Orientation Soon

       It's been awhile now since I last wrote, but there's finally some new information to share so I'm writing you all a quick update!  I received an email from Rotary that the date for the February orientation has been set for February 16th at a place called The Safety Village in Windsor, Canada.  I'll have to cross the bridge from Detroit to Windsor for this which requires passports for me and both my parents.  This is fine for me because my family has done some international travel before but I wonder if the other Americans in our district will all have passports?  It is kind of fun though that I'm going on an international exchange, with in international organization, from an international district!

        From the email that I got, it looks like there will be 10 outbounds from my district, though I don't know how many are American and how many are Canadian.  I'm already really excited for the orientation and meeting everybody for the first time!  Hopefully I'll have my country assignment by that point as well!  Also, a few weeks ago I had to re-do my country selection and my visa form because I had messed up with some signature protocol.  I will be so happy if I never have to fill out another Rotary form again...

      Anyways, still waiting, but at least I have a specific day to look forward to now!

~M

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

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!