Como eu já disse, a escola acabou e agora eu tenho menos de 1 mes aqui nos EUA.
Como eu não tenho nada para postar, eu resolvi postar este artigo que eu escrevi para o jornal da escola...
Só tem um problema, está em inglês.
Quem tiver interesse no artigo que fez pessoas que eu nunca falei antes na escola dizer que era bom, leia =p
Abracos
Welcome to America
Imagine yourself living in a foreign country for 10 months; away from your friends, family and the most important thing, the place you consider home. Hello, my name is Thales Camargo and I am one of the six exchange students from Portage High School this year.
Fear and imagination. Those are two of the feelings that all exchange student experience before coming to another country. Thoughts like: “where am I going to live,” “what if my host family is crazy,” or even ”will I be able to speak with people and make new friends,” are thoughts that surround the routine of a person who is waiting for placement.
After receiving your placement and having your air ticket scheduled, it is time to do one of the hardest things in the beginning of your exchange program; say good bye. Now your journey has just started. You are walking towards the unknown, and the only things you have are a suitcase and your passport in hand, looking at signs that are in a different language and hearing people speaking in the language you thought you would never use outside of your private English course for so long.
The first days are a combination of excitement and awkwardness. You don’t recognize your house, people, food, streets and your host parents are still people that you don’t know for sure if you can trust or not. By the other hand, you are amazed with so many houses and streets looking the same pattern; huge stores where you can find everything; the different kind of sports being showed in the television and the fact you will be able to tell your grandchildren you were seeing the history happen during the American elections of 2008.
The high school in the first days looks intimidating and huge. You start to think how many days is it going to take to memorize all the different classrooms you have to go. Introducing yourself to people you don’t know is hard, but it becomes a law that you have to learn how to deal with. You are like a new neighbor that just moved and needs to knock in the next door to ask for a cup of sugar.
Months have passed and now what was new and different becomes routine. You experience different holidays with your host family, travel with your exchange student friends, most of the time stay bored in your house because nobody calls you, but sometimes you hang out with your new friends. You start to miss your old friends and family, those people that you just have contact through internet and phone calls. You realize that the stereotype you have in your country that all Americans are fat, ignorant and have an enormous ego is not true. The transport conditions start to difficult your life, mainly if you want to hang out with friends and go to different places. The lack of public transportation is definitely one of the worst things for exchange students in the USA, mainly because you cannot drive even if you have a driver’s license. You depend on the rides your friends may give you.
The school year is finishing and you know that you need to go back home. You start to miss places and friends even in a few months before you leave. The same problem you had in the beginning of your exchange program you have to face again. You need to say good bye to friends and people who passed through your life during those 10 months, with a difference; you will never know when you will be able to come back again and see them. You are ready to come back to your old life, where everything will become normal again. You will think about every good moment you had with those people that made you happy and became friends that you will never forget.
Participating in an exchange program is not fun every time, you also have to pass through hard situations that in the future will make you mature. What really matter is the cultural experience which provides you maturity, strength, learning of different cultures, friendships and the most important thing, being able to represent your country showing that with union of the nations we can change the world.
Thales Camargo
Como eu não tenho nada para postar, eu resolvi postar este artigo que eu escrevi para o jornal da escola...
Só tem um problema, está em inglês.
Quem tiver interesse no artigo que fez pessoas que eu nunca falei antes na escola dizer que era bom, leia =p
Abracos
Welcome to America
Imagine yourself living in a foreign country for 10 months; away from your friends, family and the most important thing, the place you consider home. Hello, my name is Thales Camargo and I am one of the six exchange students from Portage High School this year.
Fear and imagination. Those are two of the feelings that all exchange student experience before coming to another country. Thoughts like: “where am I going to live,” “what if my host family is crazy,” or even ”will I be able to speak with people and make new friends,” are thoughts that surround the routine of a person who is waiting for placement.
After receiving your placement and having your air ticket scheduled, it is time to do one of the hardest things in the beginning of your exchange program; say good bye. Now your journey has just started. You are walking towards the unknown, and the only things you have are a suitcase and your passport in hand, looking at signs that are in a different language and hearing people speaking in the language you thought you would never use outside of your private English course for so long.
The first days are a combination of excitement and awkwardness. You don’t recognize your house, people, food, streets and your host parents are still people that you don’t know for sure if you can trust or not. By the other hand, you are amazed with so many houses and streets looking the same pattern; huge stores where you can find everything; the different kind of sports being showed in the television and the fact you will be able to tell your grandchildren you were seeing the history happen during the American elections of 2008.
The high school in the first days looks intimidating and huge. You start to think how many days is it going to take to memorize all the different classrooms you have to go. Introducing yourself to people you don’t know is hard, but it becomes a law that you have to learn how to deal with. You are like a new neighbor that just moved and needs to knock in the next door to ask for a cup of sugar.
Months have passed and now what was new and different becomes routine. You experience different holidays with your host family, travel with your exchange student friends, most of the time stay bored in your house because nobody calls you, but sometimes you hang out with your new friends. You start to miss your old friends and family, those people that you just have contact through internet and phone calls. You realize that the stereotype you have in your country that all Americans are fat, ignorant and have an enormous ego is not true. The transport conditions start to difficult your life, mainly if you want to hang out with friends and go to different places. The lack of public transportation is definitely one of the worst things for exchange students in the USA, mainly because you cannot drive even if you have a driver’s license. You depend on the rides your friends may give you.
The school year is finishing and you know that you need to go back home. You start to miss places and friends even in a few months before you leave. The same problem you had in the beginning of your exchange program you have to face again. You need to say good bye to friends and people who passed through your life during those 10 months, with a difference; you will never know when you will be able to come back again and see them. You are ready to come back to your old life, where everything will become normal again. You will think about every good moment you had with those people that made you happy and became friends that you will never forget.
Participating in an exchange program is not fun every time, you also have to pass through hard situations that in the future will make you mature. What really matter is the cultural experience which provides you maturity, strength, learning of different cultures, friendships and the most important thing, being able to represent your country showing that with union of the nations we can change the world.
Thales Camargo
