Our fifth team meeting saw us returning to Mt. Vernon to Betty Jo's office. Two especially informative guest speakers attended our meeting.
Bev Harrington was our first guest speaker and was the team leader for a GSE to Ecuador. Bev delivered a very focused and informative discussion on the whole experience of participating in a group study exchange. Key point from Bev included: pack light, plan on staying with about 12 Rotary families, bring a sleeping bag liner, and bring your patience and enthusiasm.
Barbara Knowles was our second guest speaker. Barbara has travelled to India over 60 times, and continues to do charity work over there. "Expect the unexpected" sums up the overall tone of her discussion. She touched on different details of cultural differences we would have to be ready for.
Each guest speaker was extremely informative, and provided enough material to justify a meeting for each one. However, a third surprise guest provided the highlight of the day.
Rob Martin, the District GSE Chair showed up to the meeting. Rob brought with him a special announcement. The district had allocated enough funding to the GSE to allow a fifth member to participate. Betty Jo, the team alternate, was now a team member and would be going to India!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Team Meeting Four--September 12, 2009 (Allen)
The fourth team meeting took place at Kristin's home in Mission. At this point, it was announced that Kayla would be resigning her spot as an alternate. Our ice breaker consisted of each of us taking turns answering from as list. This list included interesting questions such as "If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?" and "If time and money were no object, what would you be doing right now?"
This meeting saw the discussion of team uniforms, business cards and brochures, the PowerPoint presentation, and a blog.
Lori and Kristin's work on the PowerPoint presenation and associated material was amazing. The quality of the slides and the general flow of the pictures was impressive to say the least.
Debe and Erin's work selecting colours and styles for the uniforms was well underway, and very reflective of the Pacific NorthWest.
The blog had been set up, and made open for all participants to begin contributing.
Linda had handed out "Culture Shock: India" books to everyone at the last meeting, and we had some discussion on what we had read, and the bearing it would have on our plans.
This meeting saw the discussion of team uniforms, business cards and brochures, the PowerPoint presentation, and a blog.
Lori and Kristin's work on the PowerPoint presenation and associated material was amazing. The quality of the slides and the general flow of the pictures was impressive to say the least.
Debe and Erin's work selecting colours and styles for the uniforms was well underway, and very reflective of the Pacific NorthWest.
The blog had been set up, and made open for all participants to begin contributing.
Linda had handed out "Culture Shock: India" books to everyone at the last meeting, and we had some discussion on what we had read, and the bearing it would have on our plans.
Team Meeting Three--August 8, 2009 (Allen)
Our third team meeting took us to Seattle to Erin's home. By this point, a decision had been made. Linda would lead a team consisting of Allen, Erin, Kristin and Lori. Betty Jo, and Kayla would be alternates. Kayla was unable to attend the team meeting.
This team meeting started off with an ice breaker in which we each brought a shoe. We placed our shoes into a common bag, and then the contents of the bag were poured on to the floor, and we had to guess which shoe belonged to whom. Now, being the only male representative, I didn't think I was going to fool anyone. So, I figured if you know you won't fit in, celebrate your difference! It went without saying that among the high heels, and glittery slippers, the steel-toed work boot was mine. However, with the shock value of Kristin's 6" spiked monsters, I didn't think anyone even saw the boot.
Once more, we gave reports to the rest of the group. This time, topics included:
Celebrations,
Customs,
Food,
History, and
People.
We walked to a local Indian restaurant for lunch. The food was amazing.
This team meeting started off with an ice breaker in which we each brought a shoe. We placed our shoes into a common bag, and then the contents of the bag were poured on to the floor, and we had to guess which shoe belonged to whom. Now, being the only male representative, I didn't think I was going to fool anyone. So, I figured if you know you won't fit in, celebrate your difference! It went without saying that among the high heels, and glittery slippers, the steel-toed work boot was mine. However, with the shock value of Kristin's 6" spiked monsters, I didn't think anyone even saw the boot.
Once more, we gave reports to the rest of the group. This time, topics included:
Celebrations,
Customs,
Food,
History, and
People.
We walked to a local Indian restaurant for lunch. The food was amazing.
Team Meeting Two/Team Retreat--July 10-12, 2009 (Allen)
The Team Retreat took place in a log cabin just north of Hope, British Columbia. A reprieve from the rain, gave us a couple of days sunshine. Kayla was unable to attend.The group began to arrive on Friday evening. It was a long way to come for some of the members from the States. We had a pizza dinner, and spent some time getting to know each other. We also went though an excercise called "Lost at Sea". It was a hypothetical scenario where we were adrift in the ocean, and had fifteen items with us. Our task was to list the items in terms of their importance.
