District 1850

Rotary District 1850 map

While in Germany, I'll travel within Rotary District 1850's boundary. Within it's boundary are Bremen, the hanseatic city-state, the port city of Bremerhaven, small towns like Meppen and Lingen close to the Netherlands border. Recently I submitted my wishlist of places I'd like to see and visit. Sometime next month, I should receive a copy of the itinerary. While on the program, I'll move to a new town every week while being hosted by Rotarians.

First Meeting

The Rockaways, NY

Today I went to The Rockways for my first preparatory meeting for the GSE trip. Initially, there was a bit a paper work, Barbara, Rotarian and team leader had to go over with us: seeing passports, getting signatures, discussing travel insurance and return dates. Fellow team members were in attendance. Subjects covered and questions answered ranged from gifts for host families, food allergies to vocational visits and available houses of worship. Gabor, last year's team leader to the Phillipines, also in attendance, shared some of his expertise. At the end of the meeting, there was a short lesson on German culture and language. I have German language homework due at next week's meeting. Here's some homework, I'm looking forward to.

Learning the Language

I don't speak the German. No sprechen sie kien deutsch. ( I don't even know if I spelled that correctly). However, I think it's important to speak the language when visiting a foreign country. Between now and the spring I'll study and hope to be able to express myself. Lately, I've been listening to German language cds at night. Thus far I've mastered counting to ten. When I do burpees, I do them in groups of ten counting out loud in German. Eins, zwei, drei.... Once I learn to count beyond 10 I can do higher quantities of burpees at once.

From Brooklyn to Bremen

Welcome to my blog. I was born and raised and currently reside in Brooklyn, NY. In late spring, I'll travel to Bremen, Germany as part of a group participating in the Rotary Club Group Study Exchange program. My prior experience in Germany includes a brief layover in Frankfurt when I 1) dropped my passport on the train tracks and 2) was chastised by a banker for asking him for information. This will be my first real visit to Germany.