Fernando "Yudi" Ishikawa

2007-08 Inbound from Brazil

Hometown: Paracatu, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Sponsor: Paracatu-200 Rotary Club, District 4760, Brazil

Host: Bartram Trail Rotary Club, District 6970, Florida, USA

School: Bartram Trail High School

Yudi's Bio

My name is Fernando Yudi Ishikawa, but I like to be called by Yudi. I’m 17 years old and will be 18 in next year.

I’m from Brazil, my city is Paracatu, a historical city. My city is 208 years old, and is about 240 KM from Brasilia. Brasilia is the capital of Brazil.

Well, I study the 11th grade at Bartram Trail High School. My school has 3 thousand students. I can make a lot of friends here.

I like to play soccer, A LOT!! Well, my hobbies are soccer, handball, basketball, swim and more soccer!! I love sports, and here I joined Bartram Trail Swim Team. In my free time, I like to stay with my friends and family. We go to the beach and party.

Now I live here in the Jacksonville. My host family is pretty good!! I like them! We live in St. Johns, in Julington Creek Plantation.

My family is good, and sometimes very funny! I like them. One week after I arrive here, we go to the beach. That’s so good! And two weeks after I arrive here, has a Inbound Orientation, sponsored by Rotary. That’s pretty well. I can make new friends of many countries, and learn more English language and other languages, for example: German, French.

I’m very excited here, and this year is the best year of my life! Well, now I go. This is a part of my life.

Bye Guys!

September 8 Journal

Starting the Exchange Program.

On 08/11/2007 I’m flying out of Sao Paulo-Brazil, and arrive in Jacksonville on 08/12/2007. I can’t believe, but now I’m in United States of America. Now, I have a long time, actually until July 2008, to learn the culture, the language and the lifestyle of American people.

First Week.

Well, my first week here is not easy, because it is a step where you need to adapt to your family, but it’s hard because I’m learning more English now. At first days, I miss my family and friends, but soon the homesickness is ending, because you have a lot of things to do and you don’t have time to think about your country.

School.

“Oh my God” Hahahaha!! I saw this when I seen the High School. Wow, a High School with 3 thousand students approximately, it’s very big. In Brazil, my High School has a thousand or a thousand five hundred students approximately, it’s not too bad. Well, in High School it is hard to make a friends, because you can’t talk in the class, but I still make friends.

Sports.

Well, I love sports a lot. If possible, I like to do every kind of sport. Now I joined Bartram Trail Swim Team. That’s so good, because I made a lot of friends on Swim Team. In the last week, I have seen the first game of football of my High School. Well, I try understand anything about the game, but it’s true, I don’t know nothing about Football. I’m waiting for the Winter, because the soccer just start on Winter, and I very excited to join on the Soccer Team.

October 6 Journal

Hi! Here I am, talking about my second month in America. Well, I’m very happy now, because the language is not a big problem now, because I can talk with the people, and it's helped me to make friends. I have a lot of friends now, on the Swim Team, Soccer Team, Interact Club and all exchange students in Florida of course. I think, with one more month, I can speak English almost fluent.

Sports and Activities

First of all, I think that this is the better form for you make friends, because you have a chance to meet a lot of people, and they can help you in everything. Well, I meet a lot of people in wports and Interact Club; the people are so happy and funny. I like them, fundamentally the guys of Soccer Team. This is true, the sports and activities helped me to meet people, and I’m so excited for more!! On last weekend, we went with the guys of Interact Club to the Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens. I have a lot of fun, and meet a new people. This is my first time in the Zoo, I never gone before. I’m so happy because this activity is so great! I loved it!

Rotary Activities

Well, I’m very excited and anxious for the Rotary Fall Weekend in Daytona Beach, because I am going to see the exchange students one more time! I miss them, because all guys are so happy and funny. I think that between the exchange students, certainly have a big friendship. In this fall weekend, I have a new opportunity to know one more place that I don’t know, The Kennedy Space Center. I think that this weekend with Rotary is going to be a big and funny weekend. It’s AMAZING!!

