After a month of being super excited about knowing our host countries, all of the outbounds gathered again, this time with our parents, for a one day meeting in Ukiah on February 28. It was a very long day(from 9-5) of information about the more technical details...visas, tickets, communication, what to do between now and then, and stuff like that. At one point in the day, we were split up into two groups: the outbound students in one room, and the parents in another. We got to talk about common problems that occur on exchange, and brainstorm solutions with each other and some helpful rebounds. While the overall meeting was a bit tedious, it was really great to see everyone again--after all, we had met each other for only about 48 hours before we had to separate for a month.
I also learned that some of the students have already began receiving communications from their host countries...eeeek! As far as I know, I could find out exactly where I am going anytime between now and June, so I just check my email faithfully and hope for the best. It is quite torturous...I wait months to find out what country I am going to, and then I wait for an undetermined time to find out exactly where I am going. I can't wait to know exactly where, and I also am very excited to learn who my first host family will be, as I will likely learn that when I find out my placement information.
For the February conference, I had to purchase a navy blue blazer. This blazer starts out all neat and pretty, and is worn to rotary events throughout my exchange year. On my exchange, I will bring about 200 pins, either handmade or bought, that represent me and my home country/state/area. As I meet other exchange students, we will trade pins, and slowly my blazer will turn into a crazy collections of little memory pieces from around the world...cool, right? Also, the blazer is worn in airports and such as you are traveling to your host country so that you can easily find and meet up with your fellow exchangers. Anyway, at the conference, I received my first 2 pins for my blazer...the first being an "I Heart My Rotary Club" badge, and the second being the 2015 rotary motto, "Be a Gift to the World". Yay! I can't wait to fill up my blazer.
