Rotary GSE 9520 - 7710

Goodbye NC & Thanks to Y'all

2009-05-07T07:06:00.006+09:30

Our adventure in District 7710 is over.

That we have all had a wonderful time is an understatement.

From the bottom of our hearts we say Thank You

to inbound GSE coordinator Mary, for all the preparatory work done before we arrived, the organisation of a great program and its collation into our invaluable 'bible' of reference, and for your support in so many ways while we were here.
to DG Don & BJ for inviting us to your District Conference; we had a great time, as some blog pictures attest.
to each area coordinator for the fun we had when we came to your neck of the woods, and for looking after us so well
to each of our hosts for making us feel like family while we were staying with you
to our vocational advisors for showing us each our vocation in your district; we have some great ideas to take back home
to each of you who have done things for us, and fed us so well.
to each club for listening so attentively to our presentation, and for laughing at our jokes

We have enjoyed meeting y'all and learning about your culture, especially the shagging (that's a special sort of slow jive dance for you Oz readers). We have loved your crazy sense of humour, which is so good it's almost Australian.

Most of all we have been overwhelmed by your hospitality and 'gob smacked' by your generosity. We hope we can repay some of your kindness, by you visiting us 'down under', which as Corey says is 'really on top'. Come see how we do barbecue, taste our beers and wines, and enjoy the beach!

Eventually we will be sending you CD's of some of the best of our pictures and there may even be some webpages produced, but that will have to wait until we get home.

In the meantime a few pictures from my camera.

Photos from our last presentations in Durham

In our formal gear, and our informal red shirts.

I am going home via Calgary then London. A walk in the Kananaskis hills here produced these gems, which I have called 'Alberta Hushpuppies', because they are the same size and shape as the ones you make. The footprint in the snow, will not give you the clue to the maker either.

It's hard to say goodbye, because I hope we'll meet again.

'Au Revoir' from your GSE team from D9520 Australia:

Kelly, Corey, Scott, Tim and Margaret

City of Durham

2009-05-04T12:02:00.011+09:30

As the last stop on our GSE visit, the city of Durham planned a schedule to ensure it would be as unforgettable as all the others.

Our first full day was a day of vocational visits, which was topped off with a night at the baseball - Durham Bulls vs Charlotte Knights, and of course with the contacts our Rotarian hosts have we were hosted in the owner's box, with luxuries stretching from haircuts (yes, there is a resident hairdresser in the owner's box!) to beer and hotdogs.

The Bulls won convincingly, inspired I'm sure by their mascot's visit to the box where Kel became his number one fan.

Throughout the game we kept close tabs on the North Carolina Hurricanes ice hockey match, which still had less than 10 minutes to go when we had to leave the baseball. A mad dash across to Tyler's Taproom in the American Tobacco Complex allowed us to see the Canes score to level the game, followed very quickly after by a match winning goal that saw the team progress into the next round of the championship. There was much rejoicing!

The following day we crammed a lot in: breakfast and tour at North Carolina Central University, tour of Research Triangle Park and the Federal Environment Protection Agency, presentation to RTP Rotary Club and a tour of Duke University. My host Gaston and his colleague Sam ably guided us around Duke, including the magnificent Duke Chapel, where Gaston tried to kill us by leading us up the long spiral staircase to the top of the tower. While not all made it to the top, we were pleased that all made it safely back to terra firma. Kel had opted to miss the Duke tour as she had scheduled an additional vocational visit (couldn't get enough?). The evening saw us return to Tyler's Taproom where we had a great night with local Rotarians.

The very tall Duke Chapel

Another full day followed: a 7am breakfast presentation to Durham Sunrise club, followed by a brief visit to Trinity College. We went on a walking tour of downtown Durham, which has basically been reinvented in the last 5-6 years, with a lot of the old tobacco warehouses being converted into retail, commercial and residential premises. From what we've heard, Durham has come a long way, and the recent addition of a Performing Arts Centre would indicate the progress is continuing. It has a great feel about it.

Views of the American Tobacco Complex in Durham

After our walking tour we did our 15th and final GSE presentation to the Southwest Durham Club. It was a strange mixture of sadness and relief completing the final presentation - after 5 weeks we've become very comfortable (and rather good!) presenting it to a room full of strangers.

The afternoon was taken up with bowling, shopping at the mall and then a beautiful meal (complete with terrible karaoke!) at Charlie and Jane's house.

The team proudly showing off their bowling shoes

Our stay in Durham ended the following day, as did our GSE. After last minute shopping, packing and the like we sat down for a debrief with the brilliant GSE team from NC: Chair Kaye and Coordinator Mary. This was followed by a beautiful farewell dinner (complete with great Aussie wines) hosted by Phil and Laurie. And just as quickly as it started, the GSE was officially over.

I'm sure others will write to acknowledge the efforts of everyone in NC for making this such an amazing experience, but on behalf of the team I'd like to say thanks to everyone we have come in contact with. You have all be so generous, so welcoming and we have had a brilliant time.

Facing the rapids

2009-05-01T09:15:00.005+09:30

Our last day in lovely Lillington saw the ever-bubbly, never short of a wise-crack Bill, face his fears on the Cape Fear itself. The Cape Fear River was navigated by the GSE team (and Bill) in kayaks. There were some rapids, but to tell the truth, the sound was scarier than the action of navigating them.

About to set off downstream on a lovely, leisurely paddle on the Cape Fear River

The most inexperienced kayaker in the GSE team who shall remain nameless capsized in one of the rapids, calling, "Kel, Kel, what do I do?" To which I replied, "Stand up". You see, the river was only 2-3 foot deep at this point. I still laugh about it, in fact I am currently nearly wetting my pants typing this.

Then, as his kayak was filling up with water, he was almost crying as he blabbered in a high pitched voice, "Can we get the water out? How do we get the water out?" I was laughing so hard (heartless I know) that it took me a while to get over to him and empty the boat.

We got him back in and off he went on his merry way again. We had a ball kayaking and thank the Lillington guys for making it happen. Once again, like every club that preceded them, they went out of their way to provide fun things for us to do. THANK YOU EVERYONE.

After our paddle, some of us had a quick swim in the river, hence the drenched look!

We are getting close to the end. Gee it has flown. I am ready to come home though as I miss my kids (and my work if anyone from there is reading this!).

Look forward to catching up with everyone on my return with so many stories to tell. As usual, these stories will be funny, exaggerated and will definitely go somewhere (contrary to what Corey thinks about my stories; that they go nowhere).

Kel.

Vocational visits done and dusted

2009-05-01T09:05:00.005+09:30

My final day of vocational visits included three separate agency departments: Department of Environment and Natural Resources Aquifer Protection, Department of Environment and Natural Resources Water Quality and the Town of Cary (municipality) Engineering department.

I heard about another agency during my travels, that engages with the community in the interests of preserving soil and water resources; the Wake County Soil and Water Conservation District. So I missed one of our scheduled tours (of Duke University which was a big give up let me tell you). Here I met with one of the most affable personalities in the industry, Dale Threatt-Taylor. She is a pleasure to discuss common issues with, and I thoroughly enjoyed our time together. We talked everything from community engagement, delivering on-ground outcomes, to working with partner agencies.

My vocational visits have granted me numerous valuable contacts within the NRM industry in USA. I know that when thinking through new ideas, I can contact one of these people and ask, "Have you ever done, heard of, known someone who's done ...?" And vice versa. This strengthens my kitbag in my profession.

Final vocational visits

2009-04-29T21:08:00.002+09:30

Yesterday I had my last three vocational visits, taking in the Museum of Life and Science, Centre for Documentary Studies and Nasher Museum of Art.

At the Museum of Life and Science I met with Troy and Elizabeth, who showed me around and told me about their unique model and how it works. As one child labelled it, it's a Zooseum, a healthy blend of natural history museum, hands on science centre and zoo. Impossible not to have fun here!

The lovely ladies (April, Courtney, Bonnie and Alexa) at the Centre for Documentary Studies took me out for lunch and told me about their centre, which teaches and presents documentary work (photos, film, audio, text).

My final stop was the Nasher, Duke University's art museum. As well as being very jealous of their 3-year-old building, I was impressed with the scope and scale of exhibitions they are producing.

It was a productive day, and a great way to round off my official vocational visits. Over the past month I have been fortunate to meet plenty of NC's museum elite and they have all been very generous with their time and information. The learning and sharing has been really beneficial for me.

Prince does Princess for a day

2009-04-28T21:31:00.012+09:30

Ooooohhh, the Prince was a teeny, weeny bit excited when he stepped into the sassy 'Party Girls on the Go' pink limousine. Inside, hot pink vinyl greeted him, as did Hannah Montana on the totally awesome, like, yeah stereo system. Then all the 6-8 yr olds squealed, pushing their way in so his like, totally cool play time in the limo was over.

Rotary Conference at Wilmington

2009-04-27T06:14:00.008+09:30

We just returned from the three day conference in the gorgeous beachside town of Wilmington, North Carolina. Firstly, a huge thank you to conference organisers and District 7710 for putting us up in individual hotel rooms. Although we are a close-knit group, it really was just what the doctor ordered, to spend some time in solitude and luxury.

First day saw us settle in and then wander around the streets of Wilmington. Looked into the price of postage for those of us who had been supporting the American economy through shopping, and were unpleasantly surprised. There must be a plan B.

Below is a shot from our hotel room. Nice, I know.

This thoughtful basket greeted us with a note from District 7710 saying, 'Welcome to Wilmington'

At the opening of the conference, a flag ceremony was held to recognise the international spirit of Rotary. Here is the Aussie flag bearer, Scott, after he whacked the flag on the door on the way through.

The team standing by to do their presentation

Up on stage during our presentation. I know it is rude to talk amongst ourselves during this time, but Corey was super-excited and just had to share

Walking along the water to dinner on Friday night. The team in casual clothes, is in fine spirits.

We had a scrumptious seafood dinner, with great conversation and generous friends. Thank you to the 'check fairy' - you know who you are.

