My Life So Far: Living in a Constant Game of Charades and more

I can't express how glad I am that I got my butt in gear and studied Spanish for around 2 months before departing Canada. (Not to mention having a fantastic tutor!) I can tell how much harder it makes everything when you don't even possess a mild grasp of the language. It's actually amazing how much I've learned already in the past 15 days, already my vocabulary has expanded like crazy. Thank you Spanish, for being similar enough to English & French that if I don't know a word I can just "spanish-ify" the english or french word (it usually works). It sounds so beautiful listening to it, I can't wait for my Spanish to sound that smooth! I feel a bit like a plodding, clumsy oaf when I speak, there's a lot of stammering, correcting of verb tenses and dramatic hand signals just to communicate a simple answer such as Yes, I love to ski, but it's a bit far from my city so I only ski every weekend. Insert some waving hands, pointing, and stuttering and you've got a good image of my current communication. I truly feel that most of the time I'm playing a game of charades as spectators try to guess what the heck I'm trying to say. As of now, I can construct some very simple sentences correctly and I can almost always get my point across in a rough fashion. When people talk to me slowly and emphatically, my comprehension is also pretty good. Unfortunately, individuals don't usually speak at the speed of a sleepy turtle so unless people are speaking directly to me (and even then sometimes it's a bit iffy), I struggle with following the conversation.  Especially with slang and loud noises added in, it's quite tricky deciphering the rapid-fire sentences. No entiendo is one of my most commonly used phrases (it's either that or smiling vaguely and nodding). Unfortunately, the smiling option is a bit of a conversation halter- if you don't know the last contribution to the conversation it's a bit tricky to add something.  It's frustrating at times, but it's getting easier every day, and I am starting a two-month Spanish course with the rest of the exchange students soon. Of course, everyone is very patient with me, and a lot of the kids speak at least a little English, so we make it work. At school everyone tells me to practice, and is cool with repeating or rewording the conversation for me, which is great. I'm a bit of a clown right now, people get some good laughs at my fumbling attempts and mistakes. One time I called this girl butterfly, meaning to call out her name (c'mon, mariposa, Maria Rosa, sounded similar to me!). I did luck out with the language though, I should be fine in a few months, think of the poor exchange students in Japan and Thailand!

My average conversation. Trying to explain something about big mountains or the like turns into these exaggerated movements. All so I can get my point across.

The Roads. (Mini rant):
Depending on the day, I am extremely amused by the roads, or infuriated by them. The state of them, and then how people use them.

A couple samples of your average road in Tepic. (Keeps things interesting at  least!)

