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My heart is turning home again

Note on April 15: Alpine resident Hannah Capozzi was abroad as a Rotary International Youth Exchange student in Switzerland, and has now returned home. She reports here on her experiences in the third of three columns. For the first column, click here. For her second column, click here.

By Hannah Capozzi

I have recently returned home to Schuyler County after embarking on an amazing Exchange experience to Zurich, Switzerland . First and foremost I want to thank the Montour-Watkins Rotary Club for allowing me the opportunity to live and study abroad. I had the most enriching experience of my life and this would not have been possible without the support of this selfless organization. I would like to specifically thank my Rotary Youth Counselor, Mark Wyse, as well as Switzerland’s finest, Kurt and Irene Egli. Their support, guidance and perseverance were invaluable to my Exchange.

I chose to go on Exchange because as far back as I can recall, I have had the desire to experience what another country and culture would feel like. Reading about distant places is fascinating, but I had to taste, smell, touch, hear and see it all first-hand. One of the reasons I chose to go to Switzerland was that it is centrally located in Europe and because it includes German, French, Italian and Romanesque influences.

While in Switzerland I not only studied and observed Swiss culture, but also neighboring countries as well. This task was made simple with the use of the efficient Swiss transportation system. There is no other transportation system on Earth that runs as smoothly as the Swiss SBB train. It runs quietly on electricity, is clean, timely, dependable, luxurious, and reaches just about every corner of the country. On a regular basis I was able to experience all of Switzerland and parts of Austria, Italy, France and Germany . I will always remember these amazing rail excursions. So many adventures full of wonder, excitement, laughter, fun, food, and especially strangers who turned into friends.

Traveling also provided me the educational opportunity to observe European perceptions of the United States . It was eye opening to me to live in an area where many thought negatively of the United States . Although I left home to learn about another land and people, it often felt as if I learned just as much about my own land and people. Opportunities to compare and contrast cultures with the Europeans were limitless and an original experience for me. This unexpected gift provided me with a much stronger connection to my homeland as well as an appreciation of other lifestyles.

By living abroad and essentially on my own, I learned many things about myself. Like the geography of the land itself with soaring Alps and plunging valleys, I encountered mirror emotions. Love, joy, elation, and wonder at the peaks; tension, intolerance, aggression, and deception in the valleys. I would not trade my experience for the world and feel blessed for my personal growth in knowledge, confidence, independence, and patriotism. I assure you Rotary’s investment in me will have a ripple effect both here and in Switzerland . Indeed, even now our family is hosting an Exchange student, Seimei Sanga, from Japan . I am grateful to the Rotary International for this life-changing experience. I will leave you with a poem titled America for Me by Henry Van Dyke.

America for Me by Henry Van Dyke

'Tis fine to see the Old World and travel up and down
Among the famous palaces and cities of renown,
To admire the crumbly castles and the statues and kings
But now I think I've had enough of antiquated things.

So it's home again, and home again, America for me!
My heart is turning home again and there I long to be,
In the land of youth and freedom, beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.

Oh, London is a man's town, there's power in the air;
And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair;
And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study Rome;
But when it comes to living there is no place like home.

I like the German fir-woods in green battalions drilled;
I like the gardens of Versailles with flashing fountains filled;
But, oh, to take your hand, my dear, and ramble for a day
In the friendly western woodland where Nature has her sway!

I know that Europe 's wonderful, yet something seems to lack!
The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back.
But the glory of the Present is to make the Future free--
We love our land for what she is and what she is to be.

Oh, it's home again, and home again, America for me!
I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling sea,
To the blessed Land of Room Enough, beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.