October 1999	Click to learn more About Beaver Tales, or Rotary International.
Well everybody, here it is - the first issue of Beaver Tales from the 1999/2000 "Outbounds" of District 7080. Sorry for the delay, we believe that it was worth it. This issue has 100% participation. Thanks to each of you.
To the students - I have enjoyed receiving all the mail and appreciate the efforts that you have taken to tell your stories - and there are many stories told in these letters. I hope that all of you have as much fun reading about the feelings and adventures of the other students as I, and the rest of us, have had reading each of your letters. To parents, Rotarians, and all other interested readers - Enjoy, this is truly a learning experience, an insight to the life of an exchange student.
Please address any comments, questions or concerns about this issue to the editor - Martin Ward, via e-mail at mward@thedeward.com
Index
John Aubin Georgetown to Philippines Lauren Buchanan Woodstock-Oxford to Australia Andrew Buchner Tillsonburg to France Heather Burdett Burlington to Austria Megan Campbell Kitchener-Westmount to Germany Brendan Card Tavistock to Brazil Lisa Dressler Milton to Australia Luke Forget Ingersoll to South Africa Jennifer Gerrow Acton to Mexico Ashley Grier Mississauga-Dixie to Germany Ian Haugh Palgrave to New Zealand Amy McDougall Milton to Argentia		Jodie Merrill Orangeville to Australia Andrea Niklaus Burlington to Japan Mike Sammut Bolton to Germany Paul Stickney Kitchener to Thailand Whitney Szabo Mississauga-West to France Sarah Tacoma Guelph-Trillium to Japan Sally Taylor Fergus-Elora to Finland Stanley Tresidder Hamilton to Germany Deb Turner Brampton to Japan Rebecca Walker Kitchener to Ecuador Joanna Zdrojewska Oakville-Trafalgar to Belgium

Dear fellow exchange students:

I only hope that your exchanges have been as good as mine has been so far. Right now I am probably the most popular kid in school and everywhere I go in town everyone here in the Philippines stops and stares at me. I like being the center of attention so it is all right up my alley. School is interesting here, they have military training as a part of their curriculum. I have a very hard time marching and I am usually laughed at a bit during military training because of it. It is all in good fun though so I do not mind. I am also on the school's basketball team. I am the tallest in the school so I was an easy pick for that. I now know that there is a lot more to the game of basketball than just being tall. I am a bit too clumsy to be a good basketball player. And as for the people in my school they are all great and always willing to listen to what I have to say so that is real plus.

As for the food, that is a bit of a funny story. I have eaten something called balot, which is basically the embryo out of a ducks egg. I have eaten soup #5. That is made of a part of the bull that a cow does not have. I let you use your imaginations for that one. I was told all about what it was made of after I had eaten two big bowls of it! I was surprised. I have eaten other thing such as squid, lechon (which is an entire pig that has been fried and then served).

I am learning to speak one of the languages here in the Philippines (Tagalog). I am being tutored after school every day and right now I know only a few words and phrases, but they are all pretty useful. Gwapo is a handsome man, Gwapa is the female version. Also Mahal Kita means I love you so I figure I am all set for now.

I just thought of something else. Here in the Philippines every city has a fiesta. In Iligan (the city where I am staying), their fiesta just happened to be on my birthday. My classmates all showed up at about 6:00 AM to have a birthday party for me. I was impressed. A little surprised, I am not very good morning person so it did take a little getting used to but I was still impressed and surprised none the less.

Well that has been most of my interesting stories thus far and I look forward to reading all about the rest of yours.

John Aubin

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G'day from the Land Down Under!!!!

I thought that since I have been here for two and a half almost three months already that it was about time I let you in on exactly what I have been up to. I am at my second host family now; I moved in with the Huston's on the 17th of September. Prior to that I had been staying with Norm & Maureen Perry. The Huston's have two daughters, Jillian (16) and Jessica (14); they also have a son, Aydon who is 9 so it's very much like home (except they have a pool which I have been in almost everyday).

School is going great other than the fact that they put me halfway through grade 11 but it's not so bad all the teachers are very understanding that I'm way ahead of where I should be. The classes that I am taking are as follows: Math, English, Business, Practical Computer Methods (PCM), Geography, Drama, and a class that is called options, for the options you have many choices on what you would like to do, the activities range from a study period in the Library to playing Ping-Pong. In the one that I chose we watch movies and during the double period every Tuesday we go ten pin bowling. It turns out that one of the math teachers is actually my next host mom and her oldest daughter Melissa (17) is going on a Rotary Exchange to Switzerland in January.

In the Rotary scene I have attended every meeting since I got here and really look forward to them every week. I enjoy the company because if their not telling me the funniest story I have ever heard they are teaching me how to speak like a true Aussie. Recently I have been very involved with helping Rotary prepare their float for the town's Water Festival. This is a festival celebrating the underground lake that this shire, (like a county) is built on. Because of this lake the Burdekin has the best Sugar Cane crops in Australia. Putting the float together took many working B's and long nights but boy was it worth it! The float had two levels, on the back (the higher level) there was a merry-go-round, that actually went around and had kids riding it, and the front was where the Rotary Water Festival Ambassadress sat in her beautiful white dress. Friday I went to the first Rotary orientation weekend where I met all the other exchanges. It was a blast and in November I am going to a Rotary night in Bowen (one hour south) where I'll get to see the student from Zimbabwe again so I am really looking forward to that.

The second weekend that I was here I attended what is called a Debutante Ball with Norm and Maureen. At these balls young women make an official debut into society; Norm and Maureen's granddaughter was making her debut. It is a great night and since then I have signed up to make my debut just before I leave to go home. I already have a partner for it even though it is a long way off.