My second day in Mexico we navigated the roads on our way to this beautiful beach called Platanitos. Unlike the night before on the way home from Puerto Vallarta, this time I was conscious during the drive. It was a bit of a shocker, the roads here take a bit of getting used to! On the highways, there is no apparent speed limit, so people drive along at whatever speed they fancy (usually ranging between 120 and 180), dodging cars and pedestrians in a way that would definitely be termed as irresponsible driving in Canada. Everywhere is a possible passing lane or opportunity to pass, and it's a bit of a game where you combine two questions: how ballsy are you, and how badly do you want to get past this vehicle? As far as I can tell, signalling is optional, and tailgating is completely acceptable. Every once in a while, perhaps as a last resort to somewhat curb the general vehicle's speed, these absolutely ENORMOUS speed bumps appear along the road. I'm talking giant, be-scared-of-your-car-bottoming-out size. You have to take them at 5 km/h and you still feel the car shudder a bit as the front wheels drop to the pavement and your back wheels lift two feet off the road. Of course, this results in the general traffic zooming along at 130-ish, stepping abruptly on the brake, going over these monstrosities, and then resuming speed as normal. Now, moving onto the streets of Tepic. We are apparently awfully spoiled in Canada, if there's a slight crack in the road we start whining. Here, you sigh in relief because it's a slight alteration of the road that you can actually go over. Completely average to have a pit 4 feet wide and two feet deep in the middle of the road. To give a bit more context, I went for a bike ride around my neighbourhood the other day and it was like mountain biking, however in an urban setting with a tiny bike minus any shocks. (I was actually a bit frightened; no helmet and questionable bike brakes paired with a hill and a bump-ridden road might fall under mildly risky). The streets are quite steep, and you have to keep an eye out for those dreaded speed bumps, and any pits or crumbling concrete. It's kind of hilarious, actually. The roads are for the most part a labyrinth of narrow, dilapidated, identical streets. Streets (already narrow as it is) often become one lane wide, and you must alternate with the oncoming traffic to get past the pits and bumps. You certainly can't get anywhere fast, and I have no idea how anyone finds their way around here. However, drivers here are much more relaxed and completely accept the spontaneous one lane alterations without hesitation. I have not yet seen any cases of road rage or any accidents, so strangely, this system seems to work better than my city's! There are street vendors selling wares ranging from raw chicken to fly zappers everywhere. At the lights (these are pretty rare here, only on the bigger roads), people walk among the cars and try to sell you things, or straight up ask for money. I have also seen a few awesome fire breathing shows-  during half of the red light they show their skills in front of the cars, the other half of the time they go among the vehicles for tips). It's fascinating just looking out the window as you drive. It's crazy different compared to Canada's tidy, excessively signed, vendor-free streets! I am (almost) glad I can't drive this year, seems like a stressful business. I admire my mum's aptitude for avoiding the pits, swerving around other cars, and parallel parking a van like a boss- you certainly get your practice squeezing into tiny spaces here, it's pretty hard to find parking lots. (Also, even if you wanted you couldn't drive over the curb to park, they are about 3 feet high here).


The Club Finder Game

A few days after my arrival, my host dad, oldest brother (Hector) and I were driving through Tepic at night. Along the main road, they began pointing out various clubs. There are so many! They look very exciting and have pretty & colourful lights, I'm stoked to go check them out! There's Palazzo, Hilo, and many others whose names I forget. They gave me a little background of each club, whether it was good or not, how easy it was to get in, etc.. After a bit, I thought, okay yeah I can absolutely participate in this game! I spotted a likely specimen, bright lights and a billboard of a scantily clad girl with a martini (in hindsight that probably should have been an indication). I excitedly pointed it out to my dad and asked Is that one any good? Do kids go there? He looked at me half awkward, half amused and then explained it was a strip club. Oops. So I probably won't be going there then... At least now I know!

There's a few of my musings and stories so far, thanks for reading!
Adios!

Glorious Food: Gimme Some Hot Sauce!

First off, apologies, I really am doing a terrible job keeping this blog updated. I now have so many little stories, here comes another onslaught of blog posts!

First off, the food. My goodness. I completely understand how all exchange students get fat here, because I have yet to consume something that wasn't completely delicious.  I've been getting many great tastes of Mexican cuisine- it's a good thing I like seafood! I have tried various prepared forms of fish and shrimp, offered up with the ever present tortillas and salsa! Diced, grilled, served up in a sauce with vegetables, coated in salsa picante- you name it! Despite these selective meals, I have actually been eating quite healthy. I never realized how much bread I ate daily in Canada, and now with eating only tortillas, and a skimpy amount at that, I feel pretty great. That and the fact that because of the heat, I don't eat nearly as much as I did before. I have gone from eating more than most people in Canada to having my host mum fussing over me because she thinks I don't eat enough! That's a pretty weird feeling! It took me a while to get accustomed to the meal times here. You wake up and have a light breakfast, then don't eat until 4, when you have dinner. At 9:00, you have a pre-sleeping snack, ranging from tamales and ice cream to yogurt and granola! I'm lucky, my host mum is also a fan of the yogurt and granola option, so up till now I've been eating an excessive amount of granola, fruit and yogurt (2/ 3 meals a day). Also, the food, especially fruits, are super cheap here which is awesome! Although I have to admit, it gave me a bit of a shock when I ordered a $200 plate of fish the first week- took a few moments to register that it was in pesos. However, the Mexican peso is pretty weak, which is good for me at least! (eg., 100 pesos is around 8.30 Canadian).

