Bérénice Rioux - Christmas, christmas, CHRISTMAS !

Hi friends!

I know, I should have written something on this blog a long time ago. But an exchange student life is just the busiest thing EVER!
After going back to France for two and a half weeks, time has gone by more than fast. Great news: i'm in the dance showcase at school! And don't forget, our performances are January, 27th, 28th, and 29th! That really is an exciting project, and i would be so happy if you could come!

Then, we had this amazing week end in Cheyenne! I'm not going to talk a lot about that, since Cornelia already did. But I just want to let you know, i convinced TWO kids to go to France!
Thanks to Kevin Kaminski, we had those great opportunities to go to an Avalanches game and then to a Nuggets game!
The hockey game was awesome! We got a tour of the Pepsi Center before the game. It was so much fun!

Pun, Cornelia and I in the Pepsi center!

Last week end, it was the Nuggets game! I'm not going to lie, i like basket better than hockey! So, it was for me a great experience. We had the opportunity to play on the court few minutes before the game. It was just AWESOME! Thank you so much to Kevin !

And of course, Christmas! American Christmas is not that different from French Christmas. A lot of food and a lot of presents. But i still like it! I totally got spoiled and I had so much fun with my new host family the Beaupré's. Even if i was sad leaving the Holloway's!
What have i been up to over beak? I've basically been skiing most of the time.

To conclude, I'm having a great time! I haven't been homesick, and the only thing i missed for Christmas was the food! So, i think i can get over it.
Bérénice.

Cornelia Pade - Almost 4 months!

Hello to who ever might be reading this.

I can't believe it has almost been 4 months, since i got here.

i have had a wonderful time here, and experienced so much.

Last weekend Berenice and I had the chance of going to the Rotary interviews in Cheyenne.

We helped interview all the students, that are being send out from the district.

We also helped by telling about our countries, to help them decide where to go for their exchange.

people were very interested in hearing about Denmark, and thought it would be a great place to go. They did have some concerns about the dark winters, with out much sun.

(My parents told me the sun now goes down at 3.30 in the afternoon, and starts coming up at 9 in the morning). But despite the lack of sun, a lot of them put Denmark on their list.

On guy even told me he really wanted to go to Denmark, cause it sounded so cool!

But his parents would not let him because of Amsterdam.

Amsterdam? that's not in Denmark, thats in Holland! oh well he didn't get to go to Denmark because of Amsterdam, but hopefully he got another good country : )

We also got to spend time with all the other inbound students, that we have not seen since the camp in september. All the girls had a sleep-over friday night, which of course was lot of fun.

It is a great thing to look around a room, and think of that every single person in that room, is from and different country, and still we are all friends.

The snow have been here for a while now (but I'm guessing that you all know that)

and never have i seen this much snow. I have gotten to go skiing, and I will continue to ski all winter.

So thank you to Rotary for providing me with ski equipment, I will use it a lot!

- Cornelia

In Switzerland - Kelly Ernst

Hello Rotary and fellow Viewers of this blog-

Whats crackin?!

I have officially been in Switzerland for……. whoa- 3 months…. and I am just realizing that as I am typing it-
Its very strange- three months is a long time, and it has gone by so quickly!
The school year is now well in gear and my family and I have gotten into the daily routine of… school.
Its funny- As incredibly different everything is here in Switzerland, the attitudes toward school, from my new friends and host sibling are still. exactly. the same. = DEvery hour of sleep is precious and clocks seem to mysteriously stop working during that all so interesting class of geography (And its funny, becuase they told me that they make clocks the best here in Switzerland…)

But luckily- the system gives us a two (yes TWO!) week long break at the end of october to flee the country and locate some sun and sea.
And that is exactly what my host family and I did.

While all my new friends here in Switzerland were freezing their tails in the snow (yes, snow in october)
I was tanning aboard the Red Sea in Dahab Egypt (Google It! it's INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL!)

My family and I left Switzerland at 9 O'clock Saturday night and took the 12:00 Am plane to Sharmel Shak Egypt- we got in about 4:30 int he morning, slept in a little, and a full week of wind-surfing, snorkeling and enjoying the most incredible fruit cocktails in the whole entire world (non-alcholic, don't worry Rotary :D ) started first thing in the morning.

The fish and the coral were something that I have only ever seen in books, and oh was it incredible! My host mom is practically a mermaid because she knows the different types of fishes SO WELL!
We saw Firefish, and Picasso fish,  and so much more which names she told me but- it was all in German, so alas, I am not able to recall.

