The Newest Chapter of My Life

I never dreamed that I would be starting a blog before, but here I am. I guess that a blog is the ideal way to share what you are up to with family and friends back home without having to type the same things into 50 different emails / facebook messages. But right now, it kinda just seems like I am just writing to myself... Well, I guess I can just update you all on everything that I have been up to since starting the rotary process in October. Going on an exchange has always been something that I have wanted to do. My older sister has travelled all over Europe while living overseas during college, and after hearing about her experience I wanted to do the exact same thing. Just like every other person involved in the host exchange, I had to be interviewed by my host club and approved for the whole thing. Luckily, unlike most other people in my district, I didn't have to beat out any other students to be able to go on exchange.

After the host club interviews, I went up to Victoria, B.C. along with all of the other candidates and was put through another nerve-wracking round of interviews. It was my impression that this group of 5 people was going to decided whether I was good enough to represent the U.S. and Canada on an exchange, but I learned after the interview that they were only talking to me to get a feel of my personality so they could decide what country I would best fit in with. If only I would have known that before, then it would have been a lot easier for me to get through... After we got back from the interviews, all I could think about was what country  I would be spending an entire year in! A couple of days later, I got a call that I would be going to live in Belgium and that I would be in the French speaking area! I was sooooo excited, especially because Belgium was definitely in my top three of where I wanted to go. I also got to speak French, which is what I wanted, (and looking back on it, maybe that wasn't the smartest decision considering that I have taken 2 years of Spanish already. As I sit down and do hours worth of French on Rosetta Stone, I really wish I would have been smart enough to at least consider a Spanish speaking country... But know that I know everything about my stay, I wouldn't change it for anything.)

I then had to wait for what seemed like FOREVER to figure out any type of details. I first received an email from someone within my host rotary district who is in charge of exchanges. They wanted me to go into this website they have set up and put in details about my life now. By a lot of digging around, my mom and I were also able to figure out what school I was going to attend, where I was going to living, and the people that would be on exchange in the same area as me. I have since been in contact with my 1st host family and a girl from Texas who will be in Verviers the same time as me.

The best part of this exchange process so far has been the March Orientation. All of the kids who have received their country assignments go back up to Victoria and spend the weekend learning everything you could possibly ever want to know about exchange. Although it was boring just sitting there for hours on end, I guess the information was useful and I will be needing it on my exchange... It was also very fun to be able to talk to the rebounds and hear about all of their experiences! But the a b s o l u t e  best part was when a huge group of rotary students went out at night and just wandered around Victoria together. I could tell a few parents were hesitant for their kids to leave, my mom included. But hey, we are going to be on our own in a foreign country for an entire year, so walking around a safe area in Canada is nothing. These 40 something students are really the only people that know exactly what I am feeling and will experience basically the same things as me, so it was really great to get to know them. And ever since the March orientation, I have just basically been learning tons of French, although I feel like there will never be enough time for me to learn everything I have to know...