Presentation

Well, in my school, Bartram Trail High School, on last Friday, October 5th, we had a Presentation, where we and our counselors talked with other students about the Rotary Exchange Program. This experience is great! Because one more time, I meet new people and make friends. I like this, and I think that other students liked the Presentation. The Presentation, is one more event sponsor by the Rotary Club, to help the students that have a serious interest to do the Rotary Youth Exchange Program.

Well guys, I think is just this now, probably I am going to write another journal after the Rotary Fall weekend, and I like to say this: Enjoy this year guys, because in this year, you can learn things about all the world because of the other exchange students, and you make friends not just in America, but in all the world and forever!

October 28 Journal

Hey guys! Look me here again! Well, let’s talk about these almost three months here!

First of all, I’m very happy to stay here, and this is one of the best years of my life, so let’s enjoy it!

On last Rotary Event (Fall Weekend), we went to Daytona Beach area to visit Kennedy Space Center and Winter Park outside of Orlando. That was a very good weekend, with my friends. A good opportunity to know more about the culture of different regions and about the lifestyle of people. I ride on a train for the first time, I never did this before, it’s awesome, and in Kennedy Space Center, I have an unforgotten experience in the Program of Simulation on Spaceship. It’s wonderful! I’m really enjoying it!

Last week, I went in the 1st Concert of my school band. It’s wonderful, so beautiful! The melody is sweet! Awesome! I can’t describe!

I join in the Soccer Team on my school. Now I’m playing in Varsity Soccer, and the 1st game is next Tuesday vs. Mandarin High School. I’m so excited for the first game, and certainly we going to win! The guys of soccer team are funny, I like them, everybody!

So, I’m so excited for my next host family too, because their son is in Brazil now, he’s an exchange student too. So, I think that this is a good experience for both. Next Friday, my next host family coming to eat lunch with us. I’m so excited.

So, I think that is. Thanks Everybody For This Awesome Year!

February 4 Journal

Well, I didn’t write my news since November. So I’m writing everything I did right now.

Thanksgiving – Well, it was my first big holiday here. Particularly I loved it, because I had a long break from school. During the Thanksgiving I had funny experiences because here in America it’s very important this holiday, but a couple of people, I don’t know why, but asked me if we celebrate Thanksgiving in Brazil. It's kind a stupid question, because that shows me, a couple of people have no idea about the history of their own country. Right now, my friends know we don’t have Thanksgiving in Brazil. Anyway, particularly I loved the food and rest, because it was a wonderful holiday I had here. Hang out with friends, lunches and dinners with family, and play some football was the schedule during the holidays.

New family – Thanksgiving was the date where I changed the family, I’m really missing my first host family, but I like my new one too. In my new family I have one brother with 10 years and one sister with 4. My host sister is adopted, and she is Chinese and she is so cute! Particularly I love her so much! My new family has a new son, he is junior in my actual school, but he’s in Brazil right now, as an exchange student. I did some things with my new family, my host dad is basketball coach for my brother and he takes tae-kwon-do, and my host mom plays flag football. My host mom likes to cook new kinds of food, a couple weeks ago, she cooks “Feijoada”, it’s a kind of Brazilian food. I really enjoyed, and I ate a lot. My host brother likes to play with Bionicles and Lego.

Outbound Interviews – Yeah, I’ve helped on the selection for new exchange students for this year, and I’m sure that the selected guys, going to be excellent exchange students, actually, three guys from my school, Bartram Trail, were selected. One guy is going to Hungary, the other boy to Sweden, and one girl is going to Italy. I really liked the interviews because I meet a girl and she was exchange student for Brazil a couple years ago. Just remember, that’s wasn’t a fun weekend, because the best chairman ever, Mr. Al Kalter, put every one of us to work at interviews. But it was very interesting because we had the opportunity to talk with the parents of the students and we changed experiences and we have learned more about United States.