Next weekend, the other 2 American exchange students and myself are planning on cooking a grand ol' thanksgiving dinner for our three familys. American Style
It has proven very difficult to find a date that works for all twelve people but, i think it is set for the Saturday before Turkey Day!

Other than that, Swiss life is going incredibly well-
Im eating lots of bread and cheese, and coffee maybe 3 times a day-!

Alright, Ill keep you posted,

Ciao For Now,
KELLY

Here is a quick photo of me at Lac Noir. It is a little different climate than Egypt. Lac Noir is a small ski station (perhaps a bit larger that Howelson)  about a 30 minute drive from my house. I would like you to take note as well, this photo is probably a bit blurry, and my face is slighlty contorted- That was because of my violent shaking due to the cold-
But it was beautiful none the less.

And P.S. ALLI: My Mountains are Coooolllerrr than your Kangaroooss! = p

Alli Major - 4 months now O.O

It is CRAZY! i have been in Australia for almost 4 months now. The time has flown by soooooo fast. Too fast really.

I am certainly enjoying my stay tho. I have switched houses and am loving me new host family just as much as my first one.

I have travelled a fair bit, i went to shopping in Albury with my host sister and her friend.
I went hiking at Hall's Gap which was SOOO beautiful and it was really nice to get out of flat lands and into mountains just like home :D
I also went to Bendigo and saw a lot of Kangaroos (: Hope you enjoy the pictures (:

Halloween was yesterday and did i miss steamboat then
I hope it was great. walking down Lincoln and getting bucket loads of candy.
yummmmie!!

But i am certainly willing to give up my Halloween to stay here :)

As you are all starting to get snow, it's spring here and it will be getting hotter and hotter, Although it has been rainy lately it's said to get up to 38 degrees next week, not Fahrenheit tho, i'm talking celsius. OVER 100 DEGREES IN SPRING!!!

now i know all you Steamboat-ers will certainly feel my pain when thinking of how hot that is compared to Steamboat weather. haha

I can asure you tho, i will be at the pool everyday. :D

I will catch up with the exchange students this month i reckon and it'll be nice to see them again.

Anyways! Best be going!
Catchya Later Mate!!
Alli




A joey and mama :)






A whole lotta roos (:





a joey sleeping upside down in patch (:

Bérénice Rioux - Almost two months.

The only thing to say is: the time goes by too fast.

I have been here for two months so far and I don't want to leave this town.
I have been to Lake Powell, Boulder, Denver, etc..
I have made so many friends, and have discovered so many wonderful things. Some people think I'm becoming a real American girl. But I'm loving it. This is probably the only opportunity i will have in my life to do that. So, yes I am a cheerleader, my date for homecoming was a football player, i went on a cattle drive and i am eating all the time. But I am really living in a dream.

But I haven't only made friends in Steamboat.
After the students week end in Wyoming, I think I have friends all over the district. I'm not gonna lie, this week end was perfect. Those two days spent all together created real friendships. Rope course, hiking and different games permitted us to know each other well. And now, we can't wait to meet up again!

And then, the homecoming week end! For some kids, it was just another homecoming. For me, it was the first one and the last one. This week end was awesome. Parade, football game, dance, etc.. Everything was perfect. And I'm sure I will remember this for a while !

Cornelia, me and Claire Parsons for the homecoming.

Life in Steamboat is filled with certain unforgettable events. The beginning of october was Homecoming. Now, everybody is looking for his or her Halloween costume ! It's really exciting, and never boring! I'm not really sure yet of what I want to be for Halloween, but I will figure out, and will surely tell you everything in my next post!

Anything to add? Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you to the Rotary Club of Steamboat, thank you to Deb, John and Coleman Holloway, thank you to all the Rotarians who give me opportunities to discover wonderful new things, and thank you to everybody I have met, and I will meet and who contribute to the success of my exchange!

Bérénice.

Ane Cornelia Pade - I'm the exchange student from Denmark

Hey, I'm Cornelia the exchange student from Denmark.
I come from the third largest city in Denmark, but since Denmark is a small country with only 6 million people, my city's population is only 150.000.
I live with my parents and my two younger sisters, my sisters names are Marie Louise (15) and Eva Helene (13). I play the piano and sing in a couple of rock bands, music is my big passion.
I also love fashion, and help my sister run her quite successful fashion blog.
I have wanted to become an exchange student in America since i was a little girl.
My father was a counselor in Rotary for many years, so I have had exchange students around the house for as long as i can remember. That inspired me to become an exchange student, and America has always been the place I want'ed to go.

