Piczo

A Sequel Worthy of the First

I'm sitting here again in a familiar situation. I'm on my laptop, humming to the music of a Japanese song. I'm trying to organize a million different thoughts and put them into the right words to get it exactly right. Get what exactly right you may ask? The sequel of an epic tale. Well that may be a bit dramatic. Espeically since sequels are usually not very good. Take Jaws for instance. The second Jaws was absolutely depressing compared to the original Jaws. But then I personally believe that once Roy Sneider got eaten, the first Jaws kind of went down the tube as well. Then I think, sequels aren't always bad. In fact, Terminator II: Judgement Day was 10x better than Terminator I (although Terminator III pretty much stunk.) But let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet. So about this sequel. Well as you may know, this is the very first entry into my second foreign exchange. Second!?!?! Yep. In 2006 thru 2007, I traveled from my home to the distant country of Japan. It was, thus far, the best year of my life. And I kept a wonderful website,documenting just about everything that went on during that year at www.dreamerabroad.piczo.com. But now as of March 2008, about 5 months before my perspective departure date, I have applied and had an interview for a second Rotary Youth Exchange. Over the years I have accumulated a variety of contacts with the Rotary Youth Exchange program. Other exchange students that I have befriended, mostly through interactions with Cultures Shocked Exchange Student forum, have a special name for someone like me. You see kids that are not yet on exchange are called outbounds. While kids during their exchange are called inbounds. People like me, that have returned from their exchange, are called Rotex. So what does that make a Rotex that is going on a second exchange? ABSOLUTELY MAD! Well, yes, and Yo-Yo. There is no better fitting a name than Yo-Yo. But what it means is someone who is sent out, returns home, and is sent out again. Just like a Yo-Yo. Oh yes, I know Yo-Yo can also describe people found in the looney bin. Maybe I little crazy. It all started one February evening, most outbounds were already being placed in their countries, and I was still planning on going to college. (I still am... but not quite just yet.) This summer my friend Zoe and I were planning on backpacking central America, which my mother was not pleased about. Somehow she suggested I do Europe, a nice safe tour through France. I replied that I would need an entire year to do a place like France. She shrugged and said something like, "Can you still do another exchange?" Oddly enough, this is exactly how it happened. My mother, who missed me more than words can describe during my first exchange, and would probably have not let me gone if she had not known it was the best thing in the world for me, had actually started the ball rolling. I completed the majority of my tedious application that week, and waited for the medical form. After about 3 weeks, I finally submitted my application. It was official. Along the way, I asked my Dad if he thought I was crazy for going out on a whim like this, applying to go on another exchange/ He replied, "Yep, but it's what you do." True to that word, it's just what I do. On March 13, I arrived at my Rotary interview. Prior to the big day, one of the chief Rotarians gave me a choice betwen four countries: France, Germany, Brazil, and Spain. I won't go into the gruelling and agonizing decision making I went through, but I had it settled on Spain, France, Germany, and Brazil in that order. To be perfectly and brutally honest, just like my forst exchange, I don't care where I go. I just really want to be an exchange student, living and learning a new culture, land, and people. Japan was my third choice, and I would never have gone there if that had been my only option in the first place. Sure enough, it turned out to be the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Not a moment goes by where I don't think about Japan and how much it changed my life. But as I walked into the interview with the four countries in mind, I secretly found myself hoping that I would be able to add Argentina to the mix. A few years back my family hosted Ale from Argentina, Spanish would be an important language to know, and South America just looks absolutely breath-taking. When I walked out of that interview not an hour later, I realized that if I was accepted into the program, I would be heading to beautiful sunny Argentina. So here I am again. Not too much has changed except that I can speak Japanese, am a great deal more independent, and a little a bit older. I'm waiting to hear if I was accepted. I don't want to sound too confident, but I'm pretty sure I'm in. But above all, I'm waiting to hear which country I'm going to spend the next year of my life in. I'm back to being a silly little outbound. A yo-yo outbound.

