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Rotary Youth Exchange Lisa Goldin in Switzerland 2008.10
Rotary Youth Exchange Lisa Goldin in Switzerland 2008.10
| Lisa Goldin in Switzerland 2008.10 |
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| Wednesday, 29 October 2008 18:35 |
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Well, exchange really has changed my life. I don't even know where to begin. The families I've lived with, the friends I've made, the places I've been, have all been so over and above my expectations. I have been incredibaly lucky having 3 host families that I have gotten along with famously and who I have all made lifelong connections with. I have made friends young and old, from school, sport teams, other exchange students from all over the world and my Rotary club.
I have really travelled Europe! I was invited on holiday with a Rotarian family to Austria for 10 days to go hiking in the monutains, I went skiing with my first host family, to Tessin (the Italian part of Switzerland) with my second host family, and to France with friends. I have also just come back from my Eurotour with Rotary. We went to Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Italy. We really did everything- I am so proud to say that I have seen an opera in Vienna, went on a gondola in Venice and toured through a concentration camp in Prague. All these things seemed like a life that could only be possible in the movies, but they have come true for me. All the gushing and extreme happiness aside, I also learnt how to deal with hard times and homesickness. Through this experience I have learnt a lot about myself, and my own strenghts and weaknesses. I have tackled a foreign language (German) and a horribly confusing dialect (Swiss-german) , and come out with a great appreciation of and respect for the millions in South Africans who have to work and communicate in a second language every day. I never realised the frustrations and daily annoyances that come with living in an enviroment that one does not naturally understand. So, with wanting to keep this email short and not boring, I would just like to thank the club for sponsoring me. You all took a chance on me and I promise it was not a chance wasted. I cannot wait to come home and give my presentation! |
