Arrival

So I've been in Japan for a little over a week now. Everything has been going so fast it feels way longer than 10 days.

I left Toronto Int'l Airport on Friday with two other exchange students who I met an hour before the flight. They both are in areas close to Tokyo though so no dice on meeting up with them really.

One 13 hour, continuously sunny flight later I was in Tokyo! After going through some customs and baggage claims, I met up with the other inbounds in my district. They were there along with two Japanese guys related to Rotary (rebounds I think) holding signs for the district. All the other inbounds had taken a different flight than me and were taking a connecting flight at the same airport. I, on the other hand, hand to first ride a bus with one of the Japanese guys to Haneda Airport for my flight to Komatsu. Unfortunately, the bus was slightly late in dropping me off at the airport so the Japanese guy had to work it out at the flight desk. Luckily there was a flight leaving two hours later and they changed my ticket so CRISIS AVERTED. (I just realized if you're quickly skimming this then you'll notice the bold words first and think something really bad could have happened)

The cool thing about my flight being later is that it got dark so my one hour flight was accented nicely by the lights of Tokyo and all cities in between. I even saw some fireworks going off as I flew overhead. Tokyo at night is really a sight to see in the air.

I arrived in Komatsu and when I got to the baggage claim, the other inbounds were picking up their baggage! I was 2 hours late and somehow managed to be synced with the other inbounds...

There was a big welcome group for me. I did a lot of handshaking and met my first host family some of my other host families as well as Yuki! Yuki was there with his family! That was cool.


It was physically hard to smile because of a mix of no sleep and holy-crap-this-is-happening

Everyone parted ways and I went home with my first host family in their car (with a BUILT IN TV).

I'll continue the rest later so I don't make a super large wall of text...

I Started a Video Blog

Hopefully I can make more in Japan, enjoy!

1 Month 3 Days

That's the official time left before I leave for Japan! It's coming up so quickly!


A picture of my future school...looks nice!

A few things have happened since my last post. I've booked my flight so I'm officially flying out on August 21st. I also applied for my visa a few weeks ago so everything is going smoothly. Canadian things continue to pile up on my desk such as Canadian ties, mini hockey sticks, socks, playing cards, magnets, stickers, pencils, bandanas, and of course I'll be prepared for the countless situations in which I'll need an inflatable Canadian baseball bat...

I also contacted my host club counselor in Japan and he/she (the name was pretty ambiguous) passed on the email address of my first host family. In my last post, I had been kinda worried that there might have been no host siblings since the papers didn't mention any. It turns out I'll have THREE host brothers! One is 20 and off at a university in Yokohama (pretty far away from Kanazawa), one is 18 and "busy studying for college entrance exams," and one is 16. My host club counselor told me that the 16 year old will be my best friend. Wow, they've planned out EVERYTHING for me over there...:P

So I sent my first host family an email and the father responded back in an email with a mix of English, Japanese, and Japanese written with English letters. The cool part was that he sent a picture of the family and they look really cool. When I showed my parents, I pointed to an empty space high above everybody's head in the picture and said "That's where I'll be."

The only stuff left to do now is get more Canadian stuff, get some nice host family/Rotary gifts, get a better camera (so I can post all the professional top quality photos on this blog that everyone will shed a tear for at the very first sight), and maybe some new clothes since I'm sure they'd have to special order everything in my size over there.

I'll make a post closer to my departure date and from then on this will be a blog coming from a Rotary INBOUND!!

It's Official: Kanazawa, Japan

Yup, I just checked my email and the district chair for my Rotary district's exchange program sent an email my way with a file attached that (FINALLY!) gave me a bunch of info from Japan.

My official home away from home will be KANAZAWA, JAPAN!


The basic info from Wikipedia:

Kanazawa sits on the Sea of Japan, bordered by the Japan Alps, Hakusan National Park and Noto Peninsula National Park. The city sits between the Sai and Asano rivers. Its total area is 467.77 km².