I am thrilled to be here in Steamboat, i have experienced so much already, and can't wait to see what the rest of my exchange year will bring.

Thank you Steamboat Springs Rotary for giving me this opportunity, and thank you too all the lovely people i have meet so fare.

I hope, that many of you will come to here my presentation about Denmark in november.

- Cornelia.

Alli Major - Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi!

Hellooo Boaters!!!
I have recently switched homes!
I now live with the Curry's and have two Host Siblings!!
The family is relly nice (:
I have acquired a new nickname since being here,,,, the American. Now everyone knows who i am. haha ;)
I'm starting to play basketball here in the little town of Charlton
I'm very excited to start a sport finally (:
I recently travelled to Mildura and Melbourne!
It was great to see the city of melbourne and get Starbucks!!!!! :9
The grand final for aussie rules football just ended. I baracked for the Saints but sadly they lost to Collingwood. :(
Hopefully soon i'll meet up with the other exchange students in Victoria. There's about 16 in my district I reckon.
I Hope All Is Well!!!!!
----Alli-----

Kelly Ernst - Hey- Wait one second- Im in…. Switzerland?!

Hello Steamboat Springs Rotary!
HOW IS STEAMBOAT?! I'm sure you are all curious as to whats been going on in the land of cows, cheese, and chocolate. And I would Love to inform you!

I've been living the good life these past two months in Switzerland, that is for sure. The country  is just INCREDIBLE! The Rotary here has given all the exchange students in Switzerland and Abonnment General, and that is basically a card that lets you ride any train, bus, or ferry in all of Switzerland for free. So I have been exploring the lakes and small villages of Switzerland with some other exchange students, and that has been incredible.

School has started and it is going very well. I find it difficult because, even though my french is improving dramatically, and causal conversational skills are well up to par- I have a VERY difficult time understanding my classes and teachers. So most of the day, I end up either copying down mindlessly what the teacher writes on the board, or just sitting there trying to be as least lost as possible. Another thing that is difficult, is that despite the fact that I have talked to the majority of my teachers, I still don't know exactly what is to be expected of me in school. By this I mean, should I try to understand and eventually get "it" or should I be rigourusly studying to keep up with the rest of the students in my class. I try to ask around- but I have yet to pose my questions in just the right way as to where I recieve the right answer.

But other than that, everything else in school is great. My class (And here, they have one single class in which they rotate toghether to the differant teachers, similar to elementary school in the states) is incredibly kind and encouraging of my …slightly imperfect french skills. Im taking a lot of classes here. 13 to be exact! My favorite is photography! It has inspired me to take a lot of really cool pictures!
Here is the link to them :

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5244706&id=604374606&ref=fbx_album

But Switzerland is going great! And I'll be sure to keep you updated!

BÉRÉNICE RIOUX - First days in Steamboat Springs.

Hello,
I'm Bérénice, your new exchange student from France! I've probably never even met some of you during Rotary events or meetings, but I'm sure all of you want to know more about myself.

Firstly I come from France and more exactly from Bordeaux, a famous city for its wine. But I don't like red Bordeaux wine.. Sorry! I'm not going to tell you everything about my city because I will do that in my presentation in November. And I want you to come!

I am 17 and I have graduated high school in France. That's why I decided leaving for a year as an exchange student before starting college would be a good idea.
What more?
Morevoer I like horses. In France I used to practice horse riding once a week. I also like dancing. Actually I danced for 11 years. That's why I'll be happy if I could take part in the dance showcase at the high school.
What more? Shopping and fashion are ones of my hobbies as well as travels.

But you may wonder: Why the USA? I think there are two main reasons.
When I will come back in France, I will get in a business school to work in the domain of the international business. That's why it's very important for me to improve my English.
The second reason is that I want to learn more about the American culture which is, by many aspects, the origin of the new European culture.

I hope I replied here to the majority of your questions about me! And even if I don't, i will be glad to answer you during the next Rotary meetings.
Bérénice.

Alli Major - Update on Charlton!

