It was great to have Natasha our 2020 outbound International Youth Exchange (IYE) student join us at our meeting this week.
Natasha shared her Taiwanese exchange story with us.
Although 2020 was hit with COVID, Natasha was able to complete her year exchange without too much disruption. Her host family lived in a small farming community close to Taipei. She attended a high school where classes were rather large (30-50). Her host Rotary club was small and friendly. Some of Natasha’s highlights were a cultural trip with other IYE students, a trip to Sun Moon Lake, completing a 4km swim and rafting. The snakes were a bit scary and the sound of the ice cream truck music was actually the rubbish truck which proved confusing.
Natasha had some Mandarin language skills before her exchange which has improved and she is now collaborating with her Mandarin teacher to write a book for new speakers of Mandarin that can be used by other IYE students.
We are glad that Natasha was able to complete her full exchange and we can see how she has grown in confidence during her year away.
