Maciej Marczewski

2009-10 Inbound from Poland

Hometown: Kielce, Poland

Sponsor: Kielce Rotary Club, District 2230, Poland

Host: College Park Rotary Club, District 6980, Florida, USA

School: Winter Park High School, Winter Park, Florida

Bio

Maciej's Bio

Hi! My name is Maciej and I am from Poland. I am 17 and I am an exchange student in Winter Park, Florida. In Poland I live in a city called Kielce. It is quite a big city with 200,000 citizens. I live with my parents. I also have a brother but he lives and studies in England. First of all I want to thank my Rotary Sponsor Club, in particular Youth Exchange Chairman in my club Mr. Skwarlinski. I am aware of the fact that I have been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Here in Florida I am living in Winter Park, near Orlando. This is an amazing place. I must admit I am very lucky to be here. I have a great family as well. They care about me a lot. I feel I am treated like a family member, certainly not like a foreigner. I have one host brother. He is 18 and he attends the same school. It is really helpful for me. I have made a lot of new friends because of it (thank you Chad). I also have to say I have met awesome people from Rotary. Youth Exchange Chairman in my district is like a daddy for me. He has really helped me to make my exchange a unique experience. Thank you for that, John.

This exchange has enabled me to make my dreams come true. I am learning how to play the guitar, which has always been my dream. I have also been to American Football Game and I really enjoyed it (Go Gators!). I am sure that this year will be special. I do not even want to think about what I will do after coming back home. I am sure it will be hard to leave this place in June.

September 22 Journal

It has been over one month since I came to Florida. I must admit that I have not experienced something like this before. This is a wonderful adventure. I have no doubts that this exchange will change my life for ever.

A lot of people ask me if I have enjoyed the United States so far. My answer is probably always the same. It is awesome. When they ask me what I liked the most the answer is usually not that obvious. I have seen a lot of things so far. I certainly loved American Football game. I went to Gators game. There were 90,000 people there. It was so loud that I could not hear person sitting next to me. It was absolutely amazing.

I really enjoy my new school as well. Winter Park High School is a unique place. That is a place where dreams come true and I am serious. The only disadvantage is my homework. I have to spend about 2 hours everyday working on it. I have also joined swimming team. I am really glad I did. It not only helps me to improve my stamina but also enables me to meet wonderful people. They are all very kind and helpful. I really appreciate that.

I also enjoy spending my time with other exchange students from my district. I spend a lot of time with Kristian from Denmark due to the fact we have some classes together. I also like staying with Rotarians. They are very kind and helpful. That is why I am really looking forward to coming Rotary events.

October 11 Journal

Every day here is new experience. It has been two months since I am here and I have to say that I am enjoying my stay more and more everyday. Now I really got used to Florida. I know my city, American customs and food. I must admit that I feel here just like at home. It is owing to my host family, Rotary people, friends and teachers. My English has improved significantly as well. At the beginning I found myself uncomfortable speaking. Sometimes I could not find the good words to describe what I meant. Now I understand everything and I talk a lot. I even sometimes think in English. What is more, I do not have any difficulties reading in English. It is amazing. It certainly helps me enjoy my exchange.

I really enjoy going to school here as well. My classes are interesting and everyday I learn something new about the US. That is terrific because I have always been fascinated about this country. I enjoy American History classes the most. In general teachers are very kind and helpful. I only wish I did not have so much homework. I have a lot of fun going to High School football games too. This is probably my favourite part connected with the school. I always have fun at football games. After we usually hang out with friends.

The only thing I am still looking for is travelling around the country. I am really keen on seeing some beautiful places in America. I am looking forward to coming Rotary events as well. I can't wait to see you all at Disney World.

Me, Kristian from Denmark and Chris

My High School

Me and my host family

November 1 Journal

I enjoy this year more and more every day. Everything is going perfect. I am only afraid that time goes so fast here. It is already November. I got used to this place and love it almost as much as my homeland.

