Dreams come true, with a nightmare to match

        If you've ever read the blog of other exchange students, then you have most likely seen their posts about the very first time they dreamed in their host language.  I can't wait until I experience that for for the first time.  Meanwhile, I recently had an exchange dream of another sort, an exchange nightmare.
        The jist of it was that Rotary had finally contacted me about my country selection, but I wasn't going to Germany.  I wasn't being sent to any of the 40 country choices which I had numbered for Rotary for that matter.  They proceeded to ecstatically tell me they were sending me to ALASKA! wait, whatttt??  Dream Mary was very confused by this. Alaska doesn't include a new country or a new language or a new culture!  If that didn't tip me off that it was a dream, then the fact that another girl was being sent to Northern Michigan should have made me realize this couldn't be real.  But Dream Mary couldn't figure that bit out and instead ran around trying to find someone to save her from a year of igloos and English.  You wouldn't believe how relieved I was to wake up in the morning!
       The point for you, in my dramatic little tale, is that I still don't know where I will be next year.  Though I do know it won't be Alaska or anywhere in the U.S. for that matter! Waiting to hear my country selection sometimes feels harder than waiting for my program acceptance was, just because I knew I had a good chance of being accepted, but there isn't any real reason that I qualify for one country more than any other.  Also, having to wait two days compared to 2 months made it easier as well.

I'll be sure to let you all know when I find out my real country!  Until that time, I leave you with this link to a blog that I really think you should check out!  It's not exchange related, but it's definitly a great project, one of my favorites!

Link to: I Wrote This For You

Lasts Before Firsts

I'm feeling a little weighed down by all of the lasts, waiting until I can reach the firsts.  Last cross country meet, last cross country banquet, last Halloween before exchange, last homecoming dance, last high school football game, last family Thanksgiving (for the next 2 years), the list seems to build every day.  It can feel exhilarating at times, reminding me that I really am going on exchange, but it also serves to remind me how life will go on without me.  I normally focus on all the wonderful things I'll be experiencing next year, but there are things that I will miss out on back here in the states.  I know this year will be filled with lasts, but it's not that different to what I would be experiencing my senior year before I left for college.  Not too far away is the prospect of firsts.  Piles upon piles of firsts and that wonderful thought is what I hold onto for now whenever the ending gets me down.

I recently watched a really neat TEDTalk by a women, Brene Brown, on vulnerability and towards the end of the talk, she lets you in on one of the  most obvious parts of her research which is that you can't have happiness without sadness.  Without any reference point as to what bad feels like, you can't know what good feels like either.  When you numb the pain, you also inadvertently numb the joy.  I've decided that I need to live this idea out in my life, embracing the negative feelings so that I might have a greater appreciation of the beautiful side of life.  Now don't take this to mean that I want to feel sad or angry. Nobody wants that!  All I mean is that I hope to face these feelings head on and not try to hide from them, so that when the clouds part I may also look straight toward the sun and not be left hiding from the dark feelings.  So though I hold onto my future of exchange to remind me why I'm  subjecting myself to these feelings, I don't want it to completely distract me from everything I am experiencing and feeling today.

Can you tell I'm taking a philosophy class this year?? ^.^

To wrap this post up, I'd just like to add how thankful I am to have such a loving family, wonderful friends, and of course Rotary for awarding this exchange to me!  Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Mary

The Call

"Hi Mary, this is Sue, calling to tell you that you have been accepted to the program."

I am officially an outbound Rotary Exchange Student!  I will be living on a completely different continent, not to mention country, speaking a foreign language and assimilating into a new culture for ten months.  This time next year, I will not be living in Michigan, lying in my bed like I am now.  I will be who knows where experiencing a new way of life!

It feels so great to be able to say that without having to add a "hopefully"  "maybe"  "probably" or other clause to make it PC!  It's just such a relief!  Don't worry, my friend Grace is in too!  She called me right as the voice mail was ending to share the news with me.  I did accidentally fill out the wrong application...(I used the standard Rotary form instead of the Central States application).  Thankfully they're very similar so I have most of the information I need I just have to sit down and fill it all out.  The first time was much more exciting, but I'll have all the forms made up by the end of this week so it can be sent up to the head guys at central states!  Now I wait for January when I will hopefully be getting my country assignment!!

