Rotary Nowra set the scene at last week’s dinner meeting for its rebound exchange students, Makenzie Veal and Holly Weyman, to talk about their very different cultural experiences in the past 12 months.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
They had an International Night with the Bomaderry Bowling Club catering staff preparing a wonderful variety of Indian dishes for the main meal.
Rotarians set the tables with international themes and many Rotarians and guests wore a variety of traditional clothing from other countries.
Makenzie, wearing her cheerleading jacket and Mickey Mouse ears, told us that she had been with one family all year.
She lived in Pottstown, near Philadelphia, where it snows and gets very cold in winter.
She attended Owen J Roberts School along with 2000 other kids, and she was in the choir and the cheerleading squad.
She told us that the choir learnt the Australian National Anthem to sing for her at Christmas and that it was very emotional for her.
During her year, she visited Canada, New York, Washington DC, with the highlight being a tour of the west coast where she got to see the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Disneyland and San Francisco.
She also told us of an almost encounter with Donald Trump at the White House where she was trying to get a photo but was warned by armed guards to stay back.
Holly introduced herself in Taiwanese as Qui Xin Yi (pronounced Cho shin e) and told us that she had stayed with three families in the city of Kaohsiung, which is in the south of Taiwan, and attended the San Min Senior High School.
She found the three families very different to live with and, as she stayed with the third family for six months, she became closer to them, except for the eldest sister who was on exchange in Finland.
While she was there she studied the Chinese violin and Taiwanese dancing.
She wore a jacket with long flowing sleeves that makes flower shapes when she dances.
As they [the Taiwanese] do not celebrate Christmas, on Christmas Day, one of the teachers took them on a tour around a nutrient factory.
Holly intimated that it was a challenging year, but she would definitely do it all again.