I love the fact that here, every meal is coated with and served with hot sauce and salsa. Eggs, meat, vegetables, even potato chips are covered with the stuff! In fact, my host family stores a bag of tostadas (think crunchy tortillas) and a bottle of hot sauce in the car for snacking purposes. In my opinion, much more exciting than normal chips or pretzels! At restaurants, I still stare cluelessly at the menu a few minutes before pointing to something at random (it's like the wheel of fortune, menu-style), but as of now, it's been working out pretty wonderfully! At one point I went out for dinner with some girls from school, and my mother (aware of my indecisiveness with menus), actually called one of the girls and asked her to help me pick something! Also, a milestone that I think every exchange student needs to note in Mexico is their first taco! My first weekend here we went to Guadalajara for a night, and though I barely got to see the city, I did get to try out the legendary taco! It was a meal filled with greasy, savoury, delicious bites. (I believe this is one of the root causes of exchange student weight gain).

First taco! (it's sort of an anticlimactic photo, but I promise, it was fantastic!

Anyways, I'm a fan of the food here (in case you haven't noticed), and I'm pretty sure that any remaining space in my suitcases for the return flight are going to be filled with this special Valentina hot sauce. I might start hoarding it... that's how good it is.

Here are a few samples of my culinary experimenting!

Ain't nothing like eating tamales (cooked chicken with tomato sauce steamed in a corn husk) and atole (a hot, creamy chocolate corn-based beverage) at 10:00 at night for a bedtime snack!

Sampling some fantastic steak in Puerto Vallarta with, shocker, tortillas, salsa, and hot sauce!

Breakfast- Hot sauce (or salsa picante, if you feel spanish),  eggs,  steak, and tortillas. Oh, and did I mention hot sauce?

First full day in Mexico! Beachfront restaurant: we got served 3 intact fish that were thrown on the grill,  (possibly while still feebly kickin'), that you then pick apart and eat with salsa, tortillas, and an excessive amount of hot sauce! (Need I say it, DELICIOUS)

A close up on my very first taco(s) ! Guadalajara, some tiny little restaurant. SO GOOD.

Guadalajara taco place, this gent was somehow cutting meat on a slab with a hefty knife, throwing tortillas into the oil and constructing the taco in one spasmodic but frighteningly efficient motion, without ceasing the entire night! Impressive.

In Mexico At Last!

Hola mis amigos! Finally, I get to write about the good stuff, for I am finally officially on my exchange! I am writing this on the third night of my exchange. I've been so busy I haven't even been able to post my first night experiences! I left Calgary, Canada August 10th at 11:00 am, and arrived in Puerto Vallarta around 3:30. The perks of being on the same continent is that 1) the flight is super painless, and 2) there is no jet lag whatsoever. Anyways, I sort of awkwardly stumbled out of the airport (it's quite difficult hauling a bloated backpack, and two heavy suitcases through an airport by yourself, who knew), and immediately noticed two things. 1) The dreaded heat and humidity, and 2) my first host family! They were holding up this fantastic banner, and immediately after approaching them I was enfolded in a whirlwind of hugs and kisses. Somewhere along the way my bags were taken off, roses were handed to me, and an enormous sombrero ended up on my head. Promptly thereafter around 20 photos were taken of me and various members of the family.

My host family meeting me at the airport with a gigantic banner! Left to Right- Hector, Hiram, Hector (my host dad) , Eliu, Rubi, and then Sandy (my host mum)!

