Megan is our Exchange Student in Belgium

Megan was our 2002-3 Exchange Student in Belgium

Megan's Mom, Joanne Wutzke expresses her thanks and appreciation for the great opportunity that Megan has as a Rotary exchange student in Belgium.

Guest Speaker

Our own recently returned Megan Wutzke spoke of her year in Belgium as a Rotary exchange student.

" You notice my Rotary jacket with pins from other students and people we met. the jacket doesn't fit anymore, it's too short, and it doesn't fit around me either. I have wanted to be an exchange student ever since grade one when I met a student from Japan who shared her candy with me. I got my wish when you accepted me and I traveled to Belgium in August of 2002. I didn't know any French, but luckily the signs were also in English. When I got to the arrivals level, there was a huge screaming crowd, and I leaned they were greeting a band and the welcome wasn't for me.

My host family met me, and we traveled for one and a half hours into the middle of nowhere. I was really tired and looking forward to sleep, but the host family had invited every relative and their dogs and cats for my first family meal. Angelo was my 14 year old host brother, and he immediately asked if I was a pom-pom girl. I assured him that I was not and we got on really well. He brags that he is the person who taught me French, and he actually did teach me the colours.

When four of us got together, we played a little two-on-two soccer. When I booted the ball over the net, over the house, over the fence and into a nearby canal, my host father decided I should play on a team. My lack of understanding the language did not make me welcome at first, but we worked through it. At school, one of the girls said she knew somebody who played on the National Women's team. I asked who that was and she told me that was me, much to my surprise.

Holidays might have been lonely away from home, but I was busy skiing in France, just missing buses and trains on the way there and back.

When I moved on to my second host family, whose son was on an exchange in Canada, I found myself coming home to an empty house on the first day. I thought it would be nice to sit down and have a quiet cup of tea; however, when I went in the back door, the alarm sounded because I forgot the code. It was really loud, and the neighbour lady came over demanding to know who I was. Finally my host mother came home and shut off the alarm and we had a laugh.

In Belgium, students are streamed into courses, they do not choose what subjects they take. I started taking math, but on the first test, I got the top mark, and they said I didn't have to write any more tests. So, I started taking grade seven French which was kind of fun, because I was the tallest kid in class. the students were really kind to me and it was hard to learn the basics. Of all the students, these are the kids I missed the most when I left. They all told me they are coming to visit Canada.

Belgium has one-eighth the size of Alberta, and one-third the population of Canada. They speak mostly French, except Flemish in the north, and German in the East.

The whole Rotary exchange was an amazing experience that gave me maturity and a wide-angle view of life that living in another country and culture gives you. It changes you for life. Here at home, I am President of the new ROTORACT club at the U of L and I am majoring in French language, and then I want to learn Spanish, too.

A huge thank-you to Rotarians and I am sure that every exchange student I met agrees that it is a great experience. Thanks."

Eddie and Gert Cairns visit with Megan.

Letters from Megan

May 8, 2003

Hello Everyone!!! Sorry it has been so long since I last wrote, but it seems as if I am always busy!! Right now things are going great! My school is preparing for its "Fancy Faire". It is Friday and Saturday. There is games, food, and prizes for everyone. It is kind of like a fair for us, but it is put on by the school as a fundraiser. I am playing in the volleyball and football tournaments that are being held. Teams are made up by the students, and then the teachers do all the organizational things. I am the only girl that is playing football though.....but it will be fun!! On Saturday night there is a dance, and then Sunday morning we all get to clean up!! Which will definitely be the highlight of the weekend!!

On Monday I will be giving a presentation on Canada to my french class, and I will be graded on it. I have been practicing my speech for a bit now, and I think that I have perfected it, but I am still nervous. I will be showing pictures of my graduation, basketball team, and of course the beautiful countryside. Should be interesting. I have done this presentation once before for my english class and another, but that was in english, so it was way easier!! It will be good preparation for when I have to do it for my club though.

