Introduction - Part III

Later in January I attended my first rotary weekend in Bolton as an official 7080 outbound. This is where I met the rest of our fearless leaders (a.k.a The 7080 Rotarians) and the other 15 outbounds. Now everything was becoming more tangible and less illusive. The other 15 outbounds are fabulous. We learned everyone’s name, everyone’s story and everyone’s reason for wanting to go on exchange; but most importantly we learned which country everyone was hoping to be sent. Because we were staying overnight, the outbounds stayed at a Rotarians house once we were dismissed for the evening. Myself and an Outbound named Holly, Stayed with an exceedingly gracious couple named Bernie and Pat in their quaint country side home. Holly and I learned all about their lives and Bernie kept us laughing well into the night. Holly and I stayed up chatting for the remainder of the night; and the next day we were back with the rest of the outbounds sharing stories of our night before. The Rotarians then began to call us into a separate room for interviews (yes more interviews) and we wrote thank you notes to the Rotarians who hosted us while we waited. The purpose of the interviews now, since we had already been selected, was to help determine which country we would be sent to.
This year 7080 was exchanging with the following countries:
Austria,
Brazil,
Chile,
Denmark,
Ecuador,
France,
Finland,
Germany,
Japan,
Switzerland,
Thailand.
We also usually exchange with Mexico, Paraguay, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand and there has been talk about Belgium too; unfortunately however, they were not offered this year.

I think I should mention that in Canada (or at least my district) we are not able to choose our host countries. That’s kind of the deal. Yes we will sponsor you; because YOU want this. YOU came to US; And we choose you because we know that you will be a good exchange student and because you are open minded enough (or crazy enough) to go to any country we may throw you in, and adaptable enough to handle it (I can’t imagine why it’s hard to get sponsored). The other reason why Rotarians choose our countries for us, is really for our benefit. They want to send us somewhere that will best suit us. So the next rotary weekend at Camp Wanakita was mainly for the Rotarians to observe us under less than perfect circumstances, get to know us better and decide on the best fit for every outbound.

So, we exchanged e-mails and said our goodbyes and we were all looking forward to the next Rotary Weekend at Camp Wanakita in Early February.