Rafting, Clear Lake, District Conference & frisbee party 

Môj pobyt sa celkom rýchlo blíži ku koncu. Ako som od mnohých študentov dopočula, druhá časť výmeny plynie oveľa rýchlejšie. Je to naozaj pravda. Ostáva mi tu necelý mesiac a cítim sa celkom vyťažená, vždy je čo robiť. To je aj dôvod prečo sa ozývam po dlhšom čase.

My stay is coming towards the end. I have heard from previous exchange students that the second half of the year goes by much faster than the first one. It is really true. I have less than a month left and I always have something to do. That’s also the reason I didn’t post for a while.

River rafting trip
Vrámci predmetu IOP (spojenie športu a literatúry) sme mali možnosť ísť na trojdňový rafting výlet. Dlho som uvažovala, či sa prihlásiť, keďže išlo o kemping. Tri dni bez tečúcej vody a elektriny neznie ako nič pre mňa. Nakoniec som sa rozhodla ísť. Výlet bol super. Rafting stál naozaj zato. Rieka bola celkom divoká. Dva krát počas výletu sa mi podarilo vypadnúť z člna. Nebolo to veľmi príjemné, keďže voda bola studená. Našťastie ma náš sprievodca rýchlo vylovil. Môj ďalší neobyčajný zážitok z tohto výletu, na ktorý som veľmi hrdá je, že som sa odhodlala zoskočiť asi z 10 metrového útesu do rieky. Najskôr zopár študentov vyliezlo na vrchol, ale neverila som, že by aj skočili. Nakoniec viac ako polovica triedy skočila. Ja som sa veľmi bála, no predstava, že sa môžem neskôr pochváliť skokom z útesu ma lákala. Dopad bol trochu bolestivý, no nič neľutujem.

A second before I fell out of the raft

Getting back to the boat

Our  camp

Dry landscape

As a part of my IOP class (integrated outdoor program) I had possibility to go on a rafting trip. I wasn’t sure whether I want to go as it was a camping trip. Three nights out without running water and electricity didn’t sound like something for me. I decided to go anyway and I am glad I did. I survived the hard camping conditions. Rafting was great. The water was fun, lots of rapids and water holes. During the weekend I managed to fall out twice from the raft. It wasn’t very pleasant as the water was super cold. Luckily our boat captain pulled me back into the raft very quickly. Another outstanding experience is that I jumped of a 10 meter cliff into the cold water below. At first, some of the other students climbed up, but I didn’t think that somebody would  actually jump off. In the end, the majority of the class too the jump. So did I! I was scared to jump but, the idea that I could say that I was brave enough to jump was tempting enough. Landing in the cold water was a little painful, but I don’t regret it.

Frisbee-End of the season party

Adventures with my new host family

Rowing on Clear lake

McKenzie River waterfalls

District Conference in Albany
Na konci mája sme mali posledný Rotary víkend spolu so všetkými študentami (inbounds a outbounds). Nás, inbounds (študentov na výmene) ešte čaká výlet po západnom pobreží na konci júna. Lúčenie bolo teda trochu smutné, keďže pravdepodobne sa s polovicou študentov už nikdy neuvidíme. Víkend patril však jednoznačne k tým najlepším z Rotary. Okrem oficiálnej stránky konferencie, kde sme prezentovali naše krajiny, mali talent show pre rotariánov (hostí) a prednášali reč sme mali aj celkom zábavné aktivity. Hrali sme minigolf, frisbee a poslednú noc nám Rotary zorganizovalo nočnú párty v Boys and Girls club. Myslela som si, že to bude niečo na spôsob diskotéky. Namiesto toho sme sa však ocitli v obrovskom detskom kútiku s nafukovacím hradom, basketbalom, futbalom, biliardom... Aj napriek tomu to však bola sranda.

Minigolf

Boys and girls club

At the end of May we had our last Rotary weekend.  All exchange students came together (inbounds and outbounds). Us, the inbounds, are still have one trip to make around the west coast at the end of June. Saying goodbye in the meeting was sad because I realized that I probably won’t see half of the students ever again. However, the weekend was definitely one of the best rotary meeting events yet. In addition to the formal part of the conference where we presented information about our countries, there was a talent show for Rotarians (guests). We also held speeches and we had also some fun activities. We played minigolf, frisbee, and had an all night party in Boys and Girls club. I didn’t know what the Boys and Girls club was before that. I was surprised that it was actually a huge indoor playground with bouncy house, pool, table soccer, basketball, and more. Spending the whole night just playing was really fun. I tried to stay up all night but failed. Most of us were really tired and slept for couple hours.