONT of Mt. Fuji and it had a spa and hot springs facing the mountain… you could just relax and take in the scene… Ahhhh… Heaven.

Oh, this was actually my second visit to a public bath (aka getting naked with strangers), and I’ve gotten quite used to it. I guess I should mention my trip to Sun Moon Lake, which actually came before Japan… but my mind is obviously very unorganized… so please bear with me.

Well, although Japan was over-all amazing, there is one memory that sticks out the furthest that was quite less then “amazing”. It was the last day of our trip, we’re riding in the tour bus for a few hours, then stop for a quick visit at this famous temple… we all get out, walk around, I play with the kids, and then we all visit the gift shop. I pick out a couple little things for my friends, then I turn around and everyone is GONE. Not like, they walked back to the tour bus without me and I had to run to catch up… they went back to the tour bus without me and LEFT.

I was alone at the temple for, oh say, over a half hour..? (I might be lowering the time to make my Rotary sound less neglecting…XD ) Finally, I started to get all teary and had my “helpless little girl face on” and people began asking me if I was ok, did I need help… and all I could do was speak Chinese to them.

Oh, I’d like to point at that when you’re a foreigner in Japan, and start speaking Chinese, they think you’re a complete idiot who studied the wrong language before your trip… I obviously don’t LOOK Taiwanese…

Well, it was actually the tour guide that noticed my absence and they came back and he raced down to get me. I was so happy I could have kissed him, but of course I didn’t because that’s COMPLETELY taboo in Asia.

We made our flight and all was well. I even got the most amazing present from the parents of the two kids. It was this stuffed Bunny with these cute dresses… I know, I know, I’m not five; but I love it like a five year old would. XD

I’ll admit, I was extremely happy to return to Taiwan and I now see that Rotary was completely right; Taiwan suits me better then Japan. Uh, not that I ever questioned you guys…. *darts eyes*

Ok, now to the details of my Sun Moon Lake trip. I went right up into the MOUNTAINS of central Taiwan. It was the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen in my life. Ever. More beautiful then Japan..? Of course, but I’m completely biased… so don’t take my word for it.

I went to an AMAZING Buddhist temple, with a gorgeous view of the lake and mountains… I spent late hours at the spa, swimming with strangers in my birthday suit… It was paradise.

Oh, have you ever been the only white girl in a room full of naked people? Everyone STARES. Like, I’m used to that in a normal Taiwanese setting; but this was pretty awkward.

Well, Halloween had me a little bummed out, seeing as it was one of my favorite holidays back in the States. However, my school arranged this HUGE Halloween celebration. Correction: my school decided to have ME arrange this huge Halloween celebration… A TV news crew came (I have a link to the video somewhere…) and I had two newspaper interviews. No lie. For the next few days I had people come up to me and be like, “OH! You’re THAT girl! I read about you!” I also had to give a speech to my WHOLE school (roughly 1000+ girls) about how we celebrate it, why, and so forth. During this all, I had to “dress up” and since I didn’t bring a costume, I made do with wearing everything I owned, doing crazy hair and make up, and then calling myself a “Freak” for Halloween.

Believe it or not, the holiday that really hit the hardest though was Thanksgiving. I fell into a huge slump and craved turkey like crazy. I probably would have killed for a bowl of stuffing and a can of cranberry sauce…

Then, came Christmas; twas very interesting. And, by “interesting” I mean it doesn’t exist here.

They did hold a Christmas Party / mandatory Chinese speech contest; isn’t that a back-handed gesture? I actually did well enough to place and win a little prize, so it was all good.

OH. So we went up to this “farm” in the mountains for the weekend. They had pigs just running around, and roosters and chickens everywhere. Very cute, until they slaughter, gut, and roast a little piggy right in front of you, then try to serve it up as dinner. Lovely.

Well, there’s this nature trail up through the mountains with more stairs then the Eiffel Tower. More stairs then THREE Eiffel towers… Very exhausting.

