Updates-group 2 Andrew P, Sandra, Renee, Ryan,Alaina, Clint,Jennifer H

ANDREW PADACH-Hey Vicki,My email address is andrewpadach@hotmail.com my district number is 4650-Forteleza. Thankfully, I have been receiving my monthly allowance. I am still with my first host family, I have been told that I will move sometime next month though. No problems so far, just a little homesick here and there, nothing to major. My rotary club is good. They are all older men and they seem nice, although I cant really speak to them (damn portugues). School is fine, its nice to sleep in class and listen to my IPOD. I have been pretty busy this month with the second biggest Oktoberfest in the world taking place in my city.
SANDRA LEVITSKI-Hi Vicki, Congratulations on the outbound chair!Everything is going extremely well for me here in Austria. My email address is s_levitski@hotmail.com, and i'm in district 1910-1920. I've met my sponsering club, and gone on several trips with them already. We went canoeing in Hungary, and I also went to Graz with them. I've been faithfully recieving my stipend. I'm with my first host family, and apparently I'll be with them all year. I really have no problems, besides learning German of course, but i signed up for an extra German course at night, so I should be improving, i hope. My host club is nice, they have invited me to several meetings, plus those little trips i've taken with them. They seem concerned in how I am doing, i think. School is okay, but very different from my school in Ohio. I tried taking a chemistry test the other day, and I could only answer 5 questions. I had no idea what the other questions were asking me. But that'll get better in time probably. I live right in Vienna, so I get to see the city basically every day, i love it! So everything is going excellent. Sandra Levitski
RENEE FUSCO-Hi Vicki,First of all, congratulations on being the new outbound chair!Everything is going great here in Chile. My district number is 4340. I live in a very nice neighborhood with an AWESOME family! The next person to live with my family is extremely lucky! I have gone "trekking" several times with my family through the Andes.. Its sooo beautiful! I'm infinitely jealous of the people that live here that get to see that landscape all the time! My extended family is also very fun. For example, my uncle and aunt and grandparents have taken me to Vina del Mar and gave me a tour of downtown. They all are very excited to show me around and thats super helpful. They have really made me feel like I am part of the family. I wish there was a way I didn't have to switch. Because it seems like the time with each family is uneven.. for example, I will be with this family for about four months if we switch after new years like they said.. I would prefer to wait until later, (or never at all =) ) but i guess thats something I'll have to really discuss with my counselor here as well. But anyways, I have received the monthly stipend twice now, once for September and recently for October, so no problems there. I'm finding all the Rotary members to be very kind and welcoming. I went to a meeting last month (where they surprisingly don't allow any women to attend! therefore i was the only girl! haha) So i hung out with some old guys and stuff, but it wasn't bad at all. They were all very friendly. I got up and did my little introduction, no big deal, and it went fine.. I love my counselor, Raquel. She's very helpful and I feel very comfortable talking with her and her husband Raul. Yes its true, school isn't at the top of my list of fun things to do, but its not terrible either. I think all of us that have already graduated have found school to be a bit boring naturally, but I can deal with it. My only complaint is that its TOO long! After i take the bus, i don't arrive at home until about 4:30.. to me, thats a looong day to be at school especially when I finished already in the US, but luckily summer is coming. I recently asked Raquel if there was anyway I could spend half day or not go a full week and spend the other time volunteering at a charity. She answered as I expected, that I had to go to school, but that once my spanish was better that i can definitely find some program to be involved in. I don't know, i just feel as if my time in school could be spent doing something more useful, something thats helpful to other people and something that will still help me learn spanish. But who knows, we'll see! I only have the rest of the month and november left, and then december is real short!I also wanted to tell you that the training that you guys prepared for us was awesome! I get asked quite often about the election and I'm thankful that I know something about it! I also think that you guys were right on target with most of the things you told us about learning the language, the family situations etc.. Everything i learned throughout the year is playing some sort of role in my life now, and for that i want to thank you! The language especially is the most difficult thing for me, but it is coming along.. I am very jealous of other students that had the opportunity in their high schools to learn a second language and learn it well. my host sister thats in the US right now went to Nevada already speaking very well, and now shes simply perfecting it and learning how to spell and use grammar correctly. I thought i knew spanish pretty decently before i arrived, and i was dead wrong haha.. but all and all things are good.. i just can't wait for the day when i can understand everything! and say anything! and ahhh to be able to converse like a normal human being, without flopping my arms around and stuttering and forgetting or simply not knowing the right word! hahaWell, i guess thats all from me for now.. I'll let you know if anything changes! Once again, congratulations!besosRenee
