Jignesh

2011-12 Inbound from India

Sponsor: Rotary Club of Vapi, District 3060, India

Host: Rotary Club of Southpoint, District 6970, Florida

Jignesh's Bio

Tuesday, December 13, 2011
06:16 PM

“Hey!!! Hii!! Yea!!! Hello! Welcome to America!!!” - These are the words I heard from the first few Americans whom I actually knew. The people with whom I was talking through e-mails and phone calls were finally standing in front of me.

But wait, lets rewind my life a little bit when I was at the airport waving “Good-bye” to my parents and cousins. I still remember that moment was so intense. I was in the airport and was waving at them who were standing outside the airport but were still visible through the glass. I still remember, my mom, dad, and sister's eyes were wet. The last words I heard from my parents were - “Take care son, we love you, come back soon.” Yup, definitely that was a very emotional moment. But what was good is – I didn't shed a single teardrop. I was extremely excited and happy to hop into the plane and land in the United States as soon as possible!!! For the first time in my life I was traveling all alone, without my family and friends to a different country. It seemed like an awesome adventure.

I was in the plane and suddenly I realized I could see Chicago through the window. It was such an amazing feeling. I was land in America, all by my own. For me, my first step in America was a feeling like Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon. I was super excited. Then I passed the U.S. Security which was very tight. I appreciated the ultra safety and security procedures at the airport. And yes, I was a little bit confused there. Then, I took the plane to Jacksonville. I was gradually getting closer and closer to my destination.
Then came the big moment! I finally reached Jacksonville! I was so excited to meet all the people who had come to greet me at the airport. I headed towards the baggage claim took a right turn, and OH MY GOD!!! :D
“Hey!!! Hii!! Yea!!! Hello! Welcome to America!!!” - These are the words I heard from the first few Americans whom I actually knew. The people with whom I was talking through e-mails and phone calls were finally standing in front of me. I was so happy to see all those bunch of people waving at me. My first host mother, Mary, was the first person whom I hugged. All the people I met at that time were just wonderful to me. I can't forget that moment. Then, I left for Ponte Vedra Beach (the beautiful place where I was supposed to spend my exchange year) with my host brothers Jennings & Darby and my host sister Kendall. It was such an awesome experience to go home in a Cadillac Escalade with American hip-hop and rap music turned on. It felt like a swashbuckling welcome. I was chatting with all three of them and was gradually getting to know them. Then we finally reached our neighborhood and it was very wonderful. All the houses looked very beautiful just like our house. It felt amazing to step into my first American home. On the entrance of the home, there was a 'reath.' Most of the houses there had it on their entrance. Then came the incredible moment - I stepped into my first America home and went off on my roller-coaster ride to an American experience. Since then, the level of adventure, fun, craziness, and happiness has never decreased. I have been here since 3 months now, and this is already turning out to be the best experience of my life ever. I have done so much stuff here already.

I love trying new things with my host family. I have had numerous pool parties with my first host family, learned fun stuff like bogey boarding, body surfing, surfing, paddle boarding, and how to live a cool beach life with a surfer-swag (thanks to my awesome host brother Jennings who is now in Czech Republic doing an exchange program). Just one week after I got here, I joined my host brother's small group called 'Slyk-Penguins' and it was way cool. I rapped for them in Hindi and it was so much fun. That video is now on YouTube and my friends and family burst into laughter after watching that video. I have also been to all the different types of churches here and I found that very interesting. Some churches were very religious while some were not. I love the big rock concerts they have in some churches. For me its probably the best way to learn things about Jesus (even though I'm a Hindu). Going to the surf shops is something I like to do very much. I never get bored in a surf-shop, because they have some of the coolest things I have ever seen. Then celebrating my host brother's birthday was also a very cool thing I did here. It was my first 'Amerrrican' birthday party. I saw a lot of craziness in that party. Funny birthday cards, delicious cake, crazy birthday presents, weird games and a pool party in the night which is way too much fun. Another beautiful thing I did here was going to the beach early in the morning with my friends and seeing the sunrise. It was one of the most beautiful days of my life. There was no one on the beach. Just me and my 3 friends. We waited and waited wand waited, and then finally we saw the beautiful sunrise. The pictures I took on that day were some of the best shots I ever took on my camera. My second host family is very much into surfing. So now, only because of my second host family, I have a crazy interest in surfing. My host dad and host brother teach are both very good surfers and they teach me how to surf. It seemed so easy when I saw it on TV and saw other people on the

Now apart from my tours, lets talk about my school life. My school is the place where I have full-on fun! Right from the first day in my school until today, I never found a reason to not love my school. The first in the school was very confusing and I had no clue what was going on. But after just a week, I started mixing up with the new culture I was seeing around me. It was always fun to introduce myself to all the new people I met everyday and making new friends. I never really faced a problem with making new friends. Its kinda simple – take the initiative, open your mouth, be friendly, talk to people, and you're good. That's how you break the ice. My friends love my accent because some of them think its kinda funny and I really like that fact. I'm trying hard to work on my English and speak in an American way. And no wonder, my friends help me a lot to do this. Almost everyday, I hear a new slang term and it updates my vocabulary. I also like to study in my school because I like all my classes and I'm pretty nice grades. Apart from this, I loved the Homecoming dance in my school. It was the best night in the school, It was just so much fun. I loved all the ridiculous dance moves that my friends taught me including the doguie, cat daddy, whop, jerk, grind and some other cool stuff. Some other things that I love to do here is go hangout with all my friends, go to concerts, spend time with my host family and try new things with them, meet new people, do sports in my school with the real American spirit of competition, and a lot of other things. Well, I'm seriously having a crazy and fun time here. This is really the best experience of my life. I'm expecting more craziness, more excitement, more fun, more thrills, and more 'Amerrrican' stuff ahead.