Rotary Youth Exchange

Each year, the Rotary Club of Fort Collins sponsors one or more outbound high school students and hosts an inbound student.  This extraordinary program gives Rotary youth exchange students a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to spend an entire year in a foreign country where they live with Rotary families and study the normal high school curriculum.

Rotary also supports a summer exchange program for students who cannot commit to spending an entire year abroad. In this program, students from the United States are matched with a student in a foreign country and, through Rotary, contacts are made between the two families to permit youth in each country to experience 3-6 weeks in each other’s country. 

Please visit this site regularly for updates and reports from Kalee on her experiences as a Rotary Youth Exchange Students.

News from Kalee

JANUARY 2009

Day 148- 1/28/09 Today is Sergio’s birthday; we had a big dinner with his twin Tommasa and are planning on having a formal party later.

Day 147-1/27/09 I’ve been reading books in English and Italian but today one of my teachers asked me to read out load for the class. It went OK but it’s a little embarrassing to have reading problems, even if it is in a different language.

Day 144- 1/24/09 Got together for a sleep-over, a double feature and pizza with some friends.

Day 142- 1/22/09 It felt so good to be in the pool for the aerobics class, so I went to the pool by myself for some free swimming. I can’t wait for summer so I can go back to the beach.

Day 139- 1/19/09 I started a water aerobics class with Marinella. We ride stationary bikes in the water. Very fun. This class is every Monday and Wednesday.

Day 136- 1/16/09 I started a meditation class with Yugi, her mom Caterina and her aunt Tommasa. It’s very fun and relaxing. It’s every Friday for 12 weeks.

Day 128- 1/8/09 I found an international book store and am very excited to get my hands on a few English books.

Day 121-126 – 1/1-6/09 We stayed at Marinella’s parent’s house for part of the week so that I could see the southern part of the island. We went on a tour of the coast and I think it is some of the most beautiful landscape that I’ve ever scene with the blue-gray water, steep cliffs and Mediterranean plants. It was a little odd though to need a down jacket on the beach. We also went on a drive in the “Mountains” (it was 20 minute drive to the top) near Marinella’s parents house to look at an old mining town at the top, it was really nice to be surrounded by so much green and so many trees (I’ve missed that). We also went to Cagiliari to see the city and pick out Pina’s (Marinella’s sister) wedding dress. She is getting married 3 days before I leave. Marinella’s parents live in the country in a ranch style house rather than the usual condo style home that you see in Italy. There house is surrounded by a eucalyptus forest and sheep farms. I got to try fresh goat cheese and dandelion salad that we picked (it is very bitter but a common food here). Being out of the city was a very nice and to winter break.

Kalee

DECEMBER 2008

Day 120- 12/31/08 We went to Marinella’s parents house for New Years Eve, had a big dinner and stayed up to watch the festivities in Rome. There’s something about the New Year that made me miss you all terribly, but I’m still having fun. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 116- 12/27/08 I went to my Friends’ Stella’s house for her birthday and later we went out for pizza. (I’m really going to miss Italian pizza when I come home.)

Day 114- 12/25/08- Christmas Today the rest of Sergio’s family, from around the island, came. We had another big lunch and dinner- more sea-food, piglet and lamb (what is it with the baby animals), and lots of different kinds of pasta (my favorite thing was the artichoke lasagna). After lunch we opened gifts and one of Francesco’s cousins played the accordion (the traditional Sardinian music) and some of the family joined in with dancing. It was definitely different from the on-going poker game that I’m used to, but very fun.

Day 113- 12/24/08- Christmas Eve The family that lives in Sassari came for lunch and dinner. This year Christmas Eve was themed Sea-food. We had all different types of calamari, fish and oysters. Very very good! (Another tradition is that you stay up for a midnight toast).

Day 105-12/16/08 We went Christmas shopping, and I observed that when buying a gift it’s all about the mark or where you buy it. So we went into all these fancy shops that only had 20 things in stock, and they were all over-priced. Interesting culture. I should add that you don’t buy gifts for everyone, only the 4-5 people that you’re closest to.

Day 100- 1/11/08- My Birthday Unfortunately I was sick for my birthday, so I didn’t have a party but my host family cooked a really good birthday dinner, the traditional birthday dinner of piglet.

Kalee

November 2008

Hey Everyone...