I have been taken a few places since I got here, Norm and Maureen have taken me to Proserpine to see the Whitsunday islands; it was only a day trip so we didn't get to any of them but I saw them from the shore and they are beautiful; the Huston's are planning to take me on a cruise around them in November. One of the Rotarians and his wife had season tickets to the Cowboys (the local pro football team) and took me to two games in Townsville which was a lot of fun. Also the family that rents the flat under Norm and Maureen's to me to Bowen as well which is one hour south and had some really nice beaches. Norm and Maureen also took me to the Billabong animal Sanctuary in Townsville where I got to feed and pet a Koala. They also had Wallabies, (mini Kangaroos) wandering around that you could feed and pet but they were just like the reindeer in Marineland; once you feed them they won't leave you alone.

Well I think that I had better go now, so many letters to write and so little time. Please include my best wishes for eveyone else on exchange right now.

Lauren Buchanan (Ayr, Queensland, Australia)

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I don't really have many things to tell. This area is great, the weather is nice, the beaches are very nice, as well as the people. I just got back from a trip to Spain with the Rotary clubs of Hossegar-Capbreton. It was very nice except for the fact that all we did was visit very old monasteries form the Roman age. Fine if you're into that type of thing. One thing that i don't like is the fact that I haven't met with the rest of the exchange students in my district yet. I think that they might have forgotten to inform me of when the meetings are. I've got to talk to my counselor about that. Well as you can see I haven't really got much to talk about because school takes up a lot of my time 8-6 is a long time. Well that's about all I have to say about that.

Andrew Buchner

France

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Well, I'm finally here in beautiful Austria! I'm having an amazing time, no regrets.

The first two weeks I was here were spent at language school with all of the other exchange students in Austria. There were students from America, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Japan and Sweden- as well as four other Canadians. The school taught me a lot - and was a great base to start with my first host family. The two weeks were very fun, and I got to know the other students very well.

After language school, I was warmly welcomed in to the beautiful home of my first host family, the Stadlers, in the rural village of I have joined my towns ski/snowboard club, and I plan to go on many snowboarding excursions. I am looking forwards to the snow, Christmas and New Years. I can feel my German improving everyday, and people are very good about trying to only speak German with me- though the strong dialect here is sometimes difficult to understand. I feel that this year will be a great success!

Luv, Heather

p.s. Hi everyone!!

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I suppose I haven't much to tell, as I've only been here one month. A good deal of that time was spent getting over jet lag...I'm in Rostock, Germany, 10 minutes away from the Baltic sea. The Baltic sea home of rare poisonous jelly-fish that only show up the days I go to the beach. The mornings are perpetually foggy and rainy, though no one believes me that 15degress C isn't cold.

I love it here. My host family is incredible. School is ok....no, wait, it starts at 7:30, that is not ok. I shouldn't complain, right now my host family lives very close to the school. Rumour has it that with one of the other families I have, the students have to leave for school at 5:30. Oh yes, did I mention it's in German?

Most of the kids here speak English, most of the adults (who were here in GDR times), have Russian as their second language. Ich spreche nur ein bissien Deutsch (I don't even know if that's spelt correctly), so I mostly get by with 'smile and nod...' There are two Australians here, I sometimes (sometimes?) get them to translate. I thought my language was coming along well, till my hosts' 2 year old cousin came to visit. Her German is infinite times better than mine....Still, I'm in German school, and I'm starting to understand some things.

I have only been to Dresden so far. School vacations are next week, my family and I will be traveling around the south. It isn't fair. My classmates eat as much chocolate as they want, and never gain a pound. There's just too much temptation here!! I got a tattoo on my forehead. But then it rubbed off. I had a really good time scaring Rotarians with it though.

Germans are incredibly work orientated. My host parents (and I'm told this is fairly typical) start work around 7:30 8:00, and don't get home usually till around 8:00. Most of my teachers and friends also have uniformly illegible handwriting. Not only can I not understand them, I can't even read the lessons to try and translate.

Germans love America. Their music (for the most part) is American, their TV is American, and the ultimate status symbol is having lived for a little while in America. The rest of the exchange students (except, perhaps, the Americans,) are not impressed.

I suppose that's about it. (I haven't had very long to amass stories.) I'll get more though (I believe I've agreed to take a trip on a Viking ship, but the conversation was in German so I can't really be sure.)

Tschuss!

Megan

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My city of Adamantina is located in the state of Sao Paulo in Southwest Brazil. It has about 35 000 people, and surprisingly a lot of cowboys, which isn't what most people expect when they think of Brazil. Every day I drink coffee grown on a farm ten minutes from my city. Sugar cane is the other primary crop which is processed for alcohol, the most common fuel for cars in Brazil. Sugar cane is also used to make the liquor "Pinga" the most common drink of Brazil. My city has the largest percentage of Volkswagen beetles per capita in the world. You look down the street and see Bug after Bug, and the occasional horse cart. In Brazil everything appears to under constant construction, and the favourite building material is quick dry cement. These workers are employed for a few dollars a day, but they usually smoke and argue about soccer more than they do work.

On the main streets every few stores seems to be a tiny bar with one or two people inside. It's similar to "Tim Horton's" in Canada except that the beer is much cheaper per volume than coffee. There are many many stray dogs and cats looking for handouts and the occasional child doing the same thing. The two most apparent cultural aspects of Brazil are BB-Q's and soccer. Most professions(doctors, engineers) and large companies (Banco do Brasil) have a club outside the city and meet once or twice a week for a BB-Q where they drink and play cards.

The professional soccer league in Brazil - An icon of soccer in Brazil is the player Edmundo or "Animal". In 1995 he was driving drunk and killed three girls. The court sentence finally passed a couple of weeks ago, and found him guilty, and sentenced him to sleep in jail at night and play soccer during the day for three years...less time if his team wins a championship. I wonder about corruption in Brazil.

At my Rotary meeting this week, I will receive 8% more money than the last time I went....inflation is good.

Tchau,

Brendao Cardoso

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Hello friends from around the world!

What can I say, Australia has been a blast! I am still at my first host family's place until November 12, 1999. I am now living with one woman who is 30-ish and single. It has been fun being with her and it is a different experience having no sisters and brothers running around the house. She is very lovely and has supported me through the tough times being homesick. I have been in Australia for about 2 months now and loving it. I am not really homesick anymore.