So, you know those creepy swinging bridges you see in movies? The ones that connect one cliff to another with this huge abyss below, possibly plunging straight to the fiery depths of hell…? Well, THAT kind of bridge would look pretty safe compared to the one I crossed… Our bridges did not have a floor; you had to walk across a metal rope (regular width) with one rope for the right hand, and one for the left… then, every half foot there was a rope that connected the hand ropes to the feet rope. So, it looked as if you were walking across a big “V”. Once you cross to the other side, there is a metal swing on a cable (you manually pull it back via rope) that you can ride to the other side of the cliff. This swing does not have buckle… it has nothing… just you, a tiny chair, flying millions of feet above the world, at top speed. Of course, we all rode it a million times. There was this net (falling apart in most places) below the swing and bridge, and if you fell, and were lucky enough to hit at an intact part of the net, you’d live. So, after everyone rides, no one falls, and we deem it safe, we decide to take it to the next level; we put TWO people in the swing at once.

I’m not sure how, but whenever there’s a stupid idea, I get volunteered… probably because they know I won’t say “no”… Geh. Well, I sit in the LAP of this one girl, and we swing across and safely make it to the other side. Since that went smoothly enough, out next plan is to try it with three people… BAD IDEA. Once again, I’m not only one of the people to go; I’m also the one on TOP. Jenna sat down on the swing, David sat in her lap, and then I sat in David’s lap.

Well, we all got into the swing-contraption, tried to adjust ourselves, then decided this is not going to work, so we’re like, “We’re not doing this” and we’re about to get up when the person holding us back lets go of the rope and sends us flying across. We’re not even to the half way point and my butt is completely off. I’m hanging on by two hands, Jenna tried to wrap her feet around my legs, and David, in attempt to grab my waist, pulls my shirt up. So now, I’m WAY UP, going FAST, about to slip, and flashing everyone on the other side.

The setup of this swing is where as you reach the other side, you go about another ten meters and your feet are at level with the ground. So, picture this, I’m BELOW the swing, hanging on for dear life, and Jenna has my legs penned down, so when we get to the cliff, I CRASH into it, and they were still holding on to me so I get DRAGGED the 10 meters. My foot never hurt so much in my life. It’s actually a very pretty shade of purple-black-blue, with a huge knot.

And, needless to say, that was my last trip on the swing, thank-you-very-much. I had to wobble all the way down the mountain and when I got to the Rotarians to get some ice, my foot was nearly swollen stuck into the shoe. I declined medical attention though, because I was pretty sure it was just bruised and it seems to be healing fine on its own anyways.

So, we get home safely from that trip and I spend Christmas Eve at school. Yup, no winter vacation here. However, I can’t complain because my school was the only one that had Christmas day off… Ah, the perks of a Catholic school finally show up. XD We did a Secret Santa in my class, and on top of that I had made Christmas cards for each of my classmates, all 54 of them. It took me DAYS, I had the homeroom teacher lend me a copy of the student-list and I hand wrote all their names in Chinese. They came out very nice, if I do say so myself.

For Christmas Day, I went to Shin Kong (Sheeen Gwang) Mall with another exchange student. This mall is roughly 10 stories high, with the top three floors dedicated to a movie theater and two floors full of only food. It might actually be heaven on Earth… I have no idea how I’ll ever enjoy Volusia Mall again…

And, that’s a basic sum-up of life. Of course, there are many things I can’t share in this journal. A lot of the experiences you have as an exchange student are just so personal and touching that you don’t know how to put them into words. It’s just those little things someone says to you, the feeling you get when you understand a sentence being said, and the warm hug of a friend when they see your eyes tearing up… The little blessings are the reason I love this place so much.

Oh, I expect every single person that’s lucky enough to get Taiwan to email me as soon as possible. I have so much inside things you’ll need to know. Just ask a member of Rotary, they’ll be more then happy to give you my contact information. I’m serious, e-mail me. And, if I don’t respond right away, I might not have gotten it, so send it again. I won’t think you’re rude if you jump all over me with questions. Promise.

