When Sylvie Legary first arrived at her new home for 11 months in Enkhuizen, she only understood the basics of the Dutch language.
But by the time she left the harbour town in north Holland, she had completed not-for-credit courses in Dutch in the local high school, learned various lessons about life and Dutch culture and now has international friends.
“I got to see life through so many different perspectives,” Legary said, now settled back into her Cochrane home and school.
Legary was last year’s outbound Rotary Youth Exchange student from Cochrane. She lived, studied and explored the Netherlands from August 2016 to July 2017.
The students of both the short-term and long-term exchanges are expected to be Cochrane youth ambassadors and their mission is to teach the culture and lifestyle of Cochrane to their host families.
The students in turn are immersed into the culture of their exchange country.
“One of the times that my perspective changed, when I was talking to my host mom,” Legary said. “There was a drama group in the town and they were doing a redo of a play because it had been so successful the first time.”
Legary wasn’t sure if she was allowed to join or if they wanted a new person to play the role the second time around.
“My host mom said if I don’t ask, then I’ve already got my answer – it’s a no because that option just isn’t on the table,” Legary said, adding that the experience taught her to be more comfortable asking for what she wants.
“It’s not wrong to ask for things,” she said.
Legary also noted the difference in cuisine in the Netherlands compared to what she was used to in Cochrane.
“Dutch food doesn’t have a lot of taste to it – their lunches don’t for sure,” she said with a laugh. “But they do make really great meat.”
She did enjoy the food her second host mom cooked, which was an array of Indonesian recipes.
Legary also had the opportunity to showcase her cooking skills, often making pasta dishes for her host families.
“I think they loved it,” she said.
Scott Grattidge, the program co-ordinator for Cochrane, said that though the exchange can be challenging at times for both the participant and families, the program is also very rewarding.
“It is a big culture shock as far as going away from your friends, your family, your support network,” Grattidge said.
The exchange is all about a cultural experience, he added.
“The reason for the exchange is not that you always loved one country and that’s where you want to go,” Grattidge said. “It really doesn’t matter if it’s Hungary or Thailand or wherever it is, it’s more about the experience and kind of learning from that.”
That said, Grattidge said the potential students can pick their top three preferred countries to visit in their application and the program will do their best to accommodate those.
The participating countries include many European countries. Brazil, Thailand and Mexico are also popular destinations and previously, students went to countries in the Middle East and Venezuela.
There are no language requisites prior to leaving, however Grattidge said it does help to learn a bit of the national language before going.
“The more they can learn ahead of time, and we encourage them to learn, the easier it is for the exchange. Because you’re a little home sick, you’re meeting new people, if you throw in that you can’t communicate very well, that accentuates things,” he said.
Combatting homesickness can be even trickier with the readily available technology today, Grattidge added.
“Before you would go home and call home once or twice and write the odd letter and you were pretty well immersed,” he said, which is why calling home frequently is discouraged.
“If you’re going on the exchange enjoy it, jump in with both feet and don’t try to keep up with everything going on back home,” Grattidge said.
The deadlines for applications is Friday, Nov. 24 with in-person interviews taking place right after that.
Students can apply online by visiting the youth exchange website at www.yex5360.org, clicking on the Long Term Exchange tab and then completing the Preliminary Application Form near the bottom of the page.
The form can be emailed to [email protected] or if students or parents have any questions Scott Grattidge can be reached at 403-804-6044.
