The Three-Year Exchange: My Rebound Experience, in Full Swing At Last

This has been quite the eventful week.

On Wednesday the 21st, I went to the Tualatin Country Club to meet one of the two Rotary inbounds who'll be in my city this year. There was a Taiwanese boy named Rex, and I sure was glad to meet him! He just arrived last week to start his exchange. I found him to be a very sweet and enthusiastic boy.

Gotta love that thumb's up!

For the first time, Tualatin will actually be welcoming two inbounds! The other is a girl from Mexico named Mariel. Here is a picture of her with the two other Tualatin rebounds,  Derek (Argentina), and Cole (Mexico), greeting her at the airport.

What'll be so great this year is that since all exchange students placed in American high schools are seniors, I get to have them in my graduating class with me! I can't wait for my year with them.

The following day, Thursday the 22nd, was a day I had been anticipating. The three outbounds from my district in France, Lou, Océane, and of course Parthenay's outbound Matthieu, were scheduled to arrive after taking the exact same flight I took to get to Portland from Paris. This meant that I'd be at the international arrivals area of the Portland airport, and I couldn't help but feel a bit sentimental thinking of the last time I was there, having just arrived at the same time of day. This time, I was the one waiting instead of the one about to come out of the hallway into the crowd of greeters.

Betty stopped by my house that morning, and after having made posters, we went to the airport. There, we were reunited with our country officer Steve!

We met the host families of our outbounds. Betty and I were probably more anxious than they were for the Frenchies' arrival, however, as we waited against the edge of the rail barrier for what seemed like ages.
Finally, they arrived, and she and I just about screamed.
FRENCH KIDS!!
The three of them recognized us and immediately greeted us with the bisous and a big hug before they went to meet their host families for the first time.

The blur of Lou and me hugging each other excitedly

I told Matthieu's host family about how I just spent an exchange year in his town, and they were really glad to meet me. Oh the wonders of exchange!

Matthieu and me

It felt really, REALLY weird to see somebody I knew from my school in France again, this soon after having left. I sent this picture to our counselor in the Parthenay Rotary Club, and he was content to see that we had been reunited. It felt amazing to see him again; it was just unbelievable. I can't wait to see what this year will bring.

This past weekend of the 24th-25th has been a long-anticipated weekend...
THE REBOUND REUNION.
An occasion where many familiar faces from the very beginning made a reappearance.
For instance, one of my best friends, a now rebound from Germany, came over on Saturday morning before the reunion to have a little jam session. We missed each other's company this year, so it was great to be able to sing together again!

Robby, my singing partner from our surprise song at the final event.
(Our parents still make references to the part of the song that goes "Let's get rich and buy our parents homes in the south of France"...)

The event started in the mid-afternoon.

One of the signs at La Salle Catholic High School directing the rebounds where to go

I was so stoked to see everyone again, in particular my two best friends - Emma and Arielle. As outbounds, we called ourselves the "Three-Continent Musketeers," as Emma spent her year in Thailand and Arielle in Mexico. I hadn't seen Arielle since district conference in May 2012, and being reunited with her meant so much more to me than I imagined. 

Emma, me, Arielle: Ski trip, February 2012, before we found out what countries we would go to

Us, happy to be home from our exchanges!

Because I love these girls too much and I'm too much of a sucker for before-after pictures, here's one more set.

From empty blazers...

...to extravagant blazers! (My attempt at alliteration.)

(Also, I did not shrink, nor did they suddenly shoot up in height. In the first picture, I was wearing higher heels, and they were crouching down to accommodate my height. Just in case you were wondering.)

Here are some other rebounds (out of the 36 who did a year abroad) that I saw this weekend.

Hannah (Japan) and I looking deep into each other's eyes

Sam (Austria) and Katie (Taiwan)

Lauren (Finland) and Logen (Japan)

The happy Danes, Jacob and Kaitlyn!