Ecstatically,
            Mary

Interview of a life time

Sooooo... Interviews.

I had them this Saturday, November 3rd.  My dad was running a little late because he had been on a church retreat and was leaving early to come to my interview.  Trying to explain the concept of a church retreat to the inbound girl from Brazil was...interesting.  But it helped give me an idea of what I have to look forward to while I'm on exchange!  The whole thing went off without a hitch from there! Well, mostly.  There were a few questions I wasn't prepared for like "What's your favorite international current event?" uhhh what? They then clarified by just asking if I watch the news much so I talked about some current event stories I had recently heard and stuff.  That was probably one of the worst answers I had.  They also asked who I look up to and I talked about my parents and then they asked for someone I didn't know who I looked up to.  Again, that put the brakes on my thoughts! I normally look up to people who I know on a personal level not a faceless name that's attached to some great deed.  That's just me though so I sort of explained that and then talked about some lessons I had learned from people I did know.  I was scrambling at parts but my best answers came when I thought for a second and then just calmed down and spoke.  That's my nugget of advice for all of you future exchangers reading this!

Next was the parent and student interview which was fast and easy, all the questions were for my parents.  Then I left and talked to Grace while my parents talked to the panel.  Apparently the interviewers told my parents they were impressed with me so that's good, right?  There was one other girl there with us and another one came in with her parents when we were leaving.  Over all I think there were supposed to be 6 interviews Saturday and then an unknown amount on Sunday over in Windsor for the Canadians.

After interviews, Grace and I drove an hour down to the state finals for cross country.  We missed the race unfortunately but were able to congratulate our teammates and of course take a crack at the all important food table!  The team took 5th which was our seeded place, and everyone was happily satisfied with the result.  On the drive home, Alex came with us and we made many detours to see cows, sculptures, and grab some more food!  We took plenty of pictures on the way as well...

My new cow friends and me

Grace and me in a barn

Grace and Alex at the cafe we stopped in!
Isn't that tea pot adorable?

 It all ended up being a super fun weekend and I was busy enough that I didn't think too much about the final acceptance for Rotary.  Come Monday morning though, that was all I could think about! It all seemed nearly official before the interviews but now that I have to wait for the word, everything is feeling much more up to chance!

 Ahhhhh waiting......again......



~Mary

Monthly update

        It's been a while since I've posted here, and I have lots of fun exchange news to share!  First for that meeting back in September.  It was really informal because it was only me and my parents with a group of Rotarian's, no other kids showed up from the American side of our district.  Most of the information in their presentation I had already known through my own research and our experience with rotary exchange students through hosting.  This was fine though, because my parents and I then used the time to ask  any specific questions we had.  After the meeting, all I had left to do was turn in my long application.  After doctors visits, dentists offices, and meetings with counselors, teachers, my parents, and  Rotarian's, I finally turned in all 4 copies of my completed application!

I had the hardest time picking my country list but finely settled on this for my top 10:

1. Germany
2. Austria
3. Denmark
4. Norway
5. Finland
6. Spain
7. Sweden
8. Italy
9. Switzerland
10. Netherlands

They say that you normally get a country in your top 5 choices, and I'm feeling pretty confident in this final list.

