An End to My Year!

An end to my 2012-2013 year as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student! What a year it has been. 

In a year...JUST A YEAR...I have experienced so much. When I look back on the previous nine and a half months in my life, I take a huge deep breath in. I think about the first night I arrived, my first day in the place I would call home for months, the hot, hot, hot weather, my first week of school...ooph...and then the rest of the year at the school, my challenging experiences with host families in the first months, Rotary frustrations with the language and culture, strong times of homesickness, language classes, the non-stop rain my winter vacation travels around the island, the CRAZY food that I ate, my day trips, my rides on the MRT, or a bus, at rush hour, my long walks, the many people I met, my friends, the fun, and with it all, the great amount of knowledge that I have from the experiences and the memories I have created, and how fortunate I am to have the experience to be an exchange student, who lived abroad from her country, friends, regular life, family, and then lived in Taiwan away from it all and created a life that I was successful in. Then, that is when I take that big deep breath out.

As I have throughout my year, I will continue to articulate and learn from the experiences as I continue my life back in the states. Although my year as an exchange student has come to an end, my year will "live on" for a long time to come. I am still Anna, but with a few changes! I may indeed be a bit taller, have lost a little weight here and gained some there, my hair is a little longer. But, more importantly than the outside changes, I have gained new qualities, strengths, and passions from the inside, that most people may not see. I know that during my year, I have gained this sense of inner peace. I roll with changes "like a pro," if you know my Anna stress! I learned how to better handle difficult situations with strength and respect. I have slept on four different beds and one couch and I have had a REALLY long sleepover with five very different host families. And yes I did it! I have the Mandarin Chinese language as one of my greatest passions and strengths! I have a tight group of friends who I have created incredible relationships with and who I hope to call lifelong friends. I have realized how much I appreciate the fresh, clean air that I am lucky to live around. To have the clean home, a bed, and food in my home to eat. But more than it all, I don't just have A family to live with, but I have MY family to live with and LOVE!  My changes haven't been dramatic but certainly present. Although I don't know where I am going yet in life, I do know what is important to me and that feels good!

Thank you to the wonderful friends I have made this year. I met so many great people this year and I have incredible people who I now call great friends. All of you are from different countries and we all came into each others lives in such unique and memorable ways. The little adventures, the food eating, the long talks, the laughs and smiles, none of it would be the same if I didn't have you to share it with. You hold a special place in my heart!

Thank you to Rotary International, Rotary District 3520 Taiwan, District 5470 Colorado, and Rotary Clubs Vail and Edwards for your support as one organization for my exchange year. From the interview and application process and throughout the challenges and the great times, I appreciate you.

I have loved using my blog to share with you the exciting opportunities and new experiences I had throughout my year. My blog has been a fantastic way for me to muse about the times I had that were very exciting, scary at times, and oh so unique. You really were able to read and imagine my true feelings in each and every new experience that I had.  All my blogs are written late at night after a great day or a couple days later after school, so I apologize for the times that my spelling or grammar was a little funky. My mother is as quick as lighting to let me know of a change needed in my late night editing sessions before I sleep…thank you mom! This year, writing has been the greatest way for me to reflect and release all the emotions that I go through on a daily basis.  I highly encourage writing to you if you are embarking on any journey, big or small. Thank you to my friends and family who followed Anna’s Year Abroad in Taiwan this year, I appreciate you reading along!


I am beyond words excited to not just have A family but to have MY family! No more crazy WIFI or Skype connection to be the line in which we communicate. Our LOVE gave each other the courage and the strength to complete this year apart from each other. To my parents Jana and Steve, thank you for your support and love for myself and the incredible year I have had. I am so, so lucky to have you as my parents. Zach, you are the best big brother and you are never a miss when I need a laugh. Thank you! I love you!


Thank you.

Anna Trombetta