My school was a bit of a cultural shock. It is a hearing school and I practically grew up in a deaf school where everyone signs my language. Now it is totally different. But now I am getting the hang of it. In classes I have signed interpreters there for me. I start summer holiday on November 26th and return back in January! YIPEE!

Let's see... KANGAROOS!! I have had the chance to pet some in the zoo. They are so cute! I have not seen any in the wild yet but hopefully I will when I go camping with my host family. I saw koalas in the zoo and many Australian creatures!

Two of the school courses I took were Outdoor Ed and Physical Ed. They go out on a lot of excursions and that gave me the opportunity to go surfing, wind surfing, horse riding on the beach, body boarding. So many new things to do here. Hey I can actually surf!! YAY!!

I am really trying to get use to the Aussie slangs. Wow, there is so many of them! Well I guess I gotta practice some more.

I have met 2 of my friends here in Australia who went to Canada to visit. It was really nice to see them again. I have met a lot of people!!! It is really hard to keep track with the names! There is a really nice girl at the school who helped me out a lot meeting new people.

My next letter should be filled with more details after the summer holiday. So take care and experience as much possible!

"THERE ARE MANY LANGUAGES IN THE WORLD AND A SMILE SAYS IT ALL!"

Luv the lil' Aussie to be...

Lisa Dressler

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Howzit everyone, from the Rainbow Nation. I am finally getting around to writing this thing. It seems odd to finally b e writing it and not just hearing about it. It seems like yesterday we were all at the last orientation weekend hearing about how we have to do these things like write to Beaver Tales. I have so much to write I hope I don't take too long. I will start from the beginning.

The flight over, the long flight over, the very long flight over was OK, but long. When I arrived I was running on adrenaline as were most of you I suspect. After a short wait for my host father to pick me up I got the first glimpse of South Africa. A very beautiful country. Arriving home I was too excited to unpack or sleep. So my host father and I went out to eat and got to know each other. Then I went home and slept till the next night.

It took me about 4 days to fully recover then I was ready to go. School was very interesting, the people helped me out very much and I made friends easily. This country knows how to party almost as well as Canadians. Every weekend I am out at the fantastic night life they have here in Jo'Burg. I have joined an ice hockey team here and it is great fun playing. I was surprised at the talent of the players. I got to go on tour with them to Durban. This was my first venture outside of Jo'Burg. I loved Durban. It si a laid back coastal city. I was introduced to surfing and vowed I must learn before going home. By the way my first time swimming in the ocean. I love to coast, I spent the whole weekend on the beach, I didn't even want to play hockey. I had to come home that Sunday and back to school.

It was a regular few weeks after that until I was offered a trip to Jeffries Bay. This is a small tourist town, situated on the best breaking wave in Africa. I went with my hockey coach another Canadian. We became good friends and we both are determined to surf and were supposed to get lessons, but I guess the instructor thought 12 ft. surf was too dangerous. We agreed quickly once we saw the waves.

The next week I was off to Mozambique with a group of divers. This place is the most beautiful I have ever seen. Beaches as far as you can see totally unspoiled. I wasn't able to dive but was able to go out on the open sea to find out if I get sea sick or not. Luckily I don't, and the seas were rough that day. I used another whole roll of film and made some new friends to e-mail. Sadly I had to come home after only a week in paradise. Oh yeah, the surf in Mozambique was crap but I tried to get some practice in. The long 7 hour drive back I spent sleeping mostly. When we arrived at home I was totally ready to party. So my host brother and I hit Roxy's Rhythm Bar. A fabulous club near to my home. It was good to see most of my friends there, and jol with them. Well that was the shortened version of my trip so far. Well, I left out a few things. In between all this I joined the school athletics team, learned the rules of rugby and have begun practicing for the next season, and am slowly picking up the complicated game of cricket.

I have to admit when I found out I was going to South Africa I was a little skeptical, but after living here and learning and seeing the great diversity this amazing country has I have come to love this place and are trying not to think I have to come home. I hope all are having the fun I am.

Living it up in Africa.

Tot siens

Luke

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Hola from Mexico. So okay here's what life is like in Mexico.

I live in a city called Tuxpan, that has roughly 100,000 to 170,000 people. Before I arrived, I knew that Tuxpan had somewhere around 100,000 people, so I imagined a MacDonald's and other commercial things but I was wrong. In Mexico, a city of a hundred thousand is rather small so there is no McDonald's. But that is no big deal - there are excellent restaurants with delicious food.

I go to school at Colegio Patria and I am in 3rd semester. School begins at 7:00 am and goes 'till 1:15 pm. Yeah - seven in the morning - well that is early to me but oh well. We have seven classes and a recess between fourth and fifth. We stay in the same classroom all day, with the same people and the teachers come to the class. I also wear a uniform - ahhhh. At first I did not like school and especially not the uniform, but now school is okay and the uniform is actually easier when I wake up as early as I do.

My current host family is very nice and are: my host father who owns ranches, my host mother who looks after us and their home, my host sister Jessica, she is fifteen and is in first semester at Colegio Patria, and my other host sister is Cythia, 17, and she is in Burlington, Ontario, Canada with Rotary Exchange.

On September 16th was Mexico's Independence Day. On the night of the fifteenth when the celebration takes place, I attended a party at the Government building in Tuxpan along with the other exchange students in Tuxpan and my host sister. We stood on the balcony while the President of Tuxpan made the traditional Vivo Mexico speech and following that, there were fireworks, tons of confettie and this sculpture thing that was lit up near the end of the ceremony. It was an awesome night. Just the spirit of the people that were there celebrating Mexico's Independence was incredible.

Last weekend was the first meeting for all the exchange students in our district. There are so many of us! The meeting was held in Xalapa, Veracruz's capital, on the Sunday and it was a excellent day.

That's about it for now. I hope everyone is having fun.

Adiós Amigos. - Jennifer Gerrow.

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Greetings from Gifhorn, Germany!! I arrived here on the 25th of August.

I flew with Mike Sammut who is also in my district here in Germany. We had an interesting flight, met up with some Belgian exchange students on their way to Mexico while waiting in Frankfurt for a connecting flight to Hanover. We exchanged pins and cards and got some drinks and chatted for a couple of hours, it was really interesting.