After dinner we visited a few places. Here is the accommodating DJ at one, who played all of our requests, including Down Under, Hilltop Hoods (??), Prince and Kylie (OK, so we weren't altogether there at times).

Our presentation went very well, and the crowd (although some had heard it before) still laughed in all the right places.

The SOUGHT-AFTER auctioneer, Scott Endersby, put on a ripper show, auctioning off items that we had brought over and others. A total of $1,870 was raised at auction on the night, which I think was largely due to Scott playing off the UNC, NC State, Duke rivalry.

Congratulations to the Winsteads for taking home the original Aboriginal artwork, with a knockout bid.

I think the auction reached great heights when Corey strutted his stuff and shook his booty whilst displaying some of the artwork.

Thanks to all who supported our endeavours to raise funds for the Rotary Foundation (Polio Plus). Our auctions and artwork we commissioned and paid for ourselves, raised $1,660 for Polio Plus which equates to preventing 16,600 children across the world from contracting Polio. These funds are being submitted to the Rotary Foundation from our host district 7710. We thank you for taking part and are glad we could give a little back.

Sunday saw us head to the US Battleship North Carolina, for a self-guided tour. Lucky for arrows, as it is so humungous that we would've been lost without them. Lovely Karen bought us souvenir hats to mark the occasion; thank you.

Once again, thank you to District 7710 for a professionally-run conference, for looking after us so well and the fellowship, laughter and entertainment!

Kel.

Dancing Queen - shaggin' with 16 different men in one night!

2009-04-27T06:07:00.011+09:30

Last night we had a sensational time at the Governor's dinner at the annual district Rotary conference in Wilmington. Wilmington is a town on the south coast of North Carolina and it ROCKS! We had a ball. More about the conference in another blog (I am taking a leaf out of Pearson's book and doing multiple, short(ish) blogs).

At the conclusion of formalities, the DJ brought the house down with his first song choice, 'Down Under' but then mysteriously swapped it for Rolf Harris's 'Home Among the Gum Trees'. Scott and I took to the dance floor in front of EVERYONE to display our (my) very bad dance moves. I seem to recall that they were much, much better the night before at the bar 'Hell's Kitchen' but then that may have had something to do with the beer consumption rates come to think of it.

But the belle of the ball was Princess Margaret. We had photographers standing by to snap EVERY single one of Margaret's shag partners. She was shaggin' her heart out (to those in Australia, shagging is a dance, not an act of passion). To be fair, most approached her to shag as she was looking especially gorgeous in her flowing ball gown last night.

Here's no. 1 which of course had to be DG Don (hold onto your hats, there are many more beaus to come) ...

Margaret, note to self; maintain eye contact at all times

She did not forget her team mates (Tim, it is wonderful what a camera can do - you actually look coordinated and rythmic)

Big bad Scotty places a protective arm around Margaret as they prepare to dance

Here's no. 4, Neil, and Margaret looks ecstatic in this double-overhead combined hand manoeuvre

Ned, no. 5, did an awesome twist

Princess Margaret got carried away with Peace Fellow, Marios, from Cypress

Of course Lacey was not about to be left out of the danceathon

There was even some girly action when Margaret and I tore up the dance floor

Jimbo is looking rather pleased with his catch here!

The ever smooth Italian past Peace Fellow, speaks the language of love to Margaret, through movement

Dr Tom was not to be left out and he has some moves left in him, that's for sure!

Corey went cheek to cheek with his 'Cap'n oh Cap'n'

Bill from Durham met us before we were actually hosted in his region (I am not so sure this was a smart thing but he reassured us that they would still take us)

The distinguished Bart, swept Margaret off her feet with his height, dance moves and red tie

Art and Margaret share some boogie night style dancin' which was lovely to see

The DJ, after some misinterpretation of my instructions, finally abandoned his first choice of partner to dance with Margaret to be her 16th dance partner of the night.

But wait, there's more. Tonight we went for a gorgeous cruise on Holt Lake with our hosts, Gary and Linda. This followed a delightful dinner of barbequed Mahi Mahi fish sprinkled with roasted almonds, accompanied by baby red potatoes, home-made coleslaw and garlic bread (Linda is a whizz in the kitchen).

Bet you can't guess; Margaret conned her 17th dance partner into some moves aboard his pontoon boat. Surpised? I'm not! Although, I did take a few tips from that leader of ours, as you can see in the photo following ...

Some more photos to rub it into all of you guys out there who weren't cruising on a lake on Sunday evening.

OK, so it wasn't all that short(ish) but I tried. Having so many photos blew it out. Give a girl a break!

Kel.

Cape Fear River

2009-04-24T12:24:00.003+09:30

One of the two major rivers in our area in North Carolina; the Cape Fear. The other one is the Neuse but I don't have a photo of this. It looks similar, trust me.

Kel.

Margaret teaching

2009-04-24T11:41:00.003+09:30

Whilst visiting the fine campus of Campbell University Margaret could not help herself but start a lecture informing the team about the great advances in information technology... all we heard was '.......................................' - except Scott who somehow realised he could stare at a floor tile and be more interested.

Of course this is not the case and the photo was taken in all good fun.

Kelly caught napping on the museum lawns

2009-04-24T11:39:00.002+09:30

The best Chinese buffet EVER!

2009-04-24T11:20:00.005+09:30

On arrival in Lillington when asked what we wanted for lunch, quick as a flash I sprouted, "Chinese buffet". I had experienced one of these with Poppa Don in our first week and it was great. This one, in the Lillington area, was even better!

Look at the size of our bellies, I mean plates.

I think Corey won with the number of helpings consumed, but perhaps (?) I won with the actual amount consumed. You may notice from recent pictures that I am somewhat more rounded. Let me assure you I am not pregnant; I am merely enjoying the Southern hospitality! During this trip I have discovered an exceptionally scientific equation:

(f + g) - e = mtb + og

Where:

f = food

g = grog

e= exercise

mtb = muffin top belly

og = other growth

We had a good day today touring Campbell University, a small private university, in the town of Buies Creek. In the afternoon we took the opportunity to invade Karen's office and occupy every available computer to check emails and do blogs. We knew you'd all be missing them as we hadn't time to scratch our ... hair or do blogs in Raleigh as we were too busy working and partying.

Teacher Margaret asked us a really hard question. I think Scott has the best pondering technique.

Professor Tim, teaching us much ado about nothing.

Us presenting to the Lillington and surrounding clubs with President Peter, Area Coordinator Bill, Rotarian Karen and 7710 Team Leader Gary.

Margaret and I have just arrived at 7710 GSE Team Leader Gary's lake house (yes, so hard to take this lifestyle) and we are off to the district conference tomorrow where we are going to deliver our best presentation EVER! The conference is in the beach town of Wilmington so that will also be fairly hard to take.

We are all having so much fun (and also doing some seriously GREAT WORK). Keep those comments coming on our blog. I think although Mares was slow off the mark, she is making exceptional progress and is perhaps the most dedicated blog post mistress.

Kel.

CSI NC

2009-04-24T11:09:00.006+09:30

It is high time that I knocked up a bit of a spiel on what I have actually been up to in the past 3 weeks. To cut a really really long story short I have been dropping into random county, city police, state and sheriff crime scene offices for some crime scene duties. I realise that it is hard to believe that there are so many agencies but let me break it down for you:

1 - there are 100 separate counties in North Carolina
2 - each county usually has about 3 - 5 different law enforcement agencies
3 - the simple maths is that there are around 500 different agencies in the state - that's 500 different uniforms, cars, policies and procedures

I have had the sheer pleasure to hang out with certain people and agencies.

Most recently I have been able to hang with my good mates at the CCBI - City County Bureau of Investigation. They are a team of great crime scene folk from Raleigh who cover all crimes within their county. They are a busy bunch of hard working crime sceners, and I have hung out with my mate Shayne. She was kind enough to pick me up at about 5.30am each day we worked (12 hour shifts) and we got to go to heaps of great jobs - including deaths, house breaks, car crime and more.

A little insight into the sheer volume of crime that they attend to can be appreciated by the following. These are the crime stats for 7 days in Raleigh:

Murders - 2
Rapes - 3
Robberies - 17
Assaults - 18
Burglaries - 61
Vehicle thefts - 20
Arsons - 4
Larcenies - 181

They are obviously busy people!!

This is me and my mate Shayne

The SBI is the agency that is called upon when the job might be a little beyond the capabilites of the attending smaller crime scene units. SBI stands for State Bureau of Investigation. Unfortunately there were no major hiccups for the fine people of North Carolina when I was with the SBI but we ran through some great programs and I was lucky enough to be invited along to their Blood Splatter course for a day. We ran through some great mock crime scenes - including a police shooting and shared some great ideas and methods.

My vocational advocate SBI Special Agent Whyatt PETTINGAL has been a cool guy and taken me around a whole heaps of different locations, and given me the opportunity to meet and speak with many people in high places. I was particularly impressed with the Apex Police Chief's choice of patrol cars for his troops. I knew no-one would believe me if I told them, so I have photographic proof of the fleet the Apex police cruise around in!!

A whirlwind four days in Raleigh

2009-04-24T06:24:00.014+09:30

Wow, a pretty intense four days was had in Raleigh. A jam-packed itinerary with three club presentations and two full vocational days. Oh yeah, and a few "socials" as our program stated. They were actually cocktail parties, visits to pubs, yet another Carolina Hurricanes ice-hockey game and the like.

Jane, an ex-GSE team member (to Argentina) took us under her wing and showed us the highlights of Raleigh. We met Miss Jane when we gatecrashed the Progress Energy corporate box (we love 'em). They are now officially sponsors and have been recognised as such in our presentation!

At the Flying Saucer, which despite having over 150 beers on offer, only stocked one Aussie beer - FOSTER'S. No Coopers to be seen, so we went with some exotics.