We established that I could actually carry on a conversation in Spanish, and understand as long as they enunciated every word. They were pretty surprised at the level of Spanish, actually, I guess it is not very common for exchange students to speak Spanish at the start. (I actually cannot express how happy I am that I had a tutor for two months before I left. It has made life so much easier already. Despite Spanish being very similar to English and therefore fairly easy to learn, knowing a decent vocabulary right from the start makes deciphering the rapid fire conversations they have here much easier.) We went to dinner in this restaurant by a marina, and I was generally confused with what was happening. It was all good, but my host dad said something about a drink I didn't quite understand. Being an exchange student, I was all Si, Si! and so I ended up with some delicious drink I still don't know the name of. The same happened with the food. I didn't know what anything was, so I tried to explain I was potentially the least picky eater you could get, and that I just wanted food. And once again, I received a random assortment of food containing what I believe was shrimp and kalamari. Not too sure, but it was delicious. Not bad for a first meal! I also had some good conversations with Rubi, and Hector, my host sister and oldest host brother. The entire family was really nice, very patient with me, and super excited to show me things.

A flustered Wendy and a yummy assortment of food

Following that, we walked along the boardwalk of Puerto Vallarta. It was super cool, they kept pointing out club after club, along with traditional street vendors. There was even some impressive sand sculptures! It was really amazing to have everything explained to me, I was overwhelmed enough without also having to figure out was everything was! Everywhere we walked, people were staring at me a little bit, and trying to sell me assorted goods. I even got offered a tattoo from this random man sitting on the wall with all his equipment. Not even remotely sketchy! I was also mildly disconcerted by the fact that you have to pay to go to the bathroom here, and they don't supply toilet paper. I never thought I was taking public washrooms for granted in Canada! It ended up being around 11:00 by the time we ended up in Starbucks, where I finally messaged my family and let them know I had arrived safely (oops, sorry parents). 11:30, we began the drive back to Tepic. I got more and more tired as my nervous excitement slowly drained, and finally ended up curled in some terribly uncomfortable semi-fetal upright position on the seat of the van. At one point I woke up and looked out the window only to see a sign that said "Disculpe por las molestias!" In my sleep-addled state I was a bit worried. I wondered why there was a sign on the road saying sorry for the molesting. My host brother explained it meant nuisance. But dunno, I thought it was amusing that the word has a fairly significantly different meaning in each language.

By the time we got home, I was exhausted, and my linguistic abilities had gone to crap. I could nod and say si, but that was about it. I was shown around the house, which is absolutely GORGEOUS, but all I could get really excited about was my bed. Until my host brother leaves for Germany and I can take over his room, I will be staying in my host sister's room. It's super nice of her to give up her room for me, and it's pretty awesome she has her own bathroom! I also (sarcastically) enjoy the excessive amount of Justin Bieber paraphernalia covering the room. I wake up every morning with not one but two enormous Justin Biebers smirking at me. Also, he endorses a singing toothbrush, who knew?
In conclusion, it was an absolutely fantastic first night, and my host family seems downright amazing. Can't wait to get to know them better!

Cheers,

Wendy

L & L Post: Part 2

Throughout the year, the outbound crew had three orientations. One in January, when we met each other and found out our countries. One in March, where we met all of the inbounds and rebounds (returning outbounds), and learned about how to prepare for the difficulties of the exchange. Our final orientation was in May, where we had one final instructional presentation and then received our blazers.  All of the orientations were awesome, and every time I talked to the exchange students, especially the inbounds, I got more and more excited. It still didn't feel feasible that in a few months I would be in the same position as them, but just knowing that it was going to happen was an awesome feeling.

In January, I got to know all of my fellow outbounds, who are all fantastic. After some group building exercises, we each sat down to individual interviews to decide our countries. I thought the interview was a breeze, and it wasn't nearly as nerve- racking as the first interview. I was already an exchange student, that wasn't going to change! We didn't actually get to choose our country, but the Rotarians asked questions to get a feel for our personality, for our goals for the year, and then three countries we'd prefer not to go to. Looking back, I think that this is a great method for deciding your country- based on personality rather than your preconceptions of a country. How are you supposed to decide between multiple countries that all sound fantastic when you have a limited knowledge of all of them? At the time I was sure I was going to get Austria or Switzerland.  Despite knowing next to nothing about most of the countries, I had it in my mind that those were the best countries for me. I thought German was a sick language and if I went those two places it would be a solid year of some gnarly skiing and hiking.

