Dear Rotary Club Sponsors: This is Bernardo Alvarez reporting from Bernay, France. I am the Venezuelan applicant who was picked by the Rotary club of Moscow, Idaho. I just wanted to tell you a little about my experiences in the old continent and to thank you once again to have given me a chance to do something with my future. I have been widely accepted by the Club and by the students of my high school. I have loved my first two families and we are in contact constantly. Some of the activities I am involved in are ping pong, a little soccer since it is my favorite sport, hunting, mountain biking and simply hanging out with my classmates. One aspect that I have yet not grown accustomed to is that school here is extremely long. Classes usually start at eight and can finish at six in the afternoon, so by the time you get home, it might be seven thirty; So there's barely enough time to share with the host family before I have to go to bed. The best thing I have encountered in France is the food, boy do I love French cuisine! I hope I have given you a little insight of my trip and thank once again for this wonderful opportunity which by the way has changed my mind from becoming a veterinary to doing tourism. Merci beaucoup pour votre attention, Au revoir Bernardo AlvarezTel, Idaho: 885-7829 ---Just remember, write me back ASAP!

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CZESC

Wow, just when I thought time couldn't go any faster it proceeded to speed up more. Polish Christmas was incredible!! Very traditional and memorable. I've grown used to most of the customs of Poland and now I relax and enjoy every second to its fullest because each one has a lot to offer. My host family took me hiking in the mountains for a week during the winter holidays which was a blast. Experienced Polish trains for the first time "oh my", noisy old and feel as if they will fall a part at any second! It made for a good adventure with lots of laughs. Keep smiling, try everything and enjoy life!! And thank you Rotary for making this happen!                           

Elaine Bambrick                                                

Alexis Bauer

Hi everyone!!! I sure hope that everyone is having a good time just as I am. France couldn't be any better. I love the food here is so good. School, sports, and friends have been keeping me really busy. I have spent a lot of time in Paris, which is awesome. I love it there. It makes it so easy to go there when you live just outside of the city. Last week I went to Normandy with my host family. And we got lucky no rain. This weekend I'm off on an exchange student weekend. And soon I'll be doing a presentation for another club. My parents and a friend will be coming in April so I'm looking forward to seeing them. There is still so much to do here I don't know how I'll be able to do it all. Well, I hope that everyone enjoys the last part of their exchange, I know I sure will.

Hey district 5080!!! I really hope that you are all having as much fun where you are as I am here in Germany!! As for the time that has passed since the last newsletter......all I can say is, "The language has landed." I'm sure all of you who are in countries where you didn't speak the language when you came know what I mean. In the last two months I've gone from 'tourist' German to being able to have conversations without any real problems. I'm really starting to look forward to our tour through Europe, as well as our next Inbound Orientation Weekend, which is coming up soon. Actually right now the only thing I'm not too keen on is leaving! :-( Time is just flying and what I wouldn't give to make it stop or at least slow it down. I hope everyone has a wonderful next few months. CARPE DIEM!!!!!! 

Adrianna Brown Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

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So much has happened in the last four months that it's hard to know where to begin. At the beginning of December I went on my Rotary tour of the South Island with all the exchange students from the North Island. It was fabulous and I made some life long friends! It was on this tour that I took the plunge and bungy jumped. It was awesome! I had to do it, as I was at the first commercial bungy jump in the world. On our tour we did tons of other great stuff, like whale watching, jet boating, white water rafting, etc. Christmas was very different but fun this year. I must admit it didn't feel much like Christmas day when I was swimming in the ocean. Through out my school holidays I traveled with my host families and saw a huge amount of New Zealand, it was amazing. It is such a diverse and beautiful country. I'm back at school now, but am still keeping very busy. Last weekend I went to a sheep sheering competition, very much a strong rural New Zealand custom. I'm still amazed at how fast some people can sheer?! This weekend is my District conference, which is looking like a lot of fun. It will be so good to catch up with all my friends from the south island tour. It's hard to believe that I only have 3 months left in New Zealand. My time here has been so amazing and I've made so may wonderful friends/family I don't know how I will leave. But as hard as it will be to say goodbye I wouldn't trade my exchange for anything. I am so grateful for this opportunity, thank you to everyone who helped make this possible for me. I hope everyone is having as good of a time as me. Make the most of your last few months.

