I can’t imagine coming home early from a year abroad.

Of course the first couple months are difficult, but that’s just part of this crazy roller coaster. To be an exchange student you need to be prepared for change and learn to adapt and commit to the new culture you are living in.

It takes some growing up and courage but no matter how homesick you get or how strange the new culture may be to you, in the end you get so much out of it.

You gain friends, independence, intelligence and you learn a new language. Exchange changes a person so much in just one year whether you realize it or not.

In my small city of Talca, two people have come home from their exchange in the United States, just after four months.

I find this surprising because the first four months are when you are still getting a handle on the language and the new customs. You need to give it a chance before you decide you don’t like it. It’s like trying a new food for the first time. You may hate the first bite and feel like spitting it out into your napkin, but the second bite you start to get used to and like the different flavors and spices, and by the third bite you are loving it and wanting to have it all the time because it’s different and exciting from the typical food you eat.

My host sister came home from Ohio on Sunday. I feel somewhat sorry for her because she didn’t get enough of a taste of how great her exchange could have been. {sidebar id=65}

She was in a very small town, but that is the whole part of the exchange. Trying something different and making it work if you don’t like something.

It seems as if she didn’t give anything a chance. She told me that the only thing she liked there was Disney World.

I wish she had given it more time because I am having the time of my life and I think she could have been having the same experience if she put herself out there in her community and school.

It does feel good to have another teenager in the house though. My other two sisters are 9 and 25. I get along pretty well with both of them. My older sister and I go running together and I play games with the younger one.

My new sister is 18 and we seem to be getting along very well. She includes me in things which I like. We have also been cooking a lot together and plan on making a traditional American breakfast with bacon, pancakes and everything. I am so excited because breakfast is my favorite meal.

There are some distinct things about Chileans that I am still not accustomed too. They plan their entire day around lunch. Nobody does anything until they have eaten lunch and by that time it is about 3 in the afternoon. I am an early riser and like to get my day started after I eat breakfast. I can’t handle being bored and lately I have been bored a lot. In the winter there used to be parties and we would go out with friends even though it was 50 degrees outside. In the summer it is always hot. At 10 p.m. it is usually 70 degrees still. This should be the time where we go out and have fun.

My birthday is coming up and I am afraid that I will have nothing to do, which I guess is appropriate because 17 is boring. Boring age, boring birthday.

I have been missing Foothill a lot. I hope all of my Foothillians are doing well.