Ryan Meditz-Hey Vicki! Everything in Bolivia has been great. I've been really busy with school, friends, ect. I have received my monthly allowance of fifty dollars as scheduled. I'm still with my first host family, and I plan of staying with them for the rest of the year. They are great. I couldn't have asked for a better family. I really can't think of any problems. Well, I guess my only problem is that I have to have another summer break starting monday. I think I'll be able to get through it ok! My host rotary club is pretty good. I have had very good relations with them. They are very friendly, and care about the exchange students a great deal. I wouldn't say the were concerned about me. I havn't done anything for them to be. I can't think of anything that bothers me here, other than the weather is beautiful. I guess you should be jealous of the fact that I belong to the Country Club here. I don't know if you have been there, but it's amazing. They have a huge pool, golf course, gym, tennis courts, and much more. Ryan
ALAINA MCCONNELL-
¡Hola from España! So far I´ve been in Spain for a little over six weeks and am loving every minute of it. Even when it´s cold and rainy and boring and there´s nothing to do, I´m still like: Wow, I´m in Barcelona. I´m sure you have a lot of updates to read so I´ll get right to the questions. Home life is good. I have my own bedroom, computer, cell phone, windows with automatic shutters...all that jazz. My family is w.o.n.d.e.r.f.u.l. I have a little sister (age 10) and another sister (age 18) and a mom and dad. They speak very, very minimal English so we converse entirely in Spanish...for now. Because Barcelona is a bilingual city, as soon as I master Spanish, we´ll be switching to Catalán in the house. Spain works a little differently that other countries in terms of having only one family for the entire year. Personally I don´t mind, as I love my family and am quite comfortable here. Ohh, they´ve given me a stipend of 60 euros a month. School is... school. Let me just say that the first week I hated it. I never wanted to go back. But, as with most things, it got better rather than worse and now I don´t mind going. My school is taught entirely in Catalán, so as of now I understand about 2% of the material. All I can say is, I´m glad I´ve already graduated. I spend most of my time listening and just trying to grasp the subject of the lecture, but I´m not going to lie...it´s pretty boring.However, I´ve enrolled in Catalán Second Language courses at my school, and have five classes a week, so that helps to pass the time. I find it´s been kind of hard to make friends at my school for a number of reasons. One, is that there are four other American exchange students at my school, three in my class alone and I´ve had to compete with them for attention. Another factor is that the kids all speak Catalán to one another and are not always willing to switch back to Spanish for me. I believe it stems from some national pride issue where the region of Catalyuna thinks of itself as a seperate country from Spain. My local Rotary district has been pretty mysterious, quite frankly. I was asked to do a presentation about a month ago, but since then I´ve heard nothing, have had no meetings, and I don´t even know who my counselor is or how to get a hold of him. In September, we had an orientation in Madrid with the head honchos of Rotary Spain, but since then I´ve heard nothing. (There is a trip to Italy planned for February though!) But this is how it is in Spain, and it hasn´t really been a concern to me. However, I was supposed to get an insurance card in case of emergency (which I´ve already paid for) and still haven´t received it... Social life is pretty good. I´ve been going out on the weekends with friends from school and with my host sister and we always manage to have a good time. Haven´t joined any extra curricular activities yet, becase there is nothing affiliated with the school. I was too late in signing up for classes outisde of school and everything is full until December. So I´ll just have to wait and start Flamenco lessons then... In short, everything is really, really good. No pressing concerns, or questions at this point. I have a blog if anyone is interested. http://amcconnell27.livejournal.com/My address here is:Alaina McConnellCalle Cardenal Vives i Tutó 62 (4.2) SarriáBarcelona 08034 Spain¡Muchas Gracias y Adios!AlainaCLINT ERICKSON-Hello,I have very limited internet at the moment so uploading pictures and such isnear impossible. I have my own room, with my own bathroom. My host brother is awesome. He and iget along rather nicely. We do a lot of things together. He got me to do FieldHockey because they dont have any of the sports that i play.I also do many activities with my host father. Every friday we play volley ballwith a bunch of people from around Meckenheim.I am currently with my first host family. We will be switching after christmas.My address here is:Clint EriksenKlosterstr. 