There's a LOT of info on it. Basically it was one of the few major cities that was spared of bombing in WW2 so there's a lot of old architecture preserved and it looks BEAUTIFUL.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanazawa,_Ishikawa <- go there if you want to read more Also, as of right now it looks like I'll probably be flying out August 21st so that's when this blog will (FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY) kick off into an EXCHANGE blog. The email also told me a few other things:

1. The trip costs are only around $250-260ish! It's especially awesome because Rotary over there pays for the other two thirds of the cost (yup, it's actually $750ish)

2. I'll get a monthly allowance of 15000 yen. (~$180 CDN) That's quite nice for an allowance (I don't spend lots of money so yeah...)

3. My first host family will be the Sugano family. No email was given :( It didn't mention any children but there was no space marked for children on the page anyways so I'll have to wait and see.

4. It had my Japan Rotary counsellor's info as well.

I'll update as I learn more :)

Coming Up

I definitely need to update more often but I like to save stuff up and then post it all together for whatever reason.

Anyways, I performed at another art show recently with my friend Kieron. We did a Flight of the Conchords song (Most Beautiful Girl in the Room). I also filmed a short film that was shown at the same show and people seemed to enjoy it. Oh yeah! I did improv that night too. So yeah, THREE different thhings featuring me in one night :)

I continue to practice guitar and I'm definitely improving. I've also been collecting little random instruments. In the pasy few months I've bought: A ukulele ($30) , a mini piano/xylophone thing (50 cents) , a CASIO WK-10 ($2 :D ) which is a funky 80s mini sample keyboard, and a "Concertmate 460" ($10) that's a little more versatile than the WK-10. I want to try and write more comedy songs to make an album's worth by the end of the month (good luck....).

A few weeks ago, there was an optional Rotary outing to Niagara Falls that a lot of the exchange students took part in. It was lots of fun, even if we went to things I've been to before many many times. Everything feels fresh when you're with exchange students. It was definitely nice to see everyone again and we all had good times. Afterwards we went to a Rotarians house and most of us slept over. Good times... I remember I woke up the next day and went to the bathroom and when I came back, Luis (one of the inbounds from Brazil) was in my sleeping bag and just said "Can I use this?"

Two major things are coming up:

Rotary Erindale Weekend - I'll make an update about it after it happens in about two week's time-ish. It's probably the most likely time I'll get some more solid info on where I'll be living in Japan and the time window I'll be flying out from here :)

Stache Bash - It's basically Improv Night 2 with an advertising campaign based around mustaches. I'll have to get working on that pretty soon since it's on June 2nd...

I'm Curious

I'm wondering if I should make a completely new exchange blog now that this one has an irrelevant title/site name and it gives a pretty big background on before my exchange. I think if I started with a fresh exchange blog, it would be good.

What do you guys (assuming more than one person reads this) think? I'd post the link to it here if I decided to make it.

It's Official

I'm now going to Japan for my exchange! I don't know if I mentioned it before but Japan was my first choice last year and this year it wasn't certain that I was going to Thailand so this is AWESOME! I have to apologize to Thailand though. Don't worry Thailand, have you heard of university exchanges? Because Thailand, baby, you and I have a date when I get to uni.

Anyways, all the other outbounds found out where they're going and I couldn't be happier with this year's Team Asia. They picked a great person for Thailand and I know she'll enjoy it thoroughly. They also picked the exact person I was guessing would be the other person going to Japan! IT'S A PERFECT TEAM :D

There were a few surprises (in my opinion) as to where people were going but there were also a few I got spot on so it balanced itself out.

Karen (girl from Japan) showed me and Emily (the other person being sent to Japan) her Japanese phone. INSANE. It's like a phone from the future. "And you can watch TV." "What do you mean?" *Karen flips phone and it turns into a a widescreen display mini-tv* Me and Emily's faces = :O

This next year and a half is going to be a long whirlwind ride! And you'll get to read it all for entertainment value!




A map I made of all the outbounds and where they're going.

Previously on Jared Stryker's Life

So it's been over a month....yeah....

There's just been a lot going on and I didn't really want to sit down and write a huge post. I probably will make this a more summarized version of the past month.

