September 26

Hi everybody. I’m David Bollinger from Switzerland, and for this year, I will live in Jacksonville, Florida. Actually, it wasn’t my idea to go here, but my neighbor in Switzerland, who is a member of the Rotary Club, spoke to me one day and offered me to go for an exchange year. Although very surprised and kind of anxious about it, I agreed, and that’s why I’m here now, and I can't complain about my decision.

I arrived in Jacksonville on the third of August, and after experiencing a lot of totally new things, I begin getting used to live in a foreign country and the days become more and more usual.

My exchange year began with the arrival at the airport, and after meeting a couple of people I went to bed and slept in because I was exhausted from the flight. I will stay with four different host families during the year, and at the moment, I am living in the house of the Boyers, near the St. John’s River, a few minutes away from Downtown.

I attend school at the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, and since I am interested in Music, this is the right place for me. Besides the usual academics, I chose several art courses. I really like the school and its students and the teachers as well. All the students are curious about what is going on in Switzerland, and I always have interesting conversations with different people.

Since this school doesn’t have any sport activities, I decided to play football at the closest high school which is Wolfson. By the way, I am talking about American football, not that thing with the round ball we play in Europe. It is a completely new sport for me, and so I first had to get to know the rules, which took me a couple of days to learn...

In Switzerland, I attend boy scouts, and I continue doing this during my exchange year. It is different in some ways from the Swiss boy scouts, but it is a good experience for me, and another great opportunity to meet new friends.

A whole lot of things are different for me, but I think that is the funniest and the most exciting part of being a foreign exchange student. The weather, the food, the school, most everything is not the same as where I am from.

I had some great trips during my first weeks. I was hunting, fishing, airboat riding (at night!), swimming in the ocean, surfing, wakeboarding, horseback riding, all things I usually don’t do at home. The meetings with the other exchange students and members of the Rotary Club are always in a friendly atmosphere.

I am looking forward to a very interesting year. It is a unique opportunity for me to get to know another country and its language, culture and people.

April 30

So far, my exchange year has been very busy. Besides attending school regularly, I did a lot of trips, both private ones and ones that were organized by Rotary. 

I am staying with the fourth (and last) of my host families since a couple of weeks. It wasn't a problem at all to change host families during the stay, it rather enriched it. It was a good thing to see the way of life in America from different perspectives. All the families were different in terms of the number of family members, age, occupations and special interests. Many people asked me if I had a hard time changing families, but my answer is no, because I think that three months is quite a long time, enough to really get to know the people you're staying with, and so I didn't feel like I was "jumping" from family to family. I can absolutely recommend multiple host families for future exchange students. 

My English has improved a lot since I came here. Most of all, it has gotten much more fluent. And in many situations where I talk to people, I even find myself thinking in English. That's makes it quite a challenge to talk properly in Swiss German, my native language! I often use English words while speaking it! 

The School is just absolutely great. The arts courses they offer really make me enjoy going to school like I never did before. Having a better understanding of the Arts, particularly music, helped me to develop my desire to focus on that subject in the future. After High School, I want to attend a music technology college in Switzerland. 

Unfortunately, I missed some days of school recently, but since it was due to trips, it was worth it. There was a trip to the Big Pine Key, organized by Rotary. For a couple of days, we spent a great time down in the keys, getting to know a lot of people in our age, and learning about the Florida Keys and their natural environment. Included was a day of instruction in snorkeling. Then, I went to the Bahamas with Luis, the exchange student from Ecuador, and his host family, the Easterlings. We went on a three-day cruise for that, and it was awesome! I've never been on a cruise before, and never to a place like the Bahamas! We went snorkeling and Scuba-Diving, and we had a great time on the ship. 

During spring break, I went to Montreal, Canada, with two friends from school. They're both Canadians, and the purpose of the trip was for them to audition for a music College up there. They invited me to come with them, to show me the City and Canada. I got to speak my French up there (I forgot most of it though...). It was nice to "escape" the hot Florida weather for a couple of days, and we enjoyed the snowstorms in Canada. It was really cold, I can tell as a person from Switzerland. 

