Take a year - 10 Reasons Why You Should Become an Exchange Student
It's coming to the time of year to sign up for exchange programs. Making the decision to spend a year travelling may be tough, but I will lay out why I think it is in your best interest, and the interest of the world, for you to take a year from your education and experience the world. Mark my words-- exchange will be the hardest year of your life; however, exchange will also be the most fulfilling, engaging, adventurous and enjoyable year of your life to date. In no particular order, here's why I believe you should become an exchange student.
Meet new friends
As an exchange student, you will spend your days, the best and worst with the other exchange students in your area. Through the ups and downs, they will be by your side. Since you experience everything together, you will become like a family, developing a friend network that stretches the globe! You will have a friend to visit, a local tour guide, and a couch to sleep on nearly anywhere you go. The relationships that I developed with my closest friends while on exchange are ones that I am positive will last a lifetime. I miss the days when I was able to see them every day, but I know that they will always be there for me.
Learn a new Language
A year may not seem like enough to time to learn a language. However, speaking that language all day, every day will give you skills you would've thought impossible! You will be surprised how quickly you learn when you are surrounded by your host country's language in all aspects of life. Everywhere you look, from TV and radio to the newspapers will saturate you with the new language. Coming home after exchange, you will can add your new skills to resume. Any employer will see the value in your ability to speak a foreign language. For me, learning Mandarin was a challenge, but my efforts to learn the language allowed me to better integrate into the life of Taiwan. I felt confident to explore, knowing that I could ask for help, order food, read a transit sign when the need arose.
See a new culture
The opportunity to live in a foreign culture, truly immersed in the way of life, is one which you will cherish for the rest of your life. In Taiwan, my eyes were opened by the unique asian culture, which contrasted greatly my own values and ideas that I brought from Canada. Seeing the beautiful temples interspersed within the city, experiencing the strict education system, and walking through the bustling night markets were all new experiences for me, ones which I wouldn't give up for anything. Sometimes, however, it was the tiniest things that seemed the most foreign. For example, when I first moved to a new host family, they found it extremely weird that I showered in the morning before school, rather than before bed. It was the tiniest thing, but showed how even the smallest decision and norm in daily life could be so different for others. In addition, experiencing the culture of other exchange students will open your mind to the world. Hearing their stories, listening to their music, and spending time with them will give you a glimpse into the way people of their culture act.
Push Your Boundaries
Exchange is not a year long vacation. In fact, exchange might be one of the most difficult years of your life. For that reason alone, you should go on exchange. The challenges that you face over the course of your time abroad will make you mature far beyond your age. Coming home, you will have the confidence to tackle any problem, because you already know that you've conquered the world.
Discover Yourself
Through the difficulties you face, the people you meet, and the time to reflect, exchange will clarify your views on the world. You will gain a greater understanding of what you stand for, the kind of person you wish to become, and what you are passionate about. Many exchange students discover what they want to study in university during their time abroad!
New Food
How could anyone forget the incredible food! No matter where you go, you will discover a incredible array of new food. Every exchange student knows about the weight gain! For me in Taiwan, some of my favourites included bubble tea, beef noodle soup, fried dumplings, and mango ice.
For your future
Participating in an exchange program is hands down one of the best things you can do for you future. Employers and schools understand the rigours that exchange students go through during their time abroad, and award them accordingly. Past exchange students are more likely to win scholarships and awards. Additionally, the self-confidence gained will allow you to pursue more challenges in your future.
A New Family (or three!)
The opportunity to live with host families during your time as an exchange student is one of the most valuable aspects of the program. You become fully immersed in the culture, eating meals, speaking the language, and interacting on a daily basis with your new family. If you are lucky, the families you live with may even take you on family vacations to show you different parts of the country, or even other countries. I was incredibly fortunate to live with great families during my exchange. They pushed me to succeed, showed me the culture and food of the Taiwanese, and took me on numerous trips to other areas in Taiwan and even to Japan. I know that the relationships that I fostered with them will stay strong for the years to come.
Global Citizenship
After a year spent in a foreign country with new families, a new school, and friends from around the world, your perspective on global issues will change drastically. Your ideas of what it means to be a member of the human race will be shifted. You become an ambassador, not just for yourself and your country, but also for your new country. Exchange kills stereotypes--- In the future, your interactions with people from around the world will guide your thoughts to remember "One of my best friends came from that country, and they were just a normal person like me".
Affordable Travel!
Please don't hate me for saying this. I understand that exchange is a large investment and I'm not trying to devalue the financial contributions that are necessary. However, I want you to think about it like this. When is the next time in your life that you can travel for a year for less than $10,000? You and I both know the answer to that question is never. What makes the price possible is the incredible contributions by Rotary and the host families. They understand the value of such program and the incredible people that it produces. Without the contributions and efforts of Rotary to push the youth exchange program forward, thousands of students per year would lose the opportunity to experience the world.