...Torvald...or, Turk-vald

How could I explain what it was like to see these kids again? They have been with me since January 2012 and have gone through the entire outbound process with me. When I last saw most of them, they were nervous about starting their exchanges, barely knowing a thing about their host countries. But with that nervousness, there was also a determination, a determination to live their exchanges to the fullest. Now, the group was together again, almost as if it had only been a few moments since we said good-bye. The friendships were as strong as ever, but in all of us, the nervousness was replaced with a new-found confidence and appreciation. We were not the same as when we left, but the fact that we had all lived the same life-changing experience of exchange brought us closer together. It's an amazing feeling to know that we'll always be there for each other, after all we've been through. I eagerly shared and listened to stories of exchange for much of the night, and just simply delighted in the company of being in the presence of some of my closest friends again. How much wisdom we have gained, in the practice of everyday living, in our own minds, and especially in our language skills, was mind-blowing. I mean, hearing the Japanese rebounds speak in Japanese together was such a cool experience; they sounded adorable. I would practice my German with Robby, and he'd practice his French with me. Torvald would butt into the conversation saying random things in Turkish, a language that was alien to all of us since nobody else had gone to Turkey. I overheard Martha (Ecuador) and Emily (Peru) cheerfully chatting in Spanish with one another.

Of course, Betty and I found the time to speak to each other in French, awing those around us with our pretty-sounding language. We reminisced about our inbounds in District 1510, and then we sneakily gossiped about certain people from the rebound group, amusing ourselves when we'd stand next to them while talking about them on several occasions. That is a very French thing to do, just so you know.

The atmosphere was like being in a group of inbounds all over again, except we didn't share the same host country; we shared the same home country. But we weren't just any group of Oregonian teenagers randomly clumped together. Now, after our outbound and inbound years, we are rebounds, and we share with each other an unbreakable bond and a deeper understanding of the world we live in.

Meeting this year's inbound, seeing the Frenchies again for them to start their exchange, and finally being reunited with my rebounds... all these experiences signal the true start of my rebound year, the third and final year of the three-year exchange. 

So, let's conclude. While exchange has taught me that I am capable of anything if I really try, there are two things I can't do.

First of all, I can't believe it. I just can't. I'm a rebound, this is all happening. But you know what? I'm ready to go on. Because...

I really can't wait for what the future holds for me. 

Somewhere, beyond the sea ♪

I thought I was going to eat a croissant. But...

I don't know why they call such abominable monstrosities "croissants" here in the United States, since this is how they typically look in France:

I could just grab it off of the computer screen!

Anyway, all French pastry-yearnings aside, I'm posting this entry to recount my recent cruise around the Caribbean!

On August 4-11, my family joined my grandparents on the biggest cruise ship in the world, Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas. The week-long vacation had three destinations, not counting the start and end point of Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Nassau, the Bahamas; the island of St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands; and a peculiar island divided into two called Sint Maarten (on the Dutch side) or Saint Martin (on the French side). 

WAS THAT THE MAGIC WORD?

Yes it was. 

But before I write more about Saint Martin (how I will choose to call it), I will just post some miscellaneous pictures from the trip.

My sister Cara and I in front of the ship

A view of the ship's "Central Park" from the pool deck

Me with my parents, sister, and grandparents

My immediate family and I with the captain, from Norway

ROTARY!! (I saw this sign posted in front of an elementary school in St. Thomas)

When most people think of a Caribbean vacation, they think of blue sky and sunshine. But since I like my life to be unconventional, we were blessed with tropical thunderstorms during much of our stay on the islands. Especially on St. Thomas. There, we were drenched by the pouring rain.

We waited for it to end, but we got caught in another shower anyway.

The vendors in the market all put their plastic curtains down.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the curtains...

Lovely, colorful fabrics sewn into all manner of dresses, Hawaiian shirts, and more!

A Caribbean reversible doll: flip the skirt over, and underneath is a new doll with a differently patterned skirt!

The consequential floods

I have come to take it as a good omen whenever it rains in a destination I am setting foot in for the first time. My first time in Paris, we got rained on while waiting to go up the Eiffel Tower. My first time in Venice, it was raining too. So of course, we had to get rained on in Saint Martin. But I'm not going to be posting any pictures of the rain; I have better pictures to post here.

The ship docked on the capital of the Dutch side, Philipsburg. We found a nice local tour guide, a man named Joe. The 6 of us all rode in his van as he showed us the island. Our first stop was the French side. 

See those clouds? And that flag? That's right.

