Orientation Camp

Last night I got back from my last Rotary Orientation before I leave for France. We stayed at a pretty cool place and didn't have much sleep as we were up all night and had to get up real early. Every camp it is tradition to hide the Rotary bell, or just play a trick on the Rotarians. So we were up 'til 3 rearranging  furniture so that all the table and chairs were upside down. The camp was real fun 'cause, I became real close with all the outbound students and all the inbounds in 9810 at the moment, everyone is so chilled and cool. I had to do a speech in French in front of everyone and it was recorded, so that when I come back in 2013 I can see how much I have improved. I also did a speech on 'Australia as a sporting Nation' which copped a bit of criticism because it has Collingwood jokes in it and other countries wouldn't understand them. I got my Rotary Business Card and a massive package with heaps of other cool stuff in it. Everyone swapped cards and badges too, so I already have heaps of badges but can't put them on my blazer until I get to France. After dinner on the Saturday night I was on dinner duty and broke the dish washer and I pulled up the part that said 'Do Not Touch' and I pretty much flooded the kitchen. But over all it was a real good weekend and I can now say I am 100% ready and prepared to go on my Exchange.

First Orientation Day

Today I had my first Orientation day in Croydon with all the outbound and inbound students! It dragged on a bit but over all was a real good day. I got to meet all everyone and they were all really nice. I met a girl named Lara who is an inbound student from Lille, France which is where I am going. She told me heaps about it and it was really good to get to meet someone from where I will be living. She invited me to her powerpoint presentation on Tuesday so I can find out more about Lille, it should be really good! We got given topics that we have to write a speech on and present it to everyone on our next camp in December. We also have to give a speech about ourselves in our countries language, it gets recorded then we see how much we have improved on our language when we return. It was a really good day, I learnt a lot and met some really cool people and it got me a lot more excited about my exchange!
A bientôt!
102 days!

About My Exchange

Hey everyone, just thought I would start my blog early so that I have my whole exchange experience on record! About two months my school co-ordinator came into class saying that someone had pulled out of a Rotary Year Exchange to France and they need someone to take her place. I thought about it all weekend and new it was what I wanted to do. I thought about missing out on year 12 with my friends, turning 18, all the parties, schoolies ect, but it didn't bother me as I thought spending a year as a Rotarian in France would make up for it. I applied for it as well as 7 others and got the position, I was so so so happy. There is another girl at my school Rhiannon Rak who also got the position, it will be good to have someone experiencing the same thing as me that I know! I have been practising my French a lot, and am really enjoying it. I received my family, I have a mum, dad and 2 sister who seem really cool and nice! My host town is called La Bassée and it is a 15 minute train ride to Lille! Lille is the 4th biggest city in France and is on the border of Belgium! Tomorrow is my first Rotary meeting, it is an orientation and I will meet everyone that will be doing exchange as well as the exchange students that are already here.

103 days, je suis très excité!