Agathe Suscillon

2008-09 Inbound from France

Hometown: Meylan, France

Sponsor: Grenoble Rotary Club, District 1780, France

Host: Freeport Rotary Club, District 6990, Grand Bahama Island

School: Lucaya International School, Freeport, GBI

Bio

Agathe's Bio

Hi everybody!

My name is Agathe, I will be 16 years old in October and I come from France (district 1780). I decided to be an exchange student because I wanted to discover a different way of life, learn a new language, be more independent and know more about myself. I think it is a cultural exchange which makes you learn a lot of things about life and it is very interesting for me!

In France, my city is Meylan. My home is in the valley of the Alps (next to the Grenoble which is 560,222 inhabitants) and I live with my parents (Jean-Luc and Ghislaine), my brother (Matthieu) and my sister (Camille).

Here, I will live in Grand Bahama Island the whole year. I live with my host parents and their three dogs until December, then I will be in a second family with new host parents and a baby. At the end of the year, I will move to another family which have three children. I have also a host family in Coconut Creek (next to Miami) and I come there when there is Rotary meetings. I enjoy it because they have a daughter of 17 which was in France last year with the Rotary Youth Exchange Program.

My first three weeks in America were so nice and I was not really homesick because Bahamian people are very friendly so I enjoy it! Also, I like school, beach and all the activities that I can do in this country.

I just want to thank Rotary for this amazing experience which is offered to me.

September 10 Journal

I arrived here on August 17th and I have spent my first week in Coconut Creek (with the Litman family). I lived with Becky and Tom, their two dogs and their daughter (Tori) who was a Rotary student exchange in France last year. So it was great for me because when I needed some help she was always there for me and the family was very nice!

During this week I went shopping with Tori, Marzen (a student exchange from Poland) and another girl; we visited my host mother at work; then we went to the movies (in English of course!) and then cooked a French meal.

Friday was the start of our orientation weekend. This was the greatest since I was here because I met a lot of nice people: members of Rotary and exchange students. We did a lot of activities such as a morning in the trees for a ''walk in the air''. We had many conferences about Rotary, schools, the integration, and language, etc.. Also, we have spoken about our countries, our feelings, our difficulties, and the differences between there and our countries with the other exchange students. It helped me a lot because I realized that I was in the same case as the others and it was magic because we became very close in only 3 days!

On August 25th I left Miami and my host family to go to Grand Bahama Island. I took the plane with Anna (exchange student from Italy). When we landed, there were a lot of people waiting for us. They were very friendly and I have really appreciated the reception and the atmosphere of the Bahamas. After a small visit of Freeport, we went to an Italian restaurant in Port Lucaya (''meeting place'' where people met together every evening).

At the end of the evening, we went to our house with my host parents (I am very happy because they have a pool!). We spoke a little bit about the rules and what I like, what I have to do, etc... (I think it is very important to know more about the host family way of life). Before school, I have met a lot of people here: some friends of my host sister, my new grand-parents, some students of my class. Then, my mother took me to visit my school and let me know more about the functioning of Lucaya International School (LIS).

So, Thursday 28th was my first day at school and it was great! LIS has only 250 students and a few rooms so it is very easy to know where I have to go, with which student I am, and who are my teachers. My lessons are from 8:30 am till 3:00 pm and my subjects are: physics, mathematics, Spanish, art, geography, history, sport and English.

In these two weeks, my family has taken me out so I am very happy: so far I have been to the bowling alley, the beach, Port Lucaya, church and to a restaurant on the beach known as fish fry (where Bahamians meet on Wednesday evening to eat fresh fish and seafood at the edge of the beach, and I finally ate Conch: very good !) I have also discovered the Bahamian food: fish, chicken, rice, plantains (excellent!) and fruits mainly.

I have been here for three weeks and my English is becoming better so I am very happy! I just want to thank my host families which are very very nice to me, my family which is always there for me, and the Rotary because it is an amazing experience!!

See you, Agathe.

October 22 Journal

Hi everybody! So good to speak to you once again!

I am still in the same host family and everything is so great! I spend a very nice time here in Grand Bahama, with my friends and my family. School is always small but I begin to feel good in it. I still go to the beach and bowling. Sometimes I spend my evenings going to Port Lucaya, to the cinema, etc. Little by little I am adapting myself to everything which is so new for me but I really enjoy it! Of course sometimes I feel sad but just to think that I am finally here, spending this beautiful experience with a lot of nice people, it makes me smile..

Usually, my week is like : from Monday to Friday I am at school until 3 pm and then I go to the pool and do my homework. Then my host mother comes back home, we go out or we watch movies, we eat and then I go to sleep because speaking English all day long makes me feel tired. Then Friday night I usually sleep over in my best friend's house and we swim in the canal, go on rides with her jetski and just have fun! Saturday morning I work at the Garden of the Groves: a national park (to have good marks for my IGCSE diploma, I have to do 25 hours of creativity, 25 hours of activities, and 25 hours of service: it's called CAS). By then, I go to the beach and finish the day with my host family. Sunday morning I go to the church (sometimes I play flute with my music teacher who plays the piano) and in the afternoon I go out with some friends and I finish my homework.

October was a very nice month because during the week-end of October 1Oth, I was in Miami with the other exchange students. I really enjoyed it! I loved to play basketball in the pool, to talk to them because as we have all the same feelings it's easier to be close in a very short time. Then I liked to visit the everglades and my favorite day was maybe Sunday because the trip in the boat was amazing! Hopefully we have done a lot of pictures which makes me remember these great days. I can't wait until our next meeting in December!

See you soon,

Agathe.

Me at Coral Beach

The Garden of the Groves

Anna, me, and Marzen

Big Everglades alligator