Disney World - Yeah baby, where dreams come true! Oh my God, it was the best event of Rotary ever! It was hard to believe that I went to Walt Disney World for 4 days. These days were the most amazing days in my life. I’ve took about four hundred pictures and made more than twenty videos. And we had the opportunity to meet others exchange students from others districts in Florida. I met a guy from Brazil, but he lives in Bahamas. But, it’s an unforgettable experience. I'm probably going to remember this trip for the rest of my life.

Christmas – Well, Christmas was very different for the others. I got a lot of gifts from my actual family and my first host family. I was very happy because I got a cell phone from my host parents, so now I can talk with my friends very easily. I got a P.J. of Jacksonville Jaguars, a new colony and gift card from Target. And, the best thing, I had so much fun with them on Christmas. But Christmas was very bad for the homesickness, because it’s a huge holiday, and during the winter break, I really missed my home parents, but that’s normal in an exchange student life.

New Year’s Eve - Well, we went to the parade at Jacksonville downtown and we had a Rotary float with all exchange students and some guys from Rotex. It was awesome, we carry the flag of our own countries and we saw a lot of amazing floats. After this, we went to a new year’s party, at a house next to the St. Johns River, and we had a good place to watch the fireworks. We had a lot of fun at party, including food, snooker, karaoke, hot tub, and sleep at 6:30a.m.

Seacamp – It was an international weekend at Florida Keys. We stayed for four days at Big Pine and on the last day, before we came back to Jacksonville, we went to Key West, where is the end of U.S. 1. For me, this trip was the second best event sponsor by Rotary, because the first one, I’m sure is the Disney trip. Anyway, at Seacamp, I had the opportunity to meet new people again. I’ve met people from Michigan state, people from Marathon and a group of girls from Black Sea, Russia. I had a chance to take snorkel. That’s was a wonderful experience, because I saw things in the ocean I had never imagined, for example different kinds of fishes and plants. We had a dance party too, and a presentation about what we learned there and what we can do to protect our environment. I had met a girl from Marathon, she has the same age as me, we are both 17. And she has the same birthday as me, we turn 18 at April 28th. It was awesome! And actually I’m missing these people so much, more than 70 guys there, and friendships for a life.

Bartram Trail Bears Soccer Team – Wow! I’m really missing the soccer for my school, Bartram Trail High School. We were the 2nd District Champs, when we playing the District Finals game, I’m at Seacamp, and we lost to Fleming Island High School. But we made for Originals Play-Offs. But we have lost to Gainesville High School at quarter finals of the Originals Play-Offs. But also I’m so happy, because we had an awesome season, and I made amazing friends during this time. But now, I’m kinda bored, because the soccer is over, and I have no more practices, so I’m not going to see every one everyday after school, but also I’m going to start to play for soccer club called Creeks.

June 27 Journal

Sorry to everybody. I didn’t write any journal since February but here we go, to talk about my life, since February until now, the end of my exchange year.

February was the last month with my second host family, they’re really amazing and I miss them a lot.

By March 6th I came to live with my third and last host family. They’re really amazing too and also they’re Brazilian, which make me feel a little bit “in Brazil”. I have a sister and one brother, but only Alex go with me to school. Me and him had a lot of fun together, and I’ll never forget these moments.

During these 4 months that I’m living with them, I had a lot of fun. I met a lot of people in Gainesville, I was there almost every weekend, because my family have a house there.

We went to Tampa once to go to Busch Gardens. It was really amazing, we had a lot of fun since was 4 teenagers without any adult, I was the only one with 18.

After that we just start count the days until school get over.

Then, in the weekend of May 17th, we went to prom. That was an amazing and an unforgettable experience. We danced a lot and then after prom, more party.

Finally June 11th and school is over. But I skipped the last day because of our Western Trip with Rotary kids, but that is another story that I’m bringing soon in another journal.