Grand Rapids

So tomorrow is the final conference before I head out of America. It is in Grand Rapids, MI at Calvin College. All outbounds and inbounds for the Central States region will be there, and so will many rebounds and rotex members. 

This conference will be the gateway to Peru for me, as I will get to meet kids who are also headed to Peru and kids who are from Peru. It is sure to be a worthwhile experience. Something sort of making me nervous is the language test, but at the same time I know I'll be fine. Spanish has been very easy for me to pick up thus far.

I haven't quite begun packing yet but I will be starting as soon as I arrive home from this weekend. My gifts are pretty much ready to go besides a few foods and candies I will be bringing with me. I have lots of tshirts picked out and some sports teams shirts as well. Hopefully my host families and friends like everything! 

Today I gave my RYE presentation to my home rotary club. It went pretty well, and the Rotarians pointed out several things I could improve upon, and that I did well with. I will be presenting  this PowerPoint to my host rotary club at some point, so it is important that it is a good representation of where I live. 

Exchange is coming :)

Peace&love

-Ian

Flights!

So, my flights to Peru were finalized today!
It's starting to hit me now, the fact that I'm actually leaving my home for a year. I'm starting to realize which of my friends and family I've already said goodbye to for the last time, tangibly anyways. Every minute here is becoming oh so precious.

Yesterday I participated in my town's 4th of July parade, along with the exchange students past, present, and future (like me!) We marched with our host/home country's flags draped around us and waved to the masses of people on main street. I really enjoyed it and have recently rediscovered how much I love being around other exchange students, even if I don't know them that well. They're a special sort of people for sure.

Peace&love.
-Ian

~Prologue~

Hi everyone!
My name is Ian and I am a Rotary Youth Exchange Student from Central States RYE, District #6220. I was accepted to be a RYE student in October 2012 and in January 2013 I was informed that my host country for the coming year would be Peru! Later in May, I received word from my first host family, who live in Lima, Peru, in the district of Miraflores. Lima is Peru's capitol city and has a population of 10 million people. Coming from a small Wisconsin city of about 6,000 it will be an intense culture shock.

I have been to two district exchange conferences so far and have met some incredible 'outbound' friends who will be traveling the same time as me. There is one conference to go and it is for the entire region, and about 1200 students will be there.

Some background on myself:
I have lived in Waupaca, WI for my entire 18 years of life. I recently graduated. I am an Eagle Scout. I live on a lake. I play guitar. My favorite sport is soccer. I love climbing mountains.

I have been told that my arrival date is July 28. My flights are almost finalized and departure looms. I'm a strange mix of happily excited and terrified, but I know it will end up being alright.

Peace&love.
-Ian

My outbound crew!