Marni Libby -- Slovakia (Home Club: Delmar)

January 28, 2015

These past two months have been kind of busy, what with the holidays and everything, and time seems to be going by very quickly. Just three days ago I hit my five month mark of being in Europe.

Our holiday vacation was very long, just over two weeks, and spending my first ever Christmas in Slovakia was amazing. Slovaks have a lot of traditions for their holidays that every family follows, which is different from what I understand Christmas to be in the USA. For one example, people eat a piece of garlic and then honey for a sweet and healthy year to come. That was interesting. And once the family sits down to eat for Christmas dinner, no one is allowed to get up from their seat until the meal is over. Christmas in Slovakia lasts three days, from Christmas Eve on December 24th, and then there are two days of Christmas after that, and we spent the whole time with family. It was very nice.

School has definitely improved after the holidays. I'm no longer the foreign girl who sits in on classes, but have become a part of the class. The people who used to talk to me once or twice a day now talk to me regularly, and people who didn't talk to me at all before are now starting to talk to me. I feel like I've finally been accepted by my classmates, which is wonderful. My German teacher wants me to learn German through Slovak now, which is an interesting experience. The word "garage" sounds the same in all three languages though.

We had a Rotary Christmas meeting in early December for all of the exchange students in Slovakia. They took us to the Bratislava Christmas markets, and then to Vienna. We also had a language test on which I scored an 87% on the written part and a 100% on the speaking. Last Monday I finally gave a presentation about the USA to my Rotary club, after it had been rescheduled many times. It went well.

On February seventh we are changing host families again. I feel a bit of trepidation at changing because I feel like the time with my second (and current) host family has been so short. I feel like I've barely gotten time to get settled here and feel like part of the family before I have to move again. I can do it, though. My next host family is actually in the city of Bratislava, rather than being in a village outside of it, like my first two host families. This means that I won't have to deal with lengthy public transport like the train and the bus. Only trams, trolleys, and city buses now.

We have another Rotary meeting for Slovak inbounds this weekend in the city of Banská Bystrica, my friends in school have told me that it's one of the nicest cities in Slovakia, and I'm excited to go because an exchange student from Brazil by the name of Karina lives there, and I'm excited to see her.

That's all I can think to report for now. I'm so happy to be living here in Europe, it's amazing!

Allyson Block -- Ecuador (Home Club: Ballston Spa)

January 23, 2015

 

Rotary Report- December

            December in Ballston Spa I’d usually be busy tree decorating, ice skating and snowman building- but this year I kicked off the month with a trip to the Amazon Rainforest!

            Ecuador isn’t a very big country, but to devote more time to exploration and less to traveling we took a thirty minute plane trip from Quito to Coca (a city in the east on the edge of the rainforest.) From there we took a two hour canoe trip up to Napo River to arrive at the Sacha Lodge- our authentic straw and board abode for the next three days.

            In that short time we tramped through jungle brush, went swimming in caiman (the cousins of crocodiles) infested waters, visited an indigenous village and climbed a tree fifty meters into the forest canopy. This excursion was a dream come to true. I am so grateful for my experience and all who made it possible.

            The rest of the month was spent in anticipation of Christmas. Although I did miss the cold nip of Upstate New York and the cozy holiday environment there was no lack of preparation for la navidad.

In addition to just a tree, most Ecuadorians celebrate Christmas by setting up a nativity scene.  But not just your average three shepherds, three wise men, Mary, Joseph and Jesus nativity! They set up the entire city of Bethlehem (Belén) complete with hills, pastoral printed papers, fences, houses, a million farm animals and lots of lights! Very similar to the miniature winter villages that some families in the US set up for the holidays.

Ecuador is a predominately Catholic country (97% of the population) and, for the most part, very pious. I think that depicting this scene is a very lovely way that they remain focused on the true meaning of the holiday.

Another custom that they have is called the ‘Novena’. In the nine days leading up to Christmas different groups will meet in front of their Belén to sing carols and to pray. My mother told me that it is a way for them to prepare themselves spiritually for the ‘birth of Christ’.

Something that surprised me was how common these celebrations are. At school there is a Belén in every classroom, and so far I’ve been to six different novenas! They include the one held at my school, the one at my brother’s school, the ceremony for my neighborhood, my family’s personal novena, our church’s novena and the ceremony which was hosted by my Rotary Club. If you’re ever planning to attend a private Novena come on an empty stomach for the evening always ends with lots of sweets and tea!

Christmas Eve was ‘La Noche Buena’, where we had a very nice family dinner at the house of my sister, Cristina. We did not arrive at the dinner until eight o’clock- so I thought that we were late and expected that we would get right down to eating. To my surprise we were actually the first to arrive and they hadn’t even begun to prepare the food! At nine o’clock the other guests arrived and we began to cook as a family. At midnight we opened the gifts that Baby Jesus had brought, (it was very simple. Everyone, including the children only received one or two small, but thoughtful gifts) then we set the table. At one o’clock we finally sat down for dinner (a four course meal).

            La día de la Navidad was very calm- just like any other Sunday. We slept in, had a nice family breakfast and went on a bike ride.

            Although I missed my familiar Christmas carols and cookie swap parties it was a very nice detox from our sometimes over- commercialized holiday.