Luv, Cindy                  

G'day, Having been in Australia seven months I now have a deep love and passion for the country and it's people. I have done so many remarkable things that will better the lives of so many people. When I first arrived in Australia I thought I just fell into a dream. The weather was beautiful and the people were so friendly. Everyone is willing to go out of his or her way to help you. Your not considered a tourist in this country, but family. School was a bit different. Having to wear uniforms was great. You don't have to get up in the morning and wonder what you're going to wear. Also the teacher/student relationships are not as good as they are in the U.S. I found the schooling much more difficult here then it is back in Spokane. The students here value school much more over here. Living on the coast is wonderful. Experiencing something different then what I am used to is great. Australia has some very nice beaches and landscapes. I have done so many neat things such as sailing, scuba diving, rock climbing, and farming just to name a few. My host Rotary clubs have been very supportive and I have no complaints about my exchange. I couldn't have asked to come to a better place. I now call Australia home! 

Cheers, Eric 

My name is Kristen Dobbs and I'm currently living in Meisenheim Germany. I've been here for a little over six months and it is the most amazing experience. Ok, so at first, the language was tricky, and I had many frustrated days, not being able to really communicate, but things are tons better now. My German is pretty good, which makes things loads easier and every day it gets better, so inbounds, or soon to be outbounds, don't worry (keine angst).

I've met tons of people and gone tons of places. I've been to France (where I was hosted in a castle own by classical pianists from England) and Holland and learned so much about so many cultures, it is really unbelievable.

Ich hoffe, daß alle Austauschschüler, die in Deutschland sind, Spaß haben!

Kristen

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February newsletter article sorry if I am a little late in writing I hope it can still be published well France is still going great!!! I love the Alsace Valley it is so rich in tradition and everything is at least 300 years old so much history to be discovered!!! I've met lots of cool people and it's so fun (when it's warm enough!) to sit in the fields and play the guitar and sing with my French friends to songs by Brian Adams, Bob Marley, Metallica......yeah English but I've learned some great French classics as well..... Recently my mom came and we had a blast touring Paris and London!! they are beautiful cities.... I am still in my first host family and we get along so well I love being here!!!!! We had an awesome Christmas together with their whole family (at least 40 people all sitting down for a 5 hour Christmas dinner!!! ahhhh!) I also got an opportunity to get to know the French Alps and felt at home with my board carving down those huge white slopes so beautiful!!!! well it's sad that the year is more than half over but I have many things coming up and am really happy I decided to take part in this amazing experience!! I hope everyone is having as much fun as I am here on the eastern side of France where wine is considered a food group!!! GROS BISOUS 

Lisa (Colmar, France)

Dec. 1, 2000 Dear Can-Am Gab Scan, I am one of the 4 students in Belgium from our district, and I am having a blast! We left exactly 100 days ago, and it seems to have passed in no more than the blink of an eye. I have been to England and France, and both were spectacular. However, I am so far disappointed at the flatness of the terrain that I have traversed. In January, on the other hand, I am going to France to go skiing with my host brother; a trip out of the flatlands! The people in Belgium are very nice, even though they're divided by language. The Northern half is Dutch speaking, or 'Flemish' and the Southern half is French speaking, or 'Walloon.' Being the lucky guy that I am, though, I landed in the only officially Bi-lingual part of the country, Brussels. Brussels is not only the capital of Belgium, but it also houses NATO's head offices and the European Union. Throw on top of that great waffles and fries (called Friets) and you have one interesting city. I hope that the other out bounds have faired as well and that we all make it back in one piece! Sincerely, Karl Geisler Brussels, Belgium

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Feb. 17, 2001 Five down, Five to go! I can hardly believe that my time is Belgium is on the downswing, and that in fewer than 5 months I'll be on a plane home. Where did the time go? Meanwhile, back in reality, snow covered peaks do not exist in Belgium. My skis, which I brought foolishly, some say, sit in my room begging me to use them. That only leaves the problem of where... Oh well, I suppose that I can't have it all great. I have now become heavily involved in scouts here, and the couple of times that I have be out and about with them have been enormous on my French vocabulary. It's not all-practical, mind you, but it does make for a good time. Other that that, the weather in Belgium makes me long for sun. It isn't exactly cold here, but it is almost always raining and overcast. Maybe spring will bring more sunshine. The world of Belgium continues to surprise me, and even though it is smaller than Vancouver Island, it contains some truly beautiful cities. From Bruxelles, Belgium, Karl Geisler

March 1, 2001-Hey, here are a few pictures from these last few months... I hope it works for everyone. Ill try to send some more later this week.            