I've been here for a little over a month and it's all going great! School is all well and i can take all my necessary courses to graduate! all the people here are nice and friendly and my friends are awesome! my rotary counselor and i are headed down to a town called Horsham next Sunday to meet alll the other Rotary exchange student. there's another student here in my town from Germany but he's not here through Rotary. Every Saturday they have football ((australian rules) and no its not like soccer)) and also netball and field hockey games to go and watch so there's always something on the weekends! anyways this picture is of me (right) my friend kirsty (middle) and Leif the german exchange student. i do my official rotary presentation the 16th of September and my powerpoint is coming together. Anyways im off to the footy games!
Catch ya later mate!
Alli

Zane Elston - Just Got To Chiang Mai

I just arrived in Chiang Mai, and I am loving the city. It is VERY hot haha. I'm about to go register for classes! I couldn't have asked for a better, kinder host family. They are some of the nicest, most loving people I have ever met. I will be attending school at The Prince Royal's College, a Private Christian school with 6,000 kids. I'm very excited to start school and meet some kids. I arrived here at 9:15 and my host family was at Chiang Mai International Airport to pick me up along with my YEO and Club President. It was a short drive home. My house is in the outskirts of the city, but it is still very urban. All of the housed here are only a few feet apart. I will updated this again as soon as I have more to tell you!

Aline da Rocha Soares (2008-2009) - I'm thankful for my year!

Dear rotarians, how are you?
I hope everything is good, especially with Carlo and the upcoming exchange students.
Just now, about a year I came back from Steamboat Springs to my hometown Limeira, São Paulo, Brazil; I got the chance to represent America on the annual "nations fair". A big event that has outbounds, inbouds and rebounds. It's very fun, and it's quite a responsability to be a rebound, because it turns out that is our job to convince the outbounds to choose the country we chose.

I was looking all the souveniers I brought from America, especially from Steamboat, to bring to the fair, when I found the amazing "Season of Light" book, with all the notes you guys left. It made me miss you and Steamboat so much!! It reminds me how lucky I was for having such a unique experience, in a unique town, with a unique rotary club. You guys are the best!!!

By the way, my brother Lucas, 16, is applying for a exchange program, and I already made his mind. America is his first choice! I hope he gets as lucky as I did, maybe he can stay in Steamboat, who knows. Anyways, I just wanna let you know that I represented America very proudly and I felt even more honored to represent Steamboat Springs, a nothing but an amazing town in Colorado.

I would like to thank you once more for the best year of my life, full of joy and new experiences. I can assure you that I enjoyed the most of it, and I still pray to God, to keep blessing America, as we used to sing every Tuesday afternoon.

With lots of love,
Aline Soares (2008-2009)

Kelly Ernst - All Is Well

Hello! I am writing from Fribourg Switzerland and all is well!

I arrived yesterday morning at 8:15 but it was really 1 pm for the united states. I was very tired but it was all so new and exciting it was good.

My flight went by super well. From DIA to Dulles I met a girl from evergreen and we flew to DULLES together. It was fun because we could talk about tall trees and skiing and understand each other perfectly. We spoke the same language. When we got to Dulles we met up with a girl and a boy who were going to Switzerland. It even turns out that the boy, Andrew is the other exchange student who will be living in fribourg and attending the same school. He is very nice. We had a few hours to kill in the airport and so we went to a small resturant and talked and it was a very good time!

The flight went well and it was nice because there were about 10 or 12 other exchange students on it as well! I sat in the very very back of the plane in the middle. but it was nice because I had the whole entire row to myself on an otherwise full flight. Later in the evening, I started talking to the flight attendent and we got to know each other and it was very fun. She even let me sit in the flight attendents seat for the landing so that I could see the Swiss Alps when we fly into Zurich for our landing.

My host father picked me up from the airport and we drove back to Fribourg. That day, we went to the familys vacation house in Gruyere (a canton ((Like a state)) neighboring Fribourg) it was a ten minute drive and a very very cool place! I got to meet all of cedric and ines ( my host brother and sister's) friends. It was a little bit hard because my french is not quite sufficient enough to keep up with the young peoples conversation, and when ever I was asked a question it would take a long embarrassing time to answer it correctly. (For example they asked me when I was born, and I said "I don't know" several times… :/) But that is okay because I am understanding more and more.

Today, The exchange students of fribourg ( Andrew, a girl named shelby and moi) and the outbound students all went downtown fribourg and did a little walk of the town. It was very pretty and and medevaial. I saw my school which was very modern but it looked very nice. It felt like we were in a jungle!

All is going well here, and I am getting settle!

Ciao!

Alli Major - Arrived!!

