• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Who's Up for Round 2!?

Hello everyone and welcome back to My Life: Exchanged; a blog all about my crazy adventures as a Rotary Exchange Student!! Most of you are probably wondering why I’m starting it up again, seeing as I’ve been back from my first exchange for a year now. Well, the answer is quite simple, really! I was given the chance to participate in a second exchange to a different country through the same organization, and I went for it! Here’s the way I see it: Why not take the opportunity to travel and see the world from a different perspective as much as you can while you’re still able to??

First of all, let me reintroduce myself to you (seeing as I’ve changed quite a bit since I last posted a blog and since some of you may be just tuning in now) and to the program in which I am involved. My name is Haley Drozdowicz; I am freshly graduated from Craig High School as of June, 2011. I have lived in Janesville my entire life, as has most of my extended family, especially on my dad’s side. My dad, Dan, and a few of his many siblings co-own E&D WaterWorks, a water treatment company that deals with water heaters, water softeners, things like that. I have been very involved in community theater for many years now, my most recent project being my role as the Wicked Witch in Spotlight On Kids’ “Wizard of Oz” which starts at JPAC Wednesday July 13th (also coincidentally my 18th birthday) and goes until Sunday July 17th. Tickets $12 in advance for adults or $15 at the door and $7 for kids/students or $8 at the door. Please come to the show, it’s gonna be great!! And yes, my part does involve pyrotechnics and smoke. Ok, sorry, just needed to put that little plug in there. Moving on!

For the 2009-2010 school year, I decided to give up my Junior year of high school to become an exchange student with the Rotary Youth Exchange program. I spent 10 incredible months living in Brazil, in the city of Cachoeira do Sul in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, to be exact. While there, I became fluent in the Portuguese language (I didn’t know any before I left), I had several opportunities to travel around Brazil and also into Uruguay and Argentina, I adapted their lively culture as my own and made dozens of new friends and figurative family members that I love and miss very much. If you want to know more about my adventures in Brazil, the previous blogs I’ve posted are all about my first exchange.

With the Rotary program, I was constantly surrounded by trustworthy adults who were willing to help me at every turn and that always made sure I was happy with my exchange. If you, your son or daughter, friend or other family member is at all interested in becoming an exchange student, I strongly encourage you to contact your local Rotary club (Janesville has 2, Morning and Noon) and ask them how you can get more information. I will be at the Annual Rotary Corn Roast on August 20th at Traxler Park at the RYE booth if anyone would like to come have an ear of corn and ask me any questions.

ANYWAYS! After arriving home last summer from Brazil, I was told by my Rotarians that I was young enough that, if I was interested, I would be able to go on a second exchange and therefore become a Yo-Yo. Yes, I know, the name is funny, but let me explain. There are certain titles you gain as an exchange student based on your status during your year. Before you leave your home country, you are called an Outbound. When you leave and you are in your other country, you become an Inbound to that country. After you return to your home country, you become a Rebound. And, the select few who choose to do it all over again and go out a second time are referred to as Yo-Yos. So when I was told I could be a Yo-Yo, I thought, “Why not?” So when September rolled around, I started over on the 18-page application and prepared myself for what was to come. This time around though, I knew I didn’t want to go anywhere that would remind me, even slightly, of my experience in Brazil. So any country in South America or that spoke Spanish, which is not the same as Portuguese, but is close enough that I would get the two confused, was out of the question. I ranked my top 3 countries Sweden, Turkey, and Czech Republic. In January, I got the call that I would be going to Turkey. About a month ago, I discovered my city, host family, school and host Rotary club. I will be living in Izmir, Turkey, which is the 3rd largest city in the country and on the coast of the Aegean Sea. We are currently waiting for the It’s Your World Travel agency to assign a departure date, but we know it will probably be between August 20th and August 25th. So I still have a good month and a half here in the states to prepare myself for the exchange student roller coaster... again.

I’m nervous about learning the complex Turkish language, but I’m going to try my hardest to become as fluent in it as I possibly can in the time I’m there. It sounds kind of like Arabic, but has pretty much the same alphabet as we do with just a few extra letters and accents. Written, it honestly looks like gibberish, but it is pronounced phonetically, so hopefully that will make it easier to learn. I’m extremely excited to embark on this exchange, and not just because of the language challenge. It will be interesting to live in a country who’s primary religion is not Christianity, as is the case with the US and Brazil. I can’t wait to get a first hand experience with Muslim, Islamic, and possibly even Jewish religions. The culture in Turkey is very intricate, which is always a good thing when you’re looking to learn about a different country. I’ve heard lots of good things about the place I’ll soon call home, but I try not to formulate an idea of what to expect when I get there, because chances are, any expectation I have will be wrong. That’s just one of the many things you learn as an exchange student, and now that I’ve done this once already, I feel less afraid to be away from home and more excited than I did the first time around. I loved the feeling of culture shock and learning a new language from scratch, and each day I get more excited for the opportunity to experience these things all over again.

So, in closing, I hope I’ve made you as jazzed about this exchange as I am, and I sincerely hope that you keep following my blog to learn more about my experiences as I go through my year in Turkey. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. Otherwise, remember to buy your tickets for The Wizard of Oz, July 13-17th at JPAC, and I’ll blog again soon!

Haley Drozdowicz is a Craig High School student who's visiting Turkey. She's studying there as part of the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. Haley is a community blogger and is not a part of The Gazette staff. Her opinion is not necessarily that of the The Gazette staff or management.