Northern Michigan Voices is a series by 9&10 News reporter Olivia Fellows in which she interviews a person in the community about a story or experience from their life. Everyone has an interesting story to tell, and we want to give you a voice, Northern Michigan! To submit your own story pitch, see the bottom of this article for more details.
In this edition, Olivia talks to Traverse City West sophomore Brody Warren on his upcoming exchange trip to Nepal as one of the first students approved to travel to the country, which is only slightly larger than the state of Arkansas.
Hear from Warren about how he’s been preparing for the trip and what aspects of Nepalese culture he’s excited to dive into.
Q: Can you start by telling me a bit about yourself and how the opportunity to go on exchange in Nepal happened?
WARREN: I go to TC West and I’m in 10th grade. I don’t know exactly where it came from, but I’ve just always had this fascination with the world and traveling and all that. At one point in my life, I discovered what exchange was in eighth grade or something. I came to my mom and asked, “What if I did exchange when I’m in high school?” She heard me out. None of us really thought much of it but we found out about the rotary exchange, and that’s kind of where I like it sparked a moment in my life. My mom said, “Are you sure you want to do this?” and I said, “Yes, yes, of course. I’m sure.” We signed up, and I got accepted.
Q: Did you know where you wanted to go? Was Nepal like the goal or did you have other countries in mind when you were signing up?
WARREN: I had no idea I would even be going to Nepal because at first Nepal wasn’t even on the list. It was like 40 countries, and they have to be very careful with the ones they send us to. They can’t send us to any conflicting countries. Honestly, at first, I wanted to go to Europe. Then I realized what I would really like to experience is life in a whole different aspect, a completely different culture that’s super unique. I was originally thinking I would go to Japan or Thailand because those were on the list.
I got a message from the woman who hosts this in our district, and she told me that a new country had been added to the list and it was Nepal. She asked if I wanted to go there, and I said, “Yeah I would love to, I’m open to anything.”
You have the ability to reject countries, but I only rejected Australia and Mexico just because I’ve been to Mexico many times and Australia speaks English. I want to go somewhere where I can learn a new language.
The scary thing is, when you find out your country it’s not like they just tell you over a message or anything. They make you guess your country in front of a ton of people with a slideshow, and they showed me a flash, and I just immediately knew which country it was. I was so shocked.
Q: Did you know anything about Nepal before learning you were going on an exchange trip there?
WARREN: All I really knew was that Nepal is where Mount Everest is, that’s all I knew. I knew people go there all the time, but ever since I found out I was going there I’ve been watching so many videos and doing a ton of research on Nepal. I also found out it’s the country where Buddha was born. But what’s funny about it ― most of the population is Hindu, despite being the birthplace of Buddha. Where it sits is right between India and China. It’s literally a huge blend between the two cultures. Their food looks like it’s a mix between Indian and Chinese cuisine. The culture and the architecture look very Chinese but there are also just so many Indian aspects to it too with Hinduism. It’s really cool.
There are two major cities, Pokhara and Kathmandu. I know it’s also a very poor country, but this is more of an experience for me to like, connect with nature and it’s going to be kind of a spiritual journey for me because I honestly have no idea who I’m going to stay with or where I’m going to go. All I know is I’m on the opposite side of the world, and I’m going to have to adjust.
Q: After having done some research on the country, is there anything that you learned or any experiences that you learned about that you’re interested in doing when you get there?
WARREN: This is kind of a no-brainer, and I know I can’t make it to the top because would be way too dangerous, but I definitely want to visit Mount Everest at some point. I also want to go to like a Buddhist temple and see what it’s like. This is going to be the first time I go to a country where the dominant religion is not Christianity. I’ve been to Europe, North America ― everywhere I’ve been is it’s been Christian. So I’m in for a surprise and Nepal is going to be really unique to me. I want to experience it, connect and immerse myself in a new culture.
Q: How are you kind of preparing yourself for the language barrier specifically? How are you feeling about that?
WARREN: I’m definitely a little nervous. I know that some of their schools, actually teach in English, but I don’t want to completely rely on that. I do want to learn the language, and I’m going to put effort into that. So far, I’m trying to learn Nepali, but the issue is there isn’t a Duolingo or Babble option for Nepali. None of those websites teach Nepali because it’s such a unique language, and really nobody speaks it besides people in Nepal. So the first thing I have to get past is learning a whole new alphabet. It uses the same alphabet as Hindi but I don’t know how to speak Hindi either. It’s gonna be hard, but I feel like after probably six or seven months I’ll probably be getting through the place and communicating.
Q: I know for a lot of kids that go abroad especially to unusual, amazing places, often native people there want to know about you and being an American ― Is there anything about American culture that you’re really excited to share with people that you meet there?