Charlton is great! it's their winter here, yet its some of the best summer days for steamboat! im scared to see what summer for me is gunna look like. lol :) the flights went very well althougha nine hour layover in LAX isnt the funnest time spent alone.... it was well worth it tho :) my host family is very nice and inviting. a bit homesick but once it gets more busy over here all should be well. :) I start school on monday and basically get to choose what i want to take :)
I'll write agian soon,
Alli

Alli Major - Leaving Soon!

Hey Guys,
So I leave tomorrow. My flight is at 10:41 in the morning. I think this will be the most stressful part of the whole trip for me. :/ i don't like airports and security and flights and customs. no fun. :/ but i'm glad its getting me where i gotta be :) im so excited to arrive in Austalia and meet my host home. :)
I'll blog again when I arrive,
Alli

Carlo Gavatorta - almost over!

Hey everybody! I can't believe it's almost over! Everything went by so fast. I feel like I got here a few weeks ago. I just got back from the bus trip with all the other exchange students from the 2 districts and I had a blast. It's so amazing how you can get attached to people so easily and so fast. California was awesome and so was the Grand Canyon and all the other places we went to.

I only have one more month and then I'll go back to Italy. It's a really weird feeling because I'm really sad I'm gonna leave Steamboat and I'll have to say goodbye to all my friends and families but I'm happy at the same time because I'll see my family and my friends back in Italy.

The district conference was fun. It's amazing how many rotarians and rotary clubs there are in jsut one district. I feel so lucky to be in this district because it's so active and it involves exchange students in so many events and activities. They care a lot about us.

This was just a quick post about my last experiences. Steamboat is such a great place and every exchange student that ends up here should feel really lucky!

Maggie Kriz - 1 Mesiac a 17 Dni..... Pre Boha!

I just looked at a calendar and I honestly can't believe how quickly this year is going. Celine and Aline always talked about how fast the year would go by but it is hard to imagine until you are living abroad. My family just came to visit me and it was really amazing to see them but also a bit awkward for me at first. It is hard to get into the swing of having a real mother again after living more or less independently for so long. I think it took us both about a day to adjust but after that it was back to normal.

We went to the beautiful city of Barcelona and it was truly amazing. We stayed in the gothic quarter of the city and it was perfect. Our hotel was within 15 minutes from all the major tourist attractions and was literally right around the corner from the gothic cathedral. My favorite museum in the city was the Picasso Museum. I have always admired and loved his artwork and it was fantastic to go to the place where it all began. It was quite an experience to stand before his early sketches and paintings and then to be able to see how he evolved and found his own style, it is something that I will never forget.

We also visited La Palau de Musica Catalana which is an amazing concert hall in the heart of Barcelona. The architecture of the building was amazing; I love that the architecture in Barcelona is an art form rather than just a means to cover people's heads. Every building seemed to be inspired by nature and the details that were used in the construction were breathtaking.

It was interesting with my parents here because I had to work as the translator the entire visit. I often found my self talking to my real family in Slovak because I kept forgetting what language I was supposed to be using. It is rather rewarding, though, because you learn really how well you can speak the language, it was amazing when I realized that I could not only say everything that I want but that I can also translate for other people both from Slovak to English and English to Slovak. (The skill also helped me in Poland and the Czech Republic when we got lost, thank god the languages are so similar....)

As of right now I just have one week and then I will be going on a trip to Greece and Italy (luckily not by plane, my family got stuck in Europe for an extra week because of the ash, of course, I wasn't complaining) with rotary. I am really excited to see both countries and am especially excited to eat the food that comes from the two countries.... GYROS AND PASTA, HERE I COME!!!! I will be home in exactly 1 month and 17 days today and it is crazy to think about but I am also excited to return to my beautiful little mountain town for another summer of working at the Boys and Girl's Club!

See you all soon!

Carlo Gavatorta - Italian dinner!!!

Hey everybody! I'll dedicate this whole post to tell you about the Italian fundraiser dinner i just had last Sunday night.


First of all I organized this diner to raise money for the Rotary Bus Trip with all the exchange students that's going to be at the end of the year. It costs 1700 $ and since I waned to earn this money but I can't work I thought about doing this. I practiced some few Italian courses. Some Rotarian friends and my hostfamily really helped me out and it worked out really well. The menu was: Insalata con arancie e noci, pasta alla carbonara, agnello al forno con patate e verdure grigliate and tiramisù. It was a lot of work but it was really worth it! 12 hours in the kitchen are exhausting but also fun if with the right people! :-) Cooking for 45 people and making it a nice thing is not as easy as it would seem, anyway everyone liked it and enjoyed the dinner a lot.