Other then that I have been trying to prepare for Euro Tour and going home. I cant believe that I am going to be home soon. This year has gone by way too fast. It was definitely worth it though. Thank you ever so much for this opportunity.

Bisous,
Megan

March 10, 2003

Hey! Sorry it has been such a long time since I last wrote, but well, I have been really busy. People always say that the last few months of your exchange seem to go a lot faster then the first few, and they are totally right. So, to fill you in on my life....I have had to quit football. I wanted to continue playing, but my last host family couldn't drive me to practices and games all the time. I am kind of disappointed, but well, there is nothing that I can do. However, there is one good thing that has come out of this. I will be playing basketball again. There is a club that is near my house, and my sister plays so it makes it a lot easier for me to play basketball. My first practice is tonight, so I will find out where I stand with my team. They are still not completely sure if I can play games because technically I am not a citizen of Belgium, and there is a lot of different rules just to play basketball here. You have to have a license, and at any time for misbehavior or anything they can take that license away. I think that in some ways our league in Canada should have this. Nevertheless, I will be playing again, which will be nice, even if it is just practices.

This past week we had holidays. It was the week of Carnival. It was really fun. Rotary planned us a day trip to the Carnival of Binche, which is suppose to be the best Carnival in Belgium. It was really fun. People are all dressed up in their costumes, having fun and dancing! Couldn't be any more fun! On the day that we went there was les Gilles. Gilles are the guys (only guys can do this) that dress up in this particular costume, and they dance in the streets for the whole day. They look kind of like Quasimodo type thing. Later in the day they throw out oranges, which is kind of dangerous, but everyone seems to like it. They just hurl these things at you, and you are suppose to catch them, but NOT throw them back. We were pre-warned about this, so everything was okay, but there was a group of teenagers that threw one back, and security was there in a flash. At the end of the day there is fireworks, and then they take out all of the straw that they had put in to look like Quasimodo, and burn it, while they dance around it in a bit circle. Les Gilles are just for this day. The rest of the week, it is just whatever costume people like, but les Gilles are special. You have to have been born in Binche and still living there to participate. Apparently, the head guy starts out at like 4 am, and goes out to all the other Gilles houses and gathers them, and then they dance for the rest of the day. A little hard on the feet, but well, it is tradition. I have pictures, I will have to show you guys sometime.

I have also just changed to my last family. They are really nice. I think that I have totally lucked out on families. All of them have been great. I still go back and visit my families from before. My previous family has already come over to visit me! I have only been out of their house for like a week! It was great to see them though! In this family, I have siblings again. I must say that this is really nice. Being an only child at my last family wasn't bad, but well, it is nice to have someone to talk to and stuff. I have a sister who is 14 and a brother who is 20. My sister plays basketball, and is totally boy crazy. Typical teenage girl in my thoughts. My brother is going to university, and he plays for team Charleroi in indoor soccer. They are really good, and it is nice, because now I can get into all the games free! My mom speaks perfect english, flemish, and french, but is also trying to pick up some spanish! Amazing! My dad...he is really cool. He treats me like I am his daughter already, and he wants to make sure that I see everything here. He has already planned trips to Waterloo, Bruges, and other cities. I am excited!

Other then that I think that everything is normal. I hope that you are all doing well, and the cold weather isn't getting to you too much!

Bisous!

Meg

February 3, 2003

From Megan

Our exchange student, Megan in Belgium sends this news:

Hello Mr. Vasil and everyone!

I just thought I would send a taste of some of the fabulous things that I am always eating. Here are three packages of chocolates for everyone. Surprisingly enough, I am still about the same weight as when I left. This would probably have to do with the soccer and volleyball, but some girls here have already gained ten kilos! It doesn't really matter to me though, as long as I can still fit through the doors without having to turn sideways I am happy.

