Ahoj, jmenuju se Jared a já jsem americký výměnný student. There. Hope you guys enjoyed some of my terrible partially Google-translated broken Czech.
Anyway, I should probably introduce myself v angličtině for all my non Czech-speaking homies out there. Hi, my name is Jared and I'm going to be spending my junior year abroad in the Czech Republic (Czechia) as an exchange student with Rotary Youth Exchange. Someday I'll do a post and/or a video about how I applied to this program in an effort to assist future exchange students, but long story short, back in August 2016 I contacted my local Rotary club in New Jersey and asked them about the exchange program. I filled out the application and all of the paperwork that they sent me, and the Rotarians were super helpful during this process. In December, I had a Skype interview with the Youth Exchange chair of my Rotary district (District 7470 represent) and I found out later that night that I was accepted into the program!
I was so excited already, but I still didn't know what country I would be going to. I got another email at the end of December that said that I would be spending my exchange in the Czech Republic! Or Slovakia. The thing is, my host district, 2240, includes both the Czech Republic and Slovakia, so half of the inbounds are sent to the Czech Republic and the other half go to Slovakia. I had an orientation in January 2017, which was one of the wildest times in my life, and I finally found out that I would indeed be going to Czechia in April. I also went to another conference hosted by District 7470, which was also great. After that, I waited anxiously to get my host city. At the end of May, I found out my city!
I will be living in Ostrava, the 3rd largest city in the country with a population of about 300,000, in the northeast part of the Czech Republic.
It's a former industrial city, so it looks like a really interesting and exciting place to live, and there's a ton of things to do, since it is a large urban area.
Recently I also found out my host family and what school I'll be going to. My host family seems very nice, and they live in a village called Polanka nad Odrou, which is just south of Ostrava. I will have 17-year old and 15-year old host brothers, Martin and Matěj, although Martin is going on exchange in Finland right when I get there. My school is a specialty language school called Gymnázium Hello (Yes, really!).
So that's where I'm at right now. I'm learning Czech right now. It's a hard language, but it will come a lot easier once I'm over there. If my visa comes on time I will leave on August 23rd, which is just 44 days away. Crazy stuff. I'd like to thank my family, friends, and Rotarians, and just everyone in my life who has helped make this dream possible. I appreciate all of your support and I don't know what I would do without you.
This post was waaayy longer than intended, so I'm just gonna leave it here. Drop a comment if you'd like. Stick around friends, as I've sworn never to become one of those cringy 2012 blogs (I hate calling this a blog too) and I'll actually post some cool stuff on here during my exchange. When I get my YouTube channel started (coming soon to a theater near you), I will link that here so you guys can go there and smash that like button.
Again, I'm humbled by this opportunity and can't wait to explore a bit of the world very soon.
Čau for now,
Jared