In my Rotary District for Indiana (D6540), we have two main conferences: a winter conference in December, and a spring conference in March. I was just recently able to see the other 11 outbounds (American students about to leave), as well as the inbounds (international students in the US) from around the world. This year, our inbounds are from Japan, Belgium, Thailand, Italy, Germany, Ecuador, Brazil, Croatia, and Denmark.
The weekend was informative, as we learned about dealing with culture shock, representing the US, how to interact with host-families, overcoming the language barrier, and many more aspects of our upcoming exchanges.
This was also the first time I saw the outbounds since we found out about our host-countries, so it was a lot of fun to hear everyone talk about their plans and endeavors. I also always love to meet the inbounds, and I've found plenty of friends among this diverse community!
Here are the names of the other outbounds from Indiana and where they're going:
(I also added a page on this site with links to their blogs.)
Alicia - Germany
Autumn - Taiwan
Ava - Brazil
Caroline - Peru
Desmond - Hungary
Edward - Argentina
Grace - Italy
Kim - Japan
Noe - Thailand
Ollie - Romania
Sarah - Mexico
One of the best parts about seeing everyone at these conferences is that we all have gone through, are going through, and will be going through, similar experiences. We all understand the nervousness, excitement, fear, joy, and the wide range of emotions that are accompanying this experience. The other exchange students are also the people who genuinely want to hear you ramble about your host-country and your thoughts about exchange. (I'm sure my friends at school are a bit tired of hearing me talk about exchange, which is understandable!) However, other outbounds feel the same way and relate to each other. We all talk together because we're all supportive of each other. I know I'm truly excited for everyone's year abroad, including my own.
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