GSE - 4 weeks - unbelievable!

Dear Bloggers,

So sorry I have not written for so long. This exchange is so busy form day to night it's hard to get the blogging time in since you really want to spend as much quality time with your hosts in the evening.

Looking back at the last 4 weeks, it is hard to believe it is over. We have seen places, industry, business and meet amazing people. As much of our time has been discussed here I will only add some photos. Highlights of the last week.

I'm finishing my time in Europe with a couple of days here in Amsterdam, then to Copenhegan to visit a friend then we'll be off to Tromso where I'll attempt to burn off some of all this brot, kesse, beir and fleish by running a half marathon called the midnight sun marathon (MSM) :)

Bremen

I have been in Bremen for the last day, i arrived Saturday and watched USA and England play in the world cup on the streets of Bremen. After that we had a chance to hang out with the locals for the evening. Prost to my team, Greg is on his way home, Angela will be Angela, lol Kim i believe is near oldenburg - hello kim, Rosemary is in Bremen, - 5 min ride is better than a 10 min walk. LOL

Go Deutschland!

Guten Tag und Auf Weidersehen

Our final day with GSE was spent in the lovely old town of Oldenburg via train from Varel. For me it was also a test run on how well I could navigate trains as that will be our main mode of transportation beginning in 2 days. It worked well. We had a great summary meeting of gse focused on our personal learnings and appreciations of each other. This team has been a team and worked so well together since day one of our planning. We all realized that our planning and preparation paid off especially when there were unexpected changes. Everyone stepped up to the needed tasks. Oldenberg was another great day of enjoying the sights and tastes of northern Germany- a place and people none of us knew about before gse and now has fallen in love with.

The GSE experience is like no other. It allows you to live in a culture, experience it frst hand as our hosts opened their homes and hearts to us. They showed us the best of their businesses and innovations, alternative energy for now and the future, their rich and sometimes painful history and so much more. And fed us very well. We have eaten the best breads, yummy kuchens, not too sweet sweets- they use less sugars and enjoy the flavors more, vonderful fish, and yes some wurst- especially curry wurst. We often had the traditional bread, cheese and meat breakfast, a warm mid day meal and abend brot- the evening meal much like fruhstuck- breakfast. Spargel, schinken and neu Kartoffel was one my favorite meal swhich my last hosts Volker and Heide-Marie served just before we left.

The key ingredient for the success of this gse experience is/was Rotary! Rotary funded it. Rotary international and our local sponsoring clubs. Rotarians planned and coordinated our selection, orientation, gave advice, planned our visits, hosted us and made this a truly meaningful and wonderful experience. Key coordinators were John Hough in District 5020 in WA and CA and Hans-Juergens Gennert in District 1850 in Germany and our local Rotary club coordinators, Gitta Dawris in Bremerhaven, Remmer Edwardz in Emden, Bernd Reichers in Burchausen-Vilsen, Hans Ulrich in Wildeshausen and Volker Harjehusen in Varel Friesland. We appreciate all you did to make this experience possible from planning and driving to being sure that we were comfortable and in rich learning situations and of course being our chauffers or drivers of the "nap van" as that was a place to catch up on sleep.

Each of us grew in our understanding of our cultural commonalities and developed a deep appreciation of our differences. My deepest appreciation to all of you who made this possible. That includes Rotary spouses and families too, and often extended families who hosted us. Your sharing made this a very rich experience.

• Lastly to our families Veilen Danke. Our spouses Kristie, Matt and Richard were our biggest supporters. Thank you for sharing our journey. Greg is headed home today to a hearty welcome from his three children and wife Kristi, Kim is off to travel and explore Germany and perhaps beyond for a month, Fred has his backpack and is off to explore more of Germany and Europe, Angela leaves for a week of travel in Norway and the Netherlands and Richard is joining me today for three weeks of hobbling around Germany and then the Netherlands. You may see blogs from us here as we journey or may find a link to another blog of our travels. Not all we experienced was recorded here as we were busy experiencing it and our schedules left little time to blog, hope you enjoyed what we were able to share. Thanks for following us and as the Germans say tschuss- or auf weidersehen und gute Reiese to the travellers Kim, Fred and Angela and willkommen Zuhaus Greg.

Rosemary

Coming to a Close

Fred said so many things well in his last post. I can only echo his feelings. 4 weeks of amazing experiences, of new learning lessons, personal growth and insight, a few challenges, but ever present laughter and fun.

