Friday, July 30, 2010
Wake up. Eat. Hug Mom. Say goodbye. Board plane. Find seat. Sit down. Fly to Atlanta, then Brasilia, then Sau Paulo, then Londrina. Get out of plane. Look for a sign that probably says, "Francis Johnson." Meet host family. Greet host family. Find Luggage. Get in car (or perhaps public transport). Ride through Londrina. Get out at new home. Tour new home. Make bed. Take picture of bed. Send picture to Mom. Sleep.
That's how I envision my last day in America and my first day in Brazil.
Thank you for reading. This is the first of hopefully many entries. I think an appropriate way to start is to re-answer some of the questions I have been asked the last few months. After that, once I'm actually in Brazil, I'll tell you what I'm doing.
1. Yes. I am excited.
2. I'm doing an exchange mostly because of the influence of some of my friends: Isaac Rysdahl, Jon Braegelmann, Henry Kunerth, Tessa Makepeace, and Marie Torp. Perhaps you already know what they did, but I'll just clarify. Isaac volunteered in Guatemala with his brother David, and he is currently building a school in Peru with his brother Gabe; Jon went on an exchange to India; Henry went to Norway; Tessa went to Germany; and Marie is from Norway but went to Cathedral in New Ulm in 09-10. These friends of mine planted the idea into my head, and the Rotary program made it a reality.
3. Brazil was my first choice -- technically. Originally I wanted to go to Spain for two reasons: (1) they speak Spanish in Spain, and (2) Spain, being in Europe, is in close proximity with the rest of Europe. Those are legitimate reasons, right? However, when I went to the Rotary Country Fair, an event where inbound exchange students 'sell' their countries to potential outbound exchange students, I found out that I was too old to go to Spain or any other Spanish speaking country. Fortunately, I met a crew of Brazilian Rotary kids who thoroughly convinced me that I would love their country. I haven't looked back since.
4. I took three and a half years of Spanish, and I have spent the last seven months slowly converting my Spanish to Portuguese. I found out Brazil was my host country right before New Years. Portuguese and Spanish are Romance Languages. Portuguese shares similar words and structure with Spanish and has sort of a French pronunciation. I have used books, an online language software called Byki (which I strongly recommend to anyone who wants to learn the basics of a language without paying a cent), DVDs with Portuguese subtitles, and to save the best for last, some of the Brazilian exchange students: Marcos, Ricardo, Thaisa, and Ana Clara. It is thanks to them that I know some hip, youthful vernacular. However, it's also thanks to them that when people ask me to say something in Portuguese, I have to filter out language I wouldn't use in front of my mother.
5. The city I'll be living in is in the South. It's called Londrina, in the state of Paranรก. It's got a population of about 500,000, and it's absolutely beautiful. Check out some pictures at http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&biw=1366&bih=575&gbv=2&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=londrina&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
6. I'll be attending high school for approximately five hours each day, and I am required to "make an earnest effort to succeed." :) Yes, that's a smiley face.
7. My first home is a family of four: Nelson (dad), Marizelia (mom), Pedro (brother, 18), and Maria Luisa (sister, 16). Maria Luisa is going on an exchange in Belgium. She leaves during the second week of August. Pedro did an exchange in Denmark last year. He will be living at home and going to college when I'm there. I've been teaching myself guitar for about a year now, and I was very pleased to find out that Pedro plays classical guitar and that the Vieira family owns two acoustic guitars and one electric.
I didn't mention this in my introduction, but I'll be flying with seven other exchange students. We're all from Minnesota, and we're all going to different parts of Brazil. I can't put into words how excited I am. I have not felt one bit of nervousness. That's probably because almost every former exchange student that I've talked to says that the exchange was the best year of his or her life. As of now, it all looks to be smooth sailing. I know there will be difficult times, but that's life. I think the good ones will outnumber the bad.
If there are any questions that I have not answered, please let me know, and I will answer them. Thanks again for reading. Stay tuned.
