Olivia Leamer

2011-12 Outbound to France

Hometown: Tavares, Florida

School: Tavares High School

Sponsor: Tavares Rotary Club, District 6980, Florida

Host: Rotary Club of Saint Cloud, District 1660, France  

Olivia's Bio

Bonjour! Je m'appelle Olivia. I am a sixteen year old Rotary Youth Exchange student about to spend the year of 2011–2012 (my junior year of high school) in France! The last time I was this excited for something was when I was four years old and I saw my dog Daisy running towards me for the first time on Christmas Day.

I live in Tavares, Florida (America’s Seaplane City), a small town about an hour from Orlando and attend Tavares High School. I am in the tenth grade and I am on the swim team and soccer team for the school. My favorite classes are drafting and art. Tavares is golf cart friendly so I drive a golf cart to school, which I love to do.

I come from a large family. I have a mother, father, step-father, brother, three sisters, and a dog. My sisters and brothers range from three to twenty years old. I love having a big family because I am surrounded with lots of different personalities and lots of love. I can’t wait to meet the French families that will be hosting me – my new extended family!

If I had to describe myself in four words I would say: adventurous, athletic, artistic, and humorous.

As for being adventurous, I love to travel and try new things. I have visited many different places in the United States and Canada. My favorite place in North America so far is the Grand Canyon. Most recently, I spent ten days exploring Milan, Italy with the family of an Italian exchange student that we hosted this summer. I love meeting new people, hearing foreign languages, and experiencing the diversity of other cultures. My dream is to travel, study, and work in as many places around the world as possible. 

As for being athletic, I love being active and being outdoors. I like to camp, hike, snowboard, dance and swim, but my favorite sport is soccer. In addition to playing for my high school team, I play on a Florida Regional Cup team that travels around the State. I hope to continue playing soccer while in France and eventually earn a scholarship to play for a college. I am open to try any new activity or sport and had fun doing so this Christmas, playing “pond hockey” for the first time in Vermont.

As for being artistic, I love to draw, paint, and take photos. As they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” I prefer to tell my stories through photographs rather than with words and plan to keep a photo “journal” of my time in France. While in Italy I took approximately 1,000 photos of Milan, which I am putting into a power point presentation. I do something artistic almost every day.

As for being humorous, I love to laugh and make others laugh. I am the type of person who is always looking at the positive side of things. My mother says that I take after my great grandmother who wore “rose colored glasses”. My motto is - why be upset about something if you can’t change it, just smile, and learn from it.

I love the idea of learning languages. I dream of speaking French, Italian, and Spanish fluently someday. My grandmother, who speaks several languages, has been teaching me French and Italian words. One of the first things that came to my mind when I found out that I was going to France was how wonderful it would be to return home and be able to participate in the French conversations between my aunts and grandmother, who are all fluent in French.

 After high school, I hope to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). I plan to major in architecture and interior design and minor in business. This university has campuses in Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia as well as Hong Kong, and a study abroad program in Lacoste, France.  I hope that I have the opportunity to study at all of these locations. After college, I plan to eventually open my own design company.

I want to thank Rotary for the privilege of participating in the RYE program and for the opportunity to pursue my dreams! I would also like to thank my friends and family who believe in me, and encourage me every day!  

The First Steps into France
I used to wonder how Parisians could walk the streets of Paris without being in amazement at all times. I didn’t how people could just casually walk by the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Notre-Dame, or even just the beautiful buildings. But the other day I caught myself doing just that. It’s called adaptation. Adapting to a new life style can be very difficult for people but I am finding it rather easy. I will admit I was nervous to not make friends and not to have the ability to learn French, but I do. I have been in France for about one month now and I have adapted. At times I even forget I am in a foreign country, I feel at home.

The Language
The French language is one of the most difficult languages to learn! I flew across the seas with only five months of French preparation (this is very little) and I was scared to death that I wouldn’t be able to pick it up. I remember the first day I arrived and met my new family that after the greetings “Bonjour” I didn’t understand anything anyone said!! My phrasebook became my new best friend.
Till this day I can understand VERY little, but I can speak SO much more. It takes time to get used to the way people talk. But, I am already having small conversations with friends in French with NO ENGLISH! But they are small!

The Host Family
I love my host family! We are always laughing and telling jokes! I feel like I am with distant relatives I have never met before!

Friends
Making friends in the U.S. was like waking up in the morning. I am an open outgoing person, so this made it easy! But in France it’s not that easy at all. To start off I don’t speak their language so it’s hard to have a conversation passed the basic words “Bonjour, Ca va?” and it’s also nerve wrecking because you just have to walk up to a person, introduce yourself, and hope they invite you to talk more. I have done this and met many people here in France but I only have a one or two friends that I can always talk to. As time passes though people open up and invite me hangout with them, and want to talk to me more!

People always ask me “Do I miss my friends and family back home?” And I always respond no. There face fills with wonder! I wouldn’t say I miss anything from home, not my family, not my friends, not the food, not the language. This is because I know my family will always be there for me, I know my good friends will always be there for me and support me, and I will always have American food and English in my life! What I miss is HAVING FRIENDS. In the U.S.A I always had my friends I would eat with, talk with, and hangout with but here I don’t have that yet. I know it takes time. I talk to lots of people and people invite me to eat lunch with them and I do, I talk with people in the hall way, and I do things with friends. But it’s different. I love it though! I have already cried once thinking that I’m going to have to say good-bye to all my friends here.