Rotary Youth Exchange – Inbound Orientation Weekend

Over 33 different countries were represented at the Inbound Orientation Weekend that held Sept 6^th and 7th in Pentiction, BC Canada. What a group of amazing young people with lots of talent! Due to the wildfires the Re-bound weekend usually held in July was re-scheduled and joined the inbounds for the weekend. There was a parade of flags from the different countries and the students from those countries performed a short skit or shared a song about their home country. The re-bound students who have just returned from being abroad each shared their best experience and their worst experience on exchange. Some of the stories were heartwarming, some were a little scary but when asked if they would go on exchange again all unanimously said,” YES”!.

In visiting with the different students the one theme that kept coming up was that the students appreciated the local clubs being involved with their exchange by taking them to lunch, touring different businesses, enjoying an evening meal at different houses so they could share about their home country and town. Having others involved helps to fight off the normal homesickness that any 15-17 year old student experiences.

This upcoming year brings lots of opportunities to be involved. The Outbound Student Orientation will be held here in Chelan April 18-19^th. Mark your calendar and come to visit with the students.

Jannik Tisher, our inbound student from Germany can be reached at his cell 509-423-1730 or at the home of Lori and Ken Jenkins 509-670-0723. Thank you to Lori and Ken for opening their home and hosting Jannik. Typically a student stays with a host family 3-4 months during their 10-month stay. This is a wonderful way to learn about a different country! If you are interested in hosting a student or know someone who is, please contact Lexy Lieurance or Tim Hollingsworth at Lake Chelan Rotary.

Obviously my very first impressions were hard to decipher through pain and blurry tears, but that did not stop me from noticing how gorgeous everything is. Mountains, lakes, and fields of flowers. Old churches, adorable stone houses with flowers lining every window, cobblestone streets. Everyone always dresses very nice and has very good manners. It is difficult to pick up on all of the subtleties that make people the way they are because of the German speaking, but soon enough I will be able to once more have conversations on a deeper level.

People drive crazy everywhere they go but if something is a 20 minute walk or less, they always walk or ride a bike. They are big on conserving energy and recycling here as well. You always turn off the light and close any windows when you leave a room, run the water for the least amount of time possible, and in most places recycle plastics, etc. It is hard to recall small differences now that I have been here long enough to get used to them. The doors don’t close like they do in America. In America doors close completely where they are pretty much flat with the wall. Here, there is a small lip that stays over the frame after the latch clicks into the hole. It confused me at first because I thought the door wouldn’t shut all the way. The pillows here are all square. They have the same length as US pillows but the width is extended. The toilets are usually separate from the bathroom and they are built a lot differently. Everyone uses shower gel here. I don’t know about you but in the US, shower gel is the extra thing in the toiletry gift bag that sits unused in a drawer until one day you decide to do a deep clean and throw it away.

Food is also different. There is bread available for pretty much every meal and of all kinds. Lunch is the largest meal here usually and when you eat you eat with your family all at once. There are different kinds of food in general but nothing crazy or disgusting and I have liked almost everything I’ve tried. One thing I found very odd at first though was the sparking water. They drink a lot of sparkling water either by itself or with flavored syrup, juice, etc. I’m not a big fan of plain sparkling water but with other stuff mixed with it, it’s great! If I think of anything else, I will fill you all in.
That is about it for my stay so far in Austria. Of course, I can’t explain to you all of the little feelings and experiences that come from being here first hand. Plus, I can feel my English deteriorating already. I haven’t had to write so much English in awhile because here I am either speaking English filler words, speaking German, listening to German, or trying to formulate a German sentence in my head. You will probably notice this with my future blog posts if you haven’t already! And this post was a little boring in my opinion because it was just a general surface run down of what has occurred thus far (which many people have requested). But in the future, I will probably be covering only larger events and more feelings and people than anything. I will have one blog post per month MINIMUM. Thanks for visiting and talk to you again soon!

Aufwiedersehen!

Love, Vanessa

August 24-Present (Home Again):
I got home yesterday around 2:00pm and we went straight to my uncle’s house where they were having a birthday party for Lorenz who turned 4. I met several more extended family members including my grandparents and my other uncle. My two uncles are in a band together which is very good. It is called 74Tea and I have a ticket to one of their concerts in the next couple months. Then I came home and finally unpacked my huge suitcase in my new room, which my little sister has so graciously sacrificed for the duration of my stay here. I am also learning the routine of my new home as I have finally been able to see what a normal full day is like. I could not have asked for a better host family. I already love them and I am excited for the months to come. My father is hilarious and always helpful with everything I need. I can depend on him to get me whatever I will need during the duration of my stay here in Austria. My mother is a primary school teacher which is more than perfect, as she is always teaching me more German and is so incredibly patient and kind to me. My 16 year old sister Mattea has shown me around town and introduced me to her friends, and I really enjoy having her around since she is my age and is also going to be a foreign exchange student in America next year. And finally my youngest sister Laurena is so sweet and such a goof ball. She always keeps me laughing! Tonight Kornelius, Mattea, Laurena, and I all did the ALS ice bucket challenge together and dumped cold water all over our heads. I am never bored. 🙂