A lot of students seek advice on the web when it comes to choosing their host country, by asking which place is the "best" and I've to admit: that is silly. Everyone who will try to answer this question will come up with beautiful countries and real facts, but they won't help your decision because no one can really define what "best" means. It varies from person to person. Your decision can be based on many things, starting off with what you value the most. If you go on exchange you have to ask yourself why you are doing it. The most common answer to that is "I'd like to go there because I wanna learn the language".

Think about the USA. Why do people choose to go there? Because of the language, of the beautiful landscapes. Because of the American dream and future opportunities. But is it really the best country in the world? I can name a few problems. Without going too far, lack of transportation is one of the struggles for exchange students. If you are from the countryside than you're probably used to it, but it was difficult for me to accept that I either had to stay home or annoy someone for a ride.

If you are looking for a place where people are social, probably Denmark isn't your place. People are real nice but it takes a while before they open up to you. If you are a party person, South America probably suits you more than Asia does. If history, culture and food are important to you, you should probably go to Italy on exchange instead of the USA. If you love going to clubs or pubs you might consider not going where the temperature gets really low, because there the way of partying is different (e.g. house-parties).

It all depends on what you are interested in, and what you are willing to take as a challenge. My host town is totally different from my home town but I wouldn't chance a thing of my experience at this point. It was what it was and it gave me tons of opportunities for which I am grateful for today.

Try to focus on what is really important for you and then target some countries. List them and then do some research to find out which one holds the highest number of pros. No one but you can take this life changing decision, do it wisely.

- Cris

Rotary doesn't distinguish itself from the other organisations just by the affordable price, but also by the presence of a symbol of the whole experience of accepting peace and diversity: the Blazer. Probably people think we are crazy collectivists when they see the enormous amount of stuff hanging on our nice jacket, but no we are not pin freaks (at least not before exchange lol). Normally each country has its own color, for example a district in Argentina has a white blazer, Canadians have a red one, the French is blue and so on.

When we wore our blazer it was like appearing on a stage and having to perform but the truth is we were always ourselves, showing our experiences through pins, flight tickets, stickers, ribbons and representing our own country.

We proudly wore our rotary blazer as by doing it we could live once more all the moments symbolised by the patches we had attached to it. It was like always having a part of our friends with us, and when a stranger pointed his finger towards us asking what it was, we answered that it is the place where our emotions are physically gathered.

It's not just a cool/weird jacket full of cheap pins and wraps of papers, it has value. It is not something you wear everyday and that's what makes it extraordinary. I remember having to add things day by day. I left Milan with only few pins, and each one of them was already extremely important, even though my journey abroad wasn't even started yet. There was one from my home district, a Colorado plate, an American flag and a souvenir from St. Moritz, the place where I met my host family (yes, I met my American parents in Europe before flying over). At the end of my exchange the whole front of the blazer was full of pins, I like to have them all in front because I want to be able to see them.

After over 1 year and a half, the other day I put it back on and it felt so weird. I ran my hand all over the stuff linked to the jacket, I closed my eyes and imagined myself back in the States representing Italy as a Rotary Ambassador.

I was really nervous when I had to present my programme to two clubs. "Everyone will look at me" I thought. "Will they be able to understand my english? Is my speech interesting?". Before I even realised I was already talking and making people laugh. Having to wear it made me feel like I was part of something special. Nowadays I still miss wearing it at conferences, events, meetings..
How many things do you have on your blazer? Which color is it? Let me know in the comments!

- Cris

The next phase is a sort of denial, the “life’s perfect, I don’t want to go home, I want to stay in my bubble forever”, where you practical run around singing and dancing in the streets because life is so perfect and every moment can never be ruined or forgotten. You go about your life with a spring in you step, just taking every experience in and sucking in as much as you can. But you’re so in love with life and blinded by that love to see that your bubble will soon pop.

And when that bubble burst and your happiness crumbles it marks the beginning of the next stage “the emotional breakdowns of realisation”, you start to think about when will the next time I do this or see these people again, when will the next time be when I’m in this city again? And the questions begin to clear and crowd your head with realisation. You realise that time is almost gone and there’s nothing you can do about it.  You start to notice yourself doing things for the last time but yet you can still remember doing them for the first, but all becomes so normal to you now. It becomes your daily life, it feels like home, it feels so natural now. But doing those exact same things for the last time makes you stop and think about how far you’ve come. Not knowing when you’ll be back or if you’ll ever meet you host country friends again or exchange student friends and all the heart breaking goodbyes but you never really know when it will be the last time you see them and the uncertainty will eat you away. With every goodbye your heart will break a little and every person will take a little bit back home with them so your heart is spread across the globe and is bigger than ever before.

The last stage is the “dead neutral stage” and not everybody will go through this, some might be torn and others egger for the last day. But to be dead neutral is by fair the worst because you’re so blank and emotionless, that you feel dead. But you’re alive and feeling everything at the same time. Going home is like going insane. Thinking about your home life the previous year leave you feeling hollow and empty because you can’t fill those shoes anymore, they don’t fit you anymore. However, there will be a new pair of shoes for you to fill, ones that you get to mould and create to fit you perfectly.

The final goodbye will make you sick to your stomach and you’ll find yourself waking up panicking because the hallways are too small in this country or you’ve forgotten a word in your host language. It’s the small things that will scare you the most. It’s the goodbyes you didn’t get that to say will eat you away and the hellos of the other side that will cure your heart. Although you’ll never be quite whole again, you find new ways to slowly lose the rest of yourself. But that is what it is to be an exchange student…

- Kat Puchert