The main reason for this package is the banner of my club Courcelles 2000 (core-cell-deux mill) It is white, so I figured I would send it to you as quickly as possible so that it can remain white. I attend meetings every week, unlike the other exchange students that only go once a month. There are two female members in my club and one of them is the president. However, they have already voted for a president for next year and the other woman didn't get in, so it is back to men ruling.

I hope that you all had great holidays and are enjoying yourselves half as much as I am. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.

Megan

P.S. Frank, please share at least some of the chocolate.

January 10, 2003

Hello Everyone!!

Sorry it has been so long since I wrote you guys!!! Nothing too exciting is happening here. The holidays were a really tough time for a lot of exchange students, but for me, they weren't very hard. I was busy skiing in France, so it kept my mind off of things. The mountains were really beautiful, but I have to say that I think the Rockies are better! You can probably guess that there wasn't a lot of snow there, but there was tons of machines making snow, so the skiing was good.

I spent New Years with my Belgian friends and a few exchange friends. We went to the capital city, Brussels, to see the fireworks and everything that was happening there. It was a pretty fun night! Since then, I have been slowly saying good bye to all of the Australian exchange students. They came here last January, and are leaving now. It is really hard to say good bye to them, so I cant imagine saying good bye to my house families and everyone here when I have to leave. It is just another part of exchange though!! The bell is going to ring, so I should get going. I have french class next, and I don't want to be late. I hope that you are all doing well, and enjoying your exchange student!!! Thanks again!!

Megan

P.S. I have an indoor soccer (they call it mini foot) game next week with my school, so I will have to email you again and tell you how that went!!

November 2002

Exchange is about learning. It's not as simple as learning whatever it is that's taught in school, though. It's about learning how to listen, how to speak, how to think. Learning who you are, who your friends are, the type of people you want as friends. Learning how to trust your innermost feelings, and how to find those feelings in the first place. It's about learning what's really important to you, and learning what you really don't give a damn about.

Exchange is about how to tolerate, how to accept, how to like, and how to love. Learning how to give as well as to receive, and how to trust that everything will even itself out on it's own.

It's about learning that your mom and dad do have the right answers sometimes, and that your kid sister isn't such a dumb little kid anymore.

Exchange is about learning how to treat people as people, not as stereotypes. Learning that sometimes a kiss isn't just a kiss, sometimes it means more, sometimes it means less. Learning how to achieve, how to succeed, how to accomplish. It's about learning how to not come in first place and still be proud, and about coming in last and learning how to admit that you could have been better.

Exchange is about learning that large parties don't necessarily mean a good time. Learning that loneliness doesn't go away in a crowd, and that sometimes it's okay to be by yourself on a Friday or Saturday night.

It's about learning that your lunch time crowd does not constitute your popularity, and that popularity is all a matter of perspective. It's about learning that boredom is simply laziness of the mind, and watching 3 hour of TV every night is not quality relaxation time.

Exchange is about learning how to pack a bag and how to pack a room full of way too much stuff. It's about learning that people probably like you a whole lot more than they'll ever tell you, and that it's your responsibility to make sure your friends know how much you appreciate them.

It's about learning that simply doing what you're supposed to do isn't enough, you need to put forth twice that effort in order to fully grasp whatever it is that's sitting in front of you.

It's about learning how to make people smile.

Exchange is about learning how to miss people enough to not stick them in the past, and how to not miss them so much that it keeps you from moving into the future.

Learning how to motivate yourself and how to motivate others.
Learning what the phrase 'make do' means and how to use it to seem as if you're not simply 'making do'.

It's about learning 25 different ways of saying 'we made out', and how to swear in all the different languages of all the other exchange students.

Exchange is about learning.......LEARNING HOW TO LIVE!

Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2002 2:58 AM

Hey All!! Things here in Belgium are pretty much just the same, so there isn't much news for ya. Last week I got my first cold!! I was pretty sick though, and the doctor came to my house, so that was interesting! I am still on medication, and it tastes awful!! Any way, so I figured out something pretty cool. I was told yesterday more about the league that I am playing in for soccer. I guess it is the premiere league in Belgium! It makes much more sense now, because I am one of the youngest girls on my team, and sometimes I am playing against women that could be like my mom!! LOL Its hard to slide tackle your mom!! Any who, we played the number one team last Saturday and lost 1-0, and this Saturday we play again. At the end of this month, I will be making a trip to London with Rotary! I am so excited to get to speak English again!!! Oh, so, yeah, the whole French thing. Well....its coming along. I am understanding more and more, and have even begun to speak a little. I never realized how hard a language can be!! There is masculine and feminine, and lets not forget that there is 21 different ways to say the same verb....with different tenses and stuff! AHHHH!!!! Don't worry mom, I will learn, and usually there is someone that speaks English! So, the bell just rang, and I have math now! I hope all is well.....where ever you might be!!!

Meg

October 2002

Hello Rotarians!!

I thought that I would send you a quick email!! First of all, a big thank you to you all!! I hope that your new exchange student is half as fun as Chiaki (sorry not sure on the spelling) was. She was really fun, and it will be hard to follow after her, but I am sure that she is great!!

I just thought that I would tell you a little about rotary here since I am sure that you are all dying to know!! So far, I have had two conferences, but I am sure that there will be another one since the Australian exchange starts in January and we will have to welcome them!! That is one nice thing!! When I arrived I had an Auzzie that was already here and she helped me to get my feet planted. She explained the bus and the train system as well as a lot of other things to me. The best part was that it was all in English!! The two conferences were of totally different reasons. The first was just to welcome all of us, and for fun. There was a western theme so I fit in quite nicely!! The second was more down to business and a district conference. They told us the rules of being here, and our obligations to rotary and the future of the program.

Since then, I have been going to two meetings a month with my own rotary club. That may not seem like much, but it is more then they have asked of me, which was only to go to the dinner meeting at the end of the month. My President, unlike most clubs, is actually a woman. She is very nice, and her little bit of English came in very handy in the beginning. My Pappy is very nice, he helps me with rotary trips and functions.

This past week, since we were on holidays Rotex planned a trip to London! I had the time of my life! We were singing and dancing everywhere! So much, that in fact I even lost my voice, but it was worth it! Most things in rotary are the same but if you have any questions for me, feel free to ask!! I hope all is well for you!!

Thank you again!!

Meg

Sent: Sunday, September 01, 2002 9:40 AM

Subject: Belgium

Bonjour!!! Belgium is as always a wonderful place to be! There has been lots of sunshine and hardly any rain. During my stay here I will have four different families. Right now, I am with the Pozniak family. I have two house brothers, (12 and 17) and a house sister (20). My favorite, if I had to choose, would be the 12 year old. He loves to take me on bike rides to see the beautiful city life, as well as playing soccer and other sports with me. My house fathers name is Michel, he is a police officer. He is very funny, and more then willing to kick my butt at pool. My house mother Mary-Christin, is a great cook! She is Italian, and loves to see me eat, which is terrible for my waist line! So far, somehow, I have lost just over 5 pounds. I am not sure how, but I am sure that it will be back in no time. Everyone here is very nice, and love to talk to me! I will be going to St. Michel school starting on the 9th of September. There is 5 exchange student going to be there, including one other Canadian. So far I have only met one other exchange student. She is from Brazil, and the same age as me. She is really cool, and since she learned French in school she helps me with my my pronunciation. This Tuesday rotary has organized a little trip for us to go to Brussels, and to another city shopping. It should be great! I am really excited!! Email, however; will be difficult to gain access to since my first house family doesn't have it, so I will write whenever possible! Thank you to rotary for giving me this chance, and I will be sure to have a report for you on the battle of Waterloo when I get home! I miss you all, and hope that all is going well!!

Meg