First Big Thing: BOLTON WEEKEND

I had the "first" outbound weekend back in January and everyone seemed really cool. I still had interviews and stuff, I think more so just to see how things are with me and if my views have changed at all. I stayed the night at a local Rotarian family's place. I was sent to a place by myself (as opposed to pairs like everyone else). They were all incredibly nice and we played Scrabble and watched part of a movie. Some of the inbounds were at the weekend as well so it was nice to see them again. I found myself trying to predict where all the outbounds would be sent. This year they're sending only one person to Thailand, and now TWO to Japan. The only other change is that they're also sending people to Australia, New Zealand, and (I think) South Africa.

Second Big Thing: WANAKITA

The four day winter camp from February 1st to 4th that all the exchange students go to. This was a fantastic time! Not a whole lot changed from last year in terms of activities. This time we had another sesssion of actual cross country skiing and our campfire was indoors (bah, not really a campfire then...). Wanakita is the time where you can get a better snapshot of everyone and it was much easier to predict where everyone will be going. In fact, that's what some of us did. We wrote down a list of where we thought people might be going and we're gonna see how close to the mark we'll end up being. Last year, the outbounds seemed to have a big group that socialized with each other and then a small group that more or less socialized with themselves. This year it's much more half and half in terms of "groups" if you can truly call them that. I had to sleep in a quinzee again. I hadn't ever planned on being in a quinzee twice in my life but they needed another guy to have enough body heat in the quinzee so I was that guy. The "dance" this year was a lot more dance-like compared to last year's. There was a constant strobe light going and people were dancing, not just standing and taking pictures. One other interesting thing to note is that when we did the "solo sit" (which is going out at night with lanterns and being sent off a few paces into the forest along a path so that you seem alone for 45 minutes) one inbound ended up staying out there a bit....longer than expected. We all had come back to a cabin for our indoor campfire and we all looked at each other and asked "Where's Juan Pablo?" Turns out he was still out there, he had gone a bit more than a few paces and was just sitting there waiting to be picked up by the Rotarians again. Crazy!

Third Big Thing: SCHOOL

I'm back in school now as of February 2nd (yeah I missed the first few days because of Wanakita). I needed something to keep me occupied so I might as well keep in the school mindset (for my exchange) and for extra credits. I'm not taking anything too strenuous and i'm only a part time student (only 2 courses in my case). I'm taking Film Studies and World Issues. Film Studies is really fun and I'm thouroughly enjoying it. World Issues is a "U" course so that's where all my homework and challenge comes from. I considered taking Travel and Tourism but that'd be too easy. I need something that stimulates my brain or at least keeps it moving.

Fourth Big Thing: IMPROV NIGHT

We finally had our improv night last Friday. It went fantastic. It was a night of improv, original skits (of which I wrote a lot of and helped write the others), and music (I got to perform one of my original songs which was cool). We finally saw it all come together (only about 5 or 6 people truly worked on this night from start to finish). A lot of people showed up - we ended up selling 70 or so tickets in advance! On the day of, we rehearsed from 10:45 all the way until 7:10ish when we had to start letting people in. I loved it when I heard compliments specifically mentioning the skit that I wrote entirely solo. It was also fantastic to hear the laughs when I performed my song (with help from my friend Kieron as the second singer). I couldn't help but smile hearing people laughing after delivering a verse's punchline and it was especially awesome when we got a HUGE cheer at the end of the song. We filmed the night so hopefully some footage pops up online soon. Although, apparently the cameras might have run out of film before my song (which majorly sucks). Meh, great night nonetheless.

Thanks for waiting over a MONTH for this post and be sure to look for my next post sometime after Rotary's Announcement Day on February 22nd.

December Already?

I always have to start these posts with an apology for not updating sooner. I guess I don't want two sentence posts or meaningless posts but then I forget to update and I leave everybody hanging there waiting to hear what's happened.

I officially finished my chemo sessions on November 25th! Done! Forever! I took a nice montage of videos but unfortunately the format they are in is not compatible with my (primitive) video editing program so it's just kinda sitting here on my computer for now. Let's just say I set up a finish line in the doorway then ran through it. ;)

I went in for a follow up with my oncologist the week after and she told me about how I have the CT scan at the end of this month to confirm that everything is gone. She's anticipating that I should be fine (which is always nice to hear from a professional)! The thing that kinda bugs me is that now that I know that certain pains can be associated with certain things, anytime I get like a sore back or a rib out of place or think I feel something abnormal it really gets on my nerve. I know that it's most likely nothing to worry about but it just kinda lingers in my head (which it shouldn't). For example, I thought I felt something abnormal in a place that was troubling so I went to my doctor and he didn't find anything. He also sent me for an ultrasound and it showed nothing. But now I'm curious as to what I felt since it did occasionally cause minor pain. I think what I have to come to terms with is that my body has been through a lot and I'm bound to get the occasional pain or weird feeling. Once I get the CT scan, I think I'll be able to relax easier.

