Hello everyone! Welcome to my Rotary Youth Exchange Blog. For any of you that don’t know I am leaving for a year long exchange to Switzerland in 2018. Only 49 days to go and I am so excited!

So I just thought I would give a quick update on what I have been doing in preparation before I leave, where I am going and what I have been doing with my sponsor club.

Preparation

I have been to 2 outbound training days so far (the last one is in January right before I leave) which have taught me about how to get the most out of my exchange. I have started learning a bit of German but I am not very good at it! Switzerland Rotary gives me a tutor who has instructed me to do about half an hour of an online language program a night. I am also expected to complete 16 tests before christmas and I have only done 7 or 8!

Host Location

A few weeks ago I finally found out that I am going to a small town called Biel which is between Zurich and Bern. It’s very historic and pretty! My first host family has a daughter who is about my age and she is really nice. Her family speaks english as they used to live overseas which will be helpful when I am settling in but I still want to learn German! I also got in contact with my club counsellor!

Sponsor Club/Rotary

I have been getting pretty involved with my sponsor club Turumurra Rotary. I try to attend as many meetings as I can especially as there is an exchange student currently being hosted. Last weekend I helped out at the Jumbo Flight which is a joyride for disabled children and their families. It was super fun and a really great experience. I have also been attending worker bee sessions for a charity called Days for Girls and I got my school involved as well. PLC has now had 3 DFG workshops with over 200 people helping out!

So there is my first blog post! I hope you enjoyed it 🙂

Love Jaimee