Let's Take it All the Way to the Convention

In spirit of our recent campaign, whereby Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are currently thrashing each other apart in order to receive the Democratic nomination, I though I would play with some current events. The Pennsylvannia primary is coming up. This is where it comes down to whether Hillary should stay in the campaign until August, when the Democratic national convention meets. If she does stay in the campaign till August, a group of Democratic superdelegates will be handed the task of selecting either Hilary Clinton or Barack Obama as their choice for the next American president. Now why, do you ask, would I a hard-core Libertarian and future Yo-Yo exchange student waste an entire post talking about two democratic candidates in a website dedicatd to me year abroad. The answer is simple. I, like the Democrats, am probably going into the convention (welll... orientation) with absolutely no idea where I am going. Now I think I know what you are thinking. What happened to Argentina? Well actually, I don't really know. My interview seemed to sure things up for the SOuth America country, but loand behold, things didn't work out. The spot was already given away to another outbounder from New Jersey. I was given two choices: Thailand or Brazil. My mother made it VERY much clear that I would not be going to Thailand, and frankly, I just have a funny feeling about Brazil. So I was about ready to throw in the hat and tell Rotary that I probably woulnd't be going. Well, let's backthings up. When I didn't get Argentina, I was very upset. It seems to me that this exchange is already starting to parallel round one, when I really wanted South africa and ended up getting *stuck* in Japan. (haha... I'm going for a sarcastic effect here. After all, Japan was the most perfect country in the world for me. I can't imagine having spent last year in any other country but the land of the rising sun.)Anyway, my Mom knew how upset I was about the country choices and called Barbara Miller, the Rotary head chairperson. Dr. Miller gave my mom France, Belgium, and Germany, in addition to Thailand and Brazil. I was upset, and in a fleeting moment of insanity I made up my mind to not go abroad next year. That lasted about 3 days, until I realized how stupid I was being. How could I, Julie Garner, the epitomie of a victim of Wanderlust, world traveller, and all-around culture freak, give up something as special as a second year abroad. It was then that I began the powerpoint. I started to creat a powerpoint presentation for my beloved parents, titles, "Why You SHould Let Me Go To Thailand." The fact of the matter is Europe is fascinating. But it will always be there for me to visit and utilize. It's the place I see myself taking a honeymoon, spending heaps of money in, and actiang like a stupid fat American torst. But Asia and South America are different. They are special. You can't just hop a Continental flight to Bangkok, New Delhi, La Paz, or Santiago, without a plan. Asia has this appeal to me. I can't explain other than the fact that I am enamored with it. It's so strange and completely different. Asia is truly where I want to be. But, I;m not going to lie, I'm having a really difficult time conveying this lust for asia with my parents. I can totally understand there cuase for concern. In 2004, Thailand was hit a serioes of devastating tsunami, in 2005 the Bird Flu killed a few humans in that part of the world, in 2006, the military overthrew the government. As you can see, that is just three strikes against Thailand. And this is the point in which I will leave you all hanging. In exactly 5 days from now, at the Madison, NJ YMCA, Rotary will be holding a youth exchange orientation. At this meeting, I will finally discover where I am spending the next year of my life. In the spirit of current events, I am taking this thing all the way to the convention.

Facing the Truth

It's been over two months of knowing where I will spend the next year of my life. Two month's is a long time in the scheme of things. It seems odd that I haven't come on to my website and updated as the biggest news of the time. That is, where I'm going next year. Oh sure, I could easily say that I've been busy. That would be a good and acceptable truth. Afterall, I just graduated 2 days ago. I've also spent the past few weeks with Senior obligations, working three jobs to pay for my exchange, and AP exams. But frankly, that all wouldn't be true. I'm one of the luckiest 17 year-olds to walk to face of the earth, and that is why I feel like a terrible persone for saying this... but... The reason I haven't updated and added a chapter to my my fantastic adventure is because I've been indifferent to it. I can;t say I'm surprised, after all, I was pretty disappointed when I first received Japan. I can remember even contemplating whether going to Japan was even a good idea. It's the same way this time around. Call me spoiled, selfish, and rotten but I wasn't expecting the country I got. Even more so I wasn't thrilled about it when I got it. The night before Madison weekend, I opened my mailbox to receive an E-mail from Dr. Barbara Miller, the youth exchange coordinator from our district. She and I have become practically buddy-buddy with all the emails we had been sending in those days. After all, I had applied to Rotary in February and still had no idea where I was going in mid-April, the night before the Madison Orientation, in which it was practically mandatory to have a designated country. I had been emailing her for information about my options: Thailand, Germany, France, and Brazil. Only Thailand really excited me. I don't want to go into the full details as to why Thailand excited me, but it has something to do with my fetish for Asia. Since Japan, I have become enamored with all things Asia. I like to consider myself a true-Asian enthusiasts, even though Asia in pretty much the trendy in-thing lately. Well guess what, suckers, I speak Japanese, have religious notions towards Buddhism and Shintoism, and plan to eventually go home to Japan. In all honesty, I don't know where I am going to be in twenty years, but I do feel compelled towards Asia. At least more so than South America or Europe or Africa. But on the subject of Thailand, I have one thorn in the plan. The existance of two lovely yet somewhat overconcerned parental units. Even though I presented them with a wonderful warm owerpoint with all the reasons why Thailand is safe, warm, and friendly, they shot down Thailand faster than you can say Rotary. So it was back to the drawing board, and I decided on France or Belgium. When I really thought about it, I decided to spend the next year in Belgium. The reasons were that I had family strewn across the tiny European country and because I am a huge percentage of Belgian. My Grandma grew up there, after all. Sure enough, when I opened that email the night before my orientation, I discovered that I was not being sent to Belgium. Instead, I would be spending the next year in France. I wasn't disappointed. That's definitely not the right word to describe what I was feeling. The only thing I could say was I felt indifferent. I felt like France was a wonderful country and it didn't even seep in that it was where I would be living for the next year of my life. It seemed to beautiful and European and mysterious for me. I don't really know how to accurately explain what I was feeling. But the next day at the Rotary orientation, I had figured out how I was feeling about France. I decided that I was going to go into the weekend with an open mind, listen to everyone and help other outbounders realize what kind of an opportunity they were getting, but still remain uncertain about whether I would be going or not. But I can no longer feel that way. Two days after I officially graduated from high school and a little over two months away from my tentative departure date and I must face the idea that I will be living aborad in Europe for a year. Not only Europe, which is a lightyear from Asian culture, but France! These past two months of indifference have allowed me to accept one inportant factor in the whole thing. Like Japan, France was not my choice, it was selected for me by Rotary. On top of that it will be an incredibly different experience than life in America or seikatsu in Nippon (Japan) I know next to nothing abot France, which parallels my nonexistant knowledge of Japan prior to arrival. And even considering all of this, and I left out one thing. It's me. It's me, Julie Garner, doing this. Julie Garner, the crazy 15 year-old who lived abroad to Japan and had the bext year of her life. The Gaijin that speaks Japanese, mastered chop sticks, survived life as a Japanese schoolgirl, Japanese drivers, Japanese food, and overall life in Japan. Challenges are what make life worth living. And now as I move onto acceptance of France, I realize one thing. I overcome to challenge of American high school and life in a strange east-asian wonder. I'm on to new challanges. Bring it on France.