The most recent trip was another Rotary trip. To New York City! It truly is the most amazing City I've ever seen. We spent the time there with about 85 exchange students from all over the world. We got to see the most interesting parts of the City, including ground Zero, Central Park, Empire State Building and Times Square among many many other places. We slept about three hours each night, just because there was so much to do! 

Last weekend, my mom and my dad were here to visit. They did a two-week tour through various states before they came to Jacksonville to see me. We had a great time together, and they got to meet all of my host families. It is a wonderful feeling to see your parents after such a long time. I am looking forward to the USA Tour that is planned in July. We will get to see 24 States in 30 days, traveling through the USA by Bus.

David

August 18

Unfortunately, my exchange year is over already. I came back to Switzerland on August 2nd, after being in the States for exactly one year. The last month of my year abroad was the most special one: I participated in a bus tour all around the United States! This event was organized by Rotary, and so there were more than 130 other exchange students who did the same. We needed three busses for the tour, every one filled to the last seat. 

The tour started in Syracuse, New York. Most of the other exchange students had lived up there, but there were also people from other States, and with us, also a few from Florida. The first day we got to know the chaperones, of which there were about ten. The same day, after we had picked up all the students, we arrived at Niagara Falls. We stayed there for the rest of the day, and also did the "Maid of the Mist" tour. 

The next day, we arrived in Cleveland, Ohio, where we went to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, one of my favorite places. Next day - July fourth - we drove to Chicago and enjoyed the Festival in the City, the Sears Tower and the fireworks in the evening. 

On the busses, everybody got to meet all the other people. I think this was the most fascinating part of the whole tour, getting to know even more people from all over the world. And since everybody has been in the States for a year by now, the conversations in English were fluent. The drives between the cities were quite long, on some days it took us ten hours to get to the next place! But we had a lot to share, and so it never was boring. 

On the fourth day, in Evanston, Illinois, we went to the Rotary International Headquarters. We even met the President of Rotary International! Then we had the opportunity to shop in the Mall of America in St. Paul, Minnesota. Quite amazing, the biggest Mall in the USA. 

We continued our way through Sioux Falls, the Badlands, and arrived in Rapid City, South Dakota, where we saw Mount Rushmore.. When we arrived in Cody, Wyoming, the next day, one week was over already. There we enjoyed a typical Rodeo Show...hilarious! 

For the next two days, we drove through the Yellowstone National Park, before we arrived in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We continued our journey through Salt Lake City and Reno, and finally arrived in San Francisco. We made it! in about twelve days, we reached the West side... In San Francisco, we stayed for two days, and then one day in Anaheim. Then we started our way back to the East. We first hit Las Vegas, then Flagstaff, Albuquerque and Fort Stockton. Uh, Texas is soo big. In Houston, we saw the Space Center, which was impressive. Unfortunately, when we arrived in New Orleans after a long drive, we didn't have time to see the City, because there was a Rotary Picnic that evening, where the local Rotary Club organized a little party. 

The next day, we went to Memphis, Tennessee: of course we visited Graceland. The next two days, we stayed in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, where we went to Dollywood. By that time, I knew that I would have to leave the tour in just one day, and I knew that I would have to leave all my new and old friends here. When we arrived in Myrtle Beach the next day, I had to go to the Airport, because I had to catch my flight back home from Jacksonville. 

I really have to say, this tour was an awesome experience. Not only the many places we saw (more than 25 of the States!) but also the people I met. I stayed the last few days at my last host family's house, and then flew back home. It was really weird to be back in my home country, you expect everything to be normal again, but in fact it seems to be completely different! But know, I've been here again for about two weeks, and I got accustomed again to my old life, but I will never forget the wonderful time in the United States. Thank you Rotary!

David's USA Tour Photo Album (click for full-size view)

Kids and busses	Niagara Falls	The Badlands	Thirsty?
Chicago, Illinois	With the RI President	Hangin' out	David chowing down