Today marks my first month of my exchange. And my first month has by my surprise wandered very far from the expectations I had built before my departure. With no real knowledge of my future life, at home I had seemed to go through the worst possibilities, desperately trying to prepare myself for the worst situations. I had imagined scenarios of me being isolated and alone, so homesick that it hurts, and so helpless and confused. Of course these are all aspects of exchange that I have felt, but in extremely smaller doses.
For me, I have no time to fixate on all of these "regular exchange issues," due to me being surrounded by positive and welcoming energy wherever I go. In Slovakia, people are always prepared to help you, weather it be a stranger on the street who you ask for directions, or your classmates that has already explained 5 times what we're working on in math or why we can't charge our phones in class. I can see how easy it could be to slip into the belief that you are a burden to most on exchange, but the people here are always doing an amazing job of making me feel welcomed. My family always makes me feel like I'm always wanted inside their home, which is one thing that I hold as very important. and because of them being this caring towards me, I have settled down a lot quicker than I expected. Nights when we are all together talking and yelling and laughing about whatever have been the best nights of my exchange. Recently was my host sisters birthday and we spent the night together dancing to blasted music and singing as loud as possible, and it's quite easy to say that It was one of my favorite nights of my exchange. On nights when it's not always easy and I'm dealing with different challenges they're always prepared to help me in anyway they can, with always providing tough love that builds me up to continue with a smile on my face. Another group of people I'm beyond grateful to have met are all my friends I have met either through exchange, school, sports, or my family. Everyone here is so proud of where they're from and always want to show me what Slovakia has to offer. My classmates this weekend took me out to a festival in Kosice called Biela Noc, which was followed by meeting exchange friends at a disco and dancing with some of my now closest friends. my classmates are some of the kindest people I have met, they're so excited and happy to have me here, and are always helping me with whatever they can. The following day my host dad took me to see the Košice Peace Marathon, the oldest marathon in Europe and second oldest marathon in the world. Its really amazing to see such large events here after living in such a small town, but each event is even more exciting then the next. Here I am always busy with something, which just makes me more and more excited for the future of my exchange. At least once a day I have moments to myself where I collect my thought and realize what an amazing life this is. A year ago I was walking home from my bus stop after school, and now I am walking through the streets of Kosice Slovakia looking up at the St. Elizabeth's Cathedral. Most days I feel like one of the luckiest kids in the world, and I can easily say that Slovakia is definitely the perfect place for me.
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It has officially been a whole week of living in Kocise Slovakia, and it has been a very full week. A week full of amazing amounts of high points, a hand full of low points, and many new challenges.
When I had first flew into Kosice, I had many different emotions crashing over me, it was my first time seeing in person what my life will look like for the next year. I walked from my plane into one of the smallest airports I've ever seen, with one area to pick up your luggage, and another to exit the actual airport. There my first host family was waiting for me with a sign and open arms. Through out this whole week they have been the reason why I have kept my positive attitude. They're incredibly helpful to me in every single way and they have done a great job of making me feel like part of the family since day 1. My first hours were spent talking with my family and trying my first Slovak dish, Bryndzové Halušky, which is very different, but very delicious as well. My family showed me around my new home, introduced me to the cat, Tidy, and finally let me sleep for I had been up for the past 24 hours. The following day was spent touring around the center of Košice, which was nothing like I had seen before, every building seemed to be perfected with amazing precision and detail. My favorite site was the Cathedral of St. Elizabeth. Everywhere you looked was a image of beauty, with stained glass windows, becaustiful statues, and details everywhere you look. The rest of the week was filled with meeting new people, and figuring out the challenges that I was gonna face through out the year. Basketball practice was my first look into what its like to be a complete alien, a total stranger, which is something I'm not use to. But as the week went on my conversations with the team became longer and I began to feel right at home with a new team. And the same for my new school, with time things seem to just get better and better. The first day of school was most defiantly my 15 minutes of fame, I was the talk of the school and everyone was very excited to have me there. Despite the hour commute to school and the early mornings starting at 5:00 AM, I'm very happy with my school life. Of course its very challenging for me, not knowing slovak and always being behind my other classmates, everyone there is ready to help me as much as possible. As for my Slovak, its defiantly something that is going to take a while to catch onto. Every word comes with a crazy pronunciation and total new form of grammar that is really challenging. but my family is extremely helpful when it comes to learning my language. Even though they are very hard on me, its because of them that I am practicing my slovak at all. And as for the future, it is still filled with many unknowns. Im very happy here and I know that its something that makes me who I am but of course its not easy. But one thing I'm very very sure about is that when I finish my exchange, I will be a stringer, smarter, more experienced human who has grown immensely over this past year. |
AuthorRotary Youth Exchange Student traveling to Slovakia from the USA. Archives
December 2017
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