There was quite the interview process to become a Rotary exchange student. As Anne had told me, two people did show up at my house to interview me. Their names were Michelle and Bill. At the end of the interview they gave me a twenty-two-page application to fill out.
Then there were two more interviews, one at a district level and one regionally. At the regional level, they also interviewed my parents again to see what they had to say about my habits, personality, abilities, and if they were really willing to support me as I traveled internationally.
I felt good about the interviews, but was still nervous about the acceptance letter.
It came in the mail a few weeks after our district interview and read:
"Julie Dean, you have been accepted to act as a representative of the Orangevale Rotary Club and as a citizen of the United States of America as an exchange student in the years of 2009-2010."
A rush of relief filled my body quickly followed by an overwhelming excitement. It was real. I was going. I was going to leave this place and find something new.
There was no country listed in the letter. That wouldn't come until our final orientation. We were allowed to write down our top three preferences mine were in this order: Japan, Argentina, and Belgium. Completely different places, for completely different reasons, but all me in some way or another.
Japan was my dream though. I had, had so many good experiences with people from that place. And it just felt so different. If I was going somewhere, I wanted it to be no where like America. I wanted to really jump into something different. I wanted a challenge.
Finally the day of our final orientation came. They lined us up like ducks in a row, sat us down and started to pass our envelopes. They made us wait an entire minute with it in our hands, having us all make final guesses. Then they counted down, "Five, four, three, two, one!"
We ripped open our papers. And there it was written in big letters: JAPAN.
I screamed. I bounced out of my seat and showed my parents and any one else who would look. I was going to Japan. I was going to my place, my new home.
They told us it would be difficult. They told us it would be different. Not good, not bad, just different. That was our mantra. Then, they gave us a little book called, "The Exchange Students Survival Kit." And sent us on our way.
Friday, July 3, 2015
Sunday, March 29, 2015
A Taste
Days and weeks passed. I continued to think about what Erik had told me. I started to read in the New Testament, not a lot, just every once in awhile, at night.
I would lay on my stomach on the floor of my bedroom with the light on. I didn't understand everything that I was reading, but for some reason the words connected with me. I was feeling things. I started to be able to put Jesus Christ into the shape of an actual person, who walked and talked and thought and listened. I started to see how little things mattered less than I thought, and with that my ability to stop myself from superficially expelling the spot increased. It increased because I realized that if Christ was a real person, then, he cared about what I was doing, and he didn't want this for me.
I got all the way through Galatians before I stopped.
An opportunity had presented itself to me, and it took over my every waking thought.
There was a boy from Belgium, his name was Johan. He was an exchange student who was being sponsored by the Rotary Club to stay in the United States for a whole year. He was a good friend to me. Near the end of his stay, while we were getting ready for finals he made me promise that I would do an exchange. "You would love it. You can go anywhere, you can leave here," he said. And so I said, "Yes, I promise, I'll go."
So, a few months later when my teacher announced that the Rotary Club was having a meeting about selecting exchange students, and that she would be offering extra credit to anyone who went, I knew exactly where I was going to be at lunch the next day.
In the meeting they talked to about how the Rotary Club helps students to fulfill their dreams of going international. They would pay the cost of housing and food all we had to do was pay for the plane ticket.
They also told us that although we would go to the same school all year long, that throughout the year we would be required to change host families at least 3 times. This was so that we would be able to experience more of the culture and to ease the burdens of the host families we stayed with. As Anne, the woman representing Rotary, spoke I felt something inside of me start to grow. This kind of bubble weld up inside of me, and I when she asked who was serious about going on an exchange, I raised my hand.
They gave me an informational sheet, and said that they would send someone from the club to my home to interview me and my parents later that week.
When I went home that night I told my parents that I was going to be an exchange student and they told me if I could pay for the ticket myself I could go.
And that's how I made the decision that got me my current path to change.
I would lay on my stomach on the floor of my bedroom with the light on. I didn't understand everything that I was reading, but for some reason the words connected with me. I was feeling things. I started to be able to put Jesus Christ into the shape of an actual person, who walked and talked and thought and listened. I started to see how little things mattered less than I thought, and with that my ability to stop myself from superficially expelling the spot increased. It increased because I realized that if Christ was a real person, then, he cared about what I was doing, and he didn't want this for me.
I got all the way through Galatians before I stopped.
An opportunity had presented itself to me, and it took over my every waking thought.
There was a boy from Belgium, his name was Johan. He was an exchange student who was being sponsored by the Rotary Club to stay in the United States for a whole year. He was a good friend to me. Near the end of his stay, while we were getting ready for finals he made me promise that I would do an exchange. "You would love it. You can go anywhere, you can leave here," he said. And so I said, "Yes, I promise, I'll go."
So, a few months later when my teacher announced that the Rotary Club was having a meeting about selecting exchange students, and that she would be offering extra credit to anyone who went, I knew exactly where I was going to be at lunch the next day.
In the meeting they talked to about how the Rotary Club helps students to fulfill their dreams of going international. They would pay the cost of housing and food all we had to do was pay for the plane ticket.
They also told us that although we would go to the same school all year long, that throughout the year we would be required to change host families at least 3 times. This was so that we would be able to experience more of the culture and to ease the burdens of the host families we stayed with. As Anne, the woman representing Rotary, spoke I felt something inside of me start to grow. This kind of bubble weld up inside of me, and I when she asked who was serious about going on an exchange, I raised my hand.
They gave me an informational sheet, and said that they would send someone from the club to my home to interview me and my parents later that week.
When I went home that night I told my parents that I was going to be an exchange student and they told me if I could pay for the ticket myself I could go.
And that's how I made the decision that got me my current path to change.
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