Lucy Holecek -- Belgium (Home Club: Albany)

Sorry this is so late I have been very busy!

 

The last time I wrote I said I was going on many trips.  I went to Barcelona, Spain with my school in Belgium and it was so fun!  We stayed an hour outside of Barcelona and actually got to visit more than just Barcelona.  The teachers made the trips very educational and I actually really enjoyed that part.  There were about five groups and after each day we had to do a reflection.  For example; pictures, scenes, songs, science experiments, etc.  I loved the fact I was with all Belgians because then I was obligated to speak in French the whole time.  Speaking of French... mine has gotten so much better and I love it so much even when I'm with other exchangers I try to hang out with the people who don't speak English so I speak French or learn another language like Spanish.  Which I learned a bit of during spring break.  During spring break there were two trip options with Rotary.  Spain or Italy and I went on the Italy trip On the Italy trip there were about 80 people including the Rotarians.  We took a bus there which means we were pretty much on the bus for a wholre day.  We slept om it for two nights, the first and last.  We also had stayed in three different hotels because we did a tour of Italy.  Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Pisa, Murano, Burano, Florence, Venice, Capri and Almalfi.  It was so amazing that I got to travel to such a beautiful place with people from all over the world.  And it's crazy because almost everyone gets along with one another.  We don't judge, we just learn about others life's and how they are so different from ours.  Anyways back to the trip.  My favorite place in Italy was Capri.  It was so beautiful.  The water was an amazing shade of blue and I could have just looked at it for days.  One night all the exchangers and Rotarians went outside and someone played the guitar and sang and of course all of the exchangers joined in.  It was such an unforgettable moment.  Everyone really came together and realized how lucky we are to have each other and be a family. And to have a chance to experience a year like this one.  People cried, laughed, sang, danced you name it. 

Now today is the 28th of April which means I only have exactly two months left in Belgium.  It's so hard to think I will be going home.  I have made a family here.  My exchange family and all my Belgian families.  I am so lucky two have five amazing families and I never want to let them go.  I have made such amazing friends and have built relationships with my families here.  My exchange here is like no other and I honestly can't even begin to explain it.  It's not just one year, but it really is a whole life in one year.

 

Shilo Christiansen -- Japan (Home Club: Cobleskill)

March 10, 2014

Host Rotary Club: 7190

Sponsor Rotary Club: 2560

Current Host Family: Nishiyama

Counselor Name: Nishiyama-san

A lot of things have changed since I moved into my new host family on the first of March... I absolutely love my new host family, they are my favorite I’ve ever had. I make dinner with my host father and we joke around a lot, which is something I’ve never done with any of my host families before. I also talk to my host mom for a couple hours after dinner finishes because she is just so interesting! They’ve had exchange students before so they understand me so much better than the others and are patient with me when there are misunderstandings. 

A month long spring break just began a couple days ago. School has been going well, except that it’s really boring. My teachers have been giving me some Japanese work to do, which I am thankful for because my Japanese lessons are too easy and I haven’t felt challenged since I came here. So I’m busily working on my spring break homework!

It’s my seventh month hear, which is really strange. I leave Japan in mid-July—I only have four more months left! The reality is so odd, and it hasn’t even sunk in yet. I can’t imagine saying goodbye to my Japanese friends, my counselor, and my other rotary exchange friends. I don’t like to think about it, so right now I’m living in the moment. 

My birthday past and it was easily one of the best birthdays I have ever had! My class surprised me by pretending that they forgot my birthday, then at the very end of the day they brought out cake. Then my old class, the ones who graduated, took me out to a meat restaurant. Which is really ironic since I was a vegetarian for five years, but here in Japan, my reputation is all about how much meat I eat haha. At the meat restaurant, we had a special table and ate until I had a food baby. Then with my exchange student friends I had another party. It was a really great week and I felt so loved by everyone. 

 I’m really excited because the end of March/ early April is the time of cherry blossoms. I will be sure to include lots and lots of photos! This has been a really great month and I’m looking forward to the next report because I’m going to be doing a lot of really cool things this month, and I will be sure to send photos!

Anthony Vandyke -- Ecuador (Home Club: Salem)

February 27, 2014

  Well I just made the six month mark and I’ve been having a great time here.  In a way it seems like I’ve only been here a couple months but also like I could have been living here my whole life.  The new family I’m staying with is just as nice and welcoming as the last and I consider myself lucky for that.  Last week my father came to visit on short notice and we both went to spend a short week with my biological family living a few hours from where I go to school.  Now that I know quite a bit of Spanish and have adjusted to the culture here it was very nice to see them and especially nice to communicate and get to know them better and more personally.  I was able to translate for my father so he could ask them questions and know his family better too. I would have to say that going to visit them was one of the highlights of my year.

The Rotary here also has another trip planned for us, this time to the Galapagos Islands which should be a wonderful time from what I’ve heard from past exchange students and others who have been there.  Also this weekend is a huge festival called Carnival in my city which should also be a lot of fun.  I’ve made great friends here like I’ve know them my whole life, they take me around and show me what there is to do in this relatively small city.  Although I can communicate fairly well I still struggle with the language as a whole with the numerous conjugations and difficult pronunciation, but I’ll get there I still have four months till I have to go home.  I’m sure the next four months will be even better than the first six.

