Joe Morgan, a 16 year old student at St. Mary’s high school is our club’s outgoing Youth Exchange student. He will be heading to Japan in August and is busily learning some Japanese as everything he does in Japan will be in Japanese. Joe first heard about about RYE when a club representative made a presentation at his grade school graduation. He is from a large Dundas family (7th of 9 kids) and his family has had some exposure to Japan through the Kids For Kaga Program. (Kaga is a Japanese city that has been twinned with Dundas and is a short distance from his exchange city of Kanazawa).
 
Joe took us through some of his training experiences. The first was in Algonquin Park in the middle of winter. Approximately 20 students slept in a one room cabin on a single long bed. Their outdoor training involved them developing their leadership and communication skills as well as several trust building activities – all at -20 degrees. The second training was a day long event at Niagara College and the third was in Jamestown New York. The last training involved both outbound students like Joe as well as exchange students presently here. He said that it was his first taste of what “exchange” would be like.