Post-presentation at the combined meeting of West Raleigh, Crabtree and North Raleigh. Note the corsages that we were presented with were in our country's flag colours, (which happen to be the same as USA's!).

The highly SOUGHT-AFTER professional auctioneer, Scott Endersby, auctioning tickets to the Hurricanes game with President George chuckling at his accent in the background, at the beautiful venue at the Capital City of Raleigh club presentation.

The highly SOUGHT-AFTER professional auctioneer, Scott Endersby, revving up the crowd (hang on, that could have been his sassy assistant, Margaret) during the auction of Australian Aboriginal art.

We raised over $700 for Polio Plus and aim to top this at the District Conference as we have yet more Aboriginal art that the GSE team had commissioned by local Aboriginal artist Christine Tschuna and purchased for this purpose.

President Tom, who, following his loss to Serge (District Governor Elect) in the auction for the Aboriginal art, donated money to the Rotary Foundation's Polio Plus, on the proviso that we answered his question correctly; "In which city was Mel Gibson born?" He thought us Aussies would try to claim him but there's no flies on us - we knew it was 'Pigs something' in New York. Well we did after he whispered it to me!

The ever youthful and beautiful Eric and Mary (Corey's hosts but Eric and I are alumni of Melbourne University so I adopted him!).

Looking at a watershed project with the North Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program, following the signing of the Wake County Conservation Memorandum of Agreement; a monumentous occasion between county, state and federal government agencies and community.

Margaret's and my wonderful hosts, Nan (exceptional shopping partner) and Rob Robinson. Until this day, I did not know that ironing fairies existed. My clothes were as shocked as I was.

Off to yet another presentation - to the Lillington club. If they're like all the other clubs, they will be a good audience and laugh in all the right places!!

Kel.

Wolfpack

2009-04-20T08:07:00.005+09:30

This Saturday the men (and Margaret) decided it was time to catch some American footy - it was different to say the least! We went along to a practice match between the NC State Wolfpack team. It was only one team, divided into two opposing sides running some plays... no big deal hey? That's what I thought.. I even thought we'd get a kick of the footy with the other 10 people that would have been out there to watch -WRONG!! There were 21,000 people in the crowd, a full set of cheerleaders, a full set of acrobatic cheerleaders, seven ref's on the field, about 24 people on each bench, a brass band in the crowd and television broadcast!! That threw my kick with the guys out the window.

After about two hours of a stop start version of bad rugby we had had enough and decided to head across to the state fair grounds to the flea market. I bought a nice item for Terry - genuine I'm sure, the Russian speaking American assured me. Later that day the Aussies knocked up a crackerjack meal for our North Carolinian hosts. We feasted on roasted lamb with red wine jus and mint sauce, accompanied by roasted spuds (potato), carrots, peas, beans and sweet potato. Dessert was a pav (of course) showered with strawberries, grapes, kiwi fruit and orange.... yummo.

The night was capped off with a haka performed by Margaret and me (disgracing Kiwis world- wide). A great night was had by all and then we tucked off to bed ready to be sent off to our new hosts on Sunday arvo. Special thanks to Ken (for getting up at 5am to take me to the CCBI) and Fay for making Scott and I feel very welcome in their lovely home.

A taste of American politics

2009-04-19T23:05:00.005+09:30

A taste of American politics was on the cards, and a trip to the White House was out of the question, so the next best thing was a trip to the local Republican Party fundraiser, where we were privileged to meet NC's Republican Senator Richard Burr. The local Republican Party is strong in Johnston County, and they're proud to have Republican Senator Burr representing them.

The Republican Party fundraiser we attended had a "Life is a Beach" theme, and was held to celebrate 2009 Reagan Day to commemorate the late Republican President. As well as dinner and a silent auction raising funds for the Johnston County Republicans, there were remarks by local Republican figures (including Republican Sheriff Steve Bizzell and Republican County Commissioner Cookie Pope who led us in prayer).

Following the formal event there was a beach band "The Seaside Band" which played some fantastic shag music. In all it was a great Republican event, and an interesting foray into American politics.

Before we leave 7710 I hope we are afforded similar exposure to the Democrats so we can be sure of a balanced view...

My vocational visits

2009-04-18T22:49:00.003+09:30

Well, where do I start? There's been many and I won't go too in depth but here's a brief overview of the who and what so far ...

United States Geological Survey (USGS) Water Science Center

Federal agency whose role is to conduct the science behind water as a resource. Discussed stream gauging technologoy, water quality in NC rivers, lakes and groundwater amongst many other things!

Unlike Mallee and Lower-Murray Darling areas, the groundwater here is fresh and therefore an additional resource. Auditing, monitoring and licensing of this resource is difficult however, as is educating the masses on the connectivity of groundwater and surface water.

North Carolina Water Resource Research Institute (WRRI)

Situated in the NC State University, which tends to be common for some agencies due to the huge part university plays in US life, this is one of 54 state WRRIs delivering benefits of knowledge sharing in research and information on water-related issues.

Findings from this research help local, state and federal agencies make decisions in managing water resources. The person I met with is also an economist so we had some great discussion on market-based instruments such as salinity impact zoning in the Mallee, as well as water trade markets in Australia and the US.

Harnett County Government - Public Utilities

I met with a true character here. With vision and passion, he leads this regional water provider well. Everyone else I meet in the industry knows him. He said to me, "You can live your whole damned life without love; but only three days without water".

My session with him was fun, challenging, interesting and I learnt a lot about the differences between the population pressures of places such as North Carolina compared to the space where I live. Regional water providers in areas such as this need to ensure sufficient interconnections between providers' infrastructure for supply during times of low flows or contamination.

Triangle J Council of Governments

For those in Australia, "Triangle J" is the term given to the area in NC comprising 13 counties and driven by the three major universities being Duke University, North Carolina State University and University of North Carolina.

This organisation has a coordinating role within the triangle and we discussed regional water resource issues and wider basin issues.

Water resource issues in the US can be complex due to demands from many users but also because rivers don't recognise those things we call state borders (of which there's many and they are very close together). A coordinated federal approach is attempted through the US Army Corps of Engineers who maintain minimum flows but more may be beneficial, with respect to water policy, etc.

Whilst the east coast of the US (where I am) appears "water sufficient" at present, demands in the future require action now. It is good to be able to discuss issues with water industry peers, each of us benefitting from the others' experience.

Neuse RIVERKEEPER Foundation

I learnt something here. RIVERKEEPER exists in Australia to a small degree, but not in my region. This organisation is essentially a public advocacy and education body. Whilst some similarities exist with our Water Watch and River Watch programs, this type of organisation was new to me.

City of Raleigh

Essentially a local council, I met with a girl who was kind of Australian as she was born in NC, had studied and lived in Australia and recently moved back to NC. Her accent was a real mish-mash.

She was working in a newly created position, 'Water Conservation Officer'. It has only been one month, but already she is making in-roads into water use efficiency and conservation measures. This is a good step.

Nicolas Institute for Environmental Policy - Duke University

Essentially policy advisors/writers for public and private sectors, the guys here are looking towards big ticket water policy issues. I met with the Director of State Policy and discussed Australian policies and provided information regarding water allocation and environmental water allocation, as well as learning about the evaluation process of policy risks and rewards. Common themes and issues were evident.

JJG Engineering

At first I wondered what value I would get from meeting with a private firm. I needn't have worried; these guys work for clients such as various government agencies and thus need to have an understanding on the broad policy framework. I got a lot from my discussions with JJG rep's, and really enjoyed my time with them. They had a handle on water and NRM issues at a national, state and local level.

I am looking forward to my next vocational days, where I will meet with various departments of the Department of Natural Resources, amongst other organisations.

Hope I haven't bored you all silly!

Kel.

Wake Forest

2009-04-17T21:09:00.005+09:30

In Wake Forest I had the great opportunity to spend four fantastic nights with the Murray family - Tommy, Beth, Tommy Jnr and Nolan. It was a lot of fun to be around boys again, and it was all coming back to me.

The first day we were treated to a walking tour of downtown Wake Forest. The facades and the 16 original post offices were the highlights. Tommy - our tour guide agent - whisked us away for some shopping in a local market, which was previously used as a cotton factory.

From there we all went our separate ways to hang out with our host families. The following day we headed off on a shopping trip to a mall in Raleigh. Those smart men (me only) made purchases in Victoria Secret and Macy's.

Sunday, some people (me again) had the opportunity to go to church.. although the church I attended was at the YMCA. It was fun and I even sang a few hymns.

Another day, and another shopping expedition. This time it was at a sports clothing outlet. Many many great purchases were made - and it was topped off by a great tour by the owner of the company (take note Pacific brand).

We met Andy Griffith and took some time to see the sights of the Wolfpac campus... good job Tommy!!

As soon as great times were plentiful it was time to move onto our next hosts.

I had a ball with the local 'hoods' and it was evident that the game of cops and robbers has evolved since I was 10 years old.

I will take this opportunity to thank the Murray family for an awesome four days - topped off with me being taken to the boys' school for 'show and tell'.

Until next time..... prince

Fun Thursday

2009-04-17T13:57:00.007+09:30

Today was the next of our official vocational days, and I had a fascinating one.

First stop was SAS, an international software company which has amazing philosophies on staff and customer satisfaction, and also a brilliant private art collection and team that manages it, which is what I came to see. Sadly photos are not encouraged, so I've got no evidence, but let me tell you the pieces I saw were amazing, and the workshop and team that pulls everything together is truly world class. The saddest part, for an outsider, it's reserved exclusively for staff and clients of SAS (chances are none of you will ever see it!). Thank you to Roxanne for the tour, and while I didn't get to meet him I send regards to Mr Goodnight, CEO of SAS, for what he has created and the fantastic philosophies that go with it.

After SAS and a lovely lunch at MacGregor Downs Country Club, my vocational guide Larry and I went to Chapel Hill, where Amanda Hughes guided us thought the Ackland Museum of Art at the University of North Carolina (home of the Tar Heels, recent winners of the 2009 college basketball championships). While it's a different style of museum from the South Australian Museum, it was great to chat freely with Amanda about their temporary and travelling exhibitions and the terrors of funding, loans and all that goes along with our jobs.