Also, I’d like to thank my parents, the MV (you know who you are), my friends, Rotary, both in Taiwan and in Florida, for all the support they’ve given me these past few months. I swear I won’t let your hard work go to waste.

Best wishes from my side of the globe, 歐派蒂

P.S. I’d also like to thank Al for not sending me a threatening email about my journal-laziness. I’m sure you were cursing my name over there and wondering why I seemingly fell off the face of the earth… I had to muster a lot of courage to open that Christmas email; I was convinced it would hold some sort of ultimatum… You can officially take me off your hit list now.

P.P.S. I’d also like to point out that this entry came to roughly seven pages on MS Word, which is a fairly decent attempt at lengthy.

Rolly’s Bio

Hello there! My name is Rolly Weaver. I’m 17 years old and attend Seabreeze High School in Daytona Beach, Florida. In my spare time, I enjoy doing almost any sports and I like anything that forces me push myself. At school, I play basketball, football, and run cross country and track. When I’m not in school I like riding my four wheelers and climbing (in Colorado and NC).

I live with my mom and step dad and have two sisters, one parrot, 3 cats, 1 1/2 dogs (chihuahua) and 3 horses. I am excited about my senior year abroad, not nervous, although I will probably be when I’m boarding the plane.

August 29 Journal

 Wow. I really don’t know what to write. So I’ll start from the beginning. Finished packing the night before, or rather started packing the night before. Then left in the morning, car ride, Awkward. We couldn’t find much things meaningful to say. Then goodbyes to Sister, Joonas (a foreign exchange student staying with my family), and mom who despite her strength during the whole day began to cry. This sounds weird but I wasn’t sad. I was like “let’s do this.” (yes that exact quote lol ) I kinda felt bad that I wasn’t crying or anything. But I was just ready.

In Security they thoroughly searched my belongings to insure that I wasn’t a terrorist. After that delay I was off. From Jacksonville I headed to Miami for a very lengthy wait. I think that people thought I worked for the airport because of my blazer of something. Because I would randomly receive questions from people about what terminal is where, or what time flights were leaving. Out of sheer boredom I wandered the Miami airport for what seemed like hours.

Before I left I met up with Zhoe, leaving from Florida to Argentina, and later I met four other exchange students who were also heading for Ecuador, and two others departing for countries.

Plane ride uneventful. I talked with a very funny kid who is going to stay in Quito named Remy, and we attempted to decipher the customs papers that we had to fill out, in Spanish. It was very humorous.

Plane lands, we all go through customs together. Only to be broken apart by the hugs of our host families. My host family is vacationing at the beach so their grandfather and aunt pick me up. To my surprise they were both fluent in English. So I didn’t have the opportunity to practice my minimal Spanish. Because of my plane’s late arrival, I stayed Quito with my host aunt.

In the morning we left for Ibarra. They had morning Mass, so I decided to join them in the service. Bad idea. Started Mass, everything was perfect, then I began to feel dizzy. I shook it off and ignored it. Later in the service we all stood up to recite some sort of prayer, which I mumbled and acted like I knew the words. At that point I was hit with another spell of dizziness, but this time it was worse, I couldn’t hear the priest talking or the people singing, everything began to turn black until I couldn’t see. I attempted to murmur some sort of “help me,” but the words never came out……… BAM!!!! I hit the floor. Blacked out. A result from the altitude. A couple of minutes later I came to. In the middle of Mass, while the priest was singing there was like twenty people around me spitting words and phrases in Spanish which I couldn’t understand, asking me questions, brushing my wet hair from my sweaty face, and elevating my legs to produce blood flow. It was embarrassing. Very very embarrassing.

After my pride was taken I  was introduced to my host family. I was met at the door with a big smile by Paul my host dad. He has tan skin, and is full of energy, we play chess, or the game I introduced to them, dominoes, almost every night. I have two host sisters and one host brother. Family is very important in Ecuador.