My host parents are really nice. Their only son is on exchange in Springfield, Ohio, so I'm an only child which is a big change. It's not too bad, but it gets kind of lonely sometimes. They have a little dog who seems to have taken a liking to me and he keeps me company.

School started on the second of September which was interesting since I had only been here a couple of days and had no concept of the language yet. Rotary here is paying for German lessons for me, so my German is getting better everyday.

The first exchange student weekend for our district was on the 17, 18, 19 of September. Whereas the inbounds to our district in Canada are from all over the world, out of the 40 inbounds that weekend 4 were Canadian (that's including me and Mike), 1 Russian, 2 Japanese, 2 from Argentina, 1 from France, 1 from Sweden, 6 Mexicans and the rest were American (that's almost 25 Americans!!), so everyone spoke English all weekend, even the German Rotarians spoke English to us as a group!! It was nice getting to know everyone and now I know who is living in towns close enough to me to go out with them every once in a while.

I'll be doing a work experience program (a requirement for school) in Czechoslovakia for 2 weeks at the beginning of October. I'll be working at a school and we'll tour around visiting places like Prague, the Scoter factory (it's a car company) and other tourist areas.

Internet here is very expensive so my access is extremely limited for now, I'm working on getting free access from my school, but that hasn't come through yet. I went to my first Rotary meeting the week after I arrived. It was a disaster! I was the youngest, the only one who didn't speak German and the only girl. I felt very uncomfortable. Worst of all, somehow (don't ask how) the man sitting next to me got salad dressing all over me!! It was in my hair, on my face, down my neck and all over my Rotary blazer!! The man was so embarrassed and paid for the dry cleaning bill, but I had to take off all my pins which was a pain. All in all I'm glad I went, even if it was horrible!

I think that more or less sums up my exchange so far. I love it here and am having the time of my life.

To all my fellow exchange students: I hope you are all having as good of a time as I am because I have never had as much fun and adventure as I have had in this past month. I wish you the best of luck in the rest of your year wherever you may be in the world.

Love

Ashley

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Kia ora bros,

Well during this past two months I have truly had a ball. I arrived here and the first thing I noticed was the hills. New Zealand is a bunch of volcanoes and everywhere you go giant foothills or mini-mountains surround you. I love it here but I have to admit all the jokes about there being a gazillion sheep....... are true.

Otorohanga is not the centre of the universe, on a sunny day 3,000 people reside here. It is small and everyone knows you, and I haven't decided if that is good or bad yet. My hosts are great, and own a farm that milks 300 cows.
wow.

I played rugby for the 1st fifteen , and was destroyed by several big maori guys who enjoyed it as an easy way to beat up a foreigner. Rugby is huge here and everyone plays. I am playing basketball and learning cricket as well, but swinging a cricket bat isn't as easy as it looks. The cricket team jokes, and calls me Sammy Sosa because my technique is - wellÖ Sammy Sosaish.

School is good, and easy so all is well, I am taking a 3rd form (equivalent to Grade 9) Japanese class and that is cool as well. The class is me and 16 thirteen year old girls, so I stick out a little.

I have done a lot of travelling and have injured myself snowboarding a few times. The mountains aren't like home. I love it here and hope you are all well.

Remember Rotarians take you places.

Ian

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Hello All fellow beavers, This is the Argentinean Beaver (Amy) writing now. (Okay I know the beginning is corny but give me a break-I haven't exactly spoken English in awhile!)

Okay here I go-you are all very lucky because I just returned from a trip to a conference in the Andes Mountains so a lot is new. I got to stay at an army base - lets just say it was awesome - like staying at the queens palace. It was nice and very beautiful. I got to do stuff like ride in an Argentine Army Tank (while yelling out-I don't think the insurance policy covers this!), snowboard in the Andes Mountains, dance to my heart's end, and tango for everyone at the conference to see. Everyone was very interested about Canada and loved it whenever I would say 'bonjour, and comment 'appel tu?' They were really sweet people.

This week I am going to Trelew which is a place where they have penguins and whales. Life here in Argentina is great. I have so much freedom to explore their culture and immerse myself into the language. Now, I do not speak very much English, because not many people speak English - and I am finding it easier to speak castellano - although I am still having a bit of trouble with conjugating my verbs. I am doing very well in school-so far all 90's and 100's - we'll see about those grades as soon as the new year rolls around! Prom is coming up here in December and so I am getting very excited - that and along with the fact that spring is here and summer is on its way! Life here is certainly very different from life in Canada and many things I have now realized that I took for granted. I am very lucky to live in Canada - we all are! (but then again-I am also very lucky to live in Argentina!) The people here are so warm-hearted and love having a Canadian to dinner-or shall I say cena!

Well, I'd better go as I was invited to a Rotarian's house for dinner and I am leaving tomorrow for Trelew. I can hardly wait to hear all the beaver tales - I hope everyone is having as good of a time as I am. I miss you all greatly!

Yours Truly, signing off from Argentina's Patagonian South

Amy

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Hello to all from the land of Oz.

It would be an understatement to say that my first two months here in Australia have bee amazing. The flight was long but exciting and I was greeted by my counselor and district counselor. I started school right away and have spent my time at school and hanging out with friends.

I've also been on a light plane flight, bushwalking in the Grampians mountain range, playing on the ocean beach, rock climbing with exchange friends and learning about netball and Aussi rules fotball. Both of these sports are completely new to me and very popular here.

O ver school holidays I spent 6 days in Melbourne with a future host family to see the huge Melbourne Show and go to see the sights in the city. After the two weeks of holidays I have 8 more weeks of school until summer break.

I have recently moved from my first to my second host family and so I have been starting and learning household ways all over again. It was sad to be moving on so soon, but I've finally understood the saying "time flies when you are having fun".

I'm looking forward to the rest of my time here and all that is to come. I hope that everyone out there is having a wicked time wherever you are and whatever you're doing.

The pic is of me rock climbing on mount Arapalese.

