Our speaker at Howick Rotary this week was our most recent exchange student, Madita Plies, who has recently returned home after 12 months in France hosted by local Rotarians in Nante. She was accompanied by her family who are obviously very supportive and proud of her.
When Madita and other exchange students left they flew via LA where they were given a great time by local Rotarians who took them to some of the highlights of Los Angeles. A daunting aspect of travelling to France was the need to learn French. It was a pleasant surprise to become fluent in the language and to be able to think in French by the time she left. A source of amusement to her and her new friends in France was trying to use the correct word but getting it wrong with an entirely different meaning. An early feature was discovering the local bakery and describing its produce as “One of the 7 wonders of the world.”
School hours were challenging 8am until 5 or 6! 12 subjects instead of 5! One was Spanish and she became competent and visited Spain later in the year. The local Rotary club was very welcoming and she enjoyed their meetings and being part of their activities. She was involved in their local 5km fun run and some members went to Pakistan as part of their commitment to Polio eradication to help with inoculations.
Over the course of the year Madita was hosted by 4 families who made her very welcome and adopted her into their lives. She had lots of experiences getting close to them all, sharing in their holidays, being taken to interesting historical towns and sites of interest and attended a family wedding. Several times she remarked on the architecture and monuments she saw. Getting to know other exchange students, travelling to 6 countries together on a bus trip and having happy birthday sung to her in 8 languages made it very memorable. Madita’s parents were originally from Germany and the exchange allowed her to spend time with her grandmother and her Mum, and on another occasion with her grandfather and her Dad.
It was a pleasure to hear about her year made possible by Howick Rotary. David Fels summed it up when he said listening to Madita renewed his enthusiasm for what our club does particularly with youth, many of us shared his thoughts.
Madita Plies and family
Madita sharing her year in France