This evening we presented to the Garner, Clayton and Garner Midday Rotary Clubs in an unusual location... the restaurant attached to Rush Hour Karting in Garner. Following our presentation, the team was offered the chance to take to the track...

Pre-race publicity shots... Kelly asked for a pose with attitude, Scott clearly thought she asked for a pose with Agadoo...

On the grid: Pearson has pole in 15, Gilchrist in 14, Fyfe and Endersby well back in the pack

All I can say is I'm glad I made the podium. After Corey's pitiful 4th position we're wondering if he learnt anything in SAPOL's driver training sessions! And we're wondering how much Kelly had to pay the timekeeper to rig the times.
(Margaret was our Rush Hour Karting pit girl and eye-candy, unable to compete due to her recovering arm injury)

Evidently our reputation preceded us, because the invitation came to go to Napper Tandy's bar after the karting for a nightcap and to hear local bluegrass act The Grass Cats play. It was great music (and a pretty nice Guinness).

Corey and Kel take to the dance floor for the song The Grass Cats dedicated to us... Cotton Eye Joe. Sadly we've discovered another band that doesn't know any Aussie tunes!

Our mission accomplished - we got in a local newspaper

2009-04-17T13:36:00.003+09:30

Check out http://www.wakeweekly.com/

You will see some of the team attentively listening to very interesting facts during a walking tour of the Wake Forest main street.

Funny story about this ... there was a guy in the tour taking lots of photos. We were at the back. Corey noticed his lanyard said 'Press' and so said to me, 'He's from the press, let's get up the front so we can get in the paper'.

Mission accomplished.

Deep Fried Pickles

2009-04-17T07:26:00.005+09:30

I'm sorry if this seems an absurd post, but a lot of people have asked me what my culinary highlight of North Carolina has been.

Barbecue (the noun, meaning pork served in a special sauce) is delicious, I'm a fan of hush puppies (the fried dough balls, not the shoes), and of course Krispy Kremes are on the list.

But it must be said that the Deep Fried Pickles we shared at the Warm Waters restaurant on Lake Hyco really hit the spot. Who would've thought the things most people remove from the McDonald's burger would be a delicacy when battered and fried. If you get the chance, I recommend them!

Deep fried pickles!

Stuff

2009-04-16T10:55:00.007+09:30

Today we had a free morning with our hosts and I took the opportunity to get some NC souvenirs, eat burgers and fries and visit a groovy shopping/art gallery complex.

Then we headed to the magnificent Lion's Gate Inn, a B&B in Wake Forest where we were treated to an absolutely divine lunch. Thank you to owners Bill and Louise Howard, for their wonderful hospitality today and for their help during our stay.

The dining room at the Lion's Gate Inn, Wake County

We utilised the sunroom to conduct a mid-program debrief. Mary de Puew Kaam (Inbound GSE Coordinator) and Kaye Brown (GSE Chair) attended, leading this session. This was a useful time to share experiences and provide feedback, as well as taking the chance to express our thanks and amazement at our treatment thus far.

GSE team, Kaye and Mary

We have another full day of vocational study tomorrow, followed by a presentation at night. Will be a busy day.

Found a couple of random, silly pics that I thought I'd whack on here for you to see.

See ya,

Kel.

Couldn't resist the photo opportunity when we drove past a car yard

The best doggone makers of burgers I have ever seen! They happen to be next door to a pretty handy clothing outlet in Wake County.

Little Miss Muffet

Tommy rides again

2009-04-15T21:28:00.003+09:30

Our Area 2 Coordinator, Tommy Murray of the RC Wake Forest,

riding on a rabbit. You have given us a great time for the last 4 days.

Thanks for everything, and best wishes for your presidential year.

Margaret

Wendell and Raleigh

2009-04-15T10:59:00.006+09:30

This morning we were hosted by the Wendell Rotary Club in the town of Wendell, east of Raleigh. We were well looked after by Johnny Whitfield and Scott Hicks (not the Academy Award-winning filmmaker, but the landscape contractor / part-time police officer).

Our first stop was Mortex, a large, wholly locally owned apparel manufacturer that specialises in college sportswear among other things. Unlike good old Bonds, these guys are determined to keep production on home turf. Our guide was the head man Ed Morrell who took us through the designing and printing arm of the business (they also do the manufacturing of the clothes in another building).

Ed shows us the printing facilities at Mortex

Having had our appetites whet for sports apparel, we headed to the Mortex outlet store where old stock and seconds were ridiculously cheap... $3 for a pair of trackies (that's sweat pants for our American readers), about the same for a jumper (that's a sweater, American readers, not a pinafore). We soon had the cash registers ringing... who can resist a bargain?

After lunch at local diner Aubrey's and Peedie's (declared by Kel to make the best burgers ever) we walked through town, stopping at the local police station for some pics with the cop cars.

An impromptu vocational visit for Corey at Wendell Police

We stopped in at Perry's Gun Shop, where I got a true taste for American gun culture. Seeing guns in Walmart is one thing, but the weapons lined up in this place were amazing. Everything from the pint sized pistol for the handbag to guns that would make Rambo sweat!

Kel looked so hot with this pink number we nearly bought it for her

I like the idea of buying a taser to show your love for someone...

Our friend Tommy from Wake Forrest collected us from Wendell and we headed to Raleigh for a look around Pullen Park and NC State University (home of the Wolfpack). Pullen Park is a large tract of land adjacent NCSU, full of family fun. Some highlights:

North Carolina's favourite actor, Andy Griffith. (I barely remember Matlock, but evidently he was famous before that, in a show with Richie Cunningham...)

Me looking particularly special on the Pullen Park carousel

Tommy (a graduate of NC State who is not at all impressed at rivals University of North Carolina winning the national college basketball championship recently) took us to his alma mater for a look see (and to encourage us to buy things in the gift shop).

After that we headed to Krispy Kremes... no visit to Raleigh is complete without a donut (or two), even if you nearly slip into a coma trying to digest the fat and sugar.

It must be the hat that's making Margaret look pensive, because she loved the donuts

Corey proved the police and donuts stereotype for us. (Now he'll have to get up at 5 tomorrow to get rid of the fat!)

Tomorrow we move on from our Wake Forest hosts, so thank you to everyone for looking after us so well. Yet another great stay in a beautiful part of North Carolina.

Some Carolina Natives

2009-04-15T09:23:00.024+09:30

It is spring time is North Carolina, and the country is beautiful.

Here a a few of the lovely natives that I've been able to photograph.

Enjoy!

Presentation to the Wake County Rotary clubs

2009-04-14T13:01:00.004+09:30

Tonight we made a presentation to the Wake Forest, Zebulon, Louisburg and Wakefield/Wake Forest Rotary clubs.

The last club mentioned is a provisional club looking forward to chartering soon. Possibly the youngest (in members' ages) Rotary club in existence (or at least that I've seen), this club is vibrant and refreshing. The exchange between local clubs is also good to see.

We had yet more good food with friends tonight, and heaps of questions fired at us following the presentation. We love questions as a lot of good discussion follows. This audience was interested in water, crime and education, amongst other things.

This was our first run through of our modified presentation and although I didn't think it was our best, the audience loved it and commented so.

Our coordinator, Tommy, is a past GSE team member so really knows what we need. He is the classic tour guide and a fantastic host to all of us. Thanks Tommy.

My hosts, Jodi and Lowell. All of us looking very spiffy indeed.

The Aussie GSE team and Jodie and coordinator, Tommy.

Kel.

Vocation

2009-04-14T06:07:00.004+09:30

Hi All,

The exchange is travelling along well for a cultural experience as everyone will know but, it is also going really well with the vocation side of things.

We all are really happy about what we have got to learn in our Vocations. Plus we have met some fantastic people and been able to organize extra vocational visits on top of the pre arranged time slots.

Just the other day I was able to meet with Tommy Fonville of Fonville Morrisey. He is the founder and president of the company which employ's 650 agents and sells a house every hour. The company is listed in the top 50 Real estate companies within the United States. It is amazing! They have sales revenue of $3.2 billion. I arrived at his building which was a bank and about 10 stories. Go to his offices and wait to meet him.

He greeted me with open arms and was very informative. He has given me detailed information for me to take away which has been developed over his 35 year career. I have been very fortunate to meet with him and the information that he has given is invaluable. The 4 hours that Ii got to spend with him went over time and we had to be interupted by my driver to get me to the next appointment that i had.

These are the poeple that we all are getting to meet. They are extremly welcoming and informative giving us experince that has been developed over long careers. I hope to take the information and lessons learned back to my work and implement things that I believe will work,and therefore put me into a stronger position within my market place.

To think that we still have got a few more full days of vocational exchanges, I can not imagine what information I will be able to gather.

I hope this will put some minds at rest and show that we are actually doing some work whilst over here. But the old saying goes;

WORK HARD, PARTY HARD!!!!!!!

Good day to you all.

Be Good.

Scott

Easter Sunday

2009-04-13T09:58:00.018+09:30

Well the Easter Bunny found me but must have been slightly confused by me being in a different country and all, because he did not bring me my favourite Red Tulip Elegant Rabbits. No matter, a quick call to the best sister in the world has guaranteed there will be a minimum of four waiting for me on my arrival into Australia. Mmmm ...

The girls and EB.

I am staying in Wake Forest/Raleigh (slight boundary technicality) with more great hosts. The lady of the house, Jodi, is a couple of years older than me and we found out over a Pig Pickin' last night that we both really love 80's music and have equally impressive dance moves. OK, we found out the last bit when we hit a club later that night.

My hosts, Jodi and Lowell, with me in front of an unfortunate pig. A very tasty, unfortunate pig.

We got the munchies after our Pig Pickin' (don't ask me how) so we headed to the Krispy Kremes outlet (because you do that at midnight). Did you know that North Carolina was the birth place of Krispy Kremes?