I couldn’t imagine myself in Poland right now. It is so cold there in the moment. The average temperature is 45 Fahrenheit degrees. Here the temperature usually does not drop below 80 degrees. Sometimes after playing tennis I come back home and jump in the pool. It is such a great feeling. It is very refreshing. When I relax this way I feel like I could stay here for the rest of my life. However, there are days I miss my family, friends and country. I am not worried about it though. It is a part of being an exchange student. You need to make sacrifice. It does not occur too often owing to the fact I am surrounded by fantastic people here. I know I can always rely on my host family, friends and Rotary people. It helps me stay self-confident.

I have never mentioned anything about the classes I picked up at school. I took: Guitar for beginners, American History, English III Honors, Algebra II, American Government, Biology Honors and Tennis. I enjoy all of my classes. I do not find any of them particularly hard. I only have to spend more time on Biology because I often have to translate vocabulary. Winter Park High School differs a lot from the one I used to attend in Poland. Grading system is completely different but I learn about the same things on Biology or Algebra. I even studied some problems during the previous school year so it is a good revision.

When I came here I knew I spoke quite good English but I would never predict my English would improve so much. Some people even say that I started speaking with American accent. It is a pleasant feeling when people say it.

Since my last report I have also experienced two important events. I went to my first homecoming dance and I celebrated my first Halloween. I also played golf for the very first time in my life.

Homecoming week was a unique experience. It started on Monday and lasted till Saturday, when we had our homecoming dance. It was an unusual week. Every day we dressed up in a weird way. For example, on Monday there was a college day so everyone was wearing their favorite college t-shirts. Then, probably on Wednesday, people were wearing Disney characters outfits. I had a lot of fun. Students were very creative. They wore original clothes. On Friday we had our homecoming football game. I must admit I enjoy watching American Football a lot. I go to Winter Park High School games almost every week. On Saturday dancing started at 8 pm but earlier I went to the party at my friend’s house. I took a lot of photos there. I really liked that we were all wearing formal clothes. These photos are beautiful. Then I danced the whole evening. It was one of the best nights in my life.

Halloween was a lot of fun as well. At the beginning I did not really want to try trick or treating because I thought I am too old for that. However, later I decided to dress up as a vampire and I went trick or treating. It was dark outside. All houses were decorated with pumpkins. Kids were walking from house to house. I could feel the spirit of the day. Eventually, I got so much candies that I will still have some left before next Halloween.

I played golf one Thursday. My host parents are members of Interlachen Country Club. It is an amazing place. They have tennis courts, fitness room and, obviously, golf course. Perfect spot for me. I practiced for about hour and a half. It was a lot of fun, though, at the beginning, I could not hit the ball and I did not know how to hold a club.

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving not only because I will have few days off but I also want to experience this day. I know it is a big deal in the United States. Next week I am going to the beach again. This time I am going with Rotary Exchange students. In 2 weeks I am going to golf tournament at Disney World. It is one of the most popular tournaments in the world so I am very excited. I am going to see all the best players there. You will certainly hear from me soon.			College day
Homecoming Saturday	Golf in Florida	Golf, one more time	Halloween make-up

December 16 Journal

It’s been more than 4 months since I left Poland. I cannot believe that time is going so fast. I am almost half way through my adventure. You have not heard from me for a long time so I decided to give you an update on what I have been up to last few weeks.

First of all, I moved to the new host family just before Thanksgiving. Now I am staying in Baldwin Park which is basically next to my school. It is a lovely neighborhood in the city of Orlando built about 5 years ago. Owing to this fact I can sleep 30 minutes longer every morning. There is a big, wild lake across the street from my house with a long bicycle path around it. I often run there in the afternoons. What is more, there is a small downtown with plenty of shops and restaurants not far away from my place. It is a fabulous part of the city. My family is great too. This time there are two kids in the family I am staying with. One is a sophomore at Winter Park High School and the other one studies at a private college in Pennsylvania but he comes home a lot. I had met Kevin, the younger brother, before changing the families during swimming practice at school. We are having a lot of fun together. For Thanksgiving we went to North Carolina, where my family has a huge lake house in the mountains. We hiked, played ping pong and ate a lot. I had a wonderful time there and I experienced something else than Florida. Because of being a rural state, North Carolina is much different from Florida. People live much slower and have different customs there. I certainly adored the nature and atmosphere of the place. It was kind of like my hometown. I loved breathtaking scenery which surrounds the place. We spent one week there and it was a great way to get to know each other a little bit better. I am sure I want to come back there at some point in my life. This place is gorgeous.