Lately I've been visiting my school Thursdays at lunch to perform and practice improv with the team (of which I'm currently an honorary member until I'm officially a student again). In the past week or two, I got to perform improv with the team for "Arts Fusion Night." We've done nights like this in the past and we've always been a hit (this night was no different). It was lots of fun.

So, what's coming up soon? Well, on Christmas Day I'll turn 18 (yeah yeah, Christmas baby, I must have been a nice present, So you're like Jesus? Half/Double the presents? etc. etc.) so that's exciting. I hav ethe CT scan right around the end of the year and on January 8th to 9th I'll be at the Rotary weekend where the outbounds meet each other for the first time. How many people can say they've done that TWICE?

I want to thank all the people reading this blog - especially those who have posted a comment. It's great to hear the supportive and positive things you guys have to say. Thanks!

P.S. I lost my hair again :( Oh well, my hair should come back around the end of the year and then it stays!

Almost done!

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile.

The past few weeks have been a barrage of decision making and hearing both sides to the chemo story. I didn't really want to post anything because my decisions kept on flip flopping. If I haven't already mentioned it I, like many other chemo patients, also go to a naturopathic doctor to help on the dietary and supplementary end of things that doctors won't look at. What was scary was that the naturopathic doctor was telling me all about the potential horrors of chemo. On the other side of it, the doctors were telling me all the potential horrors of delaying or stopping chemo treatment. So I had both sides telling me that going the other way was dangerous. It really puts your head in a state of complete deadlock. I've decided to go with my gut feeling that I SHOULD continue and finish my last cycle.

On to good news, every 3 weeks I get a big blood test that not only tells me how my body is doing but it also looks for tumor markers (proteins and hormones that are produced in excess amounts due to cancer). They look at "HCG" and "AFP." My last blood test has shown that the tumor markers are back down to normal levels! HCG was less than 5 and AFP was less than 7. To put that in perspective, only about a month ago HCG was 564 (wow) and AFP was 174! Of course, blood tests can't completely tell you if you don't have cancer or not. It just means that the chemo is working very effectively.

At this point, if I still had cancer, it would be microscopic or at least very small and very weak. That's where the third cycle comes in. It helps to ensure that the cancer is completely gone and then I can be on my way to the rest of my life!

I should also mention that I went to a Rotary Youth Conference yesterday. I got to catch up with a bunch of Rotarians and I got to meet the new inbounds for this coming year. They seem like a good bunch of people. As a bonus, I got to listen to a bunch of presentations made by people making a difference in this world.

Thanks for reading! (and to any Rotarians who may be reading this, thank you for the conference...and the food)

Big News and Stuff

Hey!

So I'm done the first week of my second cycle and they started me on those injection things to boost my immune system yesterday. As of last Thursday I was officially done over half of my overall chemo sessions! Just 9 more to go! :D

As for how I'm feeling, I think I've actually felt better this week than I did for the first week of chemo. Maybe it's just not as big of a shock to my body or maybe I'm just eating right and all that fun stuff. *shrugs*

Anyways, on to some big news pieces:

1. After truly thinking over the recovery time I would get with only ONE month in between chemo and the day I would have to be in Thailand, I realized that it would be pretty far fetched. One month is definitely not enough time to recover from the chemo AND travel halfway around the world to live there. I got an email from a Rotarian who was in charge of the Asian exchanges (I believe he's the guy who's overall in charge next year) and he said that the head of the Thai Rotary district would only be able to accept me until November 30th AND my exchange would still be finished around early August '09. He said I could try and make that OR I could just wait until next year's batch of exchange students and be able to go on a full year! Obviously in my situation, I would rather have the full year experience as opposed to a little over half a year.

