Not all of you may know, but I'm on exchange through Rotary International. It is, hands down, the best exchange organization out there. No, I haven't been on exchange through another program, but Rotary is amazing. It starts with the conferences before you leave. You get to meet kids from all over the world that will try to influence you to go to their country. You also get to meet kids that are in the same position as you, leaving next year, and you meet kids that just got back from their year on exchange. Then, once you're abroad, you have support everywhere. You have your Rotary club in your city, your sponsor club from your hometown, and every single Rotary club in between.
This past weekend I, with the other exchange students here, went to a Rotary conference! It was in Šiauliai, a city in the northern part of the country. It was a conference for Rotaract members. Rotaract is a 'branch' of Rotary, but for younger members. I think from ages 18-30. I didn't know what all the weekend would include going into it. The main things I knew is that there would be bowling, a party, and every Rotary exchange student in the country. Yup, all four of us! I got to Šiauliai and there was an actual conference that we started with. It was really boring because I couldn't understand anything. Parts got translated for me though. After all that was over, we got to go bowling! Us four exchange students and one other Rotaract member made up the World Junior Team! We were terrible. Yes, I am pro on Wii bowling, but I couldn't channel my inner Wii. I don't think I scored over 60 in either of the two games. It was fun though. After the bowling festivities were over, we all went to a guest house in the countryside to spend the rest of the evening. There, we started with dinner. It was really good! Have I mentioned I love the food here? I think it was chicken with some type of rice with some veggies in it. Very good. After dinner, was a presentation of the team that won the bowling tournament. No, we didn't win. We did get a special mention though! We each got a box of chocolate and a plaque for being the exchange students. Then the night continued with a fund raiser. I didn't really understand what they were saying, but it was pretty easy to figure out. I think they somehow picked names of random members. That member had no choice but to participate. Participate in what? They were going to have a pie/cake thrown at them. The money part was other members could bid on who got to throw the pie/cake. I think the highest one was 420 Litas! (That should be about $165) After that was all over and the pie/cake was cleaned up, there was a dance! I didn't dance much. Two reasons for that: 1) I can't really dance. 2) I was tired! Natalie, John, and I (the other exchange students) ended up playing cards. We taught a few people ERS (Egyptian Rat Screw) and Speed. We ended up finally going to bed around 3:30 in the morning! I was extremely tired, but it was really fun. I slept in the next day, ate breakfast, then came back home to Kaunas.
It was an excellent weekend, but now I'm a little sick. Mostly a sore throat and a headache. Nothing serious. The good part about it is one of the sickness isn't homesickness! Yay for that! This is nothing a little of my mom's ancient Chinese Cold Quell can't cure. I'm not convinced that it isn't just dirt in those capsules, but they seem to work for the most part.
Thanks for stopping by!
No comments:
Post a Comment