Day 88- 11/29/08 I took the day off of school and Marinella and I cooked a Thanksgiving Dinner. Two days before Sergio and I went to pick up the 12 pound turkey we had ordered (you cant just walk into a store and buy a whole turkey), but when we got there it seemed that there was some kind of confusion, I wasn’t following the conversation very well and when Sergio finally turned to me and tell me to watch for the man coming out of the freezer room I became a little worried. Rightfully so too, because when I turned to watch I saw a man coming towards us with a box that child could have fit in. It turned out that they missed up our order and some how we ended up with a 33 pound turkey. I know the story is a little dramatic but when you have never cooked a dinner for 25 people before you don’t want to have to worry about weather or not the main dish is going to fit in the oven. The day of was very hectic. We made turkey with dressing, carrot soufflé, broccoli benedict, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, Jell-O with fruit, and pumpkin pie. Amazingly enough every thing turned out great, even the took-eight-and-half-hours-to-cook-small-child turkey.

Day 83- 11/24/08 I had my first oral exam. I thought I was going to be sick, and it was in English for my English literature class. Studying for an oral exam is much, much more difficult than a normal test and after you study for hours and hours you have to find a way to remember it when the entire class is staring at you and the teacher is tapping her finger on the desk. Very intense. You all want to know how I did but I really don’t so I didn’t ask. (It doesn’t really matter anyway).

Day 81-11/22/08 I saw my first Italian movie. (That is something I really miss, going to the movies with my friends). We went to see Twilight and I even understood it with out knowing what it was about before hand. I also saw all the other American students that are from America at the theater, they were there seeing it for the second time, it was interesting to explain to my Italian friends that it is quite common to see a movie more than once and go to the movies more than once every 3-4 months. I also learned that each one of the 3 theaters in Sassari only have one screen, they show a different movie every week and then rotate. Sassari and Fort Collins are the same population, can you imagine Fort Collins with only 3 movie screens.

Day 75- 11/16/08 OK, now I understand why Francescos birthday was so laid back, they were just putting it off until the weekend. There were still no gifts but Marinella insisted on having the family over for dinner. We had piglet. It was very good.

Day 73- 11/14/08 Today my class went to a play. It was also kind of a protest. We didn’t have permission to go to the play and it was also a play that was mocking the Italian school board. I didn’t understand a word with the weird accents and fast talking but it was nice to gat out of the school.

Day 70 and 71- 11/1-2/08 We went one an even longer road trip than the last one, it was a whole 3 hours (106 kilometers). Don’t worry though we took 3 breaks so the trip would be so exhausting. Ha! Ha! Ha! I really wonder if they could ever go one a real road trip. We went to the small mountain town of Desulo. (If you want to look it up its right in the middle of the island). Marinella was born there, and her mom, and her moms mom, and so forth. I don’t know how long the line goes. It is built one the mountain side and when you come over the side of the mountain you can see the whole town if you look straight down. While I was there I got to meet Marenella’s mom, her sister Pina, her grandma (Francesco’s great grandmother) and Pina’s fiancé Mauro. (I meet Marinella’s other sister Patricia a few weeks ago). We were there for the All Saints Day holiday. We spent the two days walking up and down the steepest streets I have ever seen, back and forth from Mauro’s booth at the festival and Marinella’s grandma’s house. The air was almost like Colorado’s Mountain air and I felt very much at home. The best part is that I will get to go back to Desulo for Pina and Mauro’s wedding in July.

Day 69- 11/10/08 Today is Francesco’s birthday. It was very interesting day. From what I can see birthdays are nothing special. Your parents give you a hug when you get up and maybe cook your favorite dinner, but they don’t get you a present or insist on making your day more than average. For example my host brother came home and studied and then went to the gym just like any other Monday. My host parents and I went to the supermarket just like any other day. Weird.

Day 67- 11/8/08 I was asked by one of my teachers to give an American government/election presentation to help the students in my class better understand the current America. I talked about the basics of the American government and explained the elections. It was very interesting to me to watch some of the students realize that there is more to consider when casting a vote than just the war. It seems to me that most people here, not just high school students, preserve America solely based on what they see in the war.

Day 60- 10/31/08 Yugi had a little get-together at her house for Halloween. We watched a movie, had pizza and toast (grilled sandwich), and I was the only one who brought candy. Sergio went all over town to try and find a pumpkin that I could show them how to carve but no one was selling them. Very different from the norm.

Day 55-59- 10/27-31/08 This entire week of school was a protest. Monday we discussed the new Italian law, (it’s a budget reconfiguration that takes tons of money from the school system and diverts it elsewhere). Tuesday we discussed how other countries set up there school system. Wednesday we discussed how we could change it. Thursday was a country wide protest. And… Friday we documented everything we did that week. (This week we have Saturday off for the day of the dead holiday).

