This past Friday our team attended the Ambassadorial Scholar and GSE Team Outbound Orientation. There were over 100 people in attendance 12 of which made up 2 outbound teams from our district (yours truly and the Thailand team).
We spent Friday listening to wonderful Rotarian speakers as well as past GSE Team members that reflected on their excursions. It really gave us a lot of insight and a better prospective of what to expect while abroad. We even had the pleasure of hearing the experiences of Becky Faulkner who led a team to a district in Brazil close to where we will visit! Later that evening John Capps, Past District Governor (7730) told us remarkable stories about his excursions and told each and every one of us how important we are and how much our trips will impact our host districts. Just prior to dinner he gave everybody a puzzle piece to symbolize how we all create the big picture of Rotary. That evening we also had a small impromptu wine party hosted by our fearless leader in room 1608! We enjoyed a bottle of Gewurztraminer from Rebec Vineyards (big thanks to Katie!). Over wine we reflected on our day and enjoyed yet another opportunity for us to get to know more about each other. The more time we spend together the more excited we get about sharing this experience together, we really do have a fantastic team and it is amazing how well our personalities complement each other!
After breakfast on Saturday we enjoyed hearing from more speakers, one notable speaker was Denise Bellamy. Denise prepared us for how to handle culture shock but more importantly how to handle REVERSE culture shock. Reverse culture shock meaning what to expect when returning to the states and how to get back into the swing of things. It was explained that not all of our friends, family, and co-workers will have a full understanding of the purpose of our trip and the impact it will have on us, sharing these experiences may be difficult. Fortunately we know a lot of Rotarians that are anxious to hear us present to them when we return!
I think we may all be on information overload after the orientation but every question we had got answered and then some. They even told us how to pack! It was a great event and we can’t wait to reunite with all of our new friends at the Homestead next year and share stories!
Our next team meeting will be held in Winchester, VA February 13th 2010 where we will start planning our presentation. Did we mention that we have to present in Portuguese?
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