Fixin for France

I wish I could admit to you that this website would be strictly about my new home, France. But that would be an utter lie. You see, Iam an American by birth and most of my family lives in the United States. I am proud of my country, regardless of whom are politicians are or aren't. My other family live in Japan, though they may not be directly related to me by blood, I still consider them family. After all, I figure if these people can put up with me for a year, the least I can do is call them family. Another thing about Japan I want to mention is that it was the country of my first exchange, and is so much a part of me that not a miute goes by where I don't think about it and remember what a wonderful experience I had. And so it seems only fitting, that receiving my confirmation of hosting in France, would begin with Japan. My best friend, Chiake Yamanaka, to be exact. SHe sent me a wonderful package full of presents for me in honor of my high school graduation. It is always a great feeling to know that they aren't forgetting abou me over in Japanland, because I certainly am not forgetting about them. The next day, another letter arrived at my house. This letter came from a different part of the globe, the distant European wonder of France. It was my ROtary Guarentee Form, which gave me some invaluable information about my placement, district, host family, school, and rules. To start I am being placed in Fixin, a tiny town just outside of Dijon, France. Dijon as in the mustard. It is a large city of 300,000 (the same amount as my beloved Kochi!!!) However, my first host family, the Robert's, live in Fixin. The funny thing is that Fixin has a startling population as well. All 785 people! It's funny because when I first discovered this fact I began questioning what kind of predestination path am I on? First I get stuck on Shikoku, picking up a dialect of Japanese that makes me sound like a Hillbilly. Now I'm being sent to a village in the middle of nowhere France with a whooping 785 people. But, on the bright side, it's smack dab in the middle of wine country. Even though I plan to ACTUALLY follow to Rotary rules of NO alcoholic beverages, I still think it's really cool to be placed in a vineyard area. Sounds like a great place for running, another one of my crazy passions. Even though I don't know anything about my host family, I discovered my school, Lycee Stephean Liegard. I also googled the school and discovered that I would be going to a Hogwarts-look alike school. It is in fact a castle, but I think I'll address this on another occasion. All in all, I had forgotten something. I had forgotten the sheer and utter excitement it was to be an outbound rotary student finding out about their country. I remember backl when I got my guarentee form for Japan, I was so enthusiatic I nearly wet myself. It was like that again with France, which means that maybe I am actually excited about going to France. No, that not right. I am excited about France~! I no longer seem to care upset when my friends say things along the line of, "Your not going to college? WHY?!?" or "Why France?" with tones of seeming disgust. Right now I'm focused on getting in touch with my family in Japan, my new family in France, and living life to the very fullest I can. I probably am one of the luckiest 17 year-olds alive.