Day 52-53- 10/24-25/08 I was invited by my rotary district to visit Rome. So of course I went. We left Friday morning and got back on Saturday evening. I went with 3 of the other 4 Rotary students in Sassari and the 4 students from Algero. When we got there we found out that we would only be in Rome for about 5 hours. We call it “the Rome tease”. We were there just long enough to see some of the highlights but not quite long enough to soak it all in. Besides seeing the streets of Rome, which were beautiful, we got to see the Arch of Constantine, The Pantheon, The Colosseum, The Spanish Steps, and The Trevi Fountain. The rest of our time in Rome we went to 2 Rotary meetings. One meeting being a Rotary dinner and the other being a Rotary presentation at one of the local high schools, I had to speak at both. (It was also my first time to go to a restaurant in Italy, besides cafes and bars). I know this is a very short entry for being in Rome for 2 days but like I sad I didn’t really get to soak anything in. Hopefully I will get to go back.

Day 50- 10/22/08 I saw 2 things today that I hadn’t seen before today. One was a mini-van. I know that it is a weird thing to point out but when it is such a “necessity” in America its kind of hard not to notice. Some of you may be asking what the moms drive. The other new thing I witnessed was a test. Tests here are given orally in front of the whole class. After watching and talking to some of my friends I found that I feel very sad for these kids (for 3 reasons). First I don’t anyone should have to take the pressure of having to answer in front of the class and being publicly ridiculed by my teacher. Second each student takes 15 minuets to test, which means that it takes 2 weeks to test everyone (what a waste of time). Third they test by alphabetical order. So some students in the class get an extra 2 weeks to study and some students do nothing for 2 weeks.

Day 49- 10/21/08 I finally got to meet my sponsoring Rotary club. We had a meeting at the local government building that was used, a long time ago, for the vacation home for the King and Queen of Italy. After the meeting we were given a tour of the building, which from what I hear is very cool because it is not open to the public. Any way it is a very beautiful inside and I am very glad I got meet my Rotary club.

Day 46- 10/18/08 I went to my friend Angela's birthday party. Before the party, I went out with Yugi and 2 other of my friends, Francesca and Ilisebetta, to buy a gift. We decided to buy a gift together and we ended up buying 1 scarf that cost 45€ or about 75 dollars. I know that's ridiculous, but Yugi says that when you are buying a gift, it's the brand name that matters. The party was a lot of fun. We had pizza and cake and girl talk in Italian. I thought girl talk in English was hard to follow. Ha Ha! I didn't understand a word, but I did have a very good time.

Day 45- 10/17/08 I was invited to a Rotary "get-together" in Alghero for all the Rotary students in the northeastern part of Sardegna. Or so I thought! When I arrived, I found out that it was a regular Rotary meeting and that I would have to get up and speak... in Italian (duh). Well, for someone who freaks when they have to get in front of people, especially with such short notice, that's really bad news. Add to it that I had to do it in another language and was unprepared. Oh well, better luck next time, I guess! And I suppose it could have been worse...the girl I was sitting next to accidentally knocked two glasses together and it made a loud GONG. If you have ever been to a Rotary meeting, you know that when you hear the GONG, you stand up, stop talking and wait for announcements. So the entire hall of people stood, including the president of the Alghero Rotary club, the person who was supposed to sound the GONG; he then asked, "Why are we standing?" Maybe you had to be there, but it was quite funny. It is also ironic that the first Rotary meeting that I have been invited to was not sponsored by my hosting club. I still have not met any of them yet.

Day 42-10/14/08 I went to another drama class. The kids that want to perform spent the whole time trying to recite a piece of Latin playwrite all at the same time. I was very bored, so I think I will stop going to the class until they need me for the stage props. I also went to the dance class and it was the first time I participated. When I watched, the girls made it look so easy. Ha Ha. It was also a lot of fun, though. I will go to dance class every Tuesday and Thursday from 7-8:30 from now on.

Day 40- 10/12/08 Marinella, Sergio and I went to Stintino beach for a few hours. The water is so beautiful here and it was very nice to have a day at the beach.

Day 37- 10/9/08 Yugi has invited me to watch her at her dance class and if I like it I can join. It is a South American Latin dance class made up of about 15 girls. Because there are no guys that want to participate, the class is more of a dance team.

Day 36- 10/8/08 I don't think that I ever mentioned that I was taking an Italian class. It was every day Monday through Friday for 2 hours each night. In the beginning, it was really helpful but after a while it became a waste of time. So today was my last day of going to it. Of course, I will continue studying everyday by myself with Rosetta Stone.

Day 35 - 10/7/08 Yugi and her friends are in a drama class, so I went with them to see if I wanted to join. It turns out that they are planning a play in Latin so I won't be able to perform (thank goodness!), but I will be able to help with some back stage things. They have class every Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours.

Day 30-34 - 10/2-6/08 I was home sick these few days. At first I thought it was just a normal cold but it turned out that, after a trip to the doctor, I had a sinus infection. I guess that I am just not used to cold combined with humidity. And, yes, it is quite cold here this time of year.

Kalee