Ps                          This is a Mail Truck  (Click to view larger)

Hey, I just found an easy way to post my pictures over the Internet through Yahoo so I'll be doing that from now on. My address is http://y42.photos.yahoo.com/snwsirfir/  you want to look. I'll keep adding to it this year and try to let everyone know when I do

 Bandon

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Hello all out there!

I missed the first Gab-Scan, oops! But anyway, this is Rachel saying a big "Dav!" My year has been amazing so far, with countless awesome experiences. The most recent was a ski trip to Austria. I had a great time and though I didn't know any of the other youth that came with, I soon made many friends. It is nice being the foreigner sometimes. You are almost always guaranteed popularity and interest. Denmark is as flat as a pancake and since I live in the Rocky Mountains, the Alps were a sight for sore eyes, definitely. We had beautiful weather and 6 full days of skiing! I also got the chance to take in some Austrian culture down in the little town we stayed at.

I can't believe how time has flown by and there are only a few months left! I am really looking forward to the Rotary trip Denmark arranges for us! It is in May and we take a loop through pretty much all of Europe. Exciting! As far as language goes, I am almost fluent, with just a pretty small vocabulary bank. I understand all that is said to me and can get my own ideas across most of the time. So that is great, I love being able to function in another language! Well I gotta go for now! I hope all of you other exchange students are having a wonderful time! Hej hej! Ha' det godt!

Rachel                                                                               (click on photo for a larger view)

P.S. The pics-Me on a boat in the canals of Copenhagen, in an area called Nyhavn.    

My birthday party with some friends.

On the West Coast playing croquet on the dunes with some friends.

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Hello everyone! I'm here in Santa Rosa, Argentina, which is in the middle of a region called Las pampas. This region is characterized by a never changing landscape of flat land and grass. Unfortunately, it is also a large region, and to get out of Las pampas, you have to drive for at least six hours in any direction. Needless to say, we don't do a lot of traveling. I did manage to get out of the city a couple weeks ago though, when my host district had its largest trip for the year. It was two weeks traveling around the south of the country. We had great time and enjoyed seeing things such as a glacier, penguins, whales, etc. It was great getting to know the other exchangees in my district and I only hope that I'll be able to scrape together the money to go on the other trip that will occur in a few months. Back here in Santa Rosa, school's out for the summer, and it's really starting to get HOT! No wonder almost everybody has a swimming pool in their backyard! Well, I'm still not really sure what people do here to occupy them selves. In a town of 250,000 they only have one movie screen, and no mall, so I'm out of ideas for what to do on a boring afternoon! I'd like to tell you some of the things that kind of surprised me or that I found interesting when I first got here. One thing that has bothered me quite a bit is how open the men here are about what they think about how women look. They're always gaping and cat calling, and it's very unpleasant. I just feel bad for the blond American girls who I met on the trip because they stick out like sore thumbs and probably get the worst of this kind of behavior. The Argentines daily habits are quite a bit different from ours in the U.S. or Canada. They eat a small breakfast, a big lunch (with meat and side dishes, like we would have for dinner) then they have a siesta during the middle of the day when all the shops close and there's nothing to do for four hours. Usually at 5:30 or so they gather together and eat a snack and drink some mate (tea) and later, at 9 or 10 at night they eat dinner and go to bed at 11 if it's a weeknight. And on the weekends, the young people go to the boliches and dance to tech or cumbias until 4 or 5 in the morning. To say the least, this has been a very exhausting lifestyle for me, but I think I'm getting used to it. Well, I hope you're all enjoying your countries and I'm looking forward to see how you're all doing when the Gab Scan comes out. Chau! Lisa Marshall

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holas a todos mis queridas!

Hi! Well I've been here in Ecuador for 5 months. Wow! Need I say more?! What an experience! What an adventure! I can remember when I first arrived, the fact that I'm actually here in Ecuador, didn't become real to me for a couple of months. and now it is my life. All the "strangeness" has become normal to me. It took a while to adjust to all the poverty and pollution, but as for the salsa and meringue scene, I was pleased to jump right in! Family is BIG here. Not just in size but in importance and I feel quite welcome in both of my families for the people here are loving and very open, especially to a foreigner, your lucky if you can walk down the street without getting a comment or a whistle (if your a girl). They are also very religious here, strict Catholics. Right now at this moment there is a strike involving the whole country. The "Indians" are protesting, by marching through cities shooting and burning buildings! Oh bur its nithi a year, my ideas and opinions of the world have changed drastically and being here makes me want to learn more and more. I'm so grateful for this opportunity! I'm sure many of you feel the same, so enjoy and good luck!y desfruta la vida! "Being given the chance to travel, is like being given dancing lessons from god"

THANK YOU!!!!