Lucy Holecek -- Belgium (Home club: Albany)

February 27, 2014

And yet another month has passed.  The time is going by so fast and I know now it's just going to go faster.  Tomorrow will be the day I have only exactly fourth months to go, but I will live it to the fullest.  I love it here in Belgium, it may have been hard, but in the end it was all worth it.  It doesn't stop being hard till it's over, but it does get easier as time goes on.  Since the last time I wrote a report my French was good, but it keeps improving and it makes me so happy.  I can understand jokes and even make them with my school friends.  Sometimes I even catch myself thinking in French.  I have become to adore learning a new language to the point I may even go to school to learn more.  My school friends are lovely I rarely feel alone when I am with them and they always include me in the conversation.  In the next few months I am going on many trips, but the one I am most excited for is the one with my school.  I am so excited to get to be with my school friends for a week and be with no one who can speak english.  I mean yeah English is my first language, but I want to be able to take in as much French as possible. 

 I hope everyone is having a great experience in their host countries as well. 

 

Best of wishes to every one!

Gabriel Gerhardt -- Brazil (Home club: Cobleskill)

January 31, 2014

                This month has been kind of an interesting month because of the way the tone of my trip changed. The month started off really really boring, I was really doing nothing but going to ju jitsu and staying home doing nothing. I was kind of getting a little anxious and cagy staying in the house all the time, but then things started to change. My siblings are mostly in college so it was coming to the end of their vacation so they wanted to go out and hangout with friend and see the sites. So for about two weeks we would just wake up eat something quick and then just go out. One day we went to Sao Paulo and went to see the tallest building in Sao Paulo, and other day we went to this huge book store where I spent nearly 4 hours in just reading books, one Thursday we spent the day just watching movies that we never saw before. It was an awesome couple of weeks.

                Another big change was at the end of the month I had to start school again which was good and bad. The good thing was I got to see all my friends and teachers again which was nice. The bad thing was I was in school. It can get boring sometimes because I normally just sit there listening to the teacher or trying to practice Portuguese, but I am going to talk with my director and see if one day out of the week or one period a day I can go and help in one of the English classes to change the pace a little bit. Hopefully everything will work out.

                 In other news I was able to talk to my ju  jitsu and he says I can start competing in tournaments in March so we will see how well all I actually am against other white belts in Sao Paulo.

                So January is down, still got February, March, April, May, June , and  a little of July to go before this adventure is over. I am going to make sure that the next couple of months are just as good as the other were.  

Michaela Schnore -- Finland (Home club: Glenville)

February 7, 2014

 Since I have last written I have said fare well to my best exchange student friend here when she went back to Florida, and switched host families. Sarah's host family had been the family that is hosting me, so we already had a really good connection when I moved in. We are so close and have so much fun together, I really love living here. With them I went rock climbing for the first time, I loved it! The Ice-Cross Downhill Skating World Championships were held in Serena, a skiing resort and waterpark only 5 km from our house, so we went and cheered on the Americans and Canadians and of course the Finns! It was a really fun and interesting experience, there were so many people there from all over the world, and I even ran into many of my exchange student friends from Helsinki. I am very excited also because I will be going to London with my host mom in May and hopefully I will get to visit my grandparents in Latvia, but it seems unlikely at the time.

        School is pretty boring for me at the moment because I have already graduated and the only classes I can really participate in are music, art, or English, and this jakso music isn't even offered. I have already experienced the lukio side of the school system for 3 jaksos and I have decided to pursue attending a vocational school here in order to see the other side of the education system in Finland. The only issue is that the rotary might not let me switch to a vocational school because in Finnish society students at these schools are seen as kind of stupid. But if I am told that I am not allowed I will try to fight this because exchange is about breaking down barriers, and seeing all sides of the culture, not the opposite. Plus I think a vocational school would be a fun change of pace for me, more hands on, and more intensive for me because I will have to use my language skills more. Plus I will get to be in a different mix of kids and meet more people. I am interested in either hairdressing or cooking at a vocational school. 

        I can't believe that it has been six months since I moved to Finland, time sure flies when you are having fun. I have been so many different people mentally since I first came here, and I will probably be a hundred more before exchange is over. I have learned so much and grown so much too, its been a truly great experience so far!

Gabe Gerhardt -- Brazil (Home Club: Cobleskill)

Here in Brazil everything is going great.  My language skills are getting a lot better, and I've gotten to experience a lot of new things.  

I changes host families, which was  a nice change of pace.  My new host family is very different from my last one, and I'm seeing a whole new side of Brazilian culture due to this difference.  

Summer vacation ends next week here, so I'll be going back to school soon.  I'm not looking forward to the classes but it will be cool to meet a new class of kids.  Because I'm doing the third year of high school twice here, which is their senior year, I get to be with a new group of kids when I go back.     

I'm thinking about trying to work something out with the english teacher where I could help her with her other classes whenever she wanted me to.

I hope that everything is great in the US!