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.
