Ben Weinstein -- Taiwan (Home Club: Delmar)

October 26, 2015

Ben is maintaining his own blog, which can be found here .


He has incredible descriptions and pictures of his first couple of months.

Maeve McKeeby -- Belgium (Home Club: Schenectady)

October 23, 2015

I have now been in Belgium for a little over two months and I have fallen even more in love with Belgium this past month. My French has improved so much, I am now able to understand most conversations and can speak basic sentences and conversations. School is becoming easier and my teachers are really great and always make sure I understand the lesson and are more than willing to help if I need it.

In the past month I have been able to explore more of Belgium and also the Netherlands. I went kayaking in the south of Belgium with all of the other Rotary Exchange Students that are in Belgium which was really fun. In this small country there are over 400 exchange students. Even though kayaking was cold I still had a lot of fun hanging out with all the other exchange students and sharing the different experiences we’ve all had this past month or so. In Belgium I have visited Coo, Namur, Mons, Tournai, and Brussels this past month. Brussels continues to be my favorite city in Belgium, there’s so much to do and see but Namur has become my second favorite city even though I have only been there once. Namur is a beautiful city with really cool architecture and lots of castles. The city looks very European I think and has a nice river that runs through it. I was also able to visit Amsterdam, Amersfoort, and Nijkerk in the Netherlands. All of these cities were absolutely beautiful but I really loved Amsterdam. The city was beautiful and I really loved all the canals throughout the city. Next weekend I will be travelling to London, and Paris which I am really looking forward to. It has been another great month in Belgium and I am looking forward to more great adventures! A bientot!

Hugo Bouillion -- Glens Falls (Home Club: France)

October 4, 2015

 

 I have been in the USA for one month and i'm very glad to be here! I don't have problems with my health, my host family is awesome, I don't have a problem speaking with her; they are very nice to me. I'm going to class every day, the students are very curious about me. I have made friends! I'm on the football team, it's a very good thing to meet people. Each month I have 2 meetings with my Rotary club. In September, I attended a meeting with my host family. I have never met my rotary counselor but it's not very important because I don't have problems. In spring I will try to have a scholarship to go to the college in the USA. Every month I receive an allowance. I have a very great relationship with my club everyone is nice to me !

Thank you so much for allowing me to live this experience !

Adam Boese -- Brazil (Home Club: Schenectady)

October 8, 2015

This may not come as a surprise to you, but living in another country has been, by far, the greatest change of my life. For example, milk now comes from a box as opposed to a jug. This may not seem earth shattering but these small changes emphasise the slightly larger changes that have rocked my world. Such as not speaking the language of everyone around me or even that this is the first time I have spent away from the community I have grown up in. But describing these changes does not do them justice. To fully understand what it is to be an exchange student you have to understand that every single thing that I valued or cared about suddenly has no impact on my life. My grades, my relationships, my success and failures, are all, for the first time, truly in the past. That is not to say that I do not care about these things or that they have not helped shape me into the person I am now. For example, I worried about my grades for months. Now it’s as if none of that ever happened. Other than just straight up missing my friends and family, this is the leading cause for homesickness. I start to look for these things to dedicate myself to, as I have more or less done for a decade, only to find that they no longer exist. Where art thou milk jugs?

Despite these drastic changes I am having an amazing time. I cannot explain everything about my life because most of the time I do very normal, living in a house stuff that makes for very mundane writing. However, I will, more or less, explain what I have been doing here. On the first day in Brazil, I fell in love with my host family. They have taken me to some amazing places such as Rio de Janeiro, a beautiful city on a mountain called Teresopolis, and the beautiful beaches of our own city, Saquarema. Unfortunately, these amazing trips do not make up my daily routine. The only two things that really remain consistent for my Monday through Friday routine is school and jujitsu. Although I enjoy school, it is difficult not understanding language because I am restricted to talking with the handful of students in my class that speak english. I do try to speak as much portuguese as I can muster to the other students but I am very limited in what I can say. Jujitsu is a martial arts that reminds me a lot of a more refined version of the wrestling I used to do with my older brothers. Although I lose almost every single match I absolutely love it.

There is so much more to say that I cannot really put into words. I am really grateful to be here. I will continue to send updates on what I am doing.

Julia Lapper -- France (Home Club: Glens Falls)

September 28, 2015

In high school when my French teacher would ask what we would do if they just dropped us in the middle of a foreign country, I never really had an answer. At the time I thought, “Why does it matter? It’s not like that will ever happen.” Well it did, and now I think I probably should have given it more thought at the time.

My first month in France has been an absolute whirlwind. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that all of the former exchange students who I talked to before leaving the U.S. were not kidding. Being an exchange student will be one of the most challenging experiences of my life, but if I survive the first few months, it will also be one of the most rewarding.

The hardest part of this experience so far has been school. After spending 12 years on the same campus with the same people, it would have been hard enough to just go to a new school. Add in the fact that the whole system is completely different from the U.S. and then a language barrier? It’s a big and difficult change. I’m definitely still adjusting to that.