Since my arrival I have busied myself with varying activities. Four days ago we went to 12,000 ft. and went fishing. The lake is in the middle of nowhere. Hidden by the peaks of the northern Andes. To the left I see snow covered peak of Cayambe, to the right limitless jungle filled with mountains. We pulled the boat into shore, cooked the fish, and loaded them with pounds of salt and ate them. After lunch me and my host cousin had the brilliant idea to go swimming. It turned out to be a very stupid idea. As other people were wrapped in winter jackets and long johns, me and my host cousin were frolicking in the water. At twelve thousand feet the air is cold. At twelve thousand feet the water is colder. After we regained feeling in our extremities, we decided to explore the jungle. After much hiking we stumbled into a very marshy section where with every step we would sink up to our knees in muck. We got lost. My white Nike shox are now black Nike shox.

Besides that I’ve been keeping myself busy playing basketball, tennis, and swimming. Or doing other various tasks that need to be completed like obtaining my visa, buying books and registering for school, etc. etc.

I start school this Monday. So that should be an adventure. Wish me luck.

Also wanted to thank Jody for giving me a chance.

Until next time.

-Rolly W.

October 16 Journal

 Hmmm. Wow. There is so much to say……I´m writing this during Physics class. I lost total interest after we found the velocity of an object flying from China to France. I’m trying to figure out what to put in here without making it one of those weird 1.000 page Sci-Fi adventure books always read during class by that weird kid that never talks.

Ok now I know…

This is going to be the “I have a test tomorrow and haven’t read the book,” Spark Note version of Rolly’s trip.

In October we had a bunch of parties here, called the festivals of Ibarra. There was one party with 1,500 people (goodbye personal space bubble). I have also come to the startling discovery that my dancing abilities are lacking….but I make up for it in denial.

-SPANISH-

I’m learning tons and tons of Spanish every day. I’ve upgraded from retarded to minor stupidity.

-Quito-

Went to Quito and met up with one of my student exchange friends (Remy). We went to the mall and hung out with another foreign exchange student from Ecuador that went to Germany last year. It was fun, however, Quito is much larger and dangerous then Ibarra.

-Imbabura-

On September 17, I was invited by my host cousin to climb a local mountain. Imbabura. I climbed with a local English teacher, from the United States. We had good conversation for the four hour sludge up the giant hill. We finally reached the summit and rested, chasing the fleeting air of 15,000 ft. After two minutes on the summit it began to snow. How serene! No!! After another five minutes the snow turned into hail/ rain / sleet. Upon that I left my jacket and backpack at a lower section of the trail to scale a difficult vertical section of rock. (I was cold…..this is becoming a habit.)

After half an hour a thunderstorm rolled in. In another 10 minutes lightning was striking all around us. When the bolts struck the ground we would hear the echo screaming from the rocks repeating several times before dying. One struck very very close to the three of us, instantly sending a shock through our bodies. We all had major headaches after the experience.

The descent was supposed to take two hours…..LOL…….The trail was a natural slip’n slide from the rain. Water + Dirt= Mud……….. trail filled with mud and water + Foreign Exchange student = Muddy foreign Exchange Student.

We were greeted by four hours of falling………Hard……….Face plants, head over heals, 180 degree spins, failed attempts to retain our balance and pride.

We finally returned, clothes stained, soaking wet from head to toe , cold and prideless having had the most fun weeks.

Random fact…..the garbage trucks have speakers and play music identical to that of the ice-cream trucks in the U.S.……it causes much confusion.

This section doesn’t need much explaining. I ate Cuy= Guinea pig / evil rat looking thing. …… That’s all moving on.

OK time for the serious stuff. Chuck Norris and your “momma” jokes aren’t funny here, Don’t try…….seriously don’t.

In the morning (4:30….ohh dear Lord) I’m heading to Manabí, for my first Rotary trip.

It’s going to be really cool…..

November 18 Journal

 Hello.. While reading my journal, think about this…it helps:

¨Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table, because Chuck Norris only recognizes the element of surprise¨

The day after I wrote my last journal all the Rotary kids went to the beach in Ecuador. It was cool to see all the different countries and personalities mixing.

