National Pre-Departure Orientation
It seems as though as I get older, time decides to play more tricks on me. It was definitely yesterday, not four weeks ago, that I was posting about having only 6 weeks before I left. Despite my strong belief that not that much time has passed, my calendar seems to think that in two weeks I'll be getting on a plane to travel the first of three legs to Norway. The rest of my life seems to agree with my calendar as well, considering I just got back from a weekend in the Chicago area for YFU's National Pre-Departure Orientation (the cool kids call it NPDO).
There's nothing quite as magical, thrilling, and frankly overwhelming as being greeted in a new place with new people speaking to you enthusiastically, as far as you can tell, about what you need to do to register and get set up for the weekend. In German. Or Chinese. Or French (phew). Or Swedish (small sigh of relief but also not because yes, you can understand some of it but it's still not Norwegian and you're still not very good at Norwegian, even if it was). But mostly German. I speak probably five words of German; not much help when this man you're sure is a great person but right now is not being very helpful is trying to explain to you how to get to your dorm and where to go after you've made your bed (I'm supposed to make the bed, right?) in high-speed German. The stress levels were high but at the same time, this was a great way to make friends who also did not speak German as you tried to decode the directions then bursted into laughter as you realized you have no idea what's happening and this is likely exactly what the first few days, maybe weeks or months, of exchange will feel like.
The whole weekend had this same magical, thrilling, and overwhelming atmosphere to which I'm sure I'll grow accustomed as I start my year abroad. I am not going to go into great detail about each and every activity we did over the three-day weekend because this blog post would be way longer than anyone really has time for, but I will give an overview and explain some of my favorite parts of the weekend, the first of which is my beloved Team Pink. At the orientation the 115 or so students were split up into eight teams with which we spent a good chunk of the weekend doing activities and learning about exchange from our team leaders, YFU volunteers who had gone exchange themselves. My leaders, Victoria and Jim were definitely the best ones there. No competition. Completely objectively speaking. The fourteen other exchange students-to-be were also amazing and included the three other Americans going to Norway. Team Pink bonded over things like spicy ballroom dancing, obscure catch phrases that quickly caught on, and well-drawn 100 emojis. I could not have asked for a better team!
Although a lot of the time at NPDO was spent with your team, I also had the chance to meet a couple other wonderful people going to places all over the world, but mostly Germany. YFU started as a way to bring German and Austrian teens to the US so they could learn about democracy and bring back their observations to post-WWII Germany. The students were brought to Michigan so it's no surprise there are a lot of kids from the midwest and a lot of kids headed to Germany. At NPDO we had the chance to have meals and sessions with kids going to specific countries, regions like Scandinavia, and any friends we had met, whether or not they were on our team. It was great to get a feel for how different parts of the US can be, even though we're one country. Simple things like whether you say bubbler or water fountain, soda or pop, and sneakers or tennis shoes came up in conversation and it was funny to see how many kids were surprised I was from the East Coast, let alone New Hampshire. I'm very aware of how much of a bubble I live in but this weekend only made it more obvious.
There is one activity I'm going to go a little more in-depth with because I thought it was a great metaphor for exchange and could maybe shine a little light on what I'm about to do. All the teams gathered in one building but were spread apart into different rooms and areas. Group leaders taught a simple card game to their team with a few twists. For example, my team hummed as the cards were being shuffled and dealt and clapped our hands against our forearms while looking intently at the person who had just won the round. There was also no talking, but that was the same throughout all the groups. After a few rounds, the instructors began switching kids from room to room but only one to and from each table at a time. In their new room, a similar game would be played but with different twists and maybe low cards were better or there was a different trump suit. The students that moved were left to figure out the new rules without the help of vocal interaction and very minimal visual signals. After a half an hour or so, the students who had moved returned to their teams to discuss the different rules, what had been difficult, and often a funny story about how they thought they understood a part of the game but then completely messed it up. I was blown away by how well this game, involving only cards and some ingenuity, mimicked a simplified version of exchange. It was also fun to see how kids handled the changes from my perspective of someone who did not move but heard the stories afterwards. My friend got moved to a table where you could steal any chips someone else had won. She was taken advantage of early on but quickly caught on and began exerting her new power, snatching up any and all chips she could. I don't doubt she'll make a great exchange student if she approaches the new culture the way she approached the new card game rules.
The weekend began with an early flight, my very first flight completely alone, and went as smoothly as possible. The weekend ended with another long travel day, this one at the opposite end of the day. YFU brought us all to the airport before 2 pm but my flight wasn't scheduled to leave until after 9 pm. A long afternoon alone in the airport in front of me, I made plans to have dinner with one of the girls also going to Norway, Katherine, as she was stuck for a while as well. We were sitting at our table chatting and eating when we heard someone say "Hello" right beside us. Turning to face the voice, we saw the other girl going to Norway, Lauren with her mom and sister who had been touring colleges in the area. I knew Lauren was headed to the northeast for what was left of her summer even though she is from the West Coast, but we found out that we were actually on the same flight! A half an hour of thunderstorms had backed up all the flights and our already-late flight was pushed back another hour. An exhausted Isabelle was more than glad to have someone with which she could spend way too many hours in the airport on a late night. While I did not appreciate the elongated night with an early dentist appointment looming on the horizon, the delay ended up giving me more time to get to know the two other girls who will be in Norway with me.
This blog post is getting very long and I'm going to have to work on my editing skills if I feel the need to right this much about one weekend, but below I'll post the few pictures I have from NPDO. I wish I had more but, to be honest, there was not a whole lot worth photographing and I'm sure there will be many more pictures coming once I leave with the friends from this weekend with which I keep in touch. And who knows? Next time you're reading a blog post I may be in Norway! How crazy is that?!
