Rotary Youth Exchange

Youth Exchange students joined Pearl Rotarians Oct. 19 to cook dinner for 75 homeless men at Clark Center.

Wednesday after school, inbound student Elisabeth Gruner (here from Germany) and YEO David Bangsund headed out to shop for the ingredients to cook dinner for the men living at Clark Center in SE Portland.

At the center they were joined by Rebound students Lauren Hall (Finland) and Savannah Webber (Peru) who are back after a successful exchange last year, and Rotarians Lori Beight and Don Smith. After an hour and a half of choing, dicing, stirring and baking, they served a hearty meal of minestrone soup and freshly made cornbread to 75 hungry men at the shelter.

Between cooking and serving, Lauren and Savannah (now seniors at Lincoln H.S.) took the opportunity to tell Elisabeth, attending Grant, about their exchanges and give her a few pointers.

Pearl-backed youth exchange program sends, welcome students

August on the Rotary International youth exchange calendar marks both the end and the beginning for student participants. That’s true for Pearl Rotary, too.

Samantha, Lauren return

When Samantha Webber (to Peru) and Lauren Hall (to Finland) spoke to Pearl Rotarians Aug. 16, they shared pictures of their families, Rotary Clubs, schools, trips with other exchangers…and even coping with loneliness.

But their final summaries were the most memorable.

“We want to thank you guys,” said Samantha, about her year in Peru. “It was a life-changing and once-in-a-lifetime. It changes your life in every way. Everything is a positive, even those really tough days.”

Added Lauren: “Day to day, you don’t realize you’re doing this on your own–the language, host families.” Her first month was “traumatizing.” She asked herself: “What am I doing in Finland? But I got through that. It all worked out.”

Both Samantha’s and Lauren’s parents attended…and the students brought banners from their host clubs and presented them to club officer Dave Bangsund and President Lou Radja. And now the two students, who began the Rotary y.e. journey during their sophomore years, have started their senior years at Lincoln High School.

Pearl Rotary also sponsored high school students on the short-term program: Chris Meabe, Wilson high school, spent part of the summer in Austria. Catherine Wu, now a senior at Lincoln (and president of the Interact Club), recently returned from two months in Argentina.

Natalie, Dani depart

As the y.e. experience for Samantha and Lauren was ending, the adventures for two Pearl-backed students was just beginning.

In August, Natalie Kaiser (Lincoln high school) and Dani Jewett (Grant) flew from PDX to Europe. They are now with new families and sponsoring clubs in Finland and France, respectively. They are spending their junior years on Rotary’s long-term program before returning to Oregon for their senior years. Pearl Rotarians joined their families in farewells at PDX, after both had visited Rotary meetings here. Their selection occurred in late 2010 and they completed eight months of preparation through District 5100 before starting their actual exchange.

Elisabeth Gruner arrives

Sixteen-year-old Elisabeth Gruner, from Eisenach, TH, Germany, has had a busy two weeks since arriving in Portland as

Pearl Rotary’s inbound student. Hosted by the family of outbound Dani Jewett in Northeast Portland, Elisabeth has registered at Grant high school, joined the cross country team, been hosted at a swimming party at Rotarian Mike (and Judy) Rompa’s home, and visited Seattle with her host family. She was introduced to Pearl Rotarians by Dave Bangsund on Aug. 30.

In Central Germany, her parents are both professional musicians. She has a younger brother and sister.

In Portland, Elisabeth will have three host families. Her counselor is Sarah Kaiser, the mother of long-term participant Natalie.

(Pearl Rotary had expected to host two students in 2011-12, but the process for a student at Lincoln H.S. from Argentina was not completed.)

’12-13 Y.E. participants sought

Club officer Dave Bangsund has announced that the process for selecting Pearl Rotary’s outbound student for 2012-13 is underway. Applicants must be sophomores now, in good academic standing, and be available for orientations throughout this school year.