So, I accepted the offer to go on exchange for NEXT year and in the meantime, I just gained myself 6-7 months time of recovery and rejuvenation! Of course, since it's a new year, I might be sent to a different country....we'll have to wait and see.

2. The other piece of big news is that I found out from someone who works at the London Cancer Clinic that I still qualify for the Make A Wish Foundation! Yup, having a late birthday is pretty cool after all. I assume I still have to be referred to them and have to go through some paperwork but I could soon have "one wish granted" by the foundation! I really don't know what I would wish for. All I can think of is "Grahh give me lotsa money" but that's kinda boring. I need some wish ideas...

Thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers, I'll definitely power through this and this WILL become an exchange blog in due time one way or the other :)

Some great news (compared to everything else)

So I went to the cancer clinic in London (apparently I'm too young for the cancer clinic in Kitchener!). I met the medical oncologist (specializes in chemotherapy) and she said that I will only need 3 cycles of chemotherapy. Each cycle is 3 weeks so that means I'll be done sometime in October! Adding in recovery time, I could be on my way to Thailand in November or early December!! The oncologist said she could see no reason why I wouldn't be able to do that if the treatment is successful (90% or more successful, I think I'll be ok).

The best part is that I won't be missing one of the biggest tours Rotary Thailand is taking us on! That's the best Christmas/Birthday present I could get!

So, to Emma and all the other exchange students in Thailand right now, I'm coming soon to a country near you, November/December 2008. I'll see you there!

And it just keeps coming...

So, I'd like to mention that my surgery went very well. It was the first time I've been in the hospital for myself, the first time I've had surgery, and the first time I had an anesthetic. That stuff is crazy. I woke up and I thought they hadn't done the surgery yet only to find I was in the recovery ward!

I also had a CT scan on Tuesday, this was to show if the cancer had spread at all. They put this crazy xray dye in you so that the machine can pick it up. When they inject you with it, it makes you feel very warm everywhere. Really weird.

I got called in to the oncologist yesterday and he had received the results of the CT scan. It turns out the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes in my lower back (which are connected to the original tumor area). Essentially this means that I'm going to have to go through CHEMOTHERAPY and that will take MONTHS. The oncologist said that the success rate is around 90% and this is one of the most treatable cancers.

This, of course, sucks horribly. Rotary told me that they are still very enthusiastic in having me go to Thailand whenever I am capable of doing so. It's not a matter of "if," it's just "when."

I'm still keeping positive and whatnot. For now this blog won't exactly be about me in Thailand but I'll still post through the recovery process (and I am labelling this post as "predeparture").

On the bright side, I won't have to worry about haircuts for awhile!

Some bad news...

Well, this kinda sucks.

About two weeks ago I felt some pain in my lower abdomen and groin so I went to the doctor. He scheduled some tests which I got done the next Friday.

Last Tuesday, the results came in and he said I might have a TUMOR in that area. (WHAT??!)
He said I would have to delay/cancel my exchange depending on how serious it was. He ordered more tests to help find this out.

It's the worst possible timing, about two weeks before my planned departure and I find out the most random and terrible news! Plus, I got it the DAY AFTER I went to my Rotary Club to give a speech about how excited and proud I was to be going to Thailand and how eager I was to go. :(
I contacted my Rotary district about this and they're going to try to help me as much as they can so that I can still go to Thailand. That's good news...

I went to a specialist last Friday and he ordered some more in depth tests. Some blood work, a surgery that he'll be performing, and a CT scan. This will go a couple weeks past my original departure date so that means I have to delay my trip for sure :(

The surgery is essentially removing what they think is the tumor to determine if it actually is a tumor. If it is a tumor, they'll determine whether it is benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). I've thought of the scenarios that each could provide and I've come up with 3 scenarios that would put me at leaving for Thailand within weeks.

Best case scenario: It's not a tumor, it's something much more manageable/easier to work with
Number 2 scenario:It is a tumor but it's benign
Number 3 scenario:It is a tumor and cancerous - but contained

Any of those scenarios presents me with the opportunity to leave for Thailand very soon. Hopefully it's not a different scenario...that would suck and I would have no idea my potential for still going to Thailand.

