This year my AFS home chapter is celebrating their 50th Anniversary with AFS.
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Photo by Nicholas Clapasson |
It's amazing that AFS even works, really. It's one of the biggest non-profit organizations in the world. But somehow, volunteers, workers, host families, and students from all over the world have proved that AFS is one of the best (and biggest) exchange student programs that exists. 13,000 students/adults/teachers are exchange EVERY YEAR with AFS. That requires a lot of work.
It was also brought to my attention that this is my 50th published blog post. Has is really been that many? Some short. Others are... quite long. Going back to the begninning and reading breifly through the first posts made me realize that- I've changed. I don't know how, or even why sometimes. I'll read something and be in disbelief, or amazement at some of my 'first thoughts.' I've kept a journal as well, and it's the same story there.
People talk about going back in time. How they wish they could. With keeping a log of events/thoughts, I have found that the best way to travel back to your past is to simply...write it down. Pictures are great, and videos even capture the moment, but re-reading something that you wrote? Bingo. You will amaze yourself.
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| AFS-USA Arrival Orientation 2010 |
So why be an exchange student? There are an unlimited number of reasons. Here are a few of "My Favorite Things" from the year so far...
1). Speaking a different language everyday, and not thinking twice about it.
2). Looking out my window and seeing the Mediterranean Sea.
3). Not being able to remember certain words in English.
4). Walking around the city- there's something about the streets here that we don't have in the states.
5). Coming home from school in about a 3-4 minute walk.
6). Watching tourists try to figure out how things work.
7). Taking pictures...more than 10,000...
8). The Christmas lights in Madrid over the holidays.
9). Public transportation.
10). Being a representative for the USA... especially during class.
11). Explaining differences between my culture and others.
12). Watching TV and knowing that it's helping me learn. Even commericals.
13). Random small town churches and castles.
14). Being surrounded by bakeries and coffee shops while walking downtown.
15). Going on spontaneus adventures.
16). "Learning the city"- in Madrid taking random buses to places you recognize really help learn the streets.
17). Pretending not to speak English or Spanish- as in, when people harass you to buy things.
18). Staring out the windows at school, looking at the palm trees.
19). The random excercise parks throughout Spain.
20). Asking for directions- like mentioned earlier, someone every block...
21). Giving directions- When you go to a foreign country and can give directions- you feel... accomplished.
22). Trying new foods. Sometimes, it's better if you don't know what it is.
23). The good and famous, Spanish ham.
24). ...Ruffles 'ham' chips. You don't find those in the states...
25). Seeing shirts written in English that don't make any sense.
26). Being allowed to take a nap whenever you want and it be considered completely normal.
27). Watching people trying to park a car.
28). Sitting in class listening to teachers butcher names or things in English. I wonder how much we do that...
29). Listening to little kids speak Spanish.
30). Finding out character names in Spanish. "Tinkerbell" and "Snow White" have different names?!
31). Reading a more global newspaper.
32). Playing tennis in my backyard.
33). Cooking something new for my host family. See? I can cook...
34). Being away from drama. There are no school events so that eliminates a lot of 'school politics'.
35). Running into people you know in a city of 3 million people.
36). No teacher, no class. Enough said.
37). Talking with English teachers. Remind me. What language..?
38). Finishing English tests before the rest of the class.
39). Throwing out the excuse you're 'weird like that' because you're foreign.
40). Just standing on the side of the road, feeling like you're in some big adventure movie.
41). The license plates. I am still in love with them. I don't know why. I suppose it adds to the reason above.
42). Learning songs in Spanish. The "Macarena" will be soo much more entertaining to watch back home.
43). Helping strangers. It changes you.
44). Not having people in texting conversations when you are trying to talk with them. (That's for rich kids...)
45). AFS Orientations = Awesome.
46). Random searches for things in the city.
47). Reading other AFSer's blogs.
48). Getting letters from people back home. There's something in a letter an email can't give.
49). Having daily life being normal. There was a day we never knew that foreign would become normal.
50). People. Family, host family, friends, AFSers, everyone. It's the people who really make the exchange year such a great experience.
seventeen and a half today. where has time gone?
-mb
in which city do you live?
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