Attached is a preliminary application to complete and return to Bangsund.

Pearl Rotary’s June 21 gathering was the final club meeting for our two long-term youth exchange students in 2010-2011–Ice from Thailand and Clo from France.ice

Both had previously given longer programs. Tuesday’s session found Clo, a singer and guitarist, playing for Rotarians as her farewell.

President-Elect Lou Radja presented both with two club banners–one for our exchangers, the second for their sponsoring clubs.

Their year in Portland, and as students at Lincoln H.S., is ending. Both are flying home this week. Below is a further report from Dave Bangsund, club officer for youth exchange, on a celebration with their host families held last weekend.clo

Further update: Savannah Webber has returned from her long-term exchange to Peru; coming home soon will be Lauren Hall, from Finland. Pearl participants in 2011-12 will be outbounds Dani Jewett and Natalie Kaiser, to France and Finland, respectively. Our club will be hosting students from Germany and Argentina, expected to arrive in August.

And now, this from Dave:

Exchange students return home

After a year of new experiences, new friends, three new families, and a new culture, our exchange students Budsarin “Ice” Avasongkram (Thailand) and Clotilde Fourrier (France) are headed home. Both girls participated in graduation ceremonies at Lincoln High School and are now spend their last few days in Portland saying good-bye to friends, their three host families, and Portland Pearl Rotary Club. After a year of mastering challenges like getting used to a different culture and becoming fluent in English, they have one remaining challenge – figuring out how to pack everything they have acquired over the past 10 months into two suitcases.

On Saturday June 18, PPRC hosted a dinner at The Spaghetti Factory for Ice, Clo and their host families to celebrate the completion of a successful year of Rotary Youth Exchange.

Pearl Rotary’s 2011-12 outbound long-term youth exchange students now know where they’ll spend their year abroad.Outbound Students

Dani Jewett (center), a sophomore at Grant High School, is destined for France…while Lincoln high sophomore Natalie Kaiser (right) is bound for Finland.

They are pictured, holding the flags of their new countries, with PPRC y.e. advisor Dave Bangsund (2/15/11).

Bangsund reports that PPRC’s youth exchange committee should soon learn the origins of two students who will be assigned this fall to Pearl Rotary. Host families are now being sought. Currently, the club is hosting two girls; both Clo, France, and Ice, Thailand, are attending Lincoln High School. On the outbound program in 2010-11 are Lauren Hall, in Finland, and Savannah Webber, in Peru; both will return this summer for their senior years at Lincoln.

One of our Outbound students, Savannah Webber is going to school in Lima, Peru.  Like all exchange students, she is having to adjust to a new culture.  In Savannah’s case, the culture is more related to her being in a Catholic school than it is to being in Peru.  Here is an excerpt from her blog of August 28, 2010 (http://savannah-webber.blogspot.com)

….(M)y school is a private navy and Catholic school.  Well yesterday there was a true testament to the Catholic aspect!

The Bishop of Peru came to visit our school, which was a big deal. So we all (we being everyone in the school) went out in our tidy lines by gender and class, and stood outside because there is no space in the school for everyone! And there was a lot of ceremonial entrance with some flag marchers, band, mini choir singing the national song of Peru, lifting the flag of Peru, introduction, ect.…

….Then later in the day we had Mass. Catholic mass is incredibly ornate!  There is also a lot of standing, sitting, standing, sitting, and so on. Accompanied with a lot of songs thrown into the mix. There was also… ooh, I can’t remember what it’s called, where those who have recently confessed can accept the wafer and wine as the blood and body of Christ. And I got really scared that I was gonna have to get into the line and do the same, but luckily not everyone went up, so I could just sit and watch (pheew)! It was also very long, it lasted an hour and a half, but there was a lot to see!

Also related to church and school, as I am in fourth year I have to deal with the issue that everyone is going through confirmation, but I can’t take part in everything that they are doing because I’m not catholic- though trying to explain what Unitarian Universalist is is incredibly difficult- and I was never baptized, which kinda rocked the boat. ….