Hope you're all having a great summer,
Isabelle
There's nothing quite as magical, thrilling, and frankly overwhelming as being greeted in a new place with new people speaking to you enthusiastically, as far as you can tell, about what you need to do to register and get set up for the weekend. In German. Or Chinese. Or French (phew). Or Swedish (small sigh of relief but also not because yes, you can understand some of it but it's still not Norwegian and you're still not very good at Norwegian, even if it was). But mostly German. I speak probably five words of German; not much help when this man you're sure is a great person but right now is not being very helpful is trying to explain to you how to get to your dorm and where to go after you've made your bed (I'm supposed to make the bed, right?) in high-speed German. The stress levels were high but at the same time, this was a great way to make friends who also did not speak German as you tried to decode the directions then bursted into laughter as you realized you have no idea what's happening and this is likely exactly what the first few days, maybe weeks or months, of exchange will feel like.
The whole weekend had this same magical, thrilling, and overwhelming atmosphere to which I'm sure I'll grow accustomed as I start my year abroad. I am not going to go into great detail about each and every activity we did over the three-day weekend because this blog post would be way longer than anyone really has time for, but I will give an overview and explain some of my favorite parts of the weekend, the first of which is my beloved Team Pink. At the orientation the 115 or so students were split up into eight teams with which we spent a good chunk of the weekend doing activities and learning about exchange from our team leaders, YFU volunteers who had gone exchange themselves. My leaders, Victoria and Jim were definitely the best ones there. No competition. Completely objectively speaking. The fourteen other exchange students-to-be were also amazing and included the three other Americans going to Norway. Team Pink bonded over things like spicy ballroom dancing, obscure catch phrases that quickly caught on, and well-drawn 100 emojis. I could not have asked for a better team!
Although a lot of the time at NPDO was spent with your team, I also had the chance to meet a couple other wonderful people going to places all over the world, but mostly Germany. YFU started as a way to bring German and Austrian teens to the US so they could learn about democracy and bring back their observations to post-WWII Germany. The students were brought to Michigan so it's no surprise there are a lot of kids from the midwest and a lot of kids headed to Germany. At NPDO we had the chance to have meals and sessions with kids going to specific countries, regions like Scandinavia, and any friends we had met, whether or not they were on our team. It was great to get a feel for how different parts of the US can be, even though we're one country. Simple things like whether you say bubbler or water fountain, soda or pop, and sneakers or tennis shoes came up in conversation and it was funny to see how many kids were surprised I was from the East Coast, let alone New Hampshire. I'm very aware of how much of a bubble I live in but this weekend only made it more obvious.
There is one activity I'm going to go a little more in-depth with because I thought it was a great metaphor for exchange and could maybe shine a little light on what I'm about to do. All the teams gathered in one building but were spread apart into different rooms and areas. Group leaders taught a simple card game to their team with a few twists. For example, my team hummed as the cards were being shuffled and dealt and clapped our hands against our forearms while looking intently at the person who had just won the round. There was also no talking, but that was the same throughout all the groups. After a few rounds, the instructors began switching kids from room to room but only one to and from each table at a time. In their new room, a similar game would be played but with different twists and maybe low cards were better or there was a different trump suit. The students that moved were left to figure out the new rules without the help of vocal interaction and very minimal visual signals. After a half an hour or so, the students who had moved returned to their teams to discuss the different rules, what had been difficult, and often a funny story about how they thought they understood a part of the game but then completely messed it up. I was blown away by how well this game, involving only cards and some ingenuity, mimicked a simplified version of exchange. It was also fun to see how kids handled the changes from my perspective of someone who did not move but heard the stories afterwards. My friend got moved to a table where you could steal any chips someone else had won. She was taken advantage of early on but quickly caught on and began exerting her new power, snatching up any and all chips she could. I don't doubt she'll make a great exchange student if she approaches the new culture the way she approached the new card game rules.
The weekend began with an early flight, my very first flight completely alone, and went as smoothly as possible. The weekend ended with another long travel day, this one at the opposite end of the day. YFU brought us all to the airport before 2 pm but my flight wasn't scheduled to leave until after 9 pm. A long afternoon alone in the airport in front of me, I made plans to have dinner with one of the girls also going to Norway, Katherine, as she was stuck for a while as well. We were sitting at our table chatting and eating when we heard someone say "Hello" right beside us. Turning to face the voice, we saw the other girl going to Norway, Lauren with her mom and sister who had been touring colleges in the area. I knew Lauren was headed to the northeast for what was left of her summer even though she is from the West Coast, but we found out that we were actually on the same flight! A half an hour of thunderstorms had backed up all the flights and our already-late flight was pushed back another hour. An exhausted Isabelle was more than glad to have someone with which she could spend way too many hours in the airport on a late night. While I did not appreciate the elongated night with an early dentist appointment looming on the horizon, the delay ended up giving me more time to get to know the two other girls who will be in Norway with me.
This blog post is getting very long and I'm going to have to work on my editing skills if I feel the need to right this much about one weekend, but below I'll post the few pictures I have from NPDO. I wish I had more but, to be honest, there was not a whole lot worth photographing and I'm sure there will be many more pictures coming once I leave with the friends from this weekend with which I keep in touch. And who knows? Next time you're reading a blog post I may be in Norway! How crazy is that?!
Hope you're all having a great summer,
Isabelle
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| NPDO Group Photo |
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| Our Team Pink flag in progress, ft. my pig-drawing skills (can't take credit for the muscles though) |
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