84 53340 Meckenheimi think that is all for the address. My local rotary club is really nice. However there are not too many meetingsbecause all the people in the Rotary are usually working. Every now and then wehave a meeting. But it is a little different that just sitting in a room, theyusually go on a hike or something. When i do have meetings to attend, i have totake the train to the town next to mine, and when i get there my counselor picksme up. I get my stipend at the beginning of every month. From what i hear fromthe other kids here in Germany, my stipend is the most. I receive 100¤. Last weekend i attended a meeting that was run by the Rotex. At that meeting iwas able to meet with all the kids in my district. There are three kids in mytown so we usually help each other out. School is going great, they let me pick my classes. I mostly picked classesthat my friends were taking. I have made many friends thanks to my host brother.I do activities with whomever i can. If something comes up i take it. Most ofthe time it is at random. The ids in germany usually plan things right beforethey do them. So at the moment it is a little difficult to catch what is goingon. I have only called my house two times. The first was to let my family know that i arrived in germany, and that i was doing fine. The second was for mymom's birthday. I have also done two skype chats with my parents. It is freeso i like it a little more. I would be glad to answer any other questions, and please tell any kids thatwant to go to Germany to email me if they have any questions. I would be glad to help them. Clint EriksenJENNIFER HOFFMAN-Greetings from France. I hope that all is well for you. I know that everything is great here!As of yesterday, I have been in France for 2 months. It is crazy how fast the time has gone by. Just for your information, I have a blog. The address is http://princesseaurore.blogspot.comMy home situation is a little wierd. My host family is great its just that we have two houses. The dad works in Nancy (in Lorraine near Germany and Luxembourg) and that's where I stay throughout the week with my dad and host sister Marie. The mom and other host sister live in a little village on the lake Der about one hour and a half away from Nancy. On the weekends, we travel to the country and stay there. I absolutely love this living arrangement and will be sad when I go to stay with my second family in December (the 6th to be exact). I love my second host family too. They are very cute. I have a little sister named Pauline who is the same age as my little sister back home. She's absolutely adorable. I haven't really had any problems at all with anyone here. We all get along very well. I guess that I'm lucky but my exchange hasn't really been that hard yet. I have my own room in both the city and the country.My Rotary club is really nice. They are an active bunch people lol. I finished my first 16 kilometer walk/race with them and just last weekend, we biked around the Lake of Der (which is 40 kilometers!!!) My counselor is a nice guy with a young family. He's great but I don't really talk to him a lot. I guess that I've just never been an exchange student before and it's a hard thing to get used to. Any real problems that I have my host mom helps me out with. The rotary meetings are Tuesdays at noon and, because I go to school in Nancy but my club is in Toul (kind of like school in Alliance and club in Canton) and because I only have 1 and a half hours to eat on Tuesdays, I can't regularly attend the meetings. I have gone to a few dinners that they have had though. About 3 weeks into my exchange, I gave my presentation in French. It was a lot of fun! I recieve 80 euros each month and, so far, I have gotten them at the beginning of the month.With the district, we have regular meetings like we did back in Ohio to meet with the other Inbounds. It's really cool to hang out with them but, also a little frusterating because everyone only speaks in English. I've made some nice friends though. Two weeks ago, we met in St. Dié and we climbed a mountain!School is going well now. In the beginning, it was a little hard because I was in a class equivalent to a senior who took all economic classes (of which I have never taken in my life) but, I talked with the principals and got it worked out where I am a junior in the Litteratue section. The classes are a little boring though. I am taking a theater class which is interesting but, the majority of my classes aren't really what I had thought that they would be. Oh well. It is only October. The actual French part of being in France is surprisingly easy. I was lucky to have an amazing French teacher back in the States. I can communicate with basically anyone about anything now. School is a little harder though. It's not that I don't understand everything, it's just that spending an hour or two listening to a french or history lesson in french is not as interesting as talking to someone. I feel like I have already gotten the chance to be myself here!I've been doing a lot of really cool things here. I haven't really made any good friends but, it's coming along. I actually made friends with two italian girls in my class who are here studying for their French test. They are pretty nice. Tomorrow, my host sister and I are going to go to a dance club! I'm really excited and nervous. This is one thing that I have never done and is a little out of my character. Europe is opening new doors for me! With the internet and contact back home, it's a little difficult. My problem is that my little sister (who's 14) has to have surgery on Monday. She has to have her pacemaker changed. I'm finding it really difficult to deal with. I think that I have handled myself really well though. I talk to my family through the webcam 2 or 3 times a week for about 15 or 20 minutes. I have that it's a little much but, it's working for me. I haven't really been homesick and I feel as if I have adjusted well.I feel as if I've written a book and it's only been 2 months! For the fall break (which starts tomorrow at 12), I am going to go to Paris to spend the vacations with a friend. Don't worry, it's already been Rotary/host parents/Adèle's parents/my parents approved. I'm really excited. Adèle came and stayed with my family in August for two weeks just before I left. Then, in Febuary, I am going skiing in the French Alps with my second host family. I am also going to do the Eurotrip in April. I am really excited!Well I need to go now. I am going to try to bake some cookies. Hopefully I don't burn down the house. Thank you! Gros Bisous