Homeland: Excerpt: The FuNGs

Well, coming back from exchange has given me additional responsibilities on top of getting readjusted to life in America. Back in September my responsibilities to my sponsoring Rotary Club entailed a presentation of my year to them. The presentation was fantastic. It was such a nostalgic feeling. Every month I had done a speech in front of my Taiwanese club, and speaking the words in English was such

a weird feeling. It was a strange taste after all this time. My American Rotary club seemed to take my presentation quite well. In the following week’s newsletter form the club they called me, “The wisest 17 year old in the world.” Score. :D

The following weekend I was returning to an old favorite. I mentioned before of how I had two preparation years prior to my exchange. Well those years composed of monthly meetings in which Inbounds (foreigners coming to my area) and Outbounds (people like moi) meet to get ready or just learn and relax. I was returning to this wonderful process as a helper. Now I was to become a mentor and counselor to the next generation of exchange students. It was a wonderful time. We met at a

campground and immediately dived into introducing ourselves through games and various activities. Of course, I didn’t participate in all the fun and games, since I had to deal with the largest obstacle in the exchange community. Outbound Parents. Nothing stands in the way of an exchanger more than a nervous parent. Various rebounds along with myself stood up and talked to the parents of these prospective outbounds (now dubbed prospies). Overall I see that the parents left feeling more satisfied and less nervous than before, but I’ll be sure to work on them more throughout the year. All in all, I felt the weekend was a huge success.

The Orientation

At the beginning of every exchange year, your host district overseas will hold an orientation to go over the rules, as well as the particular events of your host country’s exchange program. It’s also where you are introduced to the other exchange students in your area. It was kind of awkward, especially in the beginning. I saw really nervouse since my host family just dropped me off at the door and I had to go in alone. We sort of stuck to people within our own country at first, but then as more time wore on, we started to connect with everyone else. At my Orientation I learned about holidays and other famous events in Taipei. We also had to get up and introduce ourselves to everyone, all fifty odd foreign people whom before this point we had not really met before. Believe me, there are few things more nerve-racking than that moment standing at the front, with fifty pairs of eyes fixed on you, trying to see what this new exchange student will be like. Of course, in the end there was nothing to worry about. These fifty pairs of eyes would belong to the people who would become my closest friends and my strongest support while I was overseas.

The D's

As the preparation for your exchange year progresses, you learn quite a few things about what will be required of you during your year of preparation as well as your year abroad. One of these things is the ever present 4 D’s (plus one).

No Drinking

No Driving

No Dating

No Drugs

And the extra D, and my personal favorite; No Dumb Stuff.

When you go overseas, you are acting as a young ambassador from your home country, so for some people, you will be what they think of whenever they think of your home country. Your actions will determine whether or not that specific club will accept another student from your country. What you do will be the difference between “Oh, and American wants in to our club? Remember the last one? No.” and “Oh, an American wants in to our club? Remember the last one? Of course!”

There are many stages to the “Ambassador Process” overseas. The first step is with your club and host family. You will be in close contact with them most of your time in the country, and they are the ones in charge of you for the duration of your stay, so obviously you would want to give a good impression. The next is the community. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to go around your neighborhood doing things (though that would be acceptable ^.^) But try to connect with the people at your school and in your life. A simple smile and wave can go a long way (: The last is your country. Now this sounds like a massive thing to do, and really, it is. But there are many times where someone has made a difference in the country, be it starting a new service project or establishing new Rotary Clubs. What you can do is only limited by your imagination. ^.^

The Arrival.

The night that I arrived I was exhausted. I mean, I had slept on the plane, but a total of about 20 hours on a plane will take its toll, sleep or not. We went to this marvelous little rice porridge shop owned by my counselor. My first host family lived up on a mountain to the slight south of Taipei. I pretty much passed out most of the way there, and upon arrival I stumbled up to the room that would be my new home for many months. Upon awakening, this sight greets me.

It finally hits me right then and there. I’m actually in Taiwan, and this beautiful mountain was to be my home. I sit down at the breakfast table and start munching on some bread left there. Suddenly I see my host father performing taichi across the window in the backyard. Man, is life different. That day my host mom takes me down the mountain riding the local bus. In total it takes about thirty minutes one way to get to the city. Once we arrived at Xindian, in the outskirts of Greater Taipei, we went to the MRT station to get me a subway card to load money on for transport. In Taipei they have one of the most extensive and well maintained public transportation systems in the world, and it would be my main mode of transport my entire year there. I requested that we went to a couple of old places I used to know from my prior one month trip there, seeing some old comforting sites, and feeling less nervous overall in the grand scheme of things. The orientation at which I would meet the other students would be in a few days, and little did I know how much would change in those first days….

The Program

In order to understand some aspects of the exchange adventure, you need to know a few things about the program. The Rotary International Organization has both a long term (10 month period) and short term (1 month overseas 1 month home) program for exchange.  I have done both, but I’ll talk about the Long term first since it is the one that a lot of people are interested in. The long term program is a club-to-club program. After being matched up with a country, a specific Rotary Club in your host city will “Host” you. They will provide between one and five host families for you to live with (the average is about three). You spend roughly ten months in your host country, where your host club provides you with a monthly allowance and language programs, the amount varying by country. You attend a local high school and participate as best you can. Your goal is less about academic achievement, and more about becoming one with your host culture.

 

 In your experience over there, you will make bonds that will stay with you for the rest of your life. Of course, Rotary is not the only exchange program out there, but as far as I know, it’s one of a kind. The safety of the program is extraordinary. All families undergo background checks before being accepted as a host family, and even if your family does not turn out to be a good fit, the Rotary will immediately address the problem and move you to a new one. Rotary exchange also has an established process when problems arise. In the case of a conflict, you first talk to your host family. If the problem is above them or involves them, you then talk to your counselor, who is a member of your host country’s Rotary Club. If he/ or she cannot help then you talk to your Host Club President. Finally as the last resort, you would contact your country contact who is back in your home country. Typically problems are solved before the Club President level. If not, the Rotary organization can pull you home quickly if need be.

Me with my Host Country Counselor

The Beginning

Well, I guess the best place to start this blog is about me, and the best place to start that is at the beginning. I've been in the Rotary Exchange Program for the past 3 years. Only one of those, though, was abroad. I spent a month overseas in Taiwan the year prior to my actually 10 month Odyssey in the same area.  But those two years beforehand put me into contact with some the most interesting people in my life. Exchange students. Before I was even a true exchange student I had started to develop a mindset geared towards the world. I originally went into the program with the mindset to go to Japan for a short one month exchange in the summer and then go again to Japan for a whole year since my Dad had gone there in college for a year. In the end, though, I went to Taiwan for both my short- and long- term exchanges. Foreign exchange was probably the best thing I've ever done, the people, the places, just everything made it the most amazing thing in my life.

My prep year's exchange students

Before I knew it, my time to get ready was gone. Two years flew past, and I was already on a plane to Taiwan. I probably should of been nervous, but my flight was honestly at 6 in the morning and I was too tired to be scared in any sense of the word. I sleepily said goodbye to my family and hopped on the first flight to Chicago. I ended up running into several other exchange students as I traveled through both Chicago and Tokyo, and we ended up waiting together, sharing our stories, who we were, and what we expected. Then suddenly, as if it was just a gasp of wind, I alighted into Taoyuan International Airport and thus began my great adventure into Asia.

  The exchange students in Tokyo

My host families and Rotarians meeting me at Taoyuan