Otumoetai's Exchange student back from Belgium
This evening we welcomed back our Youth Exchange Student, Oceana who spent last year in Belgium. After leaving Auckland in January 2016 Oceana was excited her first stop was LA where she got to experience activities she had dreamed of. There her highlights were Disneyland and Universal Studios.
She was very nervous when arriving in Belgium.
She was greeted by her third host family and their host student. It was very, very cold.
She stayed with them a few days and she then went to her first host Mum, Francoise in Liege, about an hour from Brussels. It was exciting going shopping when it was snowing. She had to walk 30 minutes to the train and then 20 minutes from the train to school in the snow. This was very different to her life at home where she can wake late and get her Mum to drive her to school.
Her school was a big challenge. They had chalkboards with individual desks and you don’t have a relationship with your teachers – you just get on with your work. During lunchtime, you had to leave the school. One of her favorite things at school was getting a massive baguette for only $2. There were about 200 exchange students from Belgium who she constantly met up with. She also made lots of Belgium friends.
Racism is rife in Europe. Over 50% of her class were refugees and Muslim. Many of the Belgium people treated the refugees with disdain and this took Oceana a bit by surprise.
Learning French was really hard. Her first host Mum spoke perfect English so she was put in the deep end with her second family who spoke no English. She had to learn fast.
She loved the Belgium waffles, cheese, fries and the sweet pies. Beer and wine flowed at every meal.
Our Vision To grow as a vibrant and professional group of diverse, supportive members who make a positive difference by supporting the community.
Oceana had lots of opportunities to partake in Rotary activities such as kayaking and high ropes and then hiking 12kms in the snow. She had the opportunity to travel to Italy which has become her favorite country.
Halfway through her exchange, her parents came to visit. From Belgium, they went to Germany, Portugal, and Spain.
With her third host family, she visited Switzerland, France, and England. On the canal boats, Oceana suffered from not having wifi for a week.
Since being overseas she has a new life goal to be a nurse and will be attending a bridging course later in the year.
Oceana is very grateful to our club for sponsoring her on this endeavor. She also thanked her parents.
Well done, Oceana – your presentation was wonderful and you are a shining example of how valuable the Rotary Youth Exchange programme is to our young people.