Youth Exchange Student Nico Papp Thanks the Club

Over the past year, Nico Papp our Youth Exchange student from Argentina has attended almost every morning meeting but this morning he was not just welcomed but was the centre of attention. Today was his last morning meeting before returning home to Alta Gracia in Argentina and he was the speaker and most honoured guest.

In a very well organized talk he started by thanking the club, his host families, the schools he attended, the entire district youth exchange group and then the club and its members. He said he has great memories that will last him the rest of his life and that he is thankful that families who did not even know him before he came to Dundas would open their homes and care for him so much.

His power point presentation had photos of each of his host families - the Neiberts, the Montesantos and the Reids and some of the activities they shared. Eating dinner twice a day was a new experience for him at first. Back home he ate at 10:00 p.m. so when eating at 6:00 he was ready again before bed. He spoke highly of all his host parents and their families, enjoying Florida and the cottage, down hill and water skiing, live entertainment and challenging games like ping pong, crokonole and golf. He enjoyed his host brothers and sister and will really miss them. He also liked the philosophical discussions he had and the way his host parents would drive him places so that he could meet with other friends he had made.

And he did make many new friends. Some through his stay at Hillfield Strathallan College and others at Highland Secondary School; and, of course there were the other district youth exchange students that he met with as part of the district youth exchange program. These were very important bonding and socializing times for him. He can now say that he has free hotel rooms in 35 countries.

After Nico finished his presentation, each of his host families spoke a few minutes about their experiences with Nico and reinforced how positive the experience had been for their families and how important it was for the club to continue in the program.

Nico was given two presentations. The first came from his football coach at Highland where Nico played on the school team that won its first championship in over 25 years. Michael Samson gave Nico a football signed by the entire team. The second was a personalized book of Nico's stay with the club prepared just for him by Robert Morrow.