Our Outbound student Lauren Hall is going to school in Finland and seems to be having a ball.  Here are a few comments from her blog.  (http://lauren-finland.blogspot.com/)

So school has been going well. I know where everything is, and everyone knows that I am American. One reason is that last Thursday all the exchange students gave a presentation to the entire school; I am proud to say America got more cheers than Mexico or Canada! And second, I am probably the loudest person in the building; I don’t mean to be, Finns are just really quiet. Also, I am white, but I probably have the most exotic, thickest hair. I actually stand out!

My favorite class is English because I spend my time learning Finnish with a German, and they are learning British English. Whenever they listen to tapes, I have trouble holding back my laughter.

I am still loving the food here. I have found my comfort food- apples. There are so many apple trees here, it’s incredible. Also, last week, I really wanted spaghetti. So, on Friday, with my Canadian friend and a Finn, I went to a restaurant and got spaghetti. It was expensive for one plate, but so worth it. Also, the ice cream here is really good, and really cheap. I have been biking into the village a lot just to get an ice cream cone, great times.

As much as I like the food, I do not eat all day. I have made a lot of new friends. I went to a youth group last Saturday night with great people and great music. Before that I went to a mideavil festival, where I saw jousting!…. On Friday, I played ultimate, and of course, got my spaghetti. Yesterday, there was an opera at the castle. It was incredible, and I have never been to an opera before.

Here is a note we got from one of our short term exchange students, Elise Zeidman. After she graduates from Cleveland High School she is going on another exchange, this time to Argentina.

I think like many things, a short-term exchange is what you make it; it can become a vacation, but can also be a life-changing experience. My experience with STEP has been unusual and amazing. I went to Ecuador last summer to stay with Xime and her family. It was the hardest, most uncomfortable and best experience of my life. In the language and culture as well as my relationship with Xime, I worked as hard as I could every day to make things work out, and it was not always easy. In fact, it was often far from easy. But, when I left last summer, I had a strong relationship with Xime and her family and I had begun to become comfortable in a foreign country.

Xime’s family invited me to come back this summer for Xime’s graduation. I spent about four weeks in Ecuador this summer. It was so wonderful to go back. Nothing feels better than working hard for something and having it turn out so well. When I went back my Spanish was good enough that I understood what was going on and I could be part of the conversations. I knew people already and I met lots more. I felt comfortable there, which couldn’t have been farther from the way I felt upon arriving last summer. I guess you could say this trip was more of a vacation (but then it was meant to be, wasn’t it?), but I also learned a lot more than I had expected.

I want to thank you for making all of this possible. It has been an experience unlike anything I had imagined and has changed my life. I would love to come to the Portland Pearl Club and talk about it. Thanks again,

Elise .

This is me with Xime, her brother, Mario, and their mom, Ximena, last summer when they took me to a bull fight (culture shock!).

They both graduated from Lincoln High School. They both have the University of Oregon as their alma mater.

And both Nigel and Mason Vanderford are past Rotary International long-term youth exchange participants: Nigel, to Denmark, in 2002-03; Mason, to Taiwan, in 2005-06.

The Vanderford Brothers visited Pearl Rotary Aug. 9. They were introduced by Rotarian Jerry Baysinger who has past club and District 5100 leadership experience with youth exchange.

“I want to thank you guys so much for all your help,” said Mason. “You really helped find my niche.”

And that career choice: studying the Mandarin language beginning this fall in Taipei, Taiwan.

For Nigel, he returns soon to Wake Forest University for his second year of law school. His specialty: European Union law.

The brothers were sponsored by our Rotary Club Nigel by the Portland Industrial Rotary Club, Mason by Portland Pearl. Their individualized buttons have places in our storage box and were found as they entered the EcoTrust conference room.

Joked Nigel: “I appear to be the only one still wearing a Portland Industrial badge.”

