My Life as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student

In the heart of the beautiful, snow-covered High Tatras, at the Tatranská Lomnica ski resort, an extraordinary meeting for exchange students took place from February 25th to March 2nd, 2024. This skiing training organized by Rotary District 2240 was supevised by Rotarian Ondrej Kollár, with the assistance of three former exchange students – Rotex members. It was attended by 34 exchange students from various corners of the world, spending their exchange period in our district.

RYE 2240

I recently met a couple milestones in my exchange. Firstly, I have now lived in the Czech Republic for over 5 months, which makes me about halfway through my exchange! While I am a little sad about how quickly it has gone by, I am also quite proud of how far I have come.

Thomas Lahp Gwong ERICKSON

I am from Anchorage Alaska, USA. I like badminton, board games, cross country skiing, hiking, and anything else outside.

On January 26th, 6 exchange students and I left the Ostrava-Svinov train station towards Třebíc, a small city but full of history. We left in the early afternoon and went to Brno, our connection. The trip to Brno was wonderful, it was a peaceful 2 hours and very well spent.

Geovanna ZAGO

I’m Geovanna Zago, but you can call me Gi. I’m 16 and I’m from Brazil. I love traveling, getting to know cultures, having new experiences and going out with my friends! 😁

As a general rule, I haven’t said no to any activities recently (except for time reasons, of course), and this has paid off in several ways. I’ve experienced many wonderful moments that I won’t be forgetting any time soon and found a new hobby.

Yannick Michael NEUMANN

The next weekend I got to do one of my favorite things here: go see the other exchange students! I went to Třebíč with most of the other exchange students (some of them were sick) and we got to tour the city and do lots of fun activities. I practiced my Spanish with the help of my exchange student friends from Spanish-speaking countries (See if you can find me behind the Mexican flag in the group photo 😂), met the new Australian exchange students (they come halfway through the year because their school year is different), participated in a talent show (check out the videos of my favorite performances, plus one of me singing in Czech!), and just enjoyed spending time with my friends.

Shelli Ann SELBY

Hello! My name is Shelli, I’m 16 and I’m from the state of Pennsylvania in the United States! I love music and reading, and I’m so excited to learn another language!

Snow finally arrived on Black Friday, and it has been snowing on and off for the past couple of days. We have about an inch or so of snow as of now. To be honest, I was going a little crazy hearing about the record snow in Anchorage as it rained in my town. Although it is far from skiable, the snow has completely transformed the town from a dreary autumn to a cozy winter. Unfortunately, it is most likely going to melt before Christmas, but I am going to act like that’s not true for the next 2 weeks. I spent this Saturday out in the snowy woods setting up the orienteering course, and the weather was amazing. Not too cold, and with a little snow, but still sunny. I was so excited to finally use the winter hat and gloves I brought with me. I slipped a lot though, because I don’t have winter boots yet.

Thomas Lahp Gwong ERICKSON

I am from Anchorage Alaska, USA. I like badminton, board games, cross country skiing, hiking, and anything else outside.

Last Saturday (18.11) was the day to make another dream come true, and particularly, I was very excited to check this item off my dream list: See snow for the first time ✅

Rafaela Musa COSTA BRAVO OLIVEIRA

Hii, I’m Rafaela Oliveira, you can call me Rafa.
I’m 15 and I’m from Santos, São Paulo, Brazil
I love dance, art, music and meet new people!
:))

I can’t believe that two months have already passed by, everything seems to be happening way too fast and I don’t want my time here to be done so soon. I know that I still have 8 months left but it is still crazy how much has already happened.

Thatcher O'Callaghan PACHOLL

I am 16 years old and am from Oregon, USA
I love playing tennis, mountain biking, and hiking
I also love traveling and visiting new countries 🙂

As a general rule, I haven’t said no to any activities recently (except for time reasons, of course), and this has paid off in several ways. I’ve experienced many wonderful moments that I won’t be forgetting any time soon and found a new hobby.

Yannick Michael NEUMANN

I think it was one of the most anticipated weekends for me, and for all the other inbounds from district 2240. It was finally time to meet Brazilians (which meant that after almost 40 days here, I would finally be able to speak Portuguese), and all the other exchange students, meet people from all over the world and I will spend a year “living” with them.

Rafaela Musa COSTA BRAVO OLIVEIRA

Hii, I’m Rafaela Oliveira, you can call me Rafa.
I’m 15 and I’m from Santos, São Paulo, Brazil
I love dance, art, music and meet new people!
:))