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DISTRICT 5000’s OUTBOUND STUDENTS 2007-08 MID-YEAR REPORT
Mia Livausais, from Maui, is participating in the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. She is living in France this year and attending her junior year of high school. The youth exchange experience affects more than just the student. Students leave behind friends, family and especially their parents. Many parents, while supportive of their child’s wish to explore and gain experiences, are apprehensive.
This is one parent’s story…
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Mia showing off her new hair style
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Mia is having an amazing time in Lille, France. At first, she didn't understand the language and was very insecure about speaking it. She said when she was with the French kids, she would laugh when they would laugh, and look sad when they looked sad. Her break through was getting lost on the bus and she had to communicate with the bus driver in French. Somehow, she got across that she missed her stop. She and the bus driver have become friends and she has invited him to Maui.
Currently, she lives with a host dad who is a vet, a mom who is working on opening a crepe restaurant, 3 sisters and a little brother, 1 dog, 2 cats, and more than 20 birds including a parrot that says some bad French words. She says she can dream and think in French now. Sadly, the only course that will probably count for the year will be French and Literature. She could not follow French in physics, math or some of the more technical classes but she goes and listens and translates some of what they are doing there. She is eating vegetables and loves to cook now. She never did that at home!
She had a bus trip to Barcelona a couple of weeks ago with other exchange students and had a ball dancing the salsa. She also joined a swim team and has placed in 25 breast and 50 free, even without goggles, and this was one of her first times in the water. I asked her if the French are just not so good at swimming or if she is still a great swimmer. She decided it was the first one. One day, she was in Paris with her host mom and needed to read English. She found War and Peace, and thought Tolstoy was a bargain for only 5 euros since it was so big. So now she is reading War and Peace and actually likes it. She is also reading Harry Potter in French and writes in French in her journal. She still aspires to be a missionary and help people in Third World countries. A Brazilian boy thought that was weird, but now they are friends and he gave her a tiny bikini for Christmas but she can't wear it just yet.
Mia tells us she wants to live in France and major in something with world relations. We miss her soooooo much but are grateful for the experience she is having. Next month, she will go on another bus trip to Italy and Switzerland. Then we meet her in Paris in June! Abiento! Her mom, Fely Livaudais
Our student, Leilani Rapaport from the island of Hawaii, is on exchange in Spain and she writes…
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Leilani in front of the great Colosseum in Rome Italy
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It has been six months since I set foot in Madrid, Spain, and I can definitely feel it. I answer, "Si?" when my name is called, my new favorite dish is Paella, and I have finally accepted the fact that all of my friends speak a foreign language. Attending a Spanish public school, daily, has been as difficult as it is exciting. I have been blessed with kind professors and classmates, who continue to be a tremendous amount of help. Each day I understand more of what I hear, and am able to practice speaking with my friends and family. My host parents make strong efforts to make me feel more like their daughter than an exchange student. My host sister, Amaya, and I have grown so close that I can't imagine living without her. Our dog, Flaka, is a wonderful furry addition to the family. We live in Puerta de Hierro, a forty-minute trip, by metro, to the center of Madrid.
Here, in Spain, there are so many activities to do and sights to see. The excellent transportation system makes it even easier! I frequently visit Madrid's various plazas, the famous Retiro Park, and local tapas restaurants. For Christmas, my family stayed in my host-father's village in Salamanca. The first day of 2008 began with the consummation of twelve grapes, a custom I plan to keep. For a while, I was involved in my school's Volleyball team but had to give it up for extra Spanish classes at the Official School of Languages, in Madrid. Having studied Japanese for two years, learning a new language with a never-ending amount of verbs and their conjugations has been a challenge. Luckily I have electronic and book translators, multiple Spanish podcasts, and various language workbooks to help me. A local college student and I exchange language lessons weekly, and she has become a great friend of mine.
A few weeks ago, I spent eight days in Italy with around twenty other exchange students! It was such an amazing country, and I'm left with a couple Italian phrases and even more memories, but I have to admit my homesickness for Spain while abroad. This real-life experience could not be replaced by any story or textbook, and I am truly grateful for the love and support I'm receiving. My perspective widens with each discovery, and heart with every new friend. Next year I plan to attend college in the United States, but I will definitely return to Spain, and hopefully travel more around Europe. Who knew all this was possible one year ago? Thank you so much for this opportunity.
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