Hope Danison -- South Korea (Home Club: Ballston Spa)

January 9^th, 2015

Host Rotary Club: District 3661 – Ballston Spa

Sponsor Rotary Club: District 7190 – Busan

Current Host Family: Kim Hyeon-Oak, Sohng Bong-Su

Counselor Name: Park JinLee

            On December 2^nd I had a day off from school so my host mom offered me the opportunity to go to my little host sister's school to “teach” an English class. What I did was read an alphabet book of fruits and vegetables with them repeating my noises and then I read “The Giving Tree”. Before that they had sung along to Frozen's “Let it Go” and after to a Korean history song. I recorded some of it and you can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GcNHabp28M&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YgmiHaYMns&feature=youtu.be

Their overflowing energy was entertaining, but with this experience I confirmed that I definitely do not want to teach English when I get older.

            The days leading up to December 10^th consisted of last minute preparation for a presentation on the occasion of our Swedish friends leaving Korea. I realized too little too late how influential they were on my exchange during my time with them. Before coming to Korea I was encouraged to stay away from the other foreigners so as to integrate myself with the Korean people. I struggled very hard with this not because I craved the company of other English speakers, but because Koreans clumped us together all the time. I used to think that escape was impossible- that my exchange year would be ruined because the people I spend most time with are not Korean. But as the time for them to leave neared, I realized that any friend is a valuable friend. Being here was not a trip, but a part of their lives.  The end of their exchange was only a preview of what mine might be, and it scares me.

            We celebrated together one last time on the 17^th of December over pizza. The final goodbyes occurred in the subway station, and we parted ways. When we arrived back in the room we shared for three months we felt compelled to clean it and rearrange the furniture, signifying a new chapter.

            Speaking of changes,  on December 12^th I changed host homes. The new apartment is a little bigger and has a piano, which is very nice. It is also lucky that I am within the same family, different parents. I had no trouble re-orienting myself and becoming comfortable in the new environment. I'm also closer to my school now, but January is winter vacation so that will only become convenient starting next month.

            Jumping back into the future, I battled homesickness by not being able to celebrate my mom's birthday with her and not crying about it! This was most likely because on the same day I took a Korean language final, which took my mind off the matter significantly. I was quite thankful for the test because it gave me a physical goal to reach and an indicator of how far I've come in learning Korean. At the beginning of my exchange I knew less Korean than I'd like to admit, but there is definitely progress here and  it won't stop. Even though I should take advantage immersion and learn as much Korean as I can now, sometimes I need to take some pressure off myself and remind myself that I have my whole life to continue to learn Korean because leaving Korea won't be a deadline for fluency.

            The challenge of homesickness reared its head again for Christmas, but did not reduce me to a puddle of tears. The Rotary students were able to synthesize a bit of Christmas spirit through a party in a cabin and giving each other secret Santa gifts. I was more astonished than anything to think that people in the US were doing their Christmas things and I was chilling out with my host family. We had our small share of “Christmas celebration” which consisted of a cake and seeing the Christmas lights and tree in Nampo-Dong.

            On Christmas day I saw the Hobbit movie and skyped parents for their Christmas morning. I went to bed and woke up around 11am the next day and skyped my friends during their Christmas night. It was like having Christmas 3 times in a row! I feel proud to have made it through the holiday season with little difficulty. Now I am more confident in acknowledging what I may miss about home, but still enjoying my time here to the fullest.

            The Monday after Christmas it was back to school for two days. On December 29^th I got to experience my first school festival. I participated by performing crane dance (which I made a blog post about here: http://bspatobusan.tumblr.com/post/106614363901) and playing the flute in a small ensemble (we played “The Waltz of Life” from Howl's Moving Castle). The next day was the last before winter vacation. With the thrill of the festivities aside I realized that I am at the halfway point already. I became reflective in the light of this as the new year came. On the first day of 2015 I saw the first sunrise by the seaside with my host family and suddenly became 20 years old* at the same time.

            Fast forward through relaxing vacation days and a temple stay, the rotary students were once again given last minute notice of a Rotary event for January 9^th and 10^th. We arrived on location and later figured out that we stumbled upon RYLA, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. It turned out to be both a fun and particularly memorable experience for me. I never heard of RYLA in the US, so meeting up with a bunch of Korean university students was a delightful surprise. We were separated into groups and I was grateful to be surrounded by kind and inviting Koreans who were all around my age.

            First we did outdoor team building games, which are my specialty. It was so nice to be integrated into the group right away because of our shared enthusiasm and them speaking Korean with me. To be honest it was the first time Korean students didn't speak a word of English to me, I was very happy. I surprised myself later that day by doing something I never though I would dare to attempt. I gave a 2 minute, impromptu speech in Korean. Everyone was in a lecture hall listening to their peers give 2 minute speeches about whatever they wanted to show themselves that they could. The foreigners weren't asked to participate beforehand, so when the teacher in charge came to me near the end and asked me to speak, I don't know why I said yes.

            At first I shook my head and asked to speak for 30 seconds. He replied that I only had to do a self-introduction and talk about what I think of Korea. I ended up walking to the podium with nothing in my head, it was thrilling. I sort of sputtered the essentials: my name, when I came and started learning Korean, what I like about Korea and Koreans. Then I commented on how terrifying public speaking is, and congratulated all the people who spoke before me, and meandered on to end with “Even if you don't have confidence, you have to do it anyway.” (자신이 없지만 그냥 해야돼요.) I don't know how much of my “speech” was correct or even understandable, but I realized how my Korean version of Nike's slogan really resonates with my attitude towards my exchange. I did it, and I was content with myself.

*The Korean age system is different because they say you're already 1 year old when you're born. Also, everyone turns a year older with the new year. Upon coming to Korea I had to get used to telling people that I was 19 instead of 18. Now that I'm 20 here I'll go back to the US and magically be 19 again!