At this point, I really hope it's the best case scenario and that I'll be posting from Thailand very soon. :)

For now, I'll keep this updated. I'm going in for surgery next Wednesday and that will be the first step into determining my situation.

All the best!

A Little Background on Chanthaburi

I think I should post a little bit about where I'm going to be living for a year. It looks to be an exciting place to live!

Chanthaburi (Thai - จันทบุรี) is one of the many provinces in Thailand. It is in the eastern part of Thailand, bordering Cambodia and the shore to the Gulf of Thailand. It is about 330 km east of Thailand's capital - Bangkok.

The name Chanthaburi comes from two words in Sanskrit translated literally to City of the Moon (awesome!!). It was once occupied by French colonists beginning in 1893 but that only lasted until 1905. Nonetheless, there did bring some architectural influence into some areas of the province. Chanthaburi is also home to many Vietnamese and Chinese immigrants.

Chanthaburi's southern part is on the shore of the Gulf of Thailand but there are some mountainous areas in the hinterlands.

Chanthaburi is famous for its abundance of gemstones (specifically rubies and sapphires) and tropical fruits. There are big markets for both (and my 1st host family owns a gem business!).
Chanthaburi is also known for its scenic waterfalls and rich forests - not to mention some of the beautiful beaches.

Within Chanthaburi, there are 10 big districts, I will be living in the 1st district - Muang Chantaburi which basically means Chantaburi City. That's right, I'm going to be living in Chantaburi, Chanthaburi...

I'll be going to Benchamarachuthit School (say that 5 times fast). I've talked to a couple of people who go to that school and they've said I'll love it but they've never told me why. *shrug* I found their website (yeah, they have one) and it's all in Thai so I can't really read it just yet.

I fly out August 3rd so I'll probably post a couple times more before I leave but once I get there, there will be a lot more interesting things to talk about :)

Karoliina's Goodbye Party

Yesterday was Karoliina's Goodbye Party and I thought I'd make a post for it. Karoliina is an exchange student from Finland and her exchange is soon coming to an end. She invited all the inbounds and outbounds to come to her goodbye party on Sunday and it was probably one of the last times we'll all be together (at least that many of us at one time). So, Yuki (Japanese inbound) offered to help get me there (Burlington) for most of the way. He lives in Cambridge so he's not too far away. After almost getting lost at one point and knocking on two random people's houses, we got to Karoliina's.

Everyone basically mingled, talked, had fun, the works. There was a lot of picture taking, a small water fight outside (followed by picture taking), talking, eating, and more! It was decided that a mvie should be rented for everyone to watch so me, Emma, Mark, Bam, and Emi went to Blockbuster to rent a movie. There was a pretty big thunderstorm and lots of lightning too :O

We ended up renting How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (well....there are a lot more girls than guys in our district). We drove back...except we were on the wrong part of the street. We all got out and couldn't find the house haha. We finally got back, Bam ran towards the door going "YAY!" Bam is WAAAAYY too cute. Everything she does, you can't help but smile about it. I wondering if I'll be in Thailand just going "Awww!" to everybody...BTW, Yuki is totally horrible towards her. She was sleeping and he slapped her in the face a yelled "WAKE UP!" It was admittedly funny but only because he's so insane. Yuki is crazy but that's what makes him funny.

The best part of this all was that when I called home to get a ride, my mom said she couldn't pick me up (and my dad was going to be gone up North for the next 3 days)! I was just like "....what?" Here I was in Burlington, an hour and a half away from my home with no way of getting back for school the next day and with yet anywhere to stay. I had to stop and laugh and I thought "You know...I'm probably gonna be in a situation similar to this in Thailand...probably crazier." That's when I thought "Emma!" so I talked to Emma and she said it was alright to stay at her house overnight. Awesome! So, at the end of it all, everyone said their goodbyes (it took like half an hour but that just goes to show we don't wanna leave haha). We took some group photos and everyone headed home (some of the inbounds stayed at Karoliina's because they were going to go to Wonderland the next day). Alex (outbound going to Finland), I found out, also had to stay over at Emma's for the night. At Emma's we all got to talking about our exchanges and I realized that we all had only known each other since January! It's crazy how fast everyone got so close knit! Both Alex and I slept in the basement, I slept in a reclining chair but I didn't get a good sleep (To Emma: It's not the chairs fault, I was just overtired or something).