Exchange has impacted me in more ways than I can express in a blog post. I am a better person because of the experience. I urge you with all the power I have to consider participating in the Rotary Youth Exchange, not only for yourself but also for the improvement of the world. The skills you develop, the friends you make, and the personal growth you will undertake will impact you for the rest of your life!
Alex
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Taiwanese Holidays
The holiday season has come and gone here in Taiwan. Although I expected the Christmas season to feel different while on exchange, I didn't know nearly how unique this experience would be. Now that we are into January, I will share my Rotary Exchange experiences for Christmas, my birthday, and New Year's Eve.
Birthday
To celebrate my birthday, my extremely generous host parents took Lorenzo, my Italian brother, and I on a cruise from the north coast of Taiwan. We spent two days on the boat, eating, exploring, and studying chinese. I am so lucky to have such a great group of people to call my family! This year was the first time in my life that I had to attend school on my birthday. I have been so accustomed to being able to sleep in and enjoy my birthday with my family in Canada that it felt truly weird to hop on the MRT and go to school. However, that's not to say it was a negative experience. It was the first time I have been able to spend my birthday with schoolmates. The night before my birthday, many of my closest schoolmates surprised me after class. It is a Taiwanese tradition to spray the birthday person with shaving cream. After going to the gym with David, an American student, I was planning on eating dinner with a few close friends. I wasn't expecting so many amazing friends to surprise me with the shaving cream and gifts! Afterward, we went to a hotpot restaurant for a meal. Hotpot is another Taiwanese classic. You order your "pot" which consists of vegetables, meat, tofu, and a soup. Each table is equipped with hotplates which you use to cook your food. I would call it the Taiwanese fondue. On top of that, there is unlimited self-serve ice cream and drinks. It was a great way to celebrate with friends. On my actual birthday, my class surprised me with a few generous gifts and even a cake! They had the chemistry teacher surprise me and all sang happy birthday to me, in chinese and english. Later that night, I ate a special birthday dinner with my host family. We went to a delicious steakhouse. I am so glad to have been able to spend my 18th birthday surrounded by the best friends and family I could've asked for. Thank you to everyone for making it so special!
Christmas
Christmas came quickly after the excitement of my birthday. While going to school on my birthday may have felt foreign, Christmas at school was a whole other feeling altogether. I was able to share the odd feeling of Christmas in a foreign country with my exchange friends. Our home countries each have unique holiday traditions, but we all experienced the same Taiwanese Christmas of 2015 together. Leading up to the holiday season, the idea of Christmas felt so far away from reality. The weather was warm and there was little to no decoration or celebration throughout the city; I felt no Christmas spirit in the Taiwanese people. It was one of the first experiences here in Taiwan that has opened my eyes to the true difference in culture. That being said, Christmas Day itself was extremely enjoyable. After opening a few presents with my host mom at breakfast, I headed to school. I spent the morning with my classmates. We had a small party with music, snacks, and a gift exchange. After school, I ate dinner with a few exchange students. Some were inbounds to Taiwan this year, and others were those from Taiwan who have returned from exchange. Funny enough, we actually weren't celebrating Christmas. Rather, we celebrated mine, and my friend Belle's birthdays, which both fall on the 23rd. We had a meal full of laughter and good conversation, and then did another small gift exchange. I should've expected it, but I was surprised when the shaving cream attack came once again. Finally, we rode bikes home, seeing the last bit of the Taiwanese Christmas. In Taiwan, I found that December 25th is just another day, but it can be made into much more with the right people.
New Year
The New Year's Eve that I spent in Taiwan is hands down the best New Year's I have ever experienced. The entire day was full of incredible places and people. The excitement started at 4:30PM, when the exchange students arrived at Taipei's Grand Hotel. We had been preparing two dances for this event for almost two months. One hip-hop dance, and another traditional Lion Dance. We did two hours of final practice before our performance. Among the audience were many important Rotarians, as well as the mayor of Taipei City, Ko Wen-Je. It was such an honour to perform in such an incredible venue.
After the Grand Hotel performance, the exchange students were set free for the night, allowed to explore the beautiful nightlife until 2am. Many exchange students from all of Taiwan visited Taipei to experience the New Year's fireworks display at Taipei 101. I met many at a party at the Songshan Riverside Park. The atmosphere was absolutely incredible. There were hundreds, if not thousands of people there. There was a DJ, dance battles, an art area, and an incredible view. I even found a place to practice the Diablo (chinese yoyo) that I had learned in culture class. However, my close friends and I had decided previously that we would watch the fireworks from a mountain in the city. It was somewhat isolated and required a 30 minute hike to reach the view, so we hoped that it would be more quiet than the middle of the city. We arrived at the top at 11:30 to see a crowd almost as big as the one we had experienced in the city. I realized that my goal to capture awesome photos of the fireworks wouldn't be possible like I had hoped. Since we had been to the area before, I knew of a tree that we could sit on to watch the fireworks.I had climbed it numerous times before. I climbed it, but the people below didn't appreciate it much. 50 people yelling in Chinese is pretty good motivation to climb down quickly. After the embarrassment and disappointment subsides, I was able to focus on enjoying the moment of New Year's with my best friends in taiwan. As the seconds counted down to midnight, I could feel the collective excitment hanging in the air. Taipei 101 was completely dark. Then there was fire. The entire building was lit up, from top to bottom by colourful fireworks. The crowds cheers for the new year were quickly silenced in awe. Everybody stood together, taking in the spectacle. It was an incredible feeling to know that millions more around the city were experiencing the same from a different vantage point. After the show finished, we all embraced. High fives and greetings, in both English and Chinese, were exchanged with Taiwanese people. The exchange students there all gathered in hugs and cheers to celebrate one of the most unique, and exciting New Year's of our entire lives. The next morning, I met friends at 5am at the nearest MRT station to the mountain. Once again, we climbed. We watched the sunrise from the exact same spot that the excitement had taken place less than 6 hours previously. My Taiwanese New Year is an experience I will never forget.