It's such an amazing experience and I'm so happy I finally did it , after procrastinating for months. I was really tired after it but I felt so good and satisfied. I hope other exchange students will do it in the next years. It would be awesome!


I'll blog again soon and write other cool stuff happening in the amazing Steamboat Springs!


Carlo

Maggie Kriz: AHOJ JAR!!!

I can't believe how quickly time passes when you are on exchange. I just looked at the date and I realized that it is already March! I have been doing so many amazing things here, it is hard to choose a place to start!

In January I went to the Austrian Alps for a week with my school and it was really amazing. Before leaving Steamboat I had never realized how blessed I was to have a ski mountain literally five minutes away from my house.... lets just say that I will never take that for granted again. The alps were so beautiful and it was so nice to finally be on a snowboard again. We stayed in a cabin and there were about sixty kids and four adults supervising us. My favorite day was the last one, all the days before we woke up to beautiful bluebird mornings and when we hit the mountain we knew that we were going to find nice groomers but on the last day we woke up to about two feet of fresh powder. It was perfect because unlike the mountains of Colorado, the Alps don't have many trees on them so my friends and I could catch fresh tracks all day long. It was interesting though because the Slovaks didn't really know how to ski well in the powder, they are so used to groomed runs that they were amazed at how well I could maneuver myself through such deep snow. It really was a day that I will never forget.

The olympics were very interesting here in Slovakia. They are obsessed with ice hockey (ice hockey is to them as football is to the United States) so you can only imagine. Everyday people would be talking about the hockey games and I found myself staying up until 2:00 in the morning to watch the matches with my host brother and his friends. Really the only thing I could thing about though was.... "God, I hope they don't play America.... awkward..." Both luckily and sadly they never did.

I have found here in Slovakia a kind of routine, just like how you have routines in your home country and was amazed when I realized how comfortable I am in my host country. Everyday it seems that I have some plans after school with all of the new and amazing people that I have met here. It is interesting to me that although all teenagers come from different places and backgrounds we all like to do similar things and are drawn towards similar activities. I love to learn about the differences in this culture but I think that it humanizes us to learn that really we are all the same.... perhaps prejudices could be broken if only people traveled more and saw these similarities, rather than searching only for the differences.

It is finally beginning to warm up here and almost all of the snow has completely vanished. I was walking home last week from school and heard a bird singing, my initial reaction because it was February was "Poor thing must be lost," but it is those little things that remind you that you aren't in Colorado anymore. It was at that moment that I realized that I survived the Slovak winter... but more than just surviving I flourished. It was an amazing winter and I began to think about how I have built really close bonds to the people that I have met here and it was incredibly odd to me to realize that the weather is changing to how it was when I first arrived in Slovakia. It made me sad for a little to realize that I don't have much time left in this amazing country.

I am really looking forward to next month. My family is coming to visit me in April and we are going to to the beautiful city of Barcelona while they are here. It has been so long since I have actually been in the same room as them that I am so excited I could scream! My mother is perhaps the best cook in the entire world so I really can't wait to taste her delicious food once again! I will also be going to Greece and Italy with my Rotary district in May so I am very excited for the next few months of travel!

Carlo Gavatorta ...and time goes by so fast!!

It has been a while since I posted something in this blog and lots of things have happened. My exchange is going great and I'm loving Steamboat and all the people I've met who are part of my life here. Snowboarding is becoming one of my favorite things ever and I'm gonna keep doing it in Italy too.

Right after Christmas holidays I went to Agua Prieta, Mexico, with Interact and some rotarians to give gifts to the orphans down there. I had a great experience and we had a great time with the rotarians and interact kids of Agua Prieta. Giving the gifts to the orphans really made us feel very good and seeing all those smiles on their faces made us feel happy too. The thing that impressed me the most though was driving in the slums and giving gifts to the very poor people from the back of the truck. It was an amazing experience!

I also went to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for the ski trip with all the exchange students and we had a blast!! The ski mountain is great there and we had so much fun skiin together. I really think this Rotary District is great compared to others, we get to do so much stuff together and it really seems that they care a lot about us exchange students. I'm really glad to be in this District, especially in Steamboat!

So...life is going great, school is good and friends are awesome. I wouldn't ask more from this year at this point. Time is going by very fast and I already feel sad thinking about the end of all of this. Well, I also try not to think about it and live every minute intensely and do anything I have the opportunity to do.