As we drove into town, I was shocked at everything being in French. There was almost nothing in Dutch when we were at Philipsburg, but there in Marigot (the capital of the French side), the signs, posters, advertisements were practically all in French. The occasional thing in English turned up, but other than that, I felt like I was in France again. Well, if France was a tropical country like the Philippines. Being on that island was like being in two of my homes at once, three if you consider the rain reminiscent of Oregon. It was quite surreal, and it definitely became the highlight of my cruise. 

THEY EVEN HAD A GARE. Well, for the ferries between islands.

This could have been taken in the Philippines

Our Pikachu has been to more places than the average American.

While at Marigot, I made a beeline to the patisserie. There was a huge array of French pastries, and I could have cried tears of joy. 

A minute fraction of the variety they had.

I seized the moment to order in French. The shopkeeper was mildly surprised but amused, and he satisfied my needs of hearing somebody speak French to me. I pointed to this pastry and that pastry, cheerfully ordering for all of my family. There were French speakers around me too, and listening to them, being able to understand every word they said, pulled at my heartstrings. 

As always, I ordered a praline macaron. 

Yeah, there were a lot of other things I could have tried, but it was in honor of my exchange. While it didn't taste exactly like this one, it was a welcome treat nonetheless!

The thing I enjoy about cruising the most is the international crowd. There were people from all over the world sharing the giant boat with us, and the crew of over 2 000 members was represented by more than 80 countries. Each one of them wore a name tag with their name and country. I tried to be discreet as I scrutinized the name tag of every crew member I came across, finding countries like Mauritius and Serbia.

But wait! I don't just creepily stare at their name tags. I talk to them too, since my favorite people to make acquaintance of are those that are foreign to me.

For instance, I found a guy from Macedonia. I pointed it out and added, "Like Alexander the Great!" (he's my idol.) He seemed content that I knew and replied, "Yes! But he was great, and I'm pretty short." Hm, actually, Alexander the Great was pretty short himself. LIKE MEEE

Anyway, then there was Emilia, our pretty waitress from Romania. I asked her how you say "thank you" in Romanian. She told me it was "mulțumesc," so I used it every time I wanted to thank her. 

Emilia with my family

Since there was a photo studio on board, my mom and I decided to have my senior pictures taken on the ship. The portrait artist was from Turkey (from Izmir, a city I have friends in even!). When I saw that, I told him "Merhaba!" He said, "How did you know how to say that?" I told him that I have Turkish friends. (Thanks Rotary!) During the shoot, his assistant was a lady from Ukraine. I bet nobody else at school can say they had such people take their senior photo!

Just because I have a vain side, here are some of the photos I got.

Other notable people include our stateroom attendant from Nicaragua, Paul, and our waiter, House from Jamaica. 

House with my family

They were all so amiable! Being around such a diverse group reminded me of my Rotary days that I really miss, especially while living in the homogeneous suburbs of the USA.  

The international crew bustling around the ship, like the company of other inbounds, made the world feel so small. But at the same time, seeing endless ocean around me when the ship wasn't at port made the Earth seem vastly, incomprehensibly enormous. 

Our balcony

What can I say, though. Such mind-contorting contrast is the spice of life.

This trip has opened my eyes further to how much the countries I have lived in, and their people, have become a part of me, but it has also made me realize how much a citizen of the world I have become. My exchange and exotic escapades have introduced to me other global citizens, and I eagerly anticipate the day when I can once again be a part of a group of people who consider themselves as such.

I may not know when the day will come, but whether it's far beyond the stars or near beyond the moon, I know beyond a doubt my heart will lead me there soon. ♪

The Adventures Continue...

Boy, have I been up to a lot.

