Ambassador of Goodwill and Peace

Someone thinks I am good enough to be one of those...an ambassador of goodwill and peace. That is what they call us at Rotary.

Wow.

I went to an orientation this weekend which is required for all non-Rotarians travelling abroad in 2007 on behalf of Rotary International. There were scholarship recipients who are in the process of getting their masters degrees, university professors who are going to teach (and learn) at foreign universities and us; the GSE teams. Our entire team was there and one other GSE team who is leaving for Argentina next week.

The orientation was excellent. We learned more about Rotary, the GSE program and what is expected of us before, during and after our travels. They taught us public speaking skills to prepare us for speaking in front of Rotary groups as small as 12 people and as large as 200! I can feel the butterflies already! There was a special agent from the US Dept. of International somethin'-or-other...some fancy name like that...who spoke to us about travel safety. Some of these people are going to pretty scary countries where there is worry of kidnapping, surveillance, thievery, war, anti-American feelings and lots of other scary, scary problems!

Shortly after I walked into the welcome reception on Friday night, a lady named Jean asked for a ride to pick up her son at a nearby train station. I volunteered (mostly because then I could leave this room full of people I did not know!!) but also because she seemed nice, fun and if I were in her shoes, I would appreciate someone like me saying yes and offering a ride. She had directions and a map and said it would take 8 minutes to get there and we would be back in 20 minutes...no problem...except we returned 1 hour and 20 minutes later! She kept saying she was sorry to keep me away from the people I was there to meet and I kept thinking in my head "No problem! It scares the crap out of me to be in a room full of people I don't know!!" I guess I better get over that before I leave, huh??!!

All over this area were detours, construction, one way streets, events where streets were blocked off and nothing, NOTHING made sense to easily get on and off freeways. It was crazy! Jean was so nice and kept coming up with fun things about Rotary and telling me about her trip and her story. She was an Ambassadorial Scholar 16 years ago and travelled to England study teaching the deaf to speak and read. Did you know that deaf people can't read above the 4th grade level?? I didn't. Reading is sound driven so they usually don't know how to read. This was Jean's study focus and the scholarship she received from the Rotary Foundation has changed not only her life, but the lives of all her students. Some of her students have gone on to colleges after having learned to read, write and speak. She is nothing less than a modern day Helen Keller! I am so grateful to have had that one on one time with her on that car ride.

So...I learned a lot this weekend, and one thing I know for sure is that I need to polish my presentation and my speaking skills! I have my eyes on two different Toastmasters groups that I will join and hopefully get more tips on how to give good presentations. I can feel the butterflies swarming!!

Oh yes, and a few general updates for you:

Uniforms--the scarves have arrived and they are a slightly less offensive than I originally thought. I received one of the two black dress jackets I will use for uniforms and I love it! The other one should be here later this week...

German lessons--I can feel they are getting harder, but still going well. I am on Level 1, Unit 5, Lesson 4. Pretty good! Hopefully I can keep up this pace, there are many other things I am working on these days and sometimes I actually forget I am trying to learn a new language.

Next meeting--here at my house next week. I am pretty sure the focus will be presentations! The whole team freaked out a little bit at this past weekend's workshop! I think I will serve a German themed meal...surprise, surprise!! Sausages, potato salad and German beer.

Where does the time go?

Time is progressing so fast...sometimes I find myself feeling nervous and agitated but I can't pinpoint what it is...there is so much going on right now and the feeling is overwhelming. It is good and for the most part I feel pretty organized and confident it will all unfold just as I want it to.

Our team met for a very casual beer after work one night and that was perfect...just some downtime to get together and personally bond and learn about one another. After all, we will be living in each other's stinky shadows for a month! Cool group...I do hope all this goes well!

I also went to a fundraiser for the Novato Rotary Club. It was a polenta feed at OLL...THE LORETTO HALL for God's sake!! I bet those walls have seen some serious parties! And what the hell is with the bathroom stall doors made of a sheet of plywood and a 25 cent latch...seriously folks...years and years and years of all that tuition and there isn't even a real bathroom stall door??? What is going on here...and Lord knows it is not going to the teachers salaries!!

Oh yeah, this blog is supposed to be about the Rotary GSE and not all the other random stuff that flies in and out of my head! Sooooo, where was I....

Melissa has had people approach her saying they have heard I was selected to be a part of this team and that is really amazing. She is seeing first hand how important and beneficial this experience is and I am sure the impact for work will be profound.

I have received the banners from Rotary Club of Terra Linda and they are cool! I wasn't sure what I was expecting they would look like, but this wasn't what I expected. I will exchange these with the German Rotary Clubs we visit and I will bring their banners back to the Terra Linda club. Here is what they look like...




There are 30 of them and I can just FEEL my luggage getting heavier and heavier!

I have ordered two styles jacket/blazers online...wrinkle free and easy to pack. I am not a big fan of the blazer/jacket look so we will see how this goes...thank God for my alterations lady that can make just about anything look good!

These are the scarves that were chosen by the team as our matching piece that will make us look like a team.




The men will wear ties and the women will wear scarves of this pattern. They are made of silk, hand-washable and easy to pack. The lady at the scarf company was nice enough to give us a discount...never hurts to ask! Good...'cause it sucks to pay full price for something with the colors orange, blue, brown and hot pink all in the same piece...for the love of God!

This week we have another team meeting and we have so much to cover. It seems like we never have enough time together to make any decent headway.

German lessons are AWESOME!! I love it and cannot learn it fast enough. Wouldn't you all love to be a fly on the wall in my house or car to hear me practicing out loud?? I'm tellin' you...if you have a language you want to learn or brush up your fading skills, look into Rosetta Stone. It is so easy and it really works!

More updates after our team meeting...

Is there anyone out there who is actually reading this thing?