Jodie Merrill

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I've been here in Japan now for a little over a month and so far things are really FANTASTIC and I'm having a great time. So great in fact that I hardly know where to begin. My flights over were fine - virtually incident-free despite having to change airports on my own in Tokyo. I was awfully worried, but it wasn't a problem, and actually it was a bonus because I got to see some of the city from the bus. It looked so great, I'd love to go back, sometime...2 planes, a bus and 4 trains later, I arrived in Fukui-city, my new home. We're on the west coast of Japan, roughly at the same latitude as Tokyo but actually closer to Osaka and Kyoto. Upon arrival, I realized immediately that I had been blessed with a really wonderful host family. They're so great. There are 3 daughters, all of which have been on exchange, so they are so kind and understanding. My host father owns a kimono shop a few blocks away. As is very typical, my mum stays home and basically waits on everyone hand and foot-even the older girls. Is that ever a change - I think my mum has a rougher day than my dad.

The most beautiful, lush-green forests and Appalachian-like mountains completely surround Fukui-city. Vast wilderness is Japan, imagine that The Sea of Japan coast isn't far, and it too is spectacular.

My house itself is in a small town that while technically in Fukui-city, it seems a world away from the bustle and excitement of downtown. Itagaki-town is very quiet and peaceful, and there are rice fields on every side of my house. There is a river around the corner that, as I pass every morning, I stop to see the cranes down below. It's breathtaking to me.

I am continually hearing complaints of how small the city is. Well, I suppose at 250,000, Fukui to the Japanese would be very much like what, hmm.....Owen Sound is to us. Now, I've become accustomed to the crowds, the pollution, the traffic. I have a bicycle that I use all the time. 1 hr. seems to be the popular biking distance - downtown, school, everywhere takes 1 hr. I've figured, ABSOLUTE MIN., I'm clocking around 150km/week Wow I've gotten pretty aggressive on it, as you really have to be. At morning rush-hour, when there are a mass of bikes, pedestrians and carts coming straight towards me, I don't duck around to the side anymore, but go right through the middle like everyone else It's so fun. The traffic is fairly maniacal. There is no such concept as "right of way", or at least as we know it.

The one unfortunate thing, I think, is that unlike Deb's city, Kanazawa, there are no historical places of interest or old temples to visit, as my entire area was devastated by bombings during the war, and then leveled again by a terrible earthquake 3 years later. So, it still feels like a shame to me to be spending free days shopping in a country with such rich history, but I suppose shopping is cultural too. The main department store downtown is simply without parallel at home. It's incredible-9 floors

I am absolutely loving the food While my host family may be fairly progressive in some ways, their meals are still very traditional. Yes, fish, rice, tofu and seaweed are the primary staples. While I have to say that I am a little bit proud of myself for being able to eat mostly everything put in front of me, I do have a few challenges ahead of me. When we eat whole fish, I just can't bring myself to eat the head. I can eat eel, but NOT the skin - this one's psychological - I just can't rid myself of the terrible memories of fishing with my grandpa on Georgian Bay and pulling in a great big one accidentally. YUCK. They're just SOOO UGLY ). Then there's nato, which, politely, is fermented soybeans, but they really are positively rotten They smell teeerrrrible, taste teerrrrrrrrible - I haven't given up hope though, I think they're growing on me.

To celebrate me having stayed with them for one month, my mum made a very special dinner of sushi - raw everything - fish, octopus, squid, shrimp, crab. It was unbelievable It actually was the first time that I ate sushi that I didn't feel immediately very nauseous. It was delicious. I must be adapting.

Rotary is once a month, and is positive, but very formal, and I long for the fun meetings and the evident camaraderie that exists between Rotarians at home. I've had good contact with the Roteract club though, and although I missed their beach clean-up, tomorrow I'll go with them to plant trees and clean-up at Mt. Asuwa, which is very symbolically significant to the city.

After having been here one week, the district committee held a very brief gathering for all the inbounds. After drilling the rules, there was hardly time enough to even meet the other kids The rules, by the way, are strikingly more strict than those for the inbounds in D7080. For instance, it is strictly forbidden to leave the city limits without a host parent or hosting club Rotarian and our curfews are 9pm. However, this doesn't bother me so much, because I'm so tired everyday that at 9pm I'm in bed and asleep

There are 2 Rotary trips planned for the inbounds, the first of which, to Hiroshima, is coming up very quickly. We leave for it at the start of November. Now, I'm deep in the middle of making 1000 origami cranes that I will string together and leave at the Hiroshima Peace Monument. When I first heard the story of why this is done, I knew that I just had to do it. The story goes that there was girl very ill with radiation poisoning who believed that if she made1000 origami cranes, that she would be cured. She didn't survive, though, and died after making only about 600. So, the practice began in memory of her, but now millions of people leave their cranes in Hiroshima, in memory of the victims of the atomic bombs of course, but also in remembrance of the casualties of all wars. There's no question it's an enormous job, and although it's consuming all of my free moments, it has become important to me. I think in the end it will have been very well worth it.

Our second trip, in July, is to Mt. Fuji, when we will actually be climbing it. Incredible, isn't it? I'm so excited

My school too is great and not at all what I had expected. It's not an academic school, and so quite a few of the girls in my class have told me that they would really like to get married and have babies as soon as possible. I feel very fortunate to be here, because my exchange friends at the academic school are having a much more difficult time making friends, as the students there seem to be so preoccupied with their studies and exams and whatnot. The kids here are so nice, and I'm called An-chan, affectionately. I am taking nursing class(complete with beds, baths, IV poles and old people), contemporary Japanese cooking from expert chefs, flower arrangement, art, gym, and music., and of course Japanese. I have my own private language teacher there. It's really great. That's the only time I see a regular classroom as I knew it

After school, I'm in the okoto club, which is the Japanese Harp. Not only is the music very beautiful, but the traditional ceremony and elaborate costumes are really something to see. At our school festival a few weeks ago, I was very honoured to get dressed up in kimono to accompany the okoto on my flute, in front of the whole school. No one seemed to mind how awful I was. It was fun

In June, our school trip will be to Hokkaido, the most northerly island.