We waited for an hour for all of us to finish up the interviews, and then were directed to sit down in a row. It was sort of game show style. Each outbound counselor (each dealing with 3 or 4 countries), stood up front and called out the name of the outbound and their host country. Each kid then got a folder with their country on it.  I'm pretty sure we were all nervous wrecks, waiting anxiously to see where we were going to be spending a year. Austria was called and then Switzerland, and my name was not. I was pretty peeved, not going to lie. I was wondering where they were sending me, if not to Europe.  Finally Mexico was called, and my name directly after. I was excited to finally know my country, but I was also pretty upset.  Mexico seemed like a bit of  cop-out, after expecting Europe it seemed much less exotic. I thought maybe I'd bombed the interview and the Rotarians figured I wasn't capable of coping in a faraway country. Basically, in my competitive mind set, Mexico was the least exotic, least exciting country to go to, and I'd drawn the short straw. This was based mostly on the fact that Mexico is four hours from Canada, not even across an ocean, and a common vacation spot for most Canadians. I sound super ungrateful, and I felt bad about it even at the time, but I guess I was sort of shocked. I had this solid idea of what my year would be like, and I hadn't accounted for being sent to a tropical country. After finding out all our countries, we were all sort of wandering around stunned. I don't think many of us were completely happy with our countries at the time, or at least were confused as to why we had gotten them.  However, now as we all leave for the year, all of us are impressed with how they managed to match us with countries that fit us so well! After a day of bittersweet angsting (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=angsting)and excitement, I realized I was being an idiot. Just because Mexico wasn't very far didn't mean it was any less exotic than other countries! In fact, because of the climate, it was overall going to be a much stranger experience than most places in Europe. The winter without any snow was definitely going to be a change! Shortly thereafter, I started getting really excited. I didn't know what I was going to do there, but it was for sure going to be a completely different lifestyle than I was used to!

During March orientation we got to hear both the difficulties and exciting stories of the inbounds and last year's outbounds. It was really interesting to hear about it all, and was for sure super helpful. Also, meeting everyone further proved how awesome exchange students are. May orientation was much of the same, hanging out with exchange students, and a bit more instruction on how to deal with problems abroad such as homesickness and familial issues.

At the end of May, I received my guarantee form and learned about my first family, along with where I would be living for a year! Tepic, a city of 300 000, capital of the province Nayarit. ( http://ontheroadin.com/Cities%20Towns%20Pueblos/West%20Coast/Tepic%20small%20map.jpg)
Although not directly on the beach, it is pretty close to both the mountains and the beach. It sounds like a sick place, and I can't wait to actually get there and experience it first-hand!

After that, the VISA obtaining began, along with a frenzy of vaccinations, goodbyes, and just a little bit of stress.  Thank goodness I left a fair amount of time to get the VISA, it was a pretty frustrating experience. Consulates are certainly not the best example of efficiency. However, after what seemed like no time at all, I was down to my last two weeks. The second last week my thinking ran along the lines of DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN WHILE YOU STILL CAN. I was hiking, hanging out with friends, going to my last few Canadian parties, hiking more, ( I was in the mountains 3 consecutive days, for three different hikes). It was a bit crazy, I didn't sleep much that week. The second week, however, was a lot less enjoyable. Suddenly I realized  Oh bother, I leave in less than a week, and I have nothing packed. There was quite a lot of running around in a frenzy packing and buying last minute things. I was a mess for three solid days before I left. I would wander around aimlessly while muttering under my breath everything i needed to do, I lost count of how many times I dropped or knocked things onto the floor. I was essentially a spasmodic stressball. Not fun. However, it was probably just me making things harder than they have to, as difficult as it is packing for a year, I'm sure it doesn't require that much angsting.

Anyways, there is the past year summed up in two super long posts. If you made it this far, Congratulations, and thanks for reading!. And I really will try my best to make the following posts much more concise. From now on, the posts will be written present time, on my exchange!