WARREN: I definitely have to tell them about Hollywood. I know anywhere in the world you go, pretty much all of the favorite movies that people watch are made in Hollywood. That’s like the movie capital of the world. I have to tell them about Disney World, all of this crazy but iconic stuff we have. I know they have Mount Everest and all, but I still am going to tell them about the mountains out west. I’m excited to be able to shift people’s minds a little bit. I don’t know if people think the same about the U.S. in Nepal as other places, but I know a lot of places have a bad rep of the U.S. I want to change that. I’m going to be the ambassador for this country, pretty much. I want to give everybody the best representation of this country I can.
Q: What do you think is something about yourself that you feel is one of the most important aspects for people to know about you a new face in a new country?
WARREN: I don’t usually talk about this, but when I was about two or three I was diagnosed with Asperger’s. I feel like I don’t really tell anybody about it because I don’t want them to think they have to cater to me in any way. I still have perfectly normal social skills, I can still talk to people. The only thing that’s a little different about me is if I want to, if I’m interested in something I will focus on that and study it for weeks on end. I can just fill up with knowledge. I’m very talkative, and I hope my host family is willing to talk with me as well because I just love conversing, it’s my thing.
Q: How do you think you’ll handle any homesickness that might come up? Is there anything about your home life now that you think you’re going to miss?
WARREN: I‘m definitely going to miss the animals without a doubt with the homesickness. I know it sounds like hardcore, but my strategy is to minimize conversations with anyone back here and my family. I know that’s going to be hard, and I’m going to be so tempted to pick up the phone and call my mom, but I’ll still talk to my parents. If I talk to them too much, I feel like any progress I get from not being homesick will just go right down the drain. It’s going to be hard but everyone I’ve talked to that’s been on exchange, I’ve heard nothing but good things. I’ve been told it’s just a completely life-changing experience. It sounds amazing, so I’m excited to experience it for myself.
Q: Obviously, a big part of going abroad is experiencing new foods ― have you learned about any Nepalese foods that you’re really excited to try?
WARREN: There are these things called momos and they are one of Nepal’s biggest foods they make. They’re essentially like a dumpling with meat. They’ll usually use lamb, and then stuff it in like a rice dough, and it looks really good. You eat it with this sauce, it’s like spicy instead of dipping it in soy sauce it’s like a spicy sauce. That food originated in Tibet, but much of the country is influenced by Tibet. It’s crazy the amount of Tibetan influence they have there. Their buildings are Tibetan architecture, the streets have Tibetan art. The food is a mix of meat and vegetables. For a South Asian country, they use a lot of meat in their food.
Q: What have you learned about their education system and are there any aspects that you’re interested in and getting engaged in?
WARREN: I guess this is completely unique to the U.S., but there’s no extracurricular stuff that is hosted through the school. A school in Nepal wouldn’t have a soccer team or a football team or anything like that. If you wanted to do something like that, you would have to do it outside of the school. They also have year-round schooling there, but the benefit of that is school hours are shorter. They only go six hours a day. But the thing is, it’s 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. so I don’t have to wake up super early for school. I’m super excited for that. Another thing is, I believe every three weeks or so, they have a week-long break or something. That’s definitely something I’m looking forward to, but I honestly don’t know exactly what to expect with what the classes are that they teach there. I’ve heard a lot of different things.
Q: When you think about getting ready for this experience and what you might experience and see while you’re there, what are you hoping to learn from your time in Nepal from the people there and the environment, both academically and personally?
WARREN: I know it’s a very poor country and I’m hoping to get a lot of perspective from that. To realize how good we have it here, but also like, how happy people are there with what they have. From what I’ve heard, people in Nepal are nice and happy so I’m assuming they find joy in other things the way we do in material goods and stuff like that. They don’t really find good joy in that. They’re more connected with nature and I definitely want to learn more about that.
Q: Is there anything or any message that you want to leave with the friends and family at home before you leave?
WARREN: For my friends or anyone at my school ― if there’s something you want to do, something you’re thinking about doing, do not wait until the last minute, go and do it. Then you will get it accomplished. Like, there’s really nothing you can lose. It’s if you don’t get into it, then you can always try again. But like, it’s just it, like, what’s the point in not taking a risk in that?
For my family ― or my family, I love you guys, and even if we don’t talk while I’m abroad, just know I’m thinking about you all the time.
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Have an interesting story of your own? Email Olivia and provide a brief summary of your story, and we will contact you if we’d like to tell your tale. We’re interested in all sorts of stories, too! Sad, happy, exhilarating, inspiring or educational — we’d like to know about your story and share it with the community!
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