I dare not even think of what my tuition at this school is costing my host Rotary club, because my uniform alone cost them something like $1,500 CANADIAN It's all designer, even the socks are Ralph Lauren

Although I've been told optimistically that there are in fact 1000 foreigners living and working in my region, this actually works out to be only about 1 in 2000, and I think most of these must be from other Asian countries. This means I am getting A LOT of attention. Maybe too much at first but now I'm so used to it that I don't even notice the cars that nearly slow to a stop to stare, the dropped shopping bags, the shocked expressions. I've had groups of small children follow me home and it still strikes me very odd that, while so few boys attend my school, so many live on my block. Hmm funny thing. . Everyone is very curious and I don't mind I've just come to expect that if I speak with anyone long enough they WILL eventually ask to touch my blond hair "Like gold" they say.

At times I have felt very isolated. There have been entire weeks go by when I have not seen another person with whom I could speak real English. Occasionally while shopping I have found myself subconsciously wandering in the direction of the small foreign language book section of the department store just to maybe by chance see someone I can talk to. Shameful - yes I know. Actually it does make me feel very guilty to have come all this way to just be hanging out mostly with the Americans and Europeans in my Japanese class. I fear with the exception of one boy I've met who speaks English, I just don't have enough of the language to really make Japanese friends. This boy lives in the country and I have been invited to go and help his family harvest their rice We also have great plans to go hang gliding a little later

Anyway any problems I have had here have strictly been language barrier-related and there is no question it has been very difficult for me at times I've had a few really miserable days. However, I think that this really has to be expected and I' m not worried about it. I haven't had anything close to a serious problem since I've been here. Learning the language as I'm sure is the same with every country is a very slow, sometimes frustrating, process but I'm not discouraged I'm studying a lot and have made a lot of progress since I first came that's for sure. Often when I go out with the other exchange students I act as the designated communicator. Every night I go to bed satisfied that I had learned maybe one more phrase than I knew the day before Anyhow (really this is really the last thing I'm concerned about) the language will come in due course. I'm giving myself another 3 months. Right now there's lots of other things to do and think about.

I should close for now. There really is nothing else to report. I'm in good health now, fully recovered from my injury a few weeks ago. It seems that I got a small piece of metal debris in my eye while bicycling downtown. I had to have an operation at the hospital to remove it, and, let's just say my Ingle Insurance has paid for itself 10 times over. The worst part was that I'm nearly blind in the other eye so when the injured one swelled shut for a few days I was completely sightless. Don't worry it was a big scare but I'm OK

I hope all of the other outbounds are having a great time.

Take care of yourself, until next time SAYONARA.

Kind regards

Andrea Niklaus

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Well, I don't really know what to write...I guess I will start from the beginning.

I have been here for five weeks now and it has gone by so fast! Everyday though, I am faced with new challenges, the greatest being the language, which, i am slowly picking up. All the people I have met whether they be classmates or fellow inbounds, are great people. I have done very little yet of much significance, but everything i have done, for the most part, has been a blast. I hope to hear from all of you. Until next time...everybody I will see you all when we get back to Canada...except Ashley I will see you at the next inbound weekend (she is in my district)...

Tschüß - MîKé ßäMMµT

P.S. I love the European keyboards...

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Hey all, hope you're all having an AMAZING time wherever you may be. Well, I was thinking about what story would be good to pass out and I thought you all might be interested in my walking under an elephant story.

So one night Kim (the exchange student from Sudbury) and I were walking around at a Shadow Puppet festival at the big temple in our city, and then out of the corner of my eye I see elephants!!!! So we go over thinking it would be the usual show that I've seen about 4 times since I've been here, (elephant bows, sits or whatever and crowd cheers!) but then all of a sudden we see this wacko walking under an elephant! What is going on you might ask? Well apparently it brings you great luck if you walk under the belly of an elephant. So I paid my 10 baht and joined in on the fun! Unfortunately I did not have my camera that evening but do have some great pictures on my already used 7 rolls. Well that's all from me for now!

See you later,

Paul Stickney

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Ok, I:m just going to write something cause if I wait till the next time I get internet access, well, it will be way to late.

Have you ever felt really odd and out of place? Numerous eyes staring right at you until you get the impression there must be some kind of egg or something on your face? Maybe I forgot to comb my hair, or maybe there is reminiscence of that chocolate bar around my mouth. ... well, that is being a foreigner in Japan. Many of the other exchange students around the world probably feel the same way right now about being in their host country. I must say that the huge amounts of attention was the biggest shock in coming here.

No, not the chopsticks, or the squid, or the sushi, or the clothing, or the houses.... but the attention. It's overwhelming. I was walking down the main street with my Japanese friends the other day, we walked across the road and this car comes speeding right at us and slams on his breaks right in front of me. The driver hangs out his window and starts yelling and cheering and saying in Japanese, FOREIGNER!!!! I tried to keep walking and attempt to fit into the crowd, but that's kind of difficult being a tall, light-haired female.

One other shock I had here was waking up in the middle of the night and realizing that my bed was shaking!! I couldn't figure out what was going on until it finally dawned on me.. aaaahh, right! Earthquakes! The food is more amusing than scary, trying to convince myself that its just chicken has been a challenge in itself! But I have mastered the chopsticks, so that is quite handy.

Well, I hope everyone is doing well, and finds a little humor in my experiences!

Love you all!

Sarah

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I have been in Finland for just over a month. It's a beautiful and truly different country, and I love it here. I've come to appreciate the quiet patriotism of the Finns.

When I arrived in Helsinki, I went immediately to a language camp in Karku, which for the week was home to 102 Rotary Exchange Students from around the world. Out of the 102 people there, six lost their luggage and I was lucky enough to be one of them. After the first night, there were only three remaining who didn't have their luggage, and I managed to stay in the game. After about three days, and explaining in great detail to the airport exactly what was in my suitcases, I got them. I'd say the days without my luggage were the least enjoyable I've had to date.