Cheers,
Wendy

1) Rocking the brand new Rotary blazers at the May orientation
2)Most of the outbounds at March weekend orientation  (I believe there are one or two missing)

How it All Began (Outbound Year).....The Long and Lengthy Post (Part 1)

In hindsight, it would have been a nice idea to start this blog when this whole process began, as the outbound year is, after all, a third of this experience. Although not as novel as living in a different country, there are still some pretty interesting events! However, I will share it now, in a few long-winded posts.I had no knowledge of Rotary right up to spring of 2012, which is pretty strange considering how much my life is affected by it now, a little over one year later. Interestingly enough, it was at a farewell party for a German exchange student that I first met Cole, the outbound of the year 2012-2013 of my current club. I asked Cole, a year above me, what his plans were for the following year, expecting the usual, boring response; I am going to ____ university, studying ____. Therefore, " I'm spending a year in Thailand on an exchange!" was an entirely new and intriguing response. This answer gave a lot more opportunities for striking up a conversation than the whole university business, so it sparked a pretty great conversation. This was the first time I had ever talked to someone involved in such an intense exchange, I hadn't even known that they existed!Travelling has always been on my bucket list, and I had always harbored a desire to take a gap year to travel, but my late birthday had prevented me from ever taking travelling around the world after high school graduation seriously. However, this exchange business appeared to require an age of 18 or less, definitely a benefit! The main theme I got from our conversation was that being an exchange student equals one fantastic year in some fantastic place. I asked Cole to connect me to the Youth Exchange administrators.

He did so, and I got into contact with both the Youth Exchange board of District 5360 (my district), and the Youth Coordinator for my potential sponsor club. (On a side note, a bit of explanation for the non-Rotary involved people:  In order to go on a Rotary exchange, you must be sponsored by a club, in our district the club is usually determined by your high school. There is usually one inbound student they host from another country, and one outbound student they send away for the year). I emailed back and forth with various people, finding more about the exchange. After reassuring them that I was still keen to apply, I was sent the preliminary application. Being an eager beaver (without actually giving much thought to the possible reality of going on an exchange for an entire year) within a week I had filled out the application, written an overly lengthy personal essay, and sent it back.  This was late spring/ early summer, a few months after Cole had introduced me. He was a fantastic help, and I am forever grateful to him for introducing me to Rotary, and the exchange. I should also mention that usually you apply in the fall, with the personal interview falling sometime around October. So I was truly a keener.  This also meant that with my application sent in, I had nothing to do but wait until October. Nothing much happened over the summer, exchange-wise, as I spent most of the summer being a dirty hippie canoeing around the northern Saskatchewan lakes.

I got a call around October- interview time! I felt vaguely nervous going into it, but I felt reassured by the fact that I'd memorized many relevant dates and facts about Rotary, like I'd been advised. When we walked into the house, my parents and I were separated, and seated in front of various Rotarians. I was sitting in front of two very friendly individuals, one Rotarian, and a past exchange student. It started off alright, with questions about why I wanted to go on an exchange, difficult situations and how I'd dealt with them, etc.. I consider myself fairly adept at conjuring long-winded, articulate answers about my personal thoughts, so that part was easy. However, suddenly the interview took a turn towards world issues, Canada's politics, and international relations. Suddenly I wished that I read The Economistand Global News for fun, I was embarrassingly pretty clueless about these topics. In a desperate scramble to come up with reasonable answers, I was straining to remember my Social 20 case studies. After a question about the political issues Canada had, I responded with a pretty terrible vague answer. Uhhhhh, the oil sands? Those are pretty bad on the environment..... (pretty cringe-worthy). Needless to say, I felt like I was entirely unsuited to being an exchange student, and had as a consequence bombed the interview. I was chapped. However, a week later, I got a call from Fran, the club's Youth Coordinator. I answered in a pretty unenthusiastic tone- I felt sure that my already bad day was about to become even worse. She might have pulled her inspiration of the conversation structure from a game show- conversing in an equally emotionless tone, she gave nothing away, then finally said she had a question for me. I was sure it was going to be along the lines of " Why weren't you prepared for the interview, idiot?!". However, instead it was "Are you still willing to be our sponsored student for the exchange?". I was speechless, in my head i was thinking I WON!!!, and when I responded, it was with a yeah, yeah, of course! I should mention that up to this point, this exchange was like a competition to me, I wanted to win so badly. It seemed awfully prestigious, and with a pretty fantastic prize. I needed that victory. Sure, I wanted to live in another country, but it didn't even seem like a possibility. To be honest, as I write this 10 months later, it still doesn't seem quite real yet. However, little did I know that saying yes would begin to immediately introduce me to new and novel things.

