Borna Lisic

2008-09 Inbound from Croatia

Hometown: Zagreb, Croatia

Sponsor: Zagreb Rotary Club, District 1910, Croatia

Host: Gainesville Rotary Club, District 6970, Florida, USA

School: Gainesville High School, Gainesville, FL

Bio

Borna's Bio

My name is Borna Lisic and I am from Croatia. I am living in Gainesville and I am going to Gainesville High School. I am 17 years old (will be 18 in 20 days). So far I have been having a great time in Florida, hopefully that is not gonna change.

I started training soccer in some club in Gainesville and I am sure I will play for my high school when their season starts. I even like going to school, so like I said it has been great so far. The only thing that I do not like is the fact that I have to wake up at 6:20 to go to school. That has been and still is a painful experience.

Hope you other exchange students are having fun like I am!!!!

September 28 Journal

Coming here to Florida seems so long ago! I have been here for almost two months now, so far everything has been great. I did not have many obstacles for now - probably the biggest one is writing this journal!

Like I have already said I arrived at Gainesville airport two months ago, that is when my adventure started. My host family and some Rotarians greeted me at the airport and I just went home after that. After I got here I had 20 days to adjust before my school started. Days have been passing very quickly since then! Most of my days are like this: I go to school, I have my football practice, I come home usually around 7PM, I do my homework and go to bed. In Croatia I played soccer and my coach in Gainesville encourages me to be a kicker. Each Friday we have games, so on Friday's I come home later than usual. Every weekend is different, that breaks the monotony and I really like that!

Now that I am done summarizing my stay here, I will tell you more about some more special places and events I have been on! My host family got tickets for the first Gator game that was against Hawaii and I was actually in the President's box so I met some important people like the Mayor of Gainesville and the US Senator Bill Nelson! My family also took me to Saint Augustine where I had my first encounter with the Atlantic ocean. I have also been to Florida's oldest diner called Angel's in Palatka!

My host family's behavior is similar to my own family, which is why I feel comfortable around them. Their son teases his dad, and the mom is trying to find the peaceful solution, and that really does feel like my family in Croatia! My next journal entry should be after the football season and I will tell you how our team has performed!

October 20 Journal

I am going to tell you about the fun weekend that I spent in Saint Augustine. I arrived there on Saturday morning around 10 am. I met all the exchange students in my district once again and then our little adventure started!

First we were given a nice tour around the city, which I think was very interesting. Saint Augustine really is a beautiful city! Later that day we had some free time in the city and than we went to the beach where we spent a couple of hours. We had a nice dinner and than we got picked up by our host families and enjoyed the rest of the day with them.

On Sunday we all met again and went to see the alligator farm. I have seen some pretty big alligators there that was fun too. Then we went sailing on a bout for 2 hours, so we had some more free time to spend with each other! That was the end of our stay in Saint Augustine. Overall it was a very nice experience!

December 28 Journal

I have been here for five months now! It passed pretty quick! Now I can see more clearly the progress I have made. From being lost in that big school the first three days, now actually things are much more fun and better. I mostly spend my days during the week training and going to school, what is better now is that I have more fun during the weekend than I did before.

Every Friday I had a football game. That has been a very fun experience and I am also happy that I joined the team because of the friends I gained. I am sure that it would be a lot harder to make friends if I was not on the team. After the football season ended I joined the track team, so now after school I run, not very fun I know, but it is not so bad! So those are the things that happened in school.

The really fun thing was going to Disney - we went there a little less than a month ago. That was quite an experience, with all the fun roller coasters and other stuff. We spent one day in each kingdom, which gave us plenty time to enjoy ourselves.

Another really exciting experience was spending Christmas here in America, the traditions are pretty much the same as they are in Croatia, but just trying the new food was a blast! My family's family from Ohio came, so we all had a great time. Now in a few days I am going to Jacksonville to spend the New Year's Eve there, that should be fun.

I look at all the other journals, how much have some people written and it makes me feel bad that I didn't write more, but this is it! All I can say at the end that I am still having a good time, and I am sure that is going to continue to happen.

April 9 Journal

Well, again even if it was months ago, I am having trouble writing this journal, not that I do not enjoy writing to you all wonderful people. This life changing experience is coming to an end and I am really grateful to the Rotary Organization, so after a little thinking I thought what is the best way to show my appreciation. Then suddenly it struck me, Borna - it is time for one of your journals that everybody is waiting for.

Now when I am done with the introduction, the body and the conclusion are left, please do not get the impression that I am not enjoying this fulfilling experience. I had a lot of fun when the whole exchange group went to Key West, we all learned a lot plus had lots of fun. Since than we have seen each other once again in Palatka, where we were were helping the outbounds that are going abroad this year. I met two girls that are going to the best country in the world Croatia, do not get angry at me please US is definitely second on my list.

Other than these Rotary events I have been having a great time here in Gainesville, I am now on the Track and Field team and am throwing the shot put and discus, since we do not have any better thrower to do that, by the way the thrower would not have to be good to take my place. We will continue that discussion some other time, because it is still not a comfortable subject for me. School is still enjoyable, it has not changed since the last time I wrote, can you believe that? Like I have already written I spend most of my free time doing sports, and time really flies that way for me.

I can see that this program has changed me a little, and I have become better at some things, but I still need something to write about in my final journal and that seems just the topic for it. Till then be safe, so you can read more of my thrilling journals!