Brenda McCorquodale For the Gazette
As the new school year steams ahead, the Port Hardy and Port McNeill Rotary Clubs are again both participating in the Rotary International Youth Exchange Program.
Carly Waring from Port Hardy left in mid-August for her new home in Thun, Switzerland.
She will be attending school where German is spoken and participated in a language camp to prepare.
Carly has already had the opportunity to swim across Lake Zurich, to go sailing, and to participate in a Rotary fundraising 5-km race.
She says there’s a reason Switzerland is famous for its chocolate and cheese — they are both delicious and staples of the Swiss diet!
Carly is writing a blog where you can follow her adventures: cw-switzerland.blogspot.com.
Meanwhile, the Port Hardy Rotary Club is hosting an in-bound student, 17-year-old Kenneth Majgaard from Denmark.
Kenneth will be taking Grade 12 at Port Hardy Secondary School.
He likes playing soccer, fishing and the outdoors and is looking forward to experiencing life on the North Island.
Karina Cann from Port McNeill arrived at her new home in Barcelona, Spain. She has experienced a roller coaster ride of events this past year.
When she applied to Rotary her number one choice was Japan and she was thrilled to be selected to spend the year south of Tokyo.
She started learning Japanese so she would be prepared for her exchange. Karina was also awarded a scholarship from Rotary to help with her expenses.
However, the tsunami hit and everything was in a turmoil. Japan’s Rotary decided to not accept any students this year because of the uncertainty in their country.
Rotary International had to scramble this spring to find other placements for their students.
Karina received the placement in Spain and then had to switch to learning Spanish.
The Rotary Club of Port McNeill welcomed their new student from Stadtallendorf, Germany, Malena Glőde.
Malena is 17 and will attend North Island Secondary School.
She chose Canada as her country of choice because she’s been to Norway several times and thought that our coastal area would be beautiful.
She enjoys painting and music.
She is looking forward to meeting many new friends, learning English and learning about our Canadian culture.
The Rotary Clubs of the North Island have participated in the Rotary International youth exchange program for many years.
Outbound students are generally 16 or 17 years old, and must be registered as a student in the school district.
Information about the program is provided through PHSS and NISS in the fall.
The contact in the Port Hardy Rotary Club is Brenda McCorquodale, and in Port McNeill is Kathy Martin.