Saturday was a full day, and started with a large breakfast. The theme of an abundance of food would continue right through the weekend.
Saturday's activities included an exercise in which each member drew a picture of a pig. We were told that the location of the pig on the page, the direction it faced, and the level of detail each told us something about ourselves. The next activity--the"True Colors" excercise, grouped personality traits and labelled them with different colours. This revealed the different personalities in the group and helped us see how well we were beginning to know one another.
On Saturday afternoon, each of us had a chance to teach an activity to the other. Activities included a lesson on Indian clothing and general team building, tie-dying T-shirts, yoga, and a game called Taboo.
We also had a photo scavenger hunt, in which we took photos of a stuffed animal in different requried location around the town of Hope. Bonus points were awarded for additional interesting photos. A friendly groupd of bikers helped us gain some extra points.
Sunday started with waffles--great big waffles. Great big waffles, with fluffy whipped cream, stawberries, and chocolate sauce. The chocolate was drizzled in fine lines circling the fluffy whipped cream--the same fluffy whipped cream that circled that waffled and formed a bowl for the centre of strawberries.
Sunday's discussion covered our goals and fears for the trip.
Team Meeting One--June 6, 2009 (Allen)
Within a couple of days of the team social, phone calls went out to applicants who made the final six--four of whom would eventually be selected as team members, and two of whom would be selected as alternates. The final six included:
Allen, a Canadian paramedic,
Betty Jo, an American realator,
Erin, an American Spanish and English as a learned language teacher,
Kayla, an American youth program director,
Kristin, a Canadian event coordinator, and
Lori, a Canadian executive assistant.
The team leader would be Linda, an American who owns and runs a security company. The team leader alternate would be Debe, an American who is the executive director of an education foundation.
The first group meeting took place in Mt Vernon, Washington at the office where Betty Jo worked. Unfortunately, Kayla was unable to attend.
Not being familiar with the amount of time it would take to get to Mt. Vernon, or the wait time at the border, I decided to error on the side of caution and leave my home early. I arrived for the meeting 3 hours ahead of schedule. At the local gas station, I asked the owners what there was to see and do in Mt. Vernon, and was informed that I could "eat and have a nap." Unable to nap at nine in the morning, I took a drive around the area, and found a beautiful ball park, a classic car show, and some small lakes just outside of town.
As part of this meeting, each of us was required to make a short presentation on a given topic associated with Rotary International. Topics included:
The Objects of Rotary,
The Four Way Test,
Four Avenues of Service,
Service Above Self, and
A Short History of Rotary
Highlights of the meeting included an ice breaker where we all took a handful of M&M's from a bowl. The number of M&M's each person took, was the number of interesting facts that person had to tell about themselves. It turned out however, that Betty Jo didn't like M&M's and that a second member was diabetic, adding an interesting twist on the event.
The next meeting was to be a team retreat on the Canadian side of the border.
Allen, a Canadian paramedic,
Betty Jo, an American realator,
Erin, an American Spanish and English as a learned language teacher,
Kayla, an American youth program director,
Kristin, a Canadian event coordinator, and
Lori, a Canadian executive assistant.
The team leader would be Linda, an American who owns and runs a security company. The team leader alternate would be Debe, an American who is the executive director of an education foundation.
The first group meeting took place in Mt Vernon, Washington at the office where Betty Jo worked. Unfortunately, Kayla was unable to attend.
Not being familiar with the amount of time it would take to get to Mt. Vernon, or the wait time at the border, I decided to error on the side of caution and leave my home early. I arrived for the meeting 3 hours ahead of schedule. At the local gas station, I asked the owners what there was to see and do in Mt. Vernon, and was informed that I could "eat and have a nap." Unable to nap at nine in the morning, I took a drive around the area, and found a beautiful ball park, a classic car show, and some small lakes just outside of town.
As part of this meeting, each of us was required to make a short presentation on a given topic associated with Rotary International. Topics included:
The Objects of Rotary,
The Four Way Test,
Four Avenues of Service,
Service Above Self, and
A Short History of Rotary
Highlights of the meeting included an ice breaker where we all took a handful of M&M's from a bowl. The number of M&M's each person took, was the number of interesting facts that person had to tell about themselves. It turned out however, that Betty Jo didn't like M&M's and that a second member was diabetic, adding an interesting twist on the event.
The next meeting was to be a team retreat on the Canadian side of the border.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The Team Social--April 26, 2009 (Allen)
The day of the interview, I received a call that I had been short-listed and was invited to the Team Social on the coming Sunday. This event would gather approximately fifteen short-listed applicants for four hours together. We would go through a series of tasks and projects, giving the selection committee a chance to see how we would interact with other potential team members.