Late night Krispy Kremes (how come I'm the only one eating?)

Today I went to church. Now, for those who don't know me, I don't do church. I thought though, as part of the cultural experience, I would go along with my host family. I liked the dressing up bit and the singing and overall had a good time.

After church we went to lunch at the Golf Glub. Nice place, with a delicious banquet. If you can turn into an animal by eating too much of it, I will be a cow or pig by Monday. It was a great lunch with three generations (and me) enjoying each others' company and celebrating Easter.

My favourite part of the day was a visit to the Raleigh flea market at the state fairgrounds. Got the tip about this one from Serge last week. When asked what I would like to do, I couldn't get the words out quick enough.

The inside stalls weren't much chop but the outside ones were to die for. So many vendors of antiques and groovy, individual jewellery! Although trying to steer away from large items, I had an internal discussion regarding this fantastic swinging bench. My sensible side won; bugger it.

This swinging bench would look fantastic in my yard, but alas, must stay here in North Carolina.

We got there late and vendors were packing away, but I have vowed to return next Sunday, at sparrow's fart, for a fresh run at it.

Since I only seem to write about stuff we do other than formal presentations and vocational visits, there is a photo below so you can see how spiffy we all look when we put our minds to it. There are also a couple of other random pictures there for those pleased by visual aids.

Corey, Kel and Tim, watching a band called 'Boomerang'. Funny thing is, they're American, and couldn't accommodate my requests for 'Down Under' and "Khe San'. Poor effort.

Great mounting job on the deer.

Right, that's it; Americans officially think that french fries are vegetables.

Until next time,
Kel.

The Life of a GSE Team member

2009-04-12T23:32:00.010+09:30

Sometimes in life you just hit the jackpot. Well becoming a GSE teamember is exactly that. The people who we have come into contact with are the movers and shakers of their industries and Rotary. Not only are they successful poeple and community-minded; they are the most genorous and welcoming people you will ever come into contact with.

So far the whole team has had fantastic experiences with their hosts and vocational advisors. We have gained so much knowledge and created fantastic contacts which will help us grow further in our careers.

But on to the good life. Because the people who are hosting us want to keep us entertained we are getting to learn what 'the good life' really means. The opportunites we have been able to uptake have been great and we are seeing Rotarians and friends of Rotarians inviting us into their homes and their lives as if we were their closest firends. This is truly an amazing experience. We got to meet Randy and Bonnie who have a lake house with a pontoon boat. When we first met him I asked what his favourite sport was. Later, when I got to his house he said, "I forgot to tell you one other sport I love, NASCAR! I used to be the general manager for a successful Nascar team in America".

This is us on the boat.

My hosts at Roxboro were Lacy and Claudia. Tim also stayed with them. They were fantastic hosts for and we had alot of fun with them. We got to experience real Southern home cooking. You can see their home below. If you want anything done or need to get to know someone, Lacy will be able to get it done or he will know someone who can - because everyone knows Lacy and Claudia. He also lives on the lake and has a setting which instantly put Tim and myself into absolute relaxation mode. Not only did we get to go for a boat ride on the lake but the owner of the radio station was a Rotarian so, we got to go to the big concert in town on his behalf. Thanks Dave.

To give you an idea of where we have been staying I have included photos of the homes that I have been hosted in. There is so much to tell people that I could write a novel. So if I have left people out, I say thanks now. Everyone who has contributed to making this experience such a wonderful and amazing experience, thank you. Y'all have given us opportunities that we may have never got in our home town. All Y'all's have inspired me to work hard to achieve the great things that you have. You are all special people and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Kelly Cobb and Wayne Cobb - first hosts. Wonderful poeple who made me feel like family. Kelly is in the Top 100 Agents in America. I can't stop bragging that I got to meet her and stay in her house. She and Wayne taught me alot. Thanks guys.

Serge; top bloke. He is a really cool guy with a fantastic home set in the woods. He knows how to entertain poeple and have fun. Go you Heels!!!!!!

Lacy and Claudia; beautiful home grown Southern people. They welcomed Tim and me into their homes with open arms and gave us a fantastic experience. Cheers!

I will speak to you soon and tell you about the tobacco crops. Now that is amazing. 'Til next time, be good!

Celeb sighting

2009-04-12T06:58:00.003+09:30

Rumoured to be in full rehersals for his upcoming Wembley shows, MJ was spotted busting a few new moves in little ol' Wake County wearing a nicely combed white wig as a disguise.

All good things come to those who wait

2009-04-12T06:13:00.006+09:30

Hello world,

the time has finally arrived for me to add my spiel to this ever popular blog. Of course I came up with many reasons why I have not added anything yet but they are all beginning to wear thin. I thought I might just add about 5 small posts - so it looks as though I have been really busy, but on second thought i would probally got bored and left it as 1 short one, so i'm throwin a crackerjack entry in now... so hold onto your hats, here goes...

For some unknown reason I have no pictures of the trip over, in LA or even from Cary Mcgregor?? hmm believe should look into that.. Jim was my first host - what a man, what a blast we had.. big truck, big personality and we had a nonstop party for 4 nights straight. I managed to haul him to the gym every morning at 5.30am... which equated to about 4 hours sleep a night. Top bloke with a massive heart of gold (surrounded by copipus amounts of beers).

Last sunday, whilst staying with the ever-cool folks of Jim and Joan I had the opportunity to hit the lake and show off my lilly white legs. It was a tops day and i need to thank Jim for the trip, beer and bullshit that was constantly bantered around that boat and jetski all day long. Later that night we headed around the chef serge's house for more of the bullshitting and beer. Topped off with the knowledge that jaxon's guinnea pigs back home had babies - nice hey... i didnt even know the bloody thing was preggos.

At Jims and Joans I loaded on about 2 kilos i reckon, and to make matters worse I was packed a bag of food to take with me, incase my next hosts didnt have any?? So a full shopping bag of brownies and angel cake departed with me. I had a great time with Jim, Joan and Bubbles (and their pokie machine!! - who says there's no gambling in north carolina??

My story then skips a few days and Im now in Roxboro with no internet access (one of the many excuses to scamper my way out of a blog entry). Had a great time on the hog farm (which is actually a pig). Now being a police officer, I had a special bond with the 3000 pigs on the farm and even got to pick out my newest cadet.

I have run short of time (great excuse) so Ill continue my adventures at Roxboro soon....

Experiencing American gun and country music culture

2009-04-12T05:41:00.005+09:30

Real, or not real? That is the question.

I got to experience guns! Holding them and shooting them. They are a lot heavier than I expected. I had so much fun at target practice. I shot a .357 hand-gun, a little hand-gun that I can't remember the name of but it looked like a toy, a .460 hand-gun (which is a whopper and just about deafened me) and a semi-automatic rifle.

A huge thank you to Ross, for trusting me around guns! Initially he gave me one bullet at a time, until further into our session, he said, "OK, you have shown yourself trustworthy, now you can have two". With the rifle, he gave me four bullets at once! I was quite chuffed.

As I was preparing to shoot, I thought, there I was in a secluded paddock with a guy I had known for two days; was this the most sensible thing to do? So I asked him quickly before we loaded up, "Have I done anything to annoy you lately?" It was hysterical. We laughed and laughed.

On a different note, last night we were treated to some country music and 'shaggin' (it's a type of dance). I also learnt the 'Electric Slide' which was a real hoot. Danced lots to counteract the good beers that kept appearing in front of me.

Jim Quick played beach music apparently, but it was nothing like the 'Cocktail' soundtrack. It was really catchy and good to dance to though. We were in for a treat at theFlaming Star club for, that's for sure. I got asked for ID on the way in!!! Ha, ha.

The main act was Ray Scott, who is a local Roxboro boy, very popular on the country music scene, who had come back to play to his home crowd. The home crowd loved him and we did too. He invited me up on stage and dedicated a song to me (I had met him at dinner before the show and had arranged this little set up).

Kel and Ray

Me with my lovely host family, the Carvers, with of course, Ray Scott!

I don't have a lot of time here to write my customary wordy blog, as we are heading out to a 'Pig Pickin' soon on our first night with our new hosts in Wake County, but the night was an absolute ripper. Best fun I've had in ages.

Yes, that would be me dancing on stage.

Well, off to chat to my hosts. My family has two girls aged 3 and 5yrs so I guess I'll be doing lots of story reading to them, in my funny voice.

Write again soon,

Kel.

Museums, museums, museums

2009-04-11T03:59:00.005+09:30

My most recent vocational visit took in three museums in a single day; each unique and each well worth the visit.

First stop was the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science, where we met Director of Exhibitions Roy Campbell. The museum highlights the bio and geodiversity of North Carolina, with exhibits such as Prehistoric North Carolina, Coastal NC and the Arthropod Zoo. It offers plenty of live specimens throughout, including snakes, fish, insects and a butterfly house. As well as seeing the existing museum Roy told us about the development of the Nature Research Centre which will adjoin the museum with more display space, research labs, outreach and science communication facilities, to be completed in 2011.

NC Museum of Natural Science Director of Exhibitions Roy Campbell discusses dinosaurs with my host Barry Philips.

Inside the Living Conservatory at NC Museum of Sciences

Next up was the NC Museum of History where we met Director Ken Howard who first took us through the current blockbuster exhibition ‘Knights of the Black Flag’, which looks at pirates, specifically Black Beard. We also toured permanent galleries such as the NC Sports Hall of Fame, the decorative arts of NC, ‘A Call to Arms’ (military history) and ‘Elected to Serve’ about the Governors of North Carolina. The Museum of History also has development plans, with a new café and a gallery dedicated to telling the history of North Carolina planned.

Marine artefacts in the ‘Kinghts of the Black Flag’ exhibition.

My final visit was the Gregg Museum of Art and Design at NC State University where we met Director Lynn Ennis. This museum exists to complement the curriculum for the students, but also as a publicly accessible gallery. The current exhibition, curated by Lynn, is of artist Thomas Sayre.