Apart from that, the Orientation Camp was a lot of fun. There were fifteen Canadians and I got to know all of them very well. Since Finland is a bilingual country, there were two languages being studied at the camp. Of the 102 people there, four studied Swedish instead of Finnish, and I was one of them. Swedish is a much easier language to learn, so I lucked out.

From Karku, I went to my host town of Vörå, which is situated on the west coast of Finland, near the city of Vasa. Vörå is a farming community of 3800 people and has a special dialect that is difficult for other Swedish speaking people to understand. My first impression of the village was formed after realizing it is cool in Vörå for groups of teenage boys to drive tractors into town and cruise the strip. However, my host sister soon explained the social structure of the village and I became aware that the tractor-drivers didn't go to my school, as I attend the more academic institution.

My school is the only Swedish-speaking athletic school in Finland, so there are students who come from all around. It is small and only has about 150 students. We get a free, warm meal every day at school and some days I go to school only for the food. Food is a huge part of Finnish culture and it seems to me that if you're not eating, you're planning and preparing for the next time you're going to eat.

My teachers have made it clear that I'm not expected to go to school, but I go because it's fun. A few weeks ago, our lessons were put on hold because my entire school was reenacting a Finnish TV show, where a few people run away on trains or buses, and a few other people chase them. Only we ran away on bikes. We just rode around on bikes all day while our peers tried to track us down. And every hour or so, we had to check in with the school by using cell phones. The faculty would, in turn, notify our chaseres of where in the area we were. It was among the strangest things I've ever done in school, especially since the teadhers were so excited and actually gave us the day off for it.

Now to clarify the stereotypes of Finland: saunas and Nokia phones. When I arrived at the airport in Helsinki the first sound I heard was the ringing of cell phones. In one corner you hear the electronic interpretation of Beethoven's Fur Elise and beside you, you hear the theme from Gilligan's Island. Nokia is a Finnish company, based in the city of Nokia, wnd cell phones are literally everywhere. Finland has the highest percentage of cell phone users in the world. I am the only kid in my school without a phone. It is common to see nine-year-old children out with their own Nokia phones, their ring perhaps being Britney Spears of the Backstreet Boys. The phones are for talking, sending electronic messages, or playing games, and act as a calculator and alarm clock. Just the other day my host mother lost her phone picking berries in the forest, and my host sister had to keep calling her phone so we could follow its ring. It was found eventually.

Saunas are also everywhere. Every family has one as an extension of their bathroom. Finns take great pride in their saunas. The traditional way to have one is naked, using birch leaves to get the circulation going, taking frequent dips in and ice cold lake. The exchange students tried it for the first time at Karku and it was quite refreshing.

I, myself, have been keeping busy with my music and have performed locally. People tend to appreciate music more when it is performed by and exchange student. I have some dates lined up to paly for Christmas as well. I also have been going to aerobics with my host sister and have somehow been signed up for a cooking class for old people; I have my first class on Wednesday. Before I came here, people kept telling me that Finns were really shy and I'd have a hard time making friends. Although this is true, the Finns at my school have been very friendly if I approach them and I have met tons of people. So far, I've been going out every weekend, mostly to a disco or a school party. Finns definitely open up once you get to know them. They really know how to have a good time on the weekends and love to dance.

I hope everyone else is having as good an experience as I have had up to this date!

Hej då!

Sally Taylor

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I have learned a lot here about the History in World War Two, how it happened, how did it affects the people in Germany?, and Why did it happened? and What happened after the war? The most sad thing happened when I went to Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Wemiar, near Erfurt, Germany. I feel awful because of the number of dead. The camp itself is very important history. I like the signings the most and learning what I've seen. I love the Deaf European 99' which was held in Wemiar on September 25th. I social a lot with other Deaf people from Germany and learned a lot of Deutsch Signing Language. I liked the most is that I found a lot of friends quickly from School, Rotary, and other School in Essen.

The Country I am living right now, in Germany - their Culture is very different than in Canada! Words couldn't explain, you need to see it. There are a lot of old history, old buildings, and wonderful museums any kinds that you can go to. The people in Germany are very open than in Canada. Often in Canada, we don't see Bars outside, we see a lot in Germany. In Canada, Baseball, Football, and Basketball are the important sports, but Soccer are the most important in Germany which you can see on TV everyday!!

My first two weeks of School were tough because I have to get up at 5:30 every morning to catch the train to Dortmund. Oh course, the school system is different. The teachers are different than what I have expected. The students in my class was unexpected. The most easy subject I had is Math, English, and Home Economics. My Deutsch class with 10s2 was very hard for me and the school changed my Deutsch classes to 6th grade. Right now, I have been in Deutsch classes with 6th grade for 6 weeks and I find it very challenge.

I am a Deaf Student, I have to learn two different language, Deutsch and Deutsch Signing Language.. I have made the most improvement in Deutsch Signing Language and my friends can realize my improvement. My Deutsch is still weak.. It is very hard but I am trying to write what I want to say in Deutsch with my host family, that way I can improve my mistakes.

I have been enjoying my exchange so far, and I want to thank my Rotary club for making my dream come true.

Yours in Rotary, Stanley Tresidder

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Hi, My name is Deborah Turner. I'm sponsored by the Rotary Club of Brampton and my host club is Kanazawa Hyakumandori (Rotary Club of Kanazawa East) in Japan.

I think I'm finally adjusted to the humidity, earthquakes, typhoons, geckkos, bats, Sashimi (raw fish), and everything else that is different here, which is basically everything.

My stay here so far has been great but it was a rough start. The day after I got here I had an asthma attack, found out my host counselor is (was) in the hospital and my host club paid me a third of my allowance by mistake. But everything is now moving along much smoother. My host sister, Kyoko left for Bolton 4 days after I got here. She is an exchange student also so that was very interesting. Right now at home (host family's house) there is okasan (mother), otosan (father) and obachan (grandmother). I have one other host sister and host brother but they're both at university. My school is very large and I participate in as many classes as possible. The students are very kind and try hard to speak English to me while I'm trying hard to speak Japanese to them. I'm starting Japanese lessons soon so that will greatly enhance my knowledge of Japanese. In May my school is going to Hiroshima so that will be an interesting trip and one I'm looking forward to. My city has a castle and it's beautiful, it's right beside the Kenrokuen garden (one of the 3 most beautiful gardens in Japan) which is also gorgeous. Well I must go to bed because tomorrow I have school, but lucky for me I don't have school this Saturday!