Among the three holidays, I found the largest difference between Canada and Taiwan's traditions in Christmas. The Asian culture puts far less emphasis on celebration of Christmas. However, I still felt a sense of belonging. It was just another day, but I was able to spend the day with those important to me who made it so much more. It was a unique holiday experience for me, but I am so glad to have seen the customs and traditions from around the world. In the coming weeks, the Chinese New Year will also take place. I am sure that celebration and culture will be everywhere! We are also given four weeks winter vacation, so I will have more time to explore Taiwan with my friends. I can't wait to update you on more of this incredible life I am so fortunate to live.
CREATE+EXPLORE
Alex
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One Month in Taipei
It's been one month since I arrived to this beautiful country I now call home. 31 days of adventure, exploration, chaos, and joy. Each day has presented a new opportunity for growth and learning. Here's to many more.
I clearly remember the moment I woke up on my first day in my new home. 9:00AM, with not a single clue as to where I was. It took a few seconds for everything in my mind to settle on the idea that I was, in fact, waking up in a new country with a new culture, language, and lifestyle, rather than my first thought of "wow, what a vivid dream". After the initial wave of confusion had settled, a new feeling began to creep in. It was the "I have no idea where I am, how to contact anyone, and no idea where my host family lives" feeling. You see, I live in quite a unique situation. I live on the fifth floor of an apartment building. Also on the fifth floor is a random woman who lives in the room beside mine. Our communications have not exceeded a simple "ni hao" (1) in passing. My host mom lives on the fourth floor, and my host grandparents live on the second floor. That first morning, I vaguely remembered the instructions from the night before. "Go to YeYe and NaiNai's (2) house at 10 for breakfast" I remembered hearing. However, in my sleep deprived state, I completely blanked on which floor the grandparents lived on. Additionally, I had no memory of any way to contact my host mom, who was at work, or my host sister. I didn't feel like banging on every door in the building to find my grandparents on the first morning was something I was so excited about, so I decided to wait. It was about 11:00 when an old man knocked on my door. A quick introduction in my almost non-existent chinese managed to break the ice. YeYe and I are close now. We have short conversations, but I always appreciate his assistance in finding new places, like 學校 (3), or the location of my 中文課 (4).
The first week comprised of simple explorations of Taipei, with Joanna, the daughter of my second host mother, who is the sister of my current host mom, and Lorenzo, an exchanger from Italy who currently lives with Sun Yu, my second mom. We visited numerous landmarks that define Taipei as a city. One of the first days, we made the arduous journey (walk across the street) to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, a well known landmark in Taipei. It was erected to remember the country's first leader. I found it to be absolutely incredible. I also climbed elephant mountain with a few other exchange students. It gave us a stunning view of the entire Taipei City. It was only 15 minutes to the top, so I am planning to return to take more photos.
The next weekend after arriving, the Inbound Orientation took place. It was the first time that I met the other 60 exchange students that are here in Taipei City. There are even more in the surrounding region, as New Taipei City, which surrounds Taipei City, is an entirely separate Rotary District with students of its own. The 60 of us from district 3480 were sent to Yilan, a small city on the east coast, just over one hour from Taipei. We spent the two days combining fun activites with lectures. Capture the flag, BBQing, and visiting the coast were a few of the highlights from the weekend. I met so many amazing people. I can't wait to spend the next year hearing the stories and wisdom from each of them.
Last weekend, I was lucky enough to visit Jiufen, an ancient mining town perched upon a delicate hillside. I was stunned by the view from the town down onto the roaring Pacific Ocean below. We explored numerous shops, restaurants, and museums. I enjoyed seeing the history of the town in the architecture and especially the old tea and pottery shops. Once again, I truly hope that I will be able to return for a Taiwanese sunset.
In my next blog entry, I will discuss my experiences so far with the school and education here in Taipei. It is a unique system, with many differences to what I have been accustomed to back home. For now, however. I have written enough. Until next time!
Alex
- Ni Hao - Hello
- YeYe and NaiNai - Grandpa and Grandma
- 學校 - Xue Xiao - School
- 中文課 - Zhong Wen Ke - Chinese Class