The current exhibition at the Gregg Museum of Art and Design

All of the museums I visited were really generous in the time and information they afforded me, and I was really impressed with what they are able to achieve within their differing budgets and resource restraints.

Roxboro, North Carolina, on horseback

2009-04-09T11:15:00.016+09:30

Woo-hoo!! My wish came true - I got to go riding. True to his word, DG Don got me on a horse. Thanks to Lacy in Roxboro, I met Katherine and her beautiful horses. We loaded them on the float and headed to Hill Forest which was one of the most amazing rides I've been on. We crossed a pretty decent flowing river with Katherine's sound advice, "Don't look down, just keep your eyes on the exit point!"

I rode a beautiful paint mare calley Okey, who was an absolute darling. Katherine's horse was called Cisco and he was great too. We had four dogs with us who ran and ran all day long. We saw six deer with their white bushy tails who just came out of nowhere.

Kel and Okey; a great partnership!

Now onto the rest of the day. Prior to my fantastic horse ride, Ross took me on a tour of my host's turf farm. The rolling green hills just brought out the cartwheeler in me. Everything is so green here in North Carolina. My hosts, the Carver family of Carver Bros. Turf also grow tobacco, which I saw at seedling stage in the hothouse. Once again, great people and a wonderful family environment.

Doris Carver, who is the Chair of the Roxboro Chamber of Commerce, took me along to the Good Morning Coffee Hour breakfast meeting where I met the Sheriff (always a good move), the County Commissioner, a couple of Councillors and other great people. I now feel I can walk down the main street of Roxboro and give some folks a wave.

After breakky we went and had lunch at Bob's BBQ. Surprise, surprise, more meat. I am loving it! We had a lovely, informal Rotary meeting with wonderful people, including President Dana who put us on the spot with impromptu speeches. They worked really well and we had a great time.

After that we went to Thomas Farms (a hog farm). We saw bucket loads of pigs, from cute baby ones to big fat, ugly Papa ones. I now want a cute pig to add to the Fyfe Family Farm.

Cutesy little pig, but I'm not sure Scott agrees.

See ya. Keep posting those comments! To Corey's workmates, we are all on him to write blogs and his excuse is, "I have to go to the gym!" I'm eating doughnuts and he's going to the gym!

Kel.

A Day of Rest, Relaxation and Reflection

2009-04-06T21:57:00.007+09:30

After one week on the exchange we were given a day of rest. It was nice. It gave us time to catch up on washing and the little items we had not been doing. We spent the day with our host families and joined in on individual activities.

Serge, my host, was hosting the whole team and some locals for a 'Pig Pickin' in the evening so we organized that and started cooking the pig at about 10am and relaxed. 'Pig Pickin' is like a pig on the spit. It is very much like our BBQs but it is classed as a traditional southern meal. IT was fantastic.

Serge the super cook, with the scrumptious Pig Pickin' BBQ.

The other team members went on hikes around Eno River and jet skiing. The experience so far has been wonderful and all of our hosts, and everyone we have come into contact have been absolutely beautiful people who will do anything to make you feel comfortable and welcome.

The people of North Carolina are very hospitable and friendly, whenever we open our mouths people want to talk to us because of our accent, but I keep telling them that they have the accent.

Today we are going out to Sportsplex and around Chapel Hill, this is where the Tar Heels basketball team are from and they are playing the championship game tonight, which is exciting. The basketball fans are fanatical here and if they win they will go absolutely crazy. Franklin street will be set alight with bonfires and people spraying blue paint everywhere we are told. On Saturday night when they reached the championship game, that was exactly what happened. So 'GO HEELS'.

I must say that the rivalry that Aussie rules fans have between their teams is similar but at times the Carolina people's rivalries between University of NC and Duke University is very fierce. You are born into the team and if you choose to swap alliances you will be disowned from your family. Maybe not to that extreme but pretty close.

It has been a lot of fun being involved in the whole lead up to the play-offs with basketball and ice hockey. It had given us a real sense of what sport means to the American people. It is very much a way of life here. I like that they really do love the team and their town.

Scott

Catching up with the 7710 team

2009-04-06T02:06:00.005+09:30

Last night it was great to see the team from North Carolina who came to Adelaide (and the rest of D9520) last year. All except Katie (who is studying on the West Coast) came to the Wooden Nickel in down town Hillsborough to catch up over a few drinks and watch the basketball.

Kelly with Karin and Susan

We enjoyed hearing about their experiences in Aus, and also got plenty of advice from them on how to get the most out of our GSE. Hopefully we can catch up with them again while we're in NC.

We had the best intentions of watching the basketball, but the conversation (and meeting the locals) took over somewhat.

They're going sports mad here at the minute, the Hurricanes (ice hockey) won on Thursday night and again last night, which puts them into the playoffs, so we'll be hearing a bit about the Hurricanes during our stay.

They've also gone basketball mad. The NC Tar Heels, the college team from Chapel Hill, won the semi final last night, with the grand final being played on Monday. We've been warned about going to Chapel Hill on Monday night - the students spill onto the streets, light bonfires and spray everything with pale blue paint (team colours). Even last night after the semi they showed footage of the main street in Chapel Hill and they were going nuts! We're presenting at a Rotary Club in Chapel Hill on Monday night, so we'll be right in the thick of it!

Building Bridges for Peace

2009-04-06T01:56:00.005+09:30

We were fortunate to be in Chapel Hill at the same time as the sixth annual conference of the Duke-UNC Rotary Centre, with presentations by the Rotary World Peace Fellows. There are six Rotary Centres worldwide, each partnered with a major university, and the Peace Fellows undertake a two year masters program in fields related to conflict resolution, peace studies and international relations.

The six speakers (including two Australians: Jane and Pia) spoke on topics as diverse as acid attack violence, military intervention in regional conflicts, and migration and xenophobia in South Africa. All were clearly passionate about their studies and inspirational in their approach to world peace.

The Aussie contingent: GSE Team 9520 with Rotary World Peace Fellows past and present. The two graduating Fellows who presented on the day were Jane Welsh (second from left) and Pia Simonsen (second from right). Pretty amazing people.

The Rotary Centres and Peace Fellows are, like the Group Study Exchange, sponsored by the Rotary Foundation.

Our last day in Cary

2009-04-05T06:23:00.010+09:30

OK, so we're a bit behind in our blogs! Thursday was a vocational day so we all went our separate ways. I met with some interesting and colourful characters, learning lots along the way. Enough about that. Each of us can fill you in with our vocational experiences when we get back.

Thursday night was AMAZING. We went to watch the NC Hurricanes kick the other team's butt in ice hockey. We were in the sponsor's corporate box. Very nice indeed. Thank you to Progress Energy for an unforgettable experience. No matter how hard I tried, I unfortunately failed to get my mug on the big screen. And believe me, I was trying!

Go Canes!!

So, onto the next day, Friday. Well, much to the disappointment (he may argue 'glee'!!) of Poppa Don, the Oz team bid goodbye to Cary and hit the road in a full to the brim 'truck' to Hillsborough. But not before an action-packed day around the traps.

First port of call, a 7am meeting of the Rotary club of Cary Page. This was after our late night at the ice hockey and some of us also chose to continue celebrating the Hurricane's victory further. Our presentation went well, with once again, a lovely audience. I had a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, fruit and something that resembled bacon but I think someone had forgotten to stop it cooking long after it was done.

We jumped in the bus with Poppa Don and Mary as our able guides and headed to the nuclear power plant of Progress Energy. We already had a great relationship with Progress Energy through their generous hospitality at the ice hockey, so we continued that with our tour guide Kim. She took us into the control room simulator which was amazing; all I was missing was my Star Trek outfit!

Scott enjoying the experience in the simulator and Tim trying to understand how it works!

An amazingly informative tour later, we re-boarded the bus and headed to Hemlock Bluffs Nature Reserve which is a great town recreational asset for walking and bike riding.

Next we went to an 'urban' winery called Chatham Hill Winery, the concept of urban wineries being rather than people driving to the vineyards' cellar door, the cellar door is brought to where the people are. It is a small winery in comparison to some in Mildura, but the wines were nice and the food that was brought in from La Farm? La Bakery?, a local NC business, was awesome. We had hand-made potato chips which were divine.

Not too hard to get accustomed to this!

Then we headed off to visit the most amazing business operation that left us gob-smacked. The company is SAS (the largest privately owned software company in the US) and I can see why their staff turnover is miniscule. They have built a town on their 'campus', complete with two childcare facilities, gym, sports grounds, cafes serving real food, a medical clinic, a wellbeing centre and other things I may have missed.

They have 4,400 employees on-site and are Cary's largest employer. The owners contribute to the community in many ways and we were all a bit over-awed by the whole experience.

The Town of Cary (local council) was our next stop and the first thing we were taken to was the Council Chambers. Being the characters we are, we all jumped into the roles of Councillors (Mayor Tim constantly saying into the microphone, 'All in favour of moving the motion to ..., say 'Ay' - I think he loves the sound of his own voice).

GSE Council, Town of Cary (why so serious Corey? Nice look Mayor Tim!)

In the same building were the Cary Police (a local level of police that we don't have in Australia). We met with the Chief of Police who was inspiring. She was a super-friendly woman who also gave freely of her time, including taking us up to the 911 emergency control room.

We met Mayor Harold and he was very generous in his time and openness in our discussions. At the conclusion of our time with him we presented him with an Aus/US badge which I told him I expected him to wear to the next Council meeting. As their twice monthly Council meetings are televised, I will be checking up on him, which I am sure he will be expecting.

After this, we were all pooped. We headed to a carpark somewhere to be picked up by our next hosts. Except that it was only one person, with one car for five people and five sets of perhaps a bit excessive, luggage.

Thankfully, as like everything in America, his car was big, and we managed although I have no idea how. Then we headed to the country. Jim's wife Joan was ready for us bedraggled lot, with a beautiful spread for dinner. Bless her!