Secondly, I want to say a few words about the weekend I spent at Disney World. It was marvelous. It was probably one of the best weekends in my whole life and definitely the best one in Florida so far. I was so unhappy when I had to leave that place and the other exchange students on Sunday. We started on Thursday at Hollywood Studios. I came to Disney World around 10 o’clock with other kids from my district. At Hollywood Studios I liked Rock&Roll Rollercoaster the most. On Friday we went to Magic Kingdom, then we spent Saturday at Epcot and the last day at Animal Kingdom. I tried to hang out with people from different districts throughout the whole weekend. I also met several kids staying in other states like Tennessee and South Carolina. I must admit I had a lot of fun. What I enjoyed the most was probably a fireworks performance in Epcot and Everest Expedition, one of the rides at Animal Kingdom.

I also found out something which I would not predict to be so difficult for me. I found it extremely hard to say goodbye to the other exchange students at the end of the trip. I knew we are meeting again at the Sea Camp in January, but still I knew I was going to miss them all the time till our next reunion. It makes me a little worried. If it is so hard to say goodbye when we get separated just for a month, imagine how it is going to be in July when all of us will be going back home.

This is probably the hardest thing about being an exchange student. You have to say goodbye way too many times. First to your family and friends at home and then to your new, international friends and people like Rotarians or host families who have helped you so much that you will never express your gratefulness. And even though sometimes there are days I want to go back home and I miss Poland, I know I will always be sentimental about Florida for the rest of my life. If could leave now, I would not do that. I love this place so much and I feel there are still lots of things to do and see here.

Also, I went to my first NBA game. That was certainly one of my biggest dreams before coming here. Basketball is one of my favorite sports. What is more, I have always liked Orlando Magic, especially Vince Carter and, of course, Polish Hammer Marcin Gortat. They were playing against Indiana Pacers and obviously they smashed them. VC scored 28 points. Gortat was not playing for very long but he scored 2 points and 3 rebounds. It is amazing how skilful NBA players are. I have been to basketball games in Poland many times but players there are not as good as here. NBA players move so smoothly that it seems like they do not make any effort when they play. I went with my host family and we had very good seats so I could clearly see every player. We are going again after Christmas Break.

For Christmas, by the way, I am going to Florida Keys with my host family. I am very excited about this trip. I heard this place is awesome. It is going to be very warm. This is going to be something completely new for me to experience Christmas without snow and with the temperature of 80 Fahrenheit degrees. I am really looking forward to it.

Having an opportunity, I want to wish all Rotary Youth Exchange students, Rotarians committed to this program and other people who read this journal merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Hopefully it will be even better than the previous one. I promise you will hear from me very soon.		With Jim and Kevin (host father and brother)	Paintball game :)
Beautiful North Carolina	Amazing dunk	Let's go Magic !!	Polish Machine :)
Best district in the world and friends :)	Goofy, Goofy, Goofy and Goofy	Epcot	Cinderella's castle

January 18 Journal

This is a report from my very first Christmas without my family and several thousand miles from home. It was fantastic and I had a wonderful time.