Recently laety (From France) and I went on a train to a small village north of Ibarra. We were able to ride on the roof of the train. It was fun. It seems that in every one of these journals something happens to me, I somehow figure out a way to injure myself……I didn’t disappoint. We were walking to our seats on top of the train and while began to move. I was saying something to laety with my back to the numerous power lines, strategically positioned to take out unsuspecting foreign exchange students. I turned around just in time to be clothes-lined by something like the largest power line you’ve ever seen in your life. The line caught my neck, and I was flung on my back, slammed on the metal floor, and rose thoroughly embarrassed. But wait there’s more. I stood up (with my back to the lines….again) and was greeted by another monstrous reunion with the metal roof. This stuff needs to stop lol.

Also here, two people have attempted to rob me. Lol But they were really crappy robbers. No lie. Truly subpar. I don’t think they expected their “victim” to be a foot taller them. Mauhahahaa…I Won

I went to Quito, mainly to eat a BigMac. I did. I wanted to cry. It was amazing. Also there was a birthday for some girl in Quito. All the student exchange kids went. It was so much fun.

I trying to stay busy here…and not miss an opportunity to do anything. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I go to Boxing……………. and the others day I do my homework…. Haha just kidding, or play basketball. I’m experiencing like recession problems without my bike or riding with my team…hopefully my mom is going to bring it in December…… (Hint Mother)

My English is getting a little bad. I think learning this much Spanish causes memory loss, or something even worse than memory loss.

I won the Chess Championship at my school….yea I know I’m cool lol.

Next weekend I’m going to climb Cotocatchi. It’s over 16,000 ft. So So excited.

 February 9 Journal

 I have so much to say. But I think I’m just going to write random things that have occurred to me in the past couple of months.

AKA … Long. And void of anything useful.

OK my stupid grammar correction thing isn’t working, so brace yourself for horrible English.

A while ago I went to Cayambe to climb. It’s a mountain over 18,000 ft. I went with my family and an English teacher from the U.S. After a couple of hours the Ecuadorians turned around, but Ryan and I went a lil bit further. Two hours later we were … Very high … on a slope … very steep … in snow up to our waists. We got the hint that this was very dangerous and decided to turn back. We were able to ski down the slope using our boots and backpacks …

· Oh!

—-How I found a way to hurt myself again!——–

I went to the BMX track with my host cousin, ( he is the national champion of Ecuador 8 times.) … to make a short story shorter … I fell … lol … Broke the collarbone … second time … When I fell I thought…”Crap … I broke my collarbone again..” … And when my friends came to ask if I was all right I said … “Crap … I broke my collarbone again” in English … They were confused … I got up and started walking, and everything started to get black … until I couldn’t see … But I was conscious and could hear and move and everything … So I sat there on my back … Legs elevated to produce blood flow … Face filled with sweat … collarbone bulging out of my left shoulder … And thinking to my self … “Well, This sucks.”

Ten minutes later I could see again, and went to the hospital … Surprise … My doctor is one of the leaders of Rotary!  … How awkward

About two weeks ago I received a package from Zhoe, In Argentina …

——–Zhoe ——–

———-Seriously——-Thank you so much … That was so nice——————-

Also my family came from the states. It was cool. But my Family from Ecuador … No English … And my family from the States … Negative Spanish = many awkward situations … But overall it was really cool.

Also, we went to climb Cotacachi, a mountain close to my house about 16,000 ft. One Word. LONG TRIP … haha, that was two words … It was over 9 hours of hiking. We left the house of my host uncle at 4 in the morning. And didn’t arrive at my house until 5 in the afternoon …

————————————–New years——————————————-

Different … LOL … I’m going to do my best to explain this but most likely I’m going to fail miserably.

