Newspaper Article #1

For those of you who don't already know, I have an article in the Cooperstown Crier on the first thursday of every month. (the first one went out a little later though) I have decided to post it on here as well. Sooo yeah.. here's the first one! :)

9/2/10

This is My Time.

If anyone has ever told you that Rotary Foreign Exchange is easy, I am telling you they are wrong. I have been here since July 25^th, and not one day has been easy. Nor has one day been anything short of amazing. Houses of brick, gardens, trees, windmills- it is truly beautiful. I have heard many times that Rotary Exchange is like being dropped off in the middle of the ocean. You have a choice to make. You could see only the difficulties- one feels tired often, gets headaches, often times has to do something completely out of the ordinary- and sink. You could try to only look at the positives- deny that some things don’t come as easily as one would expect- and swim- but realistically, no one can swim across an ocean. It is my opinion that the only way to flourish during Exchange is to find an alternative way to make it to shore. Rotary students must be able to swim on their own, but also know when it is time to ask for help. I will admit- I need more help than I ever would have anticipated. It isn’t always easy to recognize that you cant do it all on your own- at least not for me. For those of you who don’t already know, I am spending my year in Grevenbroich, Germany- and I am loving every minute of it. I speak very little German, which definitely makes it more challenging, but it is worth it. I have a host mom, dad, sister, and brother. My host sister is currently on Rotary Exchange in Mexico, but has helped me quite a bit with advice and adjusting to life here. My host brother is 13, and has turned out to be one of my biggest supporters and closest friends. I would like to share with you all a story. After our first day of school, I was exhausted. Johannes said to me “You are boring.” [Strange look from me] “No! No! I meant you are tired!!” HAHA It was quite possibly one of the funniest moments of my exchange. I am the only exchange student at our school, so having a brother to help me and encourage me every time I see him is a great joy. My host parents both speak little English, so we are all becoming very good at sign language! Communication is not an issue, as one would expect. We all get along and have a lot of fun together. They have opened up their home and have welcomed me into their family. I am truly honored to be a part of the Brandmann family. You can read more about my family and my life here as well as see pictures at www.tiffanyslifeingrevenbroich.blogspot.com! To rap up this month’s update on my exchange, I would like to say thank you. Thank you to Rotary for allowing me this opportunity. Thank you to various stores in town for discounts and gifts for my host families. Thank you to my family and friends for supporting me on this journey. Thank you to my host family for making this exchange wonderful. I can honestly say I have never been happier. –Tiffany DeMell