[vc_row full_width=”” parallax=”” parallax_image=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Hannah named her presentation “Going with the Flow in France” because this describes her experience as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student. She remarked that she found the European culture to be very different from what she is used to in the US. She stayed true to herself, though, and resolved to rise above the challenges.
Hannah arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport in France in August 2014 with all of the other in-bound exchange students. She went on to live for 10 months in the small, rural village of Sable sur Sarthe, home of Babybel Cheese. While there she stayed with three different host families including a family with small children and a family with a single host mom. Her experiences with each family were rich with challenges and joys and she learned a lot from each one. She found the French people to be fairly reserved in general and this required some adjustment.
While living in Tigard, Hannah had taken four years of French in school and was fairly well prepared before she left for France. She found conversation to be very difficult, however, particularly because French words tend to run together when spoken. It took about three months before she felt comfortable conversing in the local tongue.
Rotary trips were the highlight of Hannah’s exchange. She travelled to Mont Saint Michel, Paris, Germany, Austria, Spain, Czech Republic, Italy, and Switzerland. Her favorite travel experience was riding a Gondola in Venice.
Hannah said that coming back to the US has not been as difficult for her as it has been for some other exchange students. Her exchange made a huge impact on her life and she is grateful for the opportunity afforded her. She is looking forward to completing her senior year and going to college to study aeronautical engineering. She is especially interested in the design aspects of her chosen career.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]