As Jim was Corey's host, the rest of us waited for our hosts to come and collect us. This was around 9pm so by the time we got home to our new lodgings it was straight to bed for us!

The sight from my bedroom window is pine trees and more pine trees; the woods they call it! It is very relaxing.

'Til next time friends,
Kel.

PS. As usual, a verbose blog from me, but I am excused as it was really over two days so if you halve it, it is actually OK.

Our Official Welcome to D7710

2009-04-02T12:59:00.005+10:30

Photo: The GSE team: Tim, Corey, Kelly, Margaret & Scott with DG Don Bruckner.

All our planning was leading up to this day.

Our first official visit to a Rotary Club in North Carolina. The setting was lovely: The MacGregor Downs Country Club, with an outlook to a lake, dogwood trees, starting to blossom, bulbs in the gardens. We had gone over our presentation the day before, culling many slides to make it all fit in the 20 minutes we were given.

The Rotary Club of Cary Macgregor opens its meetings with prayer, followed by the Oath of Allegiance. President Jim Smith conducted the business of the club, in particular presenting substantial cheques for Polio Plus to District Governor Don Bruckner. The sergeant's session was brief. GSE Chair, DGN Kaye Brown briefly described how this visit to D7710 had been organised and then we were introduced and welcomed by DG Don.

It was now our turn to give our first presentation: Could we do it in the time remaining, half an hour till the end of the meeting at 1:30 pm? Well we made it, with 4 minutes to spare.

Margaret introduced D9520, explaining that D9520 was larger than the state of Nth Carolina. Tim spoke about Adelaide, aboriginal culture, and our native flora and fauna. Scott described our exports, particularly beef, wine and the effects on them of the nine year drought. Kelly's topic was environment and agriculture with special emphasis on the importance of the River Murray. While Corey discussed our festivals, sport and life style, finishing with an invitation to the those present to try some 'Aussie gold' Vegemite. Margaret concluded with some examples of special Rotary projects and how money is raised by clubs for these projects.

The audience response was enthusiastic, they laughed at our jokes, and made extremely flattering comments. What a high!

At 2:30 the team went to the Cary Chamber of Commerce, where we met our vocational advisors and learnt something of the success of Cary as a centre for business. The evening started with drinks at President Jim's, followed for me and Scott with a delicious pot luck dinner for 14 in the home of my hosts Mary and Art Kamm. It was a great finish to a very successful day.

Our first night in North Carolina

2009-03-31T10:50:00.012+10:30

The team minus Corey (who had been whisked away by President Jim) at NC airport

We arrived in Raleigh, North Carolina, to the cheers of our friendly hosts. I am sitting here, on my third glass of wine after having devoured a sensational beef stew that my host, Pat, had been slow cooking all day. Pat and I have lots in common. She has a house full of unusual antiques and pieces of furniture. I am spoilt, with a beautiful bedroom and bathroom to myself.

This morning we set out at 5.30am on the shuttle bus to the airport. We nearly died when we saw the line at one terminal but luckily our terminal was not so bad. The baggage police were out and we had to do some quick talking and rearranging of baggage to avoid the $100 (US) fee per piece of extra luggage. We tried the line, "They are gifts for our American hosts" but that didn't fly so we all took extra hand luggage and somehow we managed without having to pay any excess.

The flight to Chicago was smooth and impressed Scott, the plane buff, who thought the rear engines were fundamental to our smooth ride.

Sleepyheads on the plane from Chicago to North Carolina

Pat and I have our day planned out for tomorrow. We are going to the Farmer's Market (which is open 364 days a year, 24 hrs a day - can you believe it?) and then heading to the "thrift" shops. Unfortunately for me, thrifty purchases for me won't be so thrifty once I pay excess baggage so I will have to concentrate on small pieces.

North Carolina is beautiful. There is surface water everywhere - 17 river basins, with lakes full to the brim. If that's not enough, they also have fresh groundwater that they draw on for consumption. Aaah, that's the life.

Until tomorrow.

Kel.

They let us in

2009-03-30T14:14:00.008+10:30

After a 4am departure to get to the Adelaide airport in plenty of time so we got grouped seats, we arrived and loaded all our luggage. Some travelled lighter than others, and it was not necessarily gender specific. Thanks to those who came to see us off at the airport at the crack of dawn.

The GSE Team being seen off at the airport by some selection committee members

A short break in Auckland saw us entertained by a girl with a very high pitched voice, cracking jokes over the loudspeaker. Our plane was delayed but some of us just pulled up some floor and grabbed some zzz's.

Sleeping Beauty at Auckland Airport

The long haul was 11 hrs to Los Angeles, which was, as you'd expect, long. It was broken by the odd movie or four, some liquid beverages and actually really great food. We found a steward friend who brought us real champagne in real glasses, courtesy of business class. And he brought me some Toblerone chocolate.

Outside our hotel

We jumped on an already crowded shuttle bus and headed to the Radisson. From there we boarded a bus and headed to Downtown LA. Manhattan Pier to be exact, which had the most relaxed, safe, community vibe going on that you could imagine. There were copious amounts of bikes left on the pier; not one of them locked up.

We stopped for a coffee break and met some nice college graduates, Kate and Kristin, who told us about their current 10 month national service stint (essentially a domestic version of Peace Corps). They're part of a 300-strong team of young people who are assisting in such things as local environmental projects, disaster preparedness and relief, and tutoring in inner city schools. They are based on the West Coast and will also go to areas such as New Orleans.

Our new friends, Kate and Kristin

We took a walk along all the beachfront properties and Scott was snap happy, being the real estate dude he is. This community feel flowed through to immaculately kept gardens, no fences, backyards that were open front yards leading to public roads. BBQs, outdoor settings and the like were left out for all to admire and I couldn't fathom that someone wouldn't just come along and nick them. Such is the community feel that this mustn't happen much in this neighbourhood.

Manhattan Beach houses

We had some very tasty burritos and nachos for dinner down at the pier, at dirt cheap prices, and they were the most authentic version I have ever had.

Tucking in to Mexican, Downtown LA-style

Have an early flight tomorrow morning, to Raleigh, NC, via Chicago. We will meet our first hosts in NC which we are looking forward to. Hopefully we won't miss our shuttle in the morning.

So for those who haven't heard from us yet, this blog entry is evidence they let us into the US!

Our farewell dinner

2009-03-25T21:31:00.002+10:30

On Monday 23 March the Rotary Club of Campbelltown hosted the GSE Team’s farewell dinner. It was a special night for the team, signaling the countdown to departure and the first formal opportunity to give our presentation.

It was a packed house with nearly 140 guests, made up of RC Campbelltown members, our families, and visitors from our sponsoring clubs: Kent Town, Edwardstown, Blackwood and Mildura Deakin. There were a few nerves facing such a large crowd, but after some top notch Aussie fare (roast lamb and pavlova!), we took to the stage. The team was presented with a Rotary Foundation badge by District Governor Peter Shipp, and we were introduced by GSE Chair Dave Mellen, who has been a great help in preparing for the exchange.

The team with DG Peter Shipp

Prior to presenting, my mentor Peter Poulton from RC Kent Town had issued the challenge for us to be the first team ever to not have “too long!” as the first feedback on their speech. Sadly, coming in at 45 minutes meant we failed that challenge, however we did feel good about our presentation and have received fantastic feedback that will help us reduce and fine tune everything prior to meeting our first audience in North Carolina. It was also the first outing in our official dress uniform, which was well received.

As soon as we were finished the realisation set in that we were in countdown to departure. Our last week at work to tie up all the loose ends. Frantic last minute shopping to make sure we have everything, checks that our luggage is OK and our tickets are all in order.

Right now it’s Wednesday night, and we’re leaving on Sunday morning. Only four more sleeps… North Carolina here we come!

The Leader is Last

2009-03-18T18:59:00.006+10:30

to contribute to this Blogg that is. She may well be last in other things too, but that is not relevant here.

I am so lucky to be part of this adventure. It all started, for me, with that interview on 23 August 2008. The next weekend the team was chosen. Scott, Tim, Corey and Kelly interviewed so well, and I could see that they were all outward going alpha types.

The fun started for me the next day, 31 August 08, with lunch for the chosen ones and the GSE committee at my home. Corey, because he was 'on call', came in his police car with his uniform. Can you imagine the neighbours' comments with a police car labelled "Crime Investigation Unit" parked outside my home for most of the day!

There was a list of tasks that had to be done: I put my name beside the ones that the leader had to do, then I went to the kitchen to get lunch. The four them signed themselves up for the everything else, and they have done it, either singly or working together. It has been great to observe such diligence from fulltime working professionals.

Since then we have had meetings in each of our homes: Tim's, Scott's, Corey's (all in Adelaide metro area) and finally Kelly's in Mildura. At each venue we have reported on our allotted tasks made plans and shared a meal together. Of course most of our planning and decision making has been done via email. How teams ever got on without email I do not know. Kelly has written on our Mildura weekend. It WAS fun. We did come up with some novel problem solving techniques to solve that maze.

All of us have been impressed with the Vocational plans that have been made by D7710. Each of us has a vocational mentor who has endeavoured to facilitate the vocation requests that we outlined way back in September 08. Mine is such an exciting program of school and university visits to observe both the teaching of IT, the training of teachers, and some IT innovations. Wow!

So we have our tickets, insurance, the program outline from D7710, and our travel plans to and from USA. Our 'uniform' has been purchased, badges made, souvenirs organised, brochures and cards printed.

The presentation which we have to give, possibly 18(?) times is shaping up. It is to have it's first real run through at our Farewell dinner on Monday 23rd, before what will be quite a large crowd of ~150. DG Peter Shipp will be present, together with the GSE committee, members from sponsoring rotary clubs, and our close friends and family. It will also be meeting #1990 of my club: RC of Campbelltown, membership 79, with partners invited. Who's getting nervous?