For Christmas I went to Florida Keys with my host family. To be more accurate, we went to the Sugarloaf Key where my host dad’s parents live. We stayed there for 7 days. The main thing we did during this special week was fishing. At the beginning we just fished from the dock. We could not go fishing out on the ocean because we needed to get our boat fixed first. Once we did that, we went out on the Atlantic Ocean. It was Christmas Eve and it was very windy that day. I was a little bit afraid of staying on the boat because it was very rough. Fortunately I did not get seasick so I could focus on fishing. We stayed there for about 4 hours and I caught a lot of fish (mostly yellowtail fish).

Owing to the fact I was so busy all the time during my stay in the Keys I did not think about home at all. Of course I talked to my parents on Christmas Day but I did not feel homesick at all. I was afraid of this day from the very beginning of my adventure. I thought I would be thinking about home all the time but it was not bad at all. On Christmas Day we went fishing on the boat one more time. However, this time we went 18 miles out on Gulf of Mexico. It was not so rough that day either. I was scared at the beginning because I got bites from the sharks and I could see how big they were. Then people on the boat told me that you just have to be careful not to lose your fishing pole and that the sharks usually do not attack the boat. Again, we caught some yellowtails and few other kinds of fish. When we were coming back it was almost dark and the sun was going down. All of the sudden the dolphins started to jump about 100 yards from our boat. It was stunning and I concluded that it is the most beautiful place I have ever been to. We left for home on 26th December. After coming back to Orlando I still had one more week off. In order not to get bored I played a lot of basketball with my host brother and worked out. I also went to another Orlando Magic game. This time they played Milwaukee Bucks. I must admit that I like the games more and more every time.

New Year's Eve was a lot of fun too. There was a party at my house and all the good friends of my host family came. We played darts, ate and sang in karaoke competition. Few minutes before midnight we went outside and set the fireworks. People in the US celebrate the New Year’s Eve almost the same way we do in Poland.

After the break I came back to school and now I am about to take the midterm exams. I am not really afraid of it but I know this is an important thing and that it can be influential on my grades so I am studying hard. I am also looking forward to going to North Carolina again. I am going to be there for 4 days with my hosts and we will probably go skiing couple times. It makes me very happy because before coming here I skied a lot and I enjoy this activity from the bottom of my heart. Usually I go skiing to Austria or Italy at least once a year. However, coming to Florida I did not expect to go skiing so it is a pleasant surprise.

Next weekend after my trip to North Carolina we are going to Seacamp. I am lucky to have been to the Keys and I am excited about going there again. It is certainly an amazing place. However, I cannot believe that we are getting all together for the very last time. Of course, a lot of people are going to the same trips and there are a lot of district activities but there will be some kids I will probably never meet again. I will try my best not to waste my time down in the Keys and socialize with them and express how much they mean to me.

We have been half way through and I want to say thank you. Thank you Rotary people and exchange students for making a mature man of a Polish teenager named Maciej. Thank you for giving me an opportunity.			Come here fishy
Fishing in Florida Keys	On the Atlantic Ocean	My Christmas present	Real Magic's fans

February 15 Journal

Although it seems to me like I just came here yesterday, I have already been here for 6 months. I exactly remember my first day in Florida. It was Friday, 14th August 2009. It took me nine hours to get to Orlando from Frankfurt. I did not know what to expect and I was afraid of the future till I found out that I am among the greatest people in the world. It was probably one of the most important days in my life.

There was a lot going on in January. First of all, I went to the Seacamp which was the last time all the exchange students from Florida were getting together. It was an amazing and, in the same time, a very sad weekend. Amazing because we had a lot of fun and I met all my friends from other Rotary districts and sad because I will never see some of them again. It was hard for me to leave all my friends in Poland half year ago. However, as much as I love them and miss them, I am going to see them again in 5 months and it is going to be the same as before again. We are going to enjoy ourselves and have a lot of fun together. In comparison, I will probably never see most of the people I met in Florida again. I have no doubts that leaving this place in July will be much harder than leaving Poland was in August. This year has been the most important in my life so far. I have changed a lot and I am a better person which is owing to all my Florida friends.