Outside of school, which occupies a lot more time than I am used to, my life here is great. I have had so much fun sight seeing with my host family in Paris, visiting the beautiful city of Reims with my host sister, and volunteering with my fellow exchange students. I can’t wait to see what other adventures the rest of this year has in store for me.

Torri Herdegen -- Australia (Home Club: Delmar)

September 29, 2015

       G'day! What an honour it is to be sponsored by the Delmar Rotary in New York State.  I am keen (excited) to share my first month with you. 

        Upon coming to Australia I imagined to go to a place with a beautiful beach, exotic animals, and a perfect sun for tanning in. July 27th I arrived here in Sale where the only exotic animals you will see are wombats laying perfectly dead on the road side, where there are more cows on dairy farms than people in Victoria and where it rains almost everyday in these months of "winter". Nevertheless it is an Awesome place.

        Homesickness is not even in my vocabulary. In fact it is probably the last thing on my mind. I have not had one day since the second day I arrived where I have not had something going on. 

        Right now I am staying with the Strauss Family.Their two kids are all grown up and out of the house but my host parents keep me entertained. David is my host father but really he is more like a man child. You can not have one conversation with David where he will not make a joke; a joke that by the way is never very funny even though he finds himself hilarious. We have a great relationship; its never a boring day when David is home. Rachel is my host mum. She is a wonderful person. Rachel takes real good care of me as she so kindly makes my lunches daily, washes my clothes weekly and makes sure I have whatever I need for the activities I attend. How grateful I am for these two!

        School is quite an experience. It is very different from american school from the uniforms to the way the schedule, or "time table", is laid out to the requirements for graduating, to the various activities the school has. I attended a three day camp that my entire grade of a whole 90 students attended. Never have I ever been on a three day camp in the middle of the year with my fellow peers in High School. Maybe that gives you a little idea of just how laid back Australians are. Everyone at school is so nice. In my opinion they are more polite and accepting then in 'Merica. I have already made heaps of friends. It is still a challenge, as everyone at school has known each other for so long, to become more then a new person and find my place in the group but it is a working progress. Through my girls footy team and netball team I am sure I will find my lace soon.

          The questions I receive are quite hilarious. As a country where we understand our culture we enjoy adding humour and drama into our movies but I don't think we realise how much it confuses other countries. People really start to believe those things they see. I get a lot of questions about High School Musical and Mean Girls. I enjoy hearing everyone's questions not just because they say it with a really cool accent but because it is fun to see what Australians think of 'Merica. Mostly I have come to learn that you can't believe everything in the media. Its also been funny to hear the stereotypes of America from an outside perspective. 

        Since my current host mum is actually the Sale Rotary club president I usually attend Sale Rotary weekly. I havn't been going much lately since I started on a netball team every Monday night at the same time as rotary. Every other week my host counselor dries me to the Sale Central rotary club. Both clubs are great and do their best to help me and their community as much as they can. With the generosity of the clubs I receive a monthly allowance of $150.00 AUS dollars. Everyone is always excited to hear what i've been doing and i'm always excited to to tell them. 

         The other day a family from the Sale rotary was informed of my love for horses and because this family owns three horses they invited me to go horse riding with them. This family has five kids and are all so kind and friendly. As I am an only child in my host home right now i am invited over to this family's house often to play with the kids and brush the horses. I love going over there and I am so grateful for this family. 

         I am having such an amazing time over here learning about the world down under. I am taking advantage of every opportunity that comes my way and I am thankful for everyone who has provided me with those opportunity's. 

 

hoo-roo,

Torri Herdegen

Maeve McKeeby -- Belgium (Home Club: Schenectady)

September 22, 2015

It has now been one month since I got on a plane and headed to Belgium for a year. I had no idea what I was getting myself into but I have certainly not regretted my choice. Belgium is a beautiful little country and I have loved exploring it. In the past month I have traveled around the country and to Paris. Because Belgium is such a small country it is easy to hop on the train and travel to any city in less than two hours. The city I’m living in is Lessines, it is located about thirty minutes from Brussels, the capital, and about thirty minutes from Lille, France. Lessines is a classic European city with narrow streets, and European architecture.

                Belgium is also very different from New York. The language, cars, landscape, and food is all different. There are no mountains or hills anywhere. Everything is so flat and there are lots of farms. However, the hardest adjustment is the food. People in Belgium eat a lot more bread than I’m used to. A typical breakfast consists of bread with Nutella, jam, or butter. Lunch is usually bread with ham or cheese like an open faced sandwich. Fries are also a food group in Belgium. Despite them being called “French fries”, fries, or frites are actually from Belgium. My host family makes fries for dinner at least once a week and you can find fries in any city on any street. Belgium is also known for chocolate and waffles which are very easy to find anywhere as well. I have loved my first month Belgium and am falling more in love with this country every day!