The remaining days will simply fly.

Watch this space!

Introducing me

2009-03-17T20:42:00.002+10:30

Hey everybody, what an opportunity to introduce myself. I am Corey. I would like to add, straight away that I am not doing this entry out of duress, but sheer embarassment. I am the last one to add to this site, and it can be easily accounted for. I recently had laser eye surgey. When I lost the need to wear my glasses, suddenly my knowledge of computer went away with my blurry vision. I now no longer get asked computer related questions, simply because I have glasses on my face. Hence, today is my very first blog entry ever, anywhere, anytime.
So far it has been a top experiece and no doubt will only get better with time - like australian wines. So until next time just ponder over my image - if i can work out how to attach it..... nope - upload picture FAIL... damn, where are those glasses!!

A team meeting in Mildura (about time)

2009-03-15T14:42:00.013+10:30

Well, after several trips to Adelaide to attend team meetings, although well-fed and watered (?) whilst there, the 9hr return drive for the Mildura girl (that’s me) was wearing thin. My team-mates kindly offered to make the trip to Dura for our final team meeting.

This wasn’t just any old team meeting; it was a chance to finalise last minute trip details and kick up our heels (some may say bond) as a team, which we sure did!

I planned an itinerary quite a few months back, which the team seemed to like the sound of. As the time drew nearer I realised I’d better ask the people I’d nominated to host individual team members for the night whether they were up for that and check other arrangements I had made without asking.

One of my hosts was in India, so that was one person ‘bedless’. Another host had a last minute change of plans and so there was another one. I did a bed count at my place and realised (as the kids were away for the weekend), that we could all fit. My manager at work, Bill, had offered to host Margaret but in the end it was cosier if we all stayed at mine – but thanks anyway Bill.

So Margaret got my bed (age before beauty they say), Tim got my son’s, I got my daughter’s and Corey probably did best of all with his own self-contained bungalow pad outside.

Scott brought his lovely wife Amy, so I gave them some privacy at a friend’s house (who was in Melbourne for the weekend). They found the spare key in the chook shed and made like home. Very comfy, thanks J (can’t use her full name otherwise she’ll have to change her spare key hiding spot). I am so thankful Scott brought his lovely wife Amy, who was the best designated driver and photographer I’ve seen! Much appreciated.

Now onto what we did. The Adelaideans arrived late (I couldn’t say anything as at least they’d found their way here and my track record wasn’t flawless). Lunch was almost ready on arrival, which wasn’t bad considering I’d been going flat strap cleaning the house up until I got the ‘We’re in Merbein (15 mins away)’ phone call.

Light beers were cracked all ‘round. Light they were coz we had a presentation to do later in the day so had to be at our best (and also coz that’s all I had in the fridge, leftover from months ago).

Over lunch, which was chicken breast poached in white wine, sage and home-made chicken stock, accompanied by chat potatoes, with a pumpkin, spinach, fetta and toasted almond salad, a green salad, beautiful fresh cooked Ciabatta bread from Stefano’s bakery and wine, we talked.

We had so much to talk about that Margaret was left at the table finishing her 2^nd (3^rd?) helping while we were madly scrambling around getting dressed into something ‘smart’ for our presentation. We had both irons and ironing boards in operation (I was very impressed to see the boys right onto that one) whilst poor Tim was dealing with my hotch-potch of under-prepared slides for my part of our presentation.

We arrived at my place of work (who I thank for letting me use the conference room on a Saturday) fashionably late, but I just blamed the Adelaideans. After chatting for a while, we launched into our presentation.

Margaret started fine, followed by self-proclaimed ‘Museum Geek’ Tim and then Scott (whose presentation was almost as skint as mine). I was next and due to my ‘hotch-potch’ of slides given to Tim at the last minute, didn’t know which was coming next so found myself making stuff up as I went along. Unusual? To make things even worse for me, I was followed by Corey, who apart from taking up almost the entire allotted presentation time on his own, was (along with the Tim) the most prepared and also the funniest of the lot.

After taking 3-4 times the alloted time for our presentation (Margaret and Corey the worst offenders), it was over to our ‘critical friends’ in the audience, who were fantastic in their feedback. Our thanks to Jeremy, Noeleen (and Chinese exchange student whose name eludes me just right at this minute), Sharyn, Kevin, and Bill for your comments and encouragement.

After that, we all did a quick change into our casual clothes and headed to Trentham Estate for wine and cheese, a debrief of our presentation and the continuation of our team meeting.

supposed to happen! Corey hadn’t been listening to the host’s instructions to take a change of clothes and also refused to wear some spares that I offered, so we had to go back interstate to make him comfortable. Going back interstate took 5 mins as Mildura is on the border of NSW and Vic, but that sounded good so I’ll leave it in.

Wine and cheese on the banks of the Murray River was a lovely way to spend the afternoon and surprisingly, we got a lot done at part 2 of our meeting.

We popped home where we all coordinated showers and making ourselves beautiful very well indeed. We headed out for drinks at the Mildura Brewery, where, like the good host I am, I forgot to let everyone know there was a beer tasting platter. The comment was made halfway through the first beer, that it would be good if they had a sample of each beer. “Oh yeah, they have one of those. Probably should’ve told you that,” was my response.

A highlight of our time at the Brewery was me nearly having a heart attack by my daughter running up and throwing her arms around me in mid-conversation. She was with her Dad and grandma who was visiting and they were out picking up some dinner too. Was a lovely surprise!

We dragged ourselves away so as to not upset Joseph at the Pizza Café by being late to our booking. I’d done pretty well there, by forgetting to book for Amy, but an extra seat was quickly found and all was well. The best pizzas in town were thrown down the hatchet and rinsed with more of the Brewery’s beer. But we saw no sharks. The best bit was that a great meal with drinks only cost us $20 each! Nice.

After our meal we headed down to check out a very funkily renovated pub called the Sandbar. Scott and Amy dropped Margaret home but true to their word, came back to join us. The night was full of good conversation, with the highlight being Corey’s choice of drinking glassware.

We headed off home, taking in some of Mildura’s delights on our way, and all woke up to a big breakfast of eggs and bacon. Except Scott and Amy, who missed out and found their own in town.

I played tour guide again and took the team to Woodsie’s Gem Shop which I admit, is one of my favourite places to go. We first went into the cave and the school teacher in Margaret was working overtime, so she gave the owners a few pointers on how to make the display more enjoyable for those with a chemistry background (!!??).

We tackled the maze and can I just say right upfront, that I was first out. Although, I wished I had my kids with me coz it would’ve taken me a quarter of the time. Corey copied me and so came out just behind me, even though he tried to trip me over in the last hundred metres. The others underwent a fantastic team-building exercise, with each refusing to go to the ‘give up’ gate when clearly they were losers. I reckon Margaret was the instigator of this, but they tell me they kept one person in the centre and sent others out in different directions! Funny, but I still won. And no, I don’t subscribe to the ‘home advantage’ theory; I was the best on the day.

After a coffee and a look around the jewellery at Woodsie’s, I took us all on a wild goose chase. I thought I was showing Scott (the real estate agent) some nice Mildura houses, but since he was in another car, he tells me he didn’t see any coz he didn’t know he was supposed to be looking!

We went to the Old Mildura Homestead and I gave a very swift history lesson on the irrigation colony developed by the Chaffey brothers. We also took in the beach at Apex Park, admiring the river and right on cue, the P.S. Melbourne majestically steamed right on past us. We then headed home to my house to do official photos for the brochure. Before that we had to agree on uniforms from copious samples, which was a miracle, but happened.

My backyard was scouted for good back-drops and some suitable ones were found. However, it was my lovely neighbour (who doesn’t know this coz he wasn’t home) who lent us his lovely big tree for the group shot. Thanks Chris.

Everyone then packed up and we headed to the Art Vault (gallery) which was very interesting and then picked up some lunch and the Adelaideans headed off on their long journey home. I meanwhile, leisurely took in a movie and walked home where I read the paper, did a spot of gardening, etc.

So that was our weekend in Dura! With or without a remote team member, a weekend like this is a must-do for any GSE team as the way we are as a team now is fantastic. It was a great time together.

That brings me to the end. Tim, when you suggested I have a go at posting something on our blog, did you expect it to be a thesis? Oops, about that.

Kel.

2008-12-09T08:45:00.003+10:30

Hi All,

Since being accepted into the team to travel to the USA on the group study exchange, it has been very busy. The whole experience of being put into a group of complete strangers and having to work together, get to know each other and then live together for 6 weeks is a very exciting opportunity to learn a lot about human nature and myself.

I can not wait to travel to the USA and meet as many people as possible. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and i feel very blessed to be apart of it. I can truley say that the team that has been assembled is amazing and hopefully we will build life time friendships.

My aim during this program is become a stronger character, and build my interpersonal skills more. I have been told that to achieve great things in life you must experience as much as you possibly can, and remove yourself from your comfort zone more often. As Churchill once said 'When the mnd of man is expanded it never returns to it's original form'.

What is GSE?

2008-12-08T21:41:00.002+10:30

The Rotary Foundation’s Group Study Exchange (GSE) program is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for businesspeople and professionals between the ages of 25 and 40 who are in the early stages of their careers. The program provides travel grants for teams to exchange visits in paired areas of different countries. For four to six weeks, team members experience the host country's culture and institutions, observe how their vocations are practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas.

GSE Team going to North Carolina USA, April 2009

2008-12-08T21:31:00.004+10:30

This blog has been established to document the experience of the Rotary Group Study Exchange (GSE) team travelling to District 7710 in North Carolina, USA, in April 2009. We will be representing District 9520 in southern Australia.

The team is:
Margaret Northcote - Team Leader, Rotary Club of Campbelltown
Scott Endersby, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Edwardstown
Kelly Fyfe, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Mildura Deakin
Tim Gilchrist, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Kent Town
Corey Pearson, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Blackwood

The team at our selection workshop/first meeting at Margaret's house, August 2008.