Shilo Christiansen -- Japan

September 9, 2013

Shilo Christiansen
09/09/2013
Host Rotary Club: 2560
Sponsor Rotary Club: 7190
Current Host Family:  Minami
Counselor Name:  Fukumura and Nishiyama

Hi everyone! I’m very healthy and I’m doing great! I’m very comfortable with my current host family and we get along fabulously.

            I love school so much. I have gone every single day so far. I haven’t joined any clubs or official after-school activities yet. In school, everyone is preparing for the cultural festival. So after school, I have been helping my class with that. I have made a lot of really great friends.  It’s really easy for me to carry a conversation, so I think that made making friends an easier process. Everyone in my school is really nice to me.
            I attended the big district meeting on August 25^th. I also attended my city’s Rotary club meeting last Thursday, on the  5^th. They went really well. None of the foreign exchange students except me speak Japanese, so I can only speak English to the other foreign exchange students. I received my monthly allowance of 10,000 yen, which is about 100 US dollars. I would say my relationship with my host club is good and my relationship to my counselor is excellent. I think Fukumura-san is my official counselor. I haven’t met with him much, so our relationship is just okay. As for Nishiyama-san, who I think to be my actual counselor, our relationship is great. He is so kind and helpful to me, and I really like seeing him.
            I’ve gone to Kyoto a few times, and seen a lot of beautiful historical things. I’ve also gone to Oksaka a few times and done a lot of shopping! I love where I live so much, it’s a really great city. It’s the perfect balance of traditional and modern, and it is very close to two really big cities. I’ve seen the Big Buddha, all sorts of temples and palaces, and it has just been simply amazing.
            At each Rotary event I have introduced myself.  I’m no longer nervous. I had to introduce myself in front of my class at school. I was a little nervous. I was even more nervous for the introduction in front of the entire school. That went really well, and after that I am no longer nervous about self-introductions.

I felt a huge improvement in my Japanese in my first three days here. It’s almost been a month, and it’s as if I’m whole different person in terms of my Japanese level. I’m really glad that I learned a lot of the language before coming. I think that has opened so many doors for me in terms of enjoying my time here. I just have had the best month of my life.

Sincerely,

Shilo Christiansen

Michaela Schnore -- Finland (home club: Glenville)

September 4, 2013  

 I have now had my first full month living abroad in Finland and I am loving it! The first two weeks were very difficult at times but now that I have settled in more I have already made a few good friends and that has helped me to feel a lot less homesick. I made several friends during orientation camp and I have already met up with my closest friend from camp in Helsinki once and we are planning to go to Helsinki again this weekend. I am so lucky to live only half an hour away from the city! 

       My first host family, the Lotila family, is so nice and they were so helpful with everything. We have gone to their summer cottage (mökki), picked berries and mushrooms, gone horseback riding, and we have gone to a museum in Herueka. The kids are very nice and we always have a lot of fun jumping on the trampoline together. 

       They held a welcome party for me once I had been in Finland for two weeks so that I could meet my other three host families. (I have four in total) My second family also recently invited me to a crayfish party at their house which was a lot of fun. At the crayfish party one of Sanni's (my second host mom) friends promised to lend me a guitar and ukulele! I just picked up both instruments today and she said I could use them all year, which I am very grateful and excited about.

       This jakso at school I am taking two art classes, two music classes, and an English class. I will probably take more challenging courses once I learn more Finnish (I start my Finnish lessons on Thursday). I am really enjoying the art classes and especially the music classes because the school has such nice facilities and equipment. 

       There are six exchange students in total at my school, one boy is from Buffalo, NY, and is also with the Rotary, there is an AFS girl from Florida until January, there are two German girls, and a Slovakian girl. I like them all and it's really nice having other exchange students at the school. 

     I really the Nurmijarvi-Klaukkala-Lepsämä area so far, its a perfect mix of countryside, and small town, and is nice and close to Helsinki and Espoo. Since I am currently living in Lepsämä, its a little far from the school, about 8 km, so I have to take the bus to school. Luckily my three other host families live much closer to my school and to the center of town, so it will be much easier for me to hang out with friends after school without worrying about having to catch the bus by a certain time. 

      Sincerely,

Michaela Schnore