It seemed like calling Bill Gates an ice cream man had not disqualified me, and I accepted the invitation.
Apart from the selection process itself, the team social was a great chance to meet a variety of fascinating people, with diverse backgrounds.
It seemed like calling Bill Gates an ice cream man had not disqualified me, and I accepted the invitation.
Apart from the selection process itself, the team social was a great chance to meet a variety of fascinating people, with diverse backgrounds.
The Interview--April 19, 2009 (Allen)
Within a few days of submitting my application, I was contacted by Bert van Dalfsen. He stated that interviews were to be held on the coming Sunday, and asked if I would be able to attend at noon.
Sunday, April 19 came along, and I showed up at the stated location. Unsure of what to expect, I walked into the bulding and into the largest pannel interview of my life. In the interview roon was a string of tables along three sides of the room, with Roatrians seated all the way along. At least a dozen of them sat behind the tables, facing the centre of the room where one lone table with an empty chair stood.
Just as I was soaking this in, I was greeted with, "Up against the wall!"
This did little to set me at ease.
"Pardon," I answered. It turned out that they just wanted to take a photo of me to put with my file--something they would do with all the applicants. From there I took my seat.
The Rotarians introduced themselves, and it was at this point that I met Bert van Dalfsen, who played a key role in the selection process. I met Linda Murray who was the trip's team leader. I met previous team leaders and members, and met future leaders. Although I did not fully understand why at the time, there was a pleasant woman to whom the other other Rotarians seemed to direct several comments pertaining to ice cream.
The interview seemed to be going well enough until the question "How do Canadians differ from Amercians" came along.
I thought for a second, and began to answer with the works, "I have to be careful not to be offensive towards Americans here..."
"You'd better!" the pleasant woman interjected. Up until that moment, I was unaware that District 5050 straddled the Canada/UB border, and that half the people there were Americans. After that question, the woman made a point of educating me about great Americans. When discussing the state of washington, she stated that Bill Gates hailed from Seattle.
"You do know who Bill Gates is, don't you?" she asked.
"Ya," I answered, "I think he makes ice cream, doesn't he?
It seemed like the right thing to say at the time.
Sunday, April 19 came along, and I showed up at the stated location. Unsure of what to expect, I walked into the bulding and into the largest pannel interview of my life. In the interview roon was a string of tables along three sides of the room, with Roatrians seated all the way along. At least a dozen of them sat behind the tables, facing the centre of the room where one lone table with an empty chair stood.
Just as I was soaking this in, I was greeted with, "Up against the wall!"
This did little to set me at ease.
"Pardon," I answered. It turned out that they just wanted to take a photo of me to put with my file--something they would do with all the applicants. From there I took my seat.
The Rotarians introduced themselves, and it was at this point that I met Bert van Dalfsen, who played a key role in the selection process. I met Linda Murray who was the trip's team leader. I met previous team leaders and members, and met future leaders. Although I did not fully understand why at the time, there was a pleasant woman to whom the other other Rotarians seemed to direct several comments pertaining to ice cream.
The interview seemed to be going well enough until the question "How do Canadians differ from Amercians" came along.
I thought for a second, and began to answer with the works, "I have to be careful not to be offensive towards Americans here..."
"You'd better!" the pleasant woman interjected. Up until that moment, I was unaware that District 5050 straddled the Canada/UB border, and that half the people there were Americans. After that question, the woman made a point of educating me about great Americans. When discussing the state of washington, she stated that Bill Gates hailed from Seattle.
"You do know who Bill Gates is, don't you?" she asked.
"Ya," I answered, "I think he makes ice cream, doesn't he?
It seemed like the right thing to say at the time.
The Application--April 10, 2009 (Allen)
Bert van Dalfsen's ad in the Abbotsford newspaper read, "If you are a professional between the ages of 25 and 40 and would love the opportunity to experience India in a cultural and vocational exchange, Rotary would love to hear from you." It was a far cry from Shackleton's "Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful." That being said, the van Dalfsen expedition sounded more feasible and worth further investigation.
Rotary International's District 5050 was organizing a Group Study Exchange. The program provides travel grants for teams of participants to travel to another country, and while there, gain a deeper understanding of the ways of life in the host district. As well, vocational days are organized allowing team members to see how their vocations are practiced in the host country. The exchange seeks to build leadership, communication and problem solving skills in addition to developing networks, relationships and friendships.
Rotary International's District 5050 was organizing a Group Study Exchange. The program provides travel grants for teams of participants to travel to another country, and while there, gain a deeper understanding of the ways of life in the host district. As well, vocational days are organized allowing team members to see how their vocations are practiced in the host country. The exchange seeks to build leadership, communication and problem solving skills in addition to developing networks, relationships and friendships.
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