About a month after the phone call, I went to Zoolights, an event at my city's zoo, with the majority of the district's inbounds. It was December, nice and snowy. I was still pretty clueless about the enormity of the program. When I first saw all of the exchange students yelling and laughing at each other, each speaking with a different,very strong  accent and yet still managing to communicate, I was astonished. I had never seen so many different countries represented in one place. The kids were all so different, and yet every one that I talked to was friendly, and we instantly connected. I spent most of that night with a Croatian student, and we had some great talks. However, I met so many people, and felt so overwhelmed that I asked most of them multiple times where they were from, probably sounded like an idiot! Despite the confusion, I got a feel for the possibilities of the countries that I could exchange with. By the end of the night, I couldn't stop smiling, and I lay awake for hours thinking about which country I would choose.  It was the first time that I actually thought hey, this is REAL. This happens to people, they actually do go and live in some random country for a year. Sweet.

I had no knowledge of Rotary right up to spring of 2012, which is pretty strange considering how much my life is affected by it now, a little over one year later. Interestingly enough, it was at a farewell party for a German exchange student that I first met Cole, the outbound of the year 2012-2013 of my current club. I asked Cole, a year above me, what his plans were for the following year, expecting the usual, boring response; I am going to ____ university, studying ____. Therefore, " I'm spending a year in Thailand on an exchange!" was an entirely new and intriguing response. This answer gave a lot more opportunities for striking up a conversation than the whole university business, so it sparked a pretty great conversation. This was the first time I had ever talked to someone involved in such an intense exchange, I hadn't even known that they existed!Travelling has always been on my bucket list, and I had always harbored a desire to take a gap year to travel, but my late birthday had prevented me from ever taking travelling around the world after high school graduation seriously. However, this exchange business appeared to require an age of 18 or less, definitely a benefit! The main theme I got from our conversation was that being an exchange student equals one fantastic year in some fantastic place. I asked Cole to connect me to the Youth Exchange administrators.

He did so, and I got into contact with both the Youth Exchange board of District 5360 (my district), and the Youth Coordinator for my potential sponsor club. (On a side note, a bit of explanation for the non-Rotary involved people:  In order to go on a Rotary exchange, you must be sponsored by a club, in our district the club is usually determined by your high school. There is usually one inbound student they host from another country, and one outbound student they send away for the year). I emailed back and forth with various people, finding more about the exchange. After reassuring them that I was still keen to apply, I was sent the preliminary application. Being an eager beaver (without actually giving much thought to the possible reality of going on an exchange for an entire year) within a week I had filled out the application, written an overly lengthy personal essay, and sent it back.  This was late spring/ early summer, a few months after Cole had introduced me. He was a fantastic help, and I am forever grateful to him for introducing me to Rotary, and the exchange. I should also mention that usually you apply in the fall, with the personal interview falling sometime around October. So I was truly a keener.  This also meant that with my application sent in, I had nothing to do but wait until October. Nothing much happened over the summer, exchange-wise, as I spent most of the summer being a dirty hippie canoeing around the northern Saskatchewan lakes.