Howzit Everyone!!! So sorry I missed the first Can-Am Gab Scan but life is soooo busy here in South Africa. I have enjoyed every minute of my exchange and am a little timid about going home. I have made some life long friends and have even gotten a few extra sets of parents and siblings too. I have become very close to my families here and I know that they will be the hardest things that I will have to leave. I think I have seen more of South Africa than most of my friends and families here. I have traveled all the way to Cape Town and back and up to the northern most province - Mpumalanga. My first big tour was down to Cape Town via the garden Route and we visited all the touristy places like Robben Island and the wine farms in Stellenbosch. My second tour was just after Christmas to Mpumalanga province and into Swaziland. We visited a wetland park and got to walk with lions, elephants, cheetahs, and warthogs. When I think about all the things that I have seen and done I almost can't believe it!! The weather is great but according to everyone here I have gotten away with one of the coolest and non-humid summers they have ever had. Even so some of the days have been pretty unbearable. Luckily most of my families and friends have pool or else I go to the beach with friends and stay in the water. The 'winters' only get to about 10 or 15 degrees Celsius but for some reason it feels freezing, I don't know how I will do next winter at home!! I attend an all girls' school with about 1200 other girls and wear a uniform and have assembly every day. The uniform definitely makes things easier in the mornings but when you are cold or hot there is nothing you can do about it except grin and bear it. The schooling is much different than home and boy am I glad that my marks don't count for credits back home!! My Rotary club is awesome and they take me everywhere and anywhere they go. They even have a 4-wheeling club that goes away every so often and I always go with them. There are no women in my club yet but I am working on them. There is about 50 members and I have gotten to know most of them well. Some of them are even speaking about coming to visit me this summer. I know that my final speech to them will be a teary one; they have all become surrogate fathers/grandfathers to me and I will miss them dearly, but hopefully I will be back in the near future. I have met so many other exchange students from around the world. Now I have friends wherever I travel. I just want to give a HUGE THANK-YOU to the Youth Exchange committee and my parents at home who trusted me and loved me enough to give me this opportunity. I will be forever in your debt for this has been the best and biggest learning experience I have ever had. Cheers, Lauryn McMeekin

Well this is late but I have a good reason there have been some really crazy wind storms the past few days and the power has been going on and off so I haven't been able to use the computers. Well one form said that this had to be in on March 1st and another Feb 15th so I'm hoping I have the right date. Well I went to Carnival in Veracruz 2 weekends ago and it was lots of fun. Now I would love to see the big one in Brazil. Well only 5 days till my big trip to Cancun with all the other exchange students and I can't wait. The trip is going to be 15 days and it looks like I have a good chance of being in Cancun for my 18th birthday on the 17th. I'm kind of sad I won't be here though because I would also like to spend it with my friends. That and some big weeklong fair thing is coming the one time I won't be here, talk about timing! Well besides this I can't think of what else to say so much a happened since the last time I wrote you, I can't think of it all. Hmmmmm.... What to write about, I'm not sure. I switched schools for my second semester just to meet some new people but it looks like I'll be going back to the old one in April because in my new one it's just way to easy to slack off! I made a trip to Mexico City to do a bunch of touristy things and it was lots of fun. And a while back I went to see some pyramids. I have pictures but I'll have to wait to show them to people because I don't know how to send pictures on the Internet and I don't have a scanner here anyway. Well I would have more to say if it was 2 weeks from now but you only gave us 2 dates. I guess that's all. I've just been hanging out with my friends and stuff (going to "the disco" and parties) the regular teenage life in Mexico. And I'm having a good time doing it! So.............Thanks once again, Asia-Maria Seedhouse

HELLO TO ALL!

Well, to start, I hope everyone back at home is doing great! I have to say that life for me here is pretty good, and I can not believe it is already half over. The first 6 months went by so fast, I can not imagine how they are going to fly now that I know the language and have, well, my life! School starts back up in March, but I can definitely say I have had some great opportunities this summer to travel and to just be with my friends and family here. I could not ask for anything much better, of course there are some hard times and lately I have really been thinking about my family and friends back home, but I can already tell that this experience has added so much to who I am and I am hoping to make the best of what I have left of it.

The Pictures: One with me and my first host family, one with me and one of my close friends here, and one with my friends and I all dressed up for the graduation dance.                      (Click on the Pictures to enlarge)

With Love, 

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