ITS SPRING BREAK!
MARCH SERIOUSLY FLEW BY!!!
Seriously, February DRAGGED by so slowly, then I remember March starting, and now look what month it is! March was a month when I had sooo much work to do. Mostly it was school work, but i had a ton of anxiety due to track starting and the forensics season still running (State is on April 18th). There was basically an endless amount of work to do! I would finish school, go to track practice, go home, eat, go back to school for a forensics coaching, go back home, do homework, go to bed.. HORRIBLE :/ On top of all that stuff, Rotary info is starting to stream in! I've been getting several letters and emails pertaining to the first orientation on May First. We have a bunch of applications to fill out, and money to send- thats basically it. Also, there are a few planned activities with the exchange students (inbound and outbound), but I can't go to either one because I'm busy with school/forensics stuff...bummer!
On monday I recieved a book in the mail from my outbound coordinator called The Exchange Student Survival Kit (Bettina Hansel), and it basically surveys the life of an exchange student. There was a letter with the book and my first rotary patch for my blazer(a boring Central States one). The letter was like, " you have to read this by May 1st, and do a presentation on the chapter we assign." I was assigned the chapter entitled, "settling in," and Im paired with one of my good friends, Malina, who is going to Spain. I've found this book to be pretty fun to read. It not long, and goes into pretty good detail about emotions, and questions raised about an exchange year, but to tell you the truth, its kind of just a fortification of what you already know. Its just cool to read because it gets you into that "Obsessive Exchanger" mindset, and you just sit and read, and imagine what life is going to be like next year, and then you read more, and then you go on the internet and try to see if there are any cool new facts or information that you must have skimmed over, so you end up staying online for the next like 2 hours just mindlessly looking up random stuff about your country! For me, I went to my host distrikt's homepage and looked up the list of clubs; there are 76! I then proceeded to look up the location and population and information about EVERY SINGLE ONE! ALL 76! ------I must be crazy, but hey, now I technically have "seen" my future living area.
So other than the book that my outbound coordinators are having me read, I have a few other Rotary things I need to get ready for. I have The talent show that is being held at the conference, and there's a rehearsal a week before, which is 2 1/2 hours away... whoopie. To top things off, I have to travel up to Wisconsin Rapids (2 1/2 hours away) the week before that, for a rotary speech compitition, and I also have to drive up there for the actual CONFERENCE so basically Im going to drive up to Wisc. Rapids 3 times in 3 weeks! crazyyy. The week after the conference I got invited to take part in Rotary Leaders Awards camp thing, which is about 5 hours north of my home, so the next few weeks will be FULL of travel for Rotary-Related things!
Well to sum things up, Im basically in the DEPTHS of stage #1- preparation for exchange. I know my country, I know my host district, and I know when I'm leaving (August 20-24). All I have left to find out is my sponser club, city, and family. Which I'm not SUPER eager to find out. I guess I wouldn't be too bummed if I didn't know my family till the weeks prior to my departure, but I am a little eager to find out my city. Even though I've looked up every single possible location (all 76), that really doesn't narrow it down very far. Haha- patience is SUCH a virtue!!! I'm staying a live right now by having my friend Malina to talk to at lunch every single day! She makes me feel sane because she's going through the same thing. Also, facebook groups are fantastic. So far about 20 people have joined this page for German outbounds for 09-10, and we talk about everything. So far, Im one of three who knows their district. One girl knows her host family and city. (Weird Canadian) haha just kidding. So yeah. Im hanging in there! March was a pretty exciting month, I wonder what April has in store for me!
MARCH SERIOUSLY FLEW BY!!!
Seriously, February DRAGGED by so slowly, then I remember March starting, and now look what month it is! March was a month when I had sooo much work to do. Mostly it was school work, but i had a ton of anxiety due to track starting and the forensics season still running (State is on April 18th). There was basically an endless amount of work to do! I would finish school, go to track practice, go home, eat, go back to school for a forensics coaching, go back home, do homework, go to bed.. HORRIBLE :/ On top of all that stuff, Rotary info is starting to stream in! I've been getting several letters and emails pertaining to the first orientation on May First. We have a bunch of applications to fill out, and money to send- thats basically it. Also, there are a few planned activities with the exchange students (inbound and outbound), but I can't go to either one because I'm busy with school/forensics stuff...bummer!
On monday I recieved a book in the mail from my outbound coordinator called The Exchange Student Survival Kit (Bettina Hansel), and it basically surveys the life of an exchange student. There was a letter with the book and my first rotary patch for my blazer(a boring Central States one). The letter was like, " you have to read this by May 1st, and do a presentation on the chapter we assign." I was assigned the chapter entitled, "settling in," and Im paired with one of my good friends, Malina, who is going to Spain. I've found this book to be pretty fun to read. It not long, and goes into pretty good detail about emotions, and questions raised about an exchange year, but to tell you the truth, its kind of just a fortification of what you already know. Its just cool to read because it gets you into that "Obsessive Exchanger" mindset, and you just sit and read, and imagine what life is going to be like next year, and then you read more, and then you go on the internet and try to see if there are any cool new facts or information that you must have skimmed over, so you end up staying online for the next like 2 hours just mindlessly looking up random stuff about your country! For me, I went to my host distrikt's homepage and looked up the list of clubs; there are 76! I then proceeded to look up the location and population and information about EVERY SINGLE ONE! ALL 76! ------I must be crazy, but hey, now I technically have "seen" my future living area.So other than the book that my outbound coordinators are having me read, I have a few other Rotary things I need to get ready for. I have The talent show that is being held at the conference, and there's a rehearsal a week before, which is 2 1/2 hours away... whoopie. To top things off, I have to travel up to Wisconsin Rapids (2 1/2 hours away) the week before that, for a rotary speech compitition, and I also have to drive up there for the actual CONFERENCE so basically Im going to drive up to Wisc. Rapids 3 times in 3 weeks! crazyyy. The week after the conference I got invited to take part in Rotary Leaders Awards camp thing, which is about 5 hours north of my home, so the next few weeks will be FULL of travel for Rotary-Related things!
Well to sum things up, Im basically in the DEPTHS of stage #1- preparation for exchange. I know my country, I know my host district, and I know when I'm leaving (August 20-24). All I have left to find out is my sponser club, city, and family. Which I'm not SUPER eager to find out. I guess I wouldn't be too bummed if I didn't know my family till the weeks prior to my departure, but I am a little eager to find out my city. Even though I've looked up every single possible location (all 76), that really doesn't narrow it down very far. Haha- patience is SUCH a virtue!!! I'm staying a live right now by having my friend Malina to talk to at lunch every single day! She makes me feel sane because she's going through the same thing. Also, facebook groups are fantastic. So far about 20 people have joined this page for German outbounds for 09-10, and we talk about everything. So far, Im one of three who knows their district. One girl knows her host family and city. (Weird Canadian) haha just kidding. So yeah. Im hanging in there! March was a pretty exciting month, I wonder what April has in store for me!
Ha. I haven't actually read that book, but some of my fellow exchangers have. They said it doesn't prepare you at ALL for reality.
You've got the right idea though-- talking to other people going through the same thing will keep you sane. Think it's crazy being an outbound? The Rotary meetings with all the inbounds in your district will be lifesavers for you next year. Comparing stories with people facing the same situation... there's no one else on the planet that will get it.