I also went to North Carolina with my host family. Once again I had a lot of fun there. We snowboarded, hiked and watched NFL playoffs. We also visited Asheville, one of the biggest cities in western North Carolina. In Asheville we went to the fancy restaurant, where I ate elk steak for the very first time in my life. It was another good experience.

After coming back to school I attended few water polo practices at Winter Park High School. My host brother is in the team and I also have a lot of friends who play that sport so I gave it a try. I even played in a game. I really like playing this sport but I do not think I am good enough to be in the team. However, I am planning on playing volleyball. The try-outs start next Tuesday.

I know that time is going very fast and I am about to leave Orlando soon. I will enjoy every single day here. Thank you Rotary for the greatest adventure of my life.

Strong exchange students in Key West

Hug an exchange student

Snowboarding

June 1 Journal

You have not heard from me for a long time. I have been so busy recently that I did not have time to update my journal. I have done a lot of travelling in last few months so I have a lot of stories to tell you. I am done with school for the year and now I am waiting for the West Coast trip. After that I will stay in Orlando for another week and then finally on 5th July I am leaving for home.

SPRING BREAK AND MY BROTHER’S VISIT

First of all, in February I joined the volleyball team at Winter Park High School. I made the varsity team on the position of outside hitter. I was not a starter but I got to play a lot and it was a great experience. Getting involved in this sport helped me meet new people and improve my volleyball skills. We had a pretty good season and we went all the way to the districts. Unfortunately we lost in the district final to the team we had beaten before in a regular season. I guess that is the way it goes sometimes. My spring break started at the end of March, right before my 18th birthday. I was very lucky to have my older brother coming over for two weeks at that time. He is 22 and he goes to college in London. It felt kind of weird seeing him after 9 months but we got along pretty quick. I introduced him to all my best friends here in Florida and took him to the beach. We also went shopping and visited Disney World. The best part though was that we went skiing to Colorado for five days with my host family. It was an amazing trip and I will always remember it. The mountains were very pretty and skiing conditions were perfect. I have been skiing in the Alps before and I must admit that skiing in the Rockies is at least as good as it is in Europe. The weather was almost perfect. We had a lot of snow as well as lots of sunshine. The temperature was much lower than it usually is in Florida but it felt very nice. After skiing the whole day we always went to the hot tub which felt super relaxing. When we came back to Orlando my brother was staying for another 3 days so we just went to the beach again and had good times with my host family.

BAHAMAS

I must say that I am very lucky to be hosted by district 6980. I feel that we are like a big family and it does not only refer to exchange students and Youth Exchange officers but also regular Rotarians. Lots of Rotarians do a great job to make our dreams come true. Even very important people like district governor and district governor elect know all of us and attend our Youth Exchange activities even though they have to take care of so many other things. I really did not know how to show my appreciation when I found out that all eleven of us would attend District 6980 conference which took place on the ship called Monarch of the Seas and was going to the Bahamas for 4 days. I had never been on the cruise like that before so it was a new experience for me. It was a great adventure and I really liked the Bahamas. These islands are beautiful and I hope I will go back there at some point in my life.

FINAL COUNTDOWN

My adventure is coming to the end. I have spent one year in America and I am a different person. I have learned a completely new culture and improved my language. Now that I am done with school I am starting to realize that it is the beginning of the end. I do not want to go back home and I am afraid of how my friends will react on my stories and the difference in my character but that is the part of the experience. I hope I will get along with everybody back at home.

I have a lot free time now so I work out a lot because I want to go back in a good shape. I will also have volleyball practices at school twice a week until my departure. I am very happy they would let me attend after season practices although I am not going to be a part of the team next year. I am also looking forward to the West Coast trip. I know it is going to be an amazing trip and I will get to see an interesting part of the country. It is going to be a great finish of my year. I will probably let you know how I am doing after I come back home.			Playing volleyball at Bishop Moore HS
At the top of the mountains	Skiing	Colorado	Action shot
Fishing at the beach	Big Rotary family	Bahamas #1	Bahamas #1

August 2010