In Ecuador during New Years, there are guys dressed up like girls, that block traffic, and won’t let cars pass unless they give them money … (Why Not? lol) … They dance to “Fairy music” like Firgie … My Humps … And “Girls just want to have fun” … And other fairy Latino music … You Understand … Right … Good …

As I was watching them “Perform” with my family, one of the (we’ll call them “guys” to be politically correct) started to look at me while he was grinding on an old Volkswagen, singing, “Puff the Magic Dragon” … I thought … “Crap … he saw me”  … (the “guy” had an incredibly strange resemblance to Fergie and fellow alien Michael Jackson) … Within minutes, a hoard of Fergie’s friends had surrounded me and attempted to drag me into the street to dance with them … I resisted, but the overall gay-force of five guys was too much.

I looked at the side walk, and was met with the view of over one hundred and fifty non-gay spectators. I was forced to dance … I decided to play along and made a show of it … It was so funny … But somehow I was able to escape Fergie and the love gang, and return to my family un-gayed …

The situation could be compared to watching Broke-Back mountain … while eating CheeeesSsits (don’t forget the slur there) and gummy bears … With Michael Jackson … With a pink night gown … yea … something like that …

After writing that paragraph … I really don’t know what more to say.

After the “episode” we went to a party with my sister from the States that started at two and didn’t end until 9 in the morning. I danced … With Girls … lol … It was really cool.

So I got a bike today … I was so excited … Finally I can start training … So I left my house as fast as possible to start riding … About three minutes into my ride a bus decided to randomly run me off the road … I was forced to go on the sidewalk at full speed … inches from getting hit … But I was able to break my fall with my head … I look down and noticed that my right pedal was broken off from the impact … I rode home pedaling with one foot … My first ride almost reaches the amazing mark of 5 kilometers … What a great start to training. Lol

Recently I found that in Ecuador we have a holiday, where for one week or so, we throw water balloons at people… You can imagine what me and my friends have been doing. From the third story of my friend’s house, in one afternoon me and my 4 friends went through about 200 balloons, and countless buckets of water … I don’t want to sound like a really mean person … I can’t describe the unconditional joy of seeing girls running while being absolutely pummeled by a barrage of water balloons.

Sorry I can’t help myself.

Chuck Norris can clap with one hand

Chuck Norris once ate an entire bottle of sleeping pills. They made him blink.

Chuck Norris invented black. In fact, he invented the entire spectrum of visible light. Except pink. Tom Cruise invented pink.

Until Next time

-Rolly

May 21 Journal

 It’s been awhile.

Honesty I can’t even imagine putting all the things that I’ve done over the last couple of months in the journal. But I’ll hit the important things.

I briefly mentioned the Ecuadorian Carnival in my last post (when we throw water balloons). It was so much fun. 7 angered Ecuadorians pilled into one barely working truck with over 300 water balloons. It’s a formula for utter disaster. We adopted the phrase “No Mercy” … And lived up to it…… We went to the cosmopolitan section of the city, ……… and let loose …… You can guess the result.

I recently competed in a bike race here…I placed second.

Also a couple of months ago we switched families. I’ve had huge luck with my two families.

We went to the Galapagos!! Yes sir….I swam with sea lion looking things. They weren’t scared of us, so they were in the water swimming between our legs, and playing with us. It was awesome…

Surprisingly nothing very bad has happened to me… I fell off my bike a couple of times, and went to the hospital because I had a stomach infection and couldn’t eat food for three days… But now I’m fixed.

Also we went to the Amazon! We went on a ton a walks in the jungle and went floating in a river. While floating in the river two friends from Germany and I found an old abandoned canoe on the shore. We had the marvelous idea to bring her back to her glory days and make it seaworthy again. We attempted to make it float, by putting extra wood in and strapping our life jackets around it. It didn’t work. As it turns out we conveniently ran into a rapid section, and barely made it back to the hotel.

Last Saturday one of my good friends from Quito went home. We would always find stupid yet entertaining things to do, like talking to Ecuadorians that only speak Spanish in our British-Australian-Swahili accents in English…. Or talking about how weird the people from Ecuador can be.

This Friday is our last trip with Rotary. It’s a little sad. The year is ending.

While waiting in the airport we took advantage of the global Flu scare…… For entertainment proposes we decided to ferociously cough on people that walked by. It was so funny. They were really mad and many left running.

– Rolly