Sincerely,

Deb Turner

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Coucou from FRANCE!!!!!!!

THANK YOU ROTARY CANADA!!!!

It has been just over a month and I am having the time of my life in the ole blue, white and red! I have already been camping and horseback riding with my host siblings and cousins up in the north of France. Followed by a hyperactive trip to Belgium for some kayaking and hiking in the alps down south.

School here is an absolute blast, just amazingly fascinating how different things are in a new country! My French is coming along swimmingly, and I am planning a project on Canada for my history/geography class.

The French rotary is a riot!! Just before school we all went up north to St. Cecile, home of a beautiful beach on the north sea. My district president is definitely a people person which makes for some pretty hilarious moments; including a photo with all of the girls surrounding him on the beach, posing as Charlie's Angels!!!

In France every day is just one hilarious polaroid after another!!! Paris, London, and Berlin are all heading my way in the next month or two, so look out Europe here comes LA CANADIENNNE!!!

Take care rotary exchange 2000, missing you tons (Sarah Tacoma, where are you?)

Thank you again to the Rotary exchange program (host club Mississauga West; district 7080!)

Salut!!

Whitney Szabo

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Hola all.

Well I know all of you are having as great a time as I am. It/s still hard for me to believe that I'm even here. I'm in a city called Cuenca which is in a beautiful valley in central Ecuador. The weather is fairly cool and rainy most of the time which I know isn't what most of you would think of for Ecuador but trust me that isn't the case for all of the country. so far I've been to the pacific coast, the three largest cities, gone horse back ridding through the mountains and climbed part way up the highest peak in the country which was covered in snow and great. Imagine that, I actually had a snowball fight in Ecuador of all places. it was too much fun.

I've been here for almost two months, I was pretty much the last to leave. Time has been going by soooo fast but I'm definitely making the most of my time here. The people are great, the landscape is breathtaking, I'm learning Spanish really quickly and the Rotary people and students here are outstanding!!! I doubt I'll ever want to come home after this past weekend with Rotary.

Gotta jet. I'm learning tae kwon do while I'm here too!

Love you all. Have fun and be safe

Becca Walker

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I don't think that my exchange started out on the best note because when I got to the Brussels airport, along with 7 other RYE students, I was the only one that didn't have their family show up! This is kind of a long story but there was a counselor from another district so he and I made calls everywhere from the airport and finally had my host family and counselor meet us half-way to Gent. It ended up being that my counselor forgot to check which day I was coming and passing it on to my host parents.

The first few days hare were king of a blur due to jet lag but I got settled in really quickly and felt at home within the first few days. Then the first Friday, or second Friday (bad memory) I went to my first Rotary Meeting. Rotary is SO different here, compared to Canada. #1 - no women, except me once/month. #2 - 3 course meal. #3 - VERY formal..

I presented a banner and made a small speech in front of the president of my club and they welcomed me. It was really nice. The all (the Rotarians) had something nice to say and gave me their phone #'s in case I needed anything (not all).

Two days before school started (typically Sept. 1^st) I got registered for school, set up bank account, got my ID, etc. I convinced my counselor to allow me to go to Art School instead of the expected College. I'm so happy that he allowed it. My school is AMAZING. It's called KUNST SCHOOL GENK. There are only about 200 students in the school (13 in my class!!) studying anything from photography to architecture. I'm studying drawing and love it. We have an average 17 hours of drawing every week and the rest of the classes are the mandatory math, religion, Dutch, etc. Since I am a "free student" my marks don't count so the teachers only let me do the work that I want to do - usually the drawing. I also love the 1/2 day Wednesday. Gives me lots of time to go out with friends from school or even by myself - shopping.

My host family is great. Mom & dad are very laid back and easy going but helped me out a HUGE amount when I was having problems with my counselor, school and money, even when I was homesick for the first 3 days (but that's REALLY passed now!). They are the ones that made me feel extremely at home even though there was a pretty big language barrier between us - Language - DUTCH - seems impossible! but I'm trying - have some basic words/phrases down - My host sister is only a year older than me and speaks English. We are a lot alike in many ways and I couldn't be happier living with them.

Last year's inbound from Belgium, Sarah Penders, lives really close to me so I got in contact with her. Her family offered to take me to Brugge for a day and so we went. It was a picture-perfect town! I was so happy they took me. I also met many inbounds that are here from mostly Mexico or Brazil. So once in a while we get together at a café or something similar.

One more important detail - FOOD. Its great - fries, waffles, chocolate and even the beer is amazing. Everything people told me about the food is true.

I think I've covered just about everything! The last month has been incredible and I know I will never regret coming here - I even learned the bus system. I hope that all of the other 99/00 outbounds say the same.

THANK YOU ROTARY!!

Tot ziens, Joanna Zdrojewska, Belgium 99/00

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Beaver Tales Beaver Tales is a publication of The Youth Exchange Program of District 7080 of Rotary International. For students from 16 to 18 years of age, the Rotary Youth Exchange Program facilitates yearlong student exchanges throughout the world. Exchange students are sponsored by individual Rotary clubs which both send out a student, and host an incoming student. The students study in their host countries, in some cases learning new languages. Primarily they learn through direct experience about society, culture, and lifestyles in their host country, and they help their hosts to understand society, culture and lifestyles in their own, the student's, home country. This Beaver Tales publication is a collection of notes from exchange students sent from District 7080 in Southwestern Ontario, Canada to various places around the world. This edition was compiled during October 1999 with submissions for each of the "outbound" exchange students. The students have been encouraged to use this vehicle to share their individual experiences with each other, with their families, with their sponsoring Rotary clubs, and, through publication on the Internet, with any interested party. [Return to Top]