Wearing a suit coat full of badges, Josie Jarillo Odegaard talked about her year long Rotary Youth Exchange in Norway that she completed in June. Josie was our guest speaker on Friday, August 9th, Josie commented that a Rotary Youth Exchange student from Brazil's jacket was lite up like a Christmas tree. The photo on the left is a banner from the Elksmarka Rotary Klubb.
She started her Norway education in Oslo Handelsgymnasium where the rich and elite send their children but she didn't make any connections with fellow students. Josie transferred to Edward Munch Vidergaende Skole with much better success and interaction with her fellow Norwegian classmates.
During her year long visit to Norway, she was able to travel to Sweden, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Amsterdam and met her mother in Italy. Odegaard is a common name in Norway and she has pictures standing in front of Odegaard Men's Clothing store. There were 15 Rotary Youth Exchange students in Norway from many backgrounds and countries. Rotary brought together the students who became friends for life. She is having an in-bound exchange meeting this weekend so she can tell the youth coming here what their year will be like. Skiing was on the agenda during her stay in Norway. There were two mandatory meetings and two optional meetings during the year long visit with fellow Rotary Exchange students. Josie's family visited during the Easter holidays.
Syttende Mai is a big event in Norway. Josie is pictured above in front of the Palace where the King, Queen and Princess were seen by all of the attendees. Josie is wearing the holiday outfit worn by her mother when Kristin visited Norway many years ago. This major event is on May 17th. Josie showed some of her favorite foods and she brought a wonderful treat to share with us. Josie was a tremendous representative of our Club and the City of Lake Stevens. Bright, young and ready to begin college at Western Washington.