Now you may have noticed the way in which my last post became rather melancholy in reference to my friends.  Those facts all stand the same, but one key piece of the puzzle has changed.  I used to try and not talk about my upcoming exchange too often with my friends, just because I knew they didn't understand all of it, and it only seemed to bore them or make them sad.  But now, I have someone to share all of my exchange thoughts with!  One of my very closest friends, Grace, has decided to go on exchange next year!!!!  It's great to have someone to talk about this with who knows everything I'm going through.  We won't end up in the same country unfortunately because she's looking at Spanish speaking countries which will likely lead her to South America, but it's great knowing I'll have a friend through all of the pre(and post)exchange.  If you read this Grace, just know I am SOO HAPPY that you are exchanging next year :) 

Well now that I (and Grace) have turned in the application, the next step is the interviews.  They're going to be held on November 3rd and will consist of an interview of myself, of my parents, and then of all of us together.  November 3rd is also the state meet for cross country, so I'm hoping the interviews can be later in the day so we can still cheer on the team! (Grace runs cross country with me as well)

I'll be back on here to let you know how the interviews go down later.

p.s. yes the title IS a tribute to SNL

First Steps

      Whenever I get to thinking about my exchange plans, I want to run and leap right in, get rid of all of this waiting stuff!  Unfortunately, everyone else in the process is perfectly content to go along in verrrrryyyyyy spprrreeaaaaaddddd oouuuttt, little baby steps.  The new applications comes out tomorrow so I'm excited to start working on that.

         The first real exchange event will be Tuesday September 18th.  Which to any Cross Country runners out there, automatically raises red flags.  Tuesdays are our meet days, and this one will be against Livonia Stevenson, but will luckily be held at our home course, early in the day.  The rotary meeting is in the next town over from 6-8 and I should be able to make it on time, the real question will be how presentable I am after running 5 miles through the woods... Let's hope it will show them my flexibility and determination rather than how quickly I can devolve into Bigfoot.  From what contact I've had with our club president, things should pick up after this meeting, because our applications and first interviews must be done by October 17th.

      I know I have a year before I will be able to leave, but even now I feel a little sad after hanging out with my friends because I know that there IS only one more year where we will all be together.  I've been so blessed to have such terrific friends through out my life.  Is it weird that I sometimes worry more about leaving my friends than my family?  I think that mainly comes because I know my family will be in my life forever, for better or for worse.  Where as moving away from my friends is truly inevitable (if only because I know I won't be living in Northville forever) and some relationships will fall to the way side.  Also, on exchange they hand you a host family, but the making friends part is all up to you.  I can't imagine making friends who I will feel as close to after one year, as the friends I have made over ten years.  But other exchange students are doing it every day, and that encourages me!

      I feel like I need to update this often, but I also don't want to post every day without having any solid, new information that is actually pertinent toward exchange.  I'll find the right balance at some point :)

In the Beginning

      Well, I guess an introduction is in order here.  My name is Mary Boyd and I am planning a year of foreign exchange for my senior year of high school.  I'm a soon to be junior (11th grade) in high school, living in a suburban town about half an hour from Detroit, Michigan.  I've been through many blogs of exchange students, but many don't deal much with the year of prep before the exchange.  So here I am, documenting all the exciting pre-exchange happenings!
       My reasons to go on exchange?
        1) My family has hosted multiple exchange students (Karen: Mexico 1996, Ilkka: Finland 2003, Jae: South Korea 2009) but we have never sent a family member abroad.
        2) I love to travel and am fascinated by new cultures.
        3) I think that foreign languages are immensely important and I'd like to become fluent in more than just English
I'm planning to go through Rotary Youth Exchange.  Rotary is the organization that all of our exchange students came through and all of our dealings with them have been more than satisfactory.  So far I've contacted my district organizer and have a list of countries offered for the 2013/2014 year.   He said he'll let me know when applications are set so until then I wait and think over my country choices.  This is a board I've made to try and organize the choices, there are just so many!

   My top country right now is Germany because I've been studying German in high school, but the more I look at the 44 countries offered I wonder if I shouldn't try for a more obscure country like Peru, Turkey, or Iceland!  I've also looked into the CBYX scholarship because it would guarantee that I would be going to Germany and like Rotary, would cover a majority of the expenses. One advantage of Rotary though is that you get to live with multiple families so you have a wider view of the culture and if there is an issue with a host family, then you have a new one lined up for a few months later.
 Of course if you get along wonderfully with your first family, then leaving won't be as fun.  Trade-offs all around.  I'll keep this blog updated now on anything new that comes up!