I woke up at 6:30 and took a shower and Emma dropped off Alex at the train station (so he could get back to Ingersoll). Now, what was I gonna do about school? Well, my mom couldn't come pick me up until around 11:00 so I just went with Emma to her school until then. I helped put up posters for her play and and I sat in on her drama class. When I got picked up, I realized the only class I had left was Accounting so I just said screw it. I ate some A&W though. Their root beer is amazing!

Anyways, I'm sure there's still a few more goodbye parties but I'll have to wait and see. Karoliina, if you read this thank you so much for the great party!

Jeez, I write such long winded walls of text.

The Beginning - A Background Entry

Alright! Up and running! My name is Jared Stryker, I am a high school senior and I am going to be going on a year-long exchange to Thailand through Rotary Youth Exchange (District 7080). Specifically, I will be in the Chanthaburi province in Muang Chantaburi City (this is where the blog's name came from...that and my knack for somewhat cheesy puns). As of this post, I'm still an "outbound" as Rotary calls it. An outbound is someone who will be going on exchange but hasn't left their home country yet. For me, that country is Canada. I live in Waterloo, Ontario (which is about an hour and a bit's drive from Toronto) and I'll be here until early August.

Of course, I didn't just I didn't just suddenly become an outbound. I went through a selection process beginning with my local Rotary Club interviewing me, up to interviews with Rotarians from around the district on a multitude of subjects. Needless to say, they liked me enough to send me to a country halfway around the world. :) There are, of course, other outbounds in my district. Twelve girls and only four guys (including me). I remember wondering what was with the lack of boys wanting to go on exchange. I still do not have that question fully answered. Something for me to figure out while on exchange perhaps? Anyways, there was a few different orientation sessions both with the outbounds and together with the inbounds (people who have come from other countries on exchange to Canada). I was surprised at how cohesive everyone was together. We're truly a great bunch of people, outgoing, confident, the cream of the crop, and I'm proud to say I could be a part of it all. The best orientation we had was a 4-day winter camp up in a more Northern area of Ontario. We built quinzees (kinda like igloos), we went on a 6-hour snowshoe trek, had a campfire, dance, and more. It was fantastic to experience something like that with such great people!

In February, our district held the announcement day for our countries. Going in, my hopeful countries were Japan and Thailand. I have studied Japanese for eight and a half years and Rotary had said they wanted everybody to have new experiences. Knowing that, I knew my chances for Japan were incredibly slim. Each of us got up in front of the group of Rotarians, parents, outbounds, and inbounds and opened an envelope containing the name of our country choice. By the time it was my turn, the Japan spot was already taken and one of the two spots for Thailand had been taken so I was a little nervous. I opened the envelope and saw Thailand and I read it out excitedly. So, it was me and fellow outbound Emma who were going to be on our way to Thailand. Bam, the Thai inbound in our district, told us a little about Thailand and she pointed a few things out on a map. It was a fun day and it seemed as if everyone's placements seemed to fit perfectly.

More recently, we had our last orientation before our departures. We had a bunch of information sessions and presentations within a campus at the University of Toronto. We got a ton of information, our Canadian-Red Rotary blazers, some pins, and some good laughs. Bam taught me and Emma some Thai for a couple hours when we had some free time as well. Some rebounds (people who have already gone on exchange) came for the weekend and shared with us their exchange wisdom. I learned a lot, not just from the Thai rebounds but the other rebounds as well. Not only did all of that happen but I also got a big package of info straight from Thai District 3340! I got some rudimentary information on my first host family (they own a gem sale business - rubies and sapphires for everyone!) as well as general information about the Thai program and tours we can do. I will be joined by 42 (!) other exchangers when I get to Thailand. It looks to be an exciting year of adventure in Thailand for me!

So, come early August, I will be on my way to Chanthaburi, Thailand. Hopefully I will have many tales to tell as my year progresses and hopefully I will have sparked some interest in any readers that may stumble upon this blog. Enjoy!

Jared Stryker