I got a call around October- interview time! I felt vaguely nervous going into it, but I felt reassured by the fact that I'd memorized many relevant dates and facts about Rotary, like I'd been advised. When we walked into the house, my parents and I were separated, and seated in front of various Rotarians. I was sitting in front of two very friendly individuals, one Rotarian, and a past exchange student. It started off alright, with questions about why I wanted to go on an exchange, difficult situations and how I'd dealt with them, etc.. I consider myself fairly adept at conjuring long-winded, articulate answers about my personal thoughts, so that part was easy. However, suddenly the interview took a turn towards world issues, Canada's politics, and international relations. Suddenly I wished that I read The Economistand Global News for fun, I was embarrassingly pretty clueless about these topics. In a desperate scramble to come up with reasonable answers, I was straining to remember my Social 20 case studies. After a question about the political issues Canada had, I responded with a pretty terrible vague answer. Uhhhhh, the oil sands? Those are pretty bad on the environment..... (pretty cringe-worthy). Needless to say, I felt like I was entirely unsuited to being an exchange student, and had as a consequence bombed the interview. I was chapped. However, a week later, I got a call from Fran, the club's Youth Coordinator. I answered in a pretty unenthusiastic tone- I felt sure that my already bad day was about to become even worse. She might have pulled her inspiration of the conversation structure from a game show- conversing in an equally emotionless tone, she gave nothing away, then finally said she had a question for me. I was sure it was going to be along the lines of " Why weren't you prepared for the interview, idiot?!". However, instead it was "Are you still willing to be our sponsored student for the exchange?". I was speechless, in my head i was thinking I WON!!!, and when I responded, it was with a yeah, yeah, of course! I should mention that up to this point, this exchange was like a competition to me, I wanted to win so badly. It seemed awfully prestigious, and with a pretty fantastic prize. I needed that victory. Sure, I wanted to live in another country, but it didn't even seem like a possibility. To be honest, as I write this 10 months later, it still doesn't seem quite real yet. However, little did I know that saying yes would begin to immediately introduce me to new and novel things.

About a month after the phone call, I went to Zoolights, an event at my city's zoo, with the majority of the district's inbounds. It was December, nice and snowy. I was still pretty clueless about the enormity of the program. When I first saw all of the exchange students yelling and laughing at each other, each speaking with a different,very strong  accent and yet still managing to communicate, I was astonished. I had never seen so many different countries represented in one place. The kids were all so different, and yet every one that I talked to was friendly, and we instantly connected. I spent most of that night with a Croatian student, and we had some great talks. However, I met so many people, and felt so overwhelmed that I asked most of them multiple times where they were from, probably sounded like an idiot! Despite the confusion, I got a feel for the possibilities of the countries that I could exchange with. By the end of the night, I couldn't stop smiling, and I lay awake for hours thinking about which country I would choose.  It was the first time that I actually thought hey, this is REAL. This happens to people, they actually do go and live in some random country for a year. Sweet.

Introduction

Hey everyone! My name is Wendy Fleming. I graduated in 2013 from high school in Calgary, Alberta Canada. This year I will be participating in the International Rotary Youth Exchange Program, living in Tepic, Mexico. A little bit about me: I am an occasional hippie, with a great love for trail mix, camping, and the wonderful Canadian mountains and lakes. I love doing anything outdoors, especially hiking and skiing. Some of my main interests are experimenting with food, travelling, and learning about other cultures. This exchange is therefore essentially everything I could ever ask for. What better way to spend a year? University? Nahhhhhh. 

Before I start, I want to thank everyone that has helped to make this an amazing reality. Thanks to my sponsor club the Rotary Calgary Chinook, the District 5360 Youth Exchange Committee along with Rotary International Youth Exchange, and all the Rotarians that contribute to this wonderful program. I would also like to give my appreciation for my wonderful supportive family and amazing friends that gave me the abilities and opportunities to become an exchange student. I hope to make you all proud!

It's been a long year filled with many awesome moments and a lot of waiting, but finally the time to leave is almost upon us! I have two weeks until I leave, and time keeps going by faster and faster! I am unbelievably excited for this, it is truly a once in a lifetime adventure. Though there will absolutely be some struggles and angst, there will definitely be no regret. My goal is to do everything I can, learn as much as possible, and fill every moment with adventures. No fear, no worries, and no limits. With such an amazing country and this unique opportunity, who knows what will happen!             


CARPE DIEM, eh?