Nicole Cao is our 2017/2018 outbound Rotary Exchange Student, living in Germany and attending school there.  Here is a letter telling us about her first month abroad.
 
Guten Tag Larry, Brian und Sam,
I can't believe I've already been abroad for a month!
The day I arrived, my host family met me at the airport with a huge welcome banner with my name on it.  I have three host brothers (two five year old twins and one eleven year old who is disabled).  We went directly from the airport to the Rhine river where we took a boat tour past countless castles.  The next day we visited the Cologne cathedral.   Over these few weeks I have learned that my host family is full of avid travellers.  Two weekends ago, we visited a unique gip cave, the Kyffhäuser memorial and the Panorama museum.  I am so happy I got to see so much of Germany in such a short amount of time.  This weekend, we are going to Munich for the Oktoberfest.  I adapted to my host family and their lifestyle relatively quickly.  They are very considerate and kind to me and we get along very well.  They always help me with the language and take the time to answer my questions.  I am very lucky!
Learning German has been a slow progress so far.  Though I have definitely improved since my arrival, I still find it difficult to understand my younger host brothers and host parents when they speak in German.  My host Rotary club has found a German tutor for myself and the rest of the exchange students.  She is a great teacher and we have two sessions every week.  I can now confidently introduce myself, answer basic questions like where I’m from, how long I’ve been in Germany, etc and have simple conversations. 
There is currently only one other exchange student in my host club (another will arrive in January), and also 4 other exchange students in the other Rotary club in Minden.  We all go to the same school and have already become good friends.  So far we have been to two district Rotary weekends organized by the Rotex of district 1900.  Our district hosts around 50 exchange students total so the weekends can get pretty crazy.  Our latest trip ended yesterday, where all 50 exchange students slept in one gym (goodbye sleep).  Next week we leave for our 10 day Germany tour!
 
I have been to 3 Rotary meetings at my host club so far.  I introduced myself in German on the second meeting and I’ve been getting to know all the Rotarians.  My club has this tradition where they randomly select a few Rotarians who must then find us and meet with us or invite us to do something.  They have shown me photos of my assigned Rotarians, but I don’t know their names.  My counsellor is also very friendly, but I haven’t needed his help with anything so far.
School can be rather boring when I don’t understand what is being taught.  For now, I just try to copy down whatever the teacher writes on the board even though I don’t understand anything.  I found that it’s rather difficult to make German friends when you can’t speak the language.  Not many German students or teachers are interested in who I am or where I come from and some barely speak English.  It was a little lonely at first, but now it’s getting better.  I am going to try joining the rowing club.  
All in all, I am really enjoying my time here!  Of course, I’d like to thank everyone back home for giving me this amazing opportunity.  Vielen Dank Rotary!
 
Liebe grüße von Minden,
 
Nicole