It's been 22 days since I arrived, and I've been keeping so busy! Throughout this summer, I have the following to work on:

• a summer reading assignment with Shakespeare's Othello for IB Senior English
• a summer reading assignment with Orwell's 1984 for my Theory of Knowledge class (which, I believe, consists mainly of philosophical discussions)
• the second semester of my online English class
• driver's ed classes and driving practice to get on the road towards my driver's license!
• studying for the SAT (a national standardized test that I need to send to colleges when I apply)
• preparing for my final season of speech and debate

For the latter, I will be participating in my favorite event, expository speaking. It is where I get to choose whatever topic I want to talk about, write an eight minute speech about it and memorize it, make accompanying poster visuals (it's amazing what elaborate visuals people can come up with, it's the main reason I enjoy participating in this event so much!), and you give it in front of judges and the other competitors, and the judges score them to find who was ranked the highest. Anyway, I knew that my topic senior year would have to relate to my exchange somehow. I couldn't figure it out while I was on exchange, but I knew I would have some sort of flash epiphany at some point. And I did! I will be speaking about how the USA idealizes and romanticizes France and how, in turn, France idealizes and romanticizes the USA. This ought to be fun.

I recently took a trip to my favorite American city (that I have seen, anyway), San Francisco! I won't spend too much time talking about it, but I will say that it was a satisfying trip. My family and I were reunited with my grandma, we stayed in the Westin St Francis (a hotel with quite the history behind it), and my sister and I fulfilled our quest of doing purikura, the fancy Japanese photobooths that can be found in Japantown.

Just one of the many elaborate photos we decorated

I heard French many times during my stay in this global city. I even found a tour van catering to the French, and I had to ask the guide for a picture! (in French, of course...ANYTHING to speak it again.)

Our Pikachu always travels with us! Notice the fog engulfing the top of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Our hotel had a glass elevator so we could look out over Union Square. This was the view from the 30th floor.

I've spent a lot of my time back in Oregon so far seeing old friends again. I recently saw some friends from my group at school, and it was like I never left...we were happily chatting with one another like before, they eagerly asked me questions about my year, and we all gushed about how excited we are for senior year together. They're glad to have me back, and I feel truly lucky to have such a great group of friends to come home to. 

My gang from school wasn't the only group I was looking forward to being reunited with. There is another group I was probably more stoked to see than them...

REBOUNDS! :D

Nah, this wasn't the rebound reunion yet. Hailey (a girl I have taken to doing outrageous outdoorsy adventures with) wanted to celebrate her birthday with fellow exchange students again, so she invited us to go on a hike with her along the scenic Columbia Gorge!

From front to back: Nadine, a girl who just got back from Russia on a college exchange; Sam, rebound from Austria; Erin, rebound from Thailand (my birthday buddy!); Amanda, rebound from France; Emily, rebound from Peru (my speech buddy!); and Hailey, rebound from Ecuador. Wow, it feels weird to call them "rebounds from" instead of "outbounds to"...

Anyway, we hiked at a trail called "Starvation Creek Trail." (Yeah, that's what it was called.) I don't know what's with this recurring theme of fearing for my life whenever I do nature-y stuff with Hailey, but some of the trails were pretty perilous. They were narrow, gravelly, with no barriers to prevent people from falling off the edge. I have terrible balance, so going down the switchbacks terrified me beyond my wits. And I told myself, "Nothing on exchange was as scary as this!" (Parentheses: When I once said "I don't think there will be anything as scary on exchange as facing all these waves in front of us!!", I was pretty much right.) All these ghastly scenarios would form in my head whenever my foot slipped even slightly, stopping my heart for an instant. I told myself, "So this is what it's like to force your mind to take over your fear." 

All the horror aside, the majestic views were totally worth it! (Since I forgot my camera, I took these lovely photos from Sam.)

On this climb, we came across an outlook jutting from the side of the cliff. We chilled there a bit, the wind whipping across our faces and cooling us off after the tough uphill hike.

The hike up Starvation Ridge was dubbed Oregon's most difficult trail. I believe it.

Erin peering over the edge at the outlook

Looking to the left...

...and to the right

Pioneers and speech buddies, spreading our heroism over the land.

Another one of our scenic spots was a waterfall! As the trail map showed earlier, this waterfall was called Hole in the Wall Falls.

Sam somehow made it to the top and got a picture from there...

Aw, yeah!

These pictures are enough to explain why I love the Pacific Northwest, and how good it feels to be back! If I had known how difficult the hike would be, I probably would have declined Hailey's invitation. However, I now know that sometimes it's better to just tackle challenges without any expectations, focusing instead on the success that will come after the hardship. The spirit of the exchange student lives on in me, and I will eagerly accept every new adventure and opportunity that comes!