This experience would never have been possible if not for Rotary International so thank you so much for this incredible opportunity.

To my family who sacrificed a ton to allow me to take this journey - thank you always.

To my team who made it all come together to make it an all-round outstanding experience thank you.

The opportunity to experience a country as a GSE member has to be one of the most unique, incredible and insightful ways tó meet people, learn their culture, foster understanding and build relationships.

The GSE experience has been more than everything I could have imagined. Thanks again

Looking back

Looking back at this month has been incredible. It will be tough to explain all the exciting things we have been able to take part in. Pictures will tell a lot, but our stories will hopefully give you an idea of this week lok adventure. All good things come to an end, but will not be forgotten. lol. Thanks to my team and team leader, all of you were great to be with and share a few PROST with. (dont really know what that means, but sounds good). To our readers - thank you for following and giving us patience when nothing was posted for awhile. All of us on the team will depart our own ways, so stay tuned for us to blog about our different experiences. (hopefully, it might be tough to update while hiking through Europe.

Looking back again, I appreciete all the help we recieved from Rotarians and nonRotarians, your help has made my experience delightful. Sometimes words cant describe everything, but know that it is wonderful to be part of this team, this place and meeting your families. Germany has a lot to offer to the world, the people and myself. Beautiful, relaxing, people are great, culture is alive and YES, the beer is good. Friends and family - i got my camera to WORK. I will post some pics, hopefully as I continue my trip.

Prost to Germany, Rotary, GSE Team, and all the stories I will take home.

Welkommen to Wildeshausen

Today is Wednesday and we are in Varel, a lovely walkable, bikable town but I want to relay our welkommen to Wildeshausen, our last lovely little, walkable, bikable village. Our Wildeshausen hosts greeted us and shared their historic village Dötlingen nearby, took is to Berlin for 4 days and on our return took us to meet the Burgermeister- Mayor of the town at noon on Friday. The appointment with the mayor was at noon. As they told us about their historic rathaus(town hall) on our right, the first of the month siren on top of it went off three times-LOUD LOUD LOUD as it was also the first Friday of the month. Simulaneouslz the town glockenspiel in the new town hall in front of us started and the wooden figures marched across the front of the hall as the bells played! It was histerical- our hosts laughed and laughed. We had experienced a giant Welkommen to Wildeshausen!

The Rotary of Wildeshausen planned an exciting week for us in their town where they also shared their historic cemetary which was from 3500 BC- created before the wheel- wow! Always the Rotarians arrange an english speaking tour guide. The Rotarians then also enrich our experience with their own stories of their lives and their towns. We see in every village folks of all ages bicycling everwhere. It is not uncommmon- in fact common to see 80+ year olds riding bikes with their belongings. Today we saw a group of women all over 80 touring the countryside. The Germans have invested heavily in bike paths and in the villages the sidewalks are marked one side for bikes and one for walkers... and they are well used everywhere.

The GSE experience is like no other. We have seen a side of German life few get a chance to see. Our wonderfuls German hosts share their family customs, lives and philosophy and their homes with us and then arrange for us to see the most exciting, innovative industry, their historical sites etc. We have been welcomed and have enjoyed the most wonderful hospitality you can imagine.

And then for methey go the extra step-they rent a rolling chair so I can keep up with and experience it all and they do it with a smile. Now I am studying the handicapp accessibility of old buildings! and I have had some wild rides in the rolling chair- especially with Fred and Greg. I am so grateful to all for your support.

Rosemary

Entschuldigung! (sorry)

It has been a crazy past few weeks, but very exciting. Have seen the Airbus plant, a recycle paper mill, a brewery, horse breeding farms, Berlin! It has been really cool, have lots of pictures to show you, but first have to try to get them from my teammates. My camera is not working at the moment. We have shared lots of laughter, some (not me) have cried, lol and lots of stories have been told. Looking back at the people who i have met and the places i have seen has made me feel fortunate to be here. Thank you to all who made this possible. My German could use a little more help, the other day - in Berlin, i tried to order in German and accidentally order 17 orders of schnapps, but meant to order 7, we had a good laugh as did the entire table and bar. Breakfast is ready and have to get the day started. I hope everyone who reads this can give us a little break for not keeping up on the blog, we want to get involved with everything the rotary clubs and host families have done for us. There will be many stories to tell and lots of pictures to share.

Fred