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Exchange Students  

Rotary Youth Exchange arranges Get-Togethers district-wise. Get-Togethers are gatherings of the Rotary Youth Exchange Students (RYES') in the same district. The Get-Togethers are often a variation of meetings and fun events and usually lasts for a weekend.
The result of the Get-Togethers are close friendships among the exchange students.
In my district there were 18 RYES' from 18 different countries.

The other RYES' in my district were a big part of my year. As Exchange Students you just connect and become friends in a few minutes. The reason why is simple: You are in the exact same situation and therefore you understand exactly how each other feel.
I have become very good friends with some of the other RYES' in my district and we still keep in contact.

In my district in the USA I attended 4 Get-Togethers.
The first Get-Together was in Grand Junction, CO while the district conference were hosted there. We attended part of the conference as well as an information meeting with the topic "Rules" and later on we got on a bus to experience the area with a Rotarian who in this case was my first host father. In the evening we went out for dinner and bowling.

The second Get-Together was in Colorado Springs, CO. As RYES' in the district we were to help RYE to select the outgoing RYES' (outbounds) for the next Rotary year. We also went for a walk around Colorado Springs and during the evening we attended a dinner with the outbounds, their parents and the District Rotary Youth Exchange Committee. Later on we had fun interacting with each other and the outbounds.

The third Get-Together was hosted in Durango, CO. We attended a half-way-meeting, we were part of a parade and we went on a beautiful train ride.

The fourth Get-Together was a ski trip to Aspen, CO. Unfortunately it was during Easter and few people were able to attend. We skied during the day. During the evenings we went to concerts and hung out at the hotel.

The friendships across the world is an amazing gift. In our district we plan a reunion in 2010. Check out our website here.