☆Rotary Orientation and My District!

Right now I am so unbelievably excited and happy! I had my first Rotary orientation, though it didn't really feel like it since we had a seminar at the end of our interview on January 25th. The orientation was a lot of fun; the Rotarians explained the rules of Rotary and what was going to be happening for the next few months. They also gave us our districts... I'm going to be living in Japan district 2560... Also known as... NIIGITA PREFECTURE!

Every exchange student was given this list at the orientation. It has all of our names on it, along with our e-mail, hometown, and the district we're going to. 

I'm extremely excited! The prefecture isn't really "famous" (no major cities, and not many attractions), but who cares?! The prefecture is right next to the ocean, and has a famous temple, shrine, and ski resort! I don't know what city I'll be living in yet, but I'm sure I'll find out soon. I'm going to research the high schools in the area to see which one could potentially be mine ;) After this post, I also would like to make a new one dedicated to Niigita prefecture! From what I've seen, it's absolutely beautiful... I'm on the verge of tears. You'll see why when I make that next post!

There were 3 people who originally wanted to go to Japan in my district (which, apparently was huge since there was only 1 or less each year who wanted to) and at the end, only 1 wound up going. My friend, Toussaint, is going to Sweden, and the other girl is going to Thailand. I really want to thank Rotary Youth Exchange for giving me this privilege!

Interestingly enough, only 3 out of 14 students in my district are actually going to non-European countries. France, Germany, Belgium, and Spain were EXTREMELY popular! Especially France and Germany! One girl is going to Brazil, the other to Thailand, and I to Japan (obviously!). Toussaint kept throwing jokes and remarks behind me trying to make me laugh xD His mom was hilarious! When the Rotary club asked if any parents were going to see their child while on exchange, our moms didn't raise their hands :( Haha! That's okay, though xD Ah, I'm rambling now. I shall start on some hardcore "Niigata" research!