Pictured (from left): President Phil Rothrock, Mason Vanderford, Nigel Vanderford, Rotarian Jerry Baysinger.

Giulliana Moncada Vasquez arrived in August for her year on Rotary International youth exchange with minimal English skills.

But she had Rotary experience, as president of the Interact Club at her high school in Lima, Peru. And she had taken the risk of coming to another country for a year of high school, to live with three host families, to attend high school (at Lincoln), and to be part of the Portland Pearl Rotary Club.

After hearing her required speech to the club March 2, Pearl Rotarians may unanimously pronounce her exchange successful. With a command of English, with poise and humor, and with an impressive Powerpoint, Giulliana brought pictures of her Lima family, school, volunteerism and friendships to the Ecotrust conference room setting.

Her first six months here have been “great…my life has changed totally.” She cited her joining the Lincoln High School racquetball team and advancing in tournaments as a new discovery in her life (she’s 18, having marked birthday in American last September).

She admitted being scared initially, of the language, of the people. But that has been replaced with a very evident confidence, as she spoke to Rotarians.

“I have four months left. I don’t want to come back to Peru. I think I’ll change my visa!”

Ecuador connections through youth exchange at Aug. 18 meetingEcuador connections through youth exchange at Aug. 18 meeting

“Nothing that we do in Rotary is more fulfilling than a successful youth exchange.” That was part of Past President Myron Fehr’s introduction Aug. 18 of Beki Howard, who returned in June after a year as Portland Pearl Rotary’s long-term outbound to Portoviejo, Ecuador.

“Nothing that we do in Rotary is more fulfilling than a successful youth exchange.” That was part of Past President Myron Fehr’s introduction Aug. 18 of Beki Howard, who returned in June after a year as Portland Pearl Rotary’s long-term outbound to Portoviejo, Ecuador.

And in a 20-minute presentation in words and images, Beki demonstrated that the experience was life-changing. “When you’re a Rotary youth exchange student,” she said, “the world just shrinks.”

Beki, who turned 16 on her exchange, attended a year of high school (she’s soon to begin her senior year at Molalla High School). Her trips with 126 fellow exchange students in District 4400 took her to the Amazon (“it was gorgeous,” she said of a boat trip down the river) and to the Galapagos Islands (she showed pictures of hugh turtles and giant iguanas). Her host club of 40 Rotarians, amazingly, hosted nine students and sent 11 abroad through Rotary y.e.

She came home with “a new mindset,” Beki admitted. A slide show revealed a year of smiles, travel experiences, new friends from throughout the world and a concluding image written in the sand of a beach: “I Love Ecuador.”

“You can’t experience this on any other program,” she concluded. “I can’t thank you guys enough.”

Aug. 18, by coincidence, became “Ecuador Day” at PPRC. Also attending were two participants in the 5100 short-term youth exchange program.

Elise Zeidman of Portland spent five weeks on Quito on short-term y.e.; Ximena Viteri Gaibor, her host sister in Quito, is here now to complete the exchange.

“An overwhelming experience,” expressed Elise, who attends Cleveland High School and was one of three short-term exchanges sponsored by Pearl Rotarians. “It was different than anything I had ever known.”

Echoing Beki, Elise aded: “I got to do so many things I never get to do; it can only happen in a program like this.”

Ximena also spoke in Spanish. Among her memories: Discovering how cold the Pacific Ocean in Oregon is compared to what she knows of the same body of water in Ecuador. “Muy frio,” she said with a smile.

No doubt Beki Howard had the same experience last year, in reverse.

Caption for picture:

Ecuador was on the agenda at the August 18, 2009, meeting (from left): President Don Smith; long-term youth exchange returnee Beki Howard; Elise Zeidman of Portland, who spent five weeks on Quito on short-term y.e.; Ximena Viteri Gaibor, her host sister in Quito (now in Portland to complete the exchange); and club officer Dave Bangsund