[J Flex 188]

I am already counting down the days until we can visit Team 22 in California next year. Adding onto what avarik said, which was a fantastic and really humbling post, we were EXTREMELY glad to be able to host Team 22. When the first few people signed up for hosting we were not exactly sure what we were getting into. Yet right from the first night when we picked them up at school, it became clear just how great this experience was going to be. Forget about staying at the same hotel at a regional competition, the same houses, strategy and scouting meetings with two teams there, it was just a unique and truly wonderful experience that Team 188 enjoyed as much as Team 22 did coming over here. The culture at times is so different from the United States' and then at times so similar. (Milk in a bag versus our own 5-6ft high lockers, combined science and math courses in grades 9 and 10, the fact that we refer to grades 9 and 10 instead of freshman/sophomore). This goes beyond robotics as well! Take into account all the exchange and work placement programs you have heard about at school, add a dash of FIRST robotics and gracious professionalism, and you have the International Robotics Exchange Program, truly something that exemplifies the spirit of FIRST.