Applications
If you've enjoyed reading this blog, and are interested in being part of Group Study Exchange, first check you are eligible and then make contact with your local Rotary District's GSE Chairperson.
Eligibility:
GSE applicants must be 25-40 years old, working full time in a recognised professional, and not a lineal ancestor of descendant of a Rotarian.
Contacts:
If you are from my own Rotary District 9830, check out this webpage.
If you are elsewhere in the world, try this site for information and then this site to find a local club contact.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Jim Morrison said it. This is the End.
Day 36 - Saturday, May 3, 2008
Well. This is it. The end of GSE from District 9830 to District 5220...
I'm not quite sure what to make of it right at the moment. The title above tells me that we've had 5 weeks of GSE. On one hand, that seems like a lifetime. My life at home seems very far away. The relationships we've developed here among the team, and with our hosts, are very much at the forefront of my mind.
On the other hand, I'm acutely aware that this has been a slightly unreal diversion from life. Sometime, in the not too distant future, we'll all be heading back to our lives at home and trying to make sense of them again. Which parts of the GSE experience will we integrate into our lives? Will we be changed by the time away? Which memories will slip by the wayside?
These are questions for which I won't have answers for some time...
Our GSE experience officially concluded with our departure from Modesto airport. Most of us were flying to San Francisco. I'm not sure why it was booked this way, given San Fran is only a few hours drive away, but it is the way the travel people booked the tickets. Michelle actually wanted to end up in LA, so she manage to change her flights to fly directly there. It really is good by now! The team is splitting up.
We gathered together our loved ones (aka our Modesto hosts) for our final good byes.
In a way, our hosts in Modesto were representing all of our hosts over the 5 weeks as they wished us well, and accepted our grateful hugs. Thank you everyone for your generosity, your kindness and for sharing your lives with a bunch of upstarts from the antipodes... Thank you especially to our weekly GSE Coordinators for constructing such an action packed and rewarding program. Thanks Dave, Victor, Bruce, Dorothy and Chris.
Our last thank you goes to Terri & Howie Amerio-Bell. GSE Chairperson Terri put in an enormous amount of work to make this exchange possible for us. We appreciate it. Symbolism is sometimes dangerously close to cliche, but we hope that you enjoy Errol's company, and that hew reminds you of a great GSE, and a job well done.
The next step...
So, where do I finish this blog? None of the 9830 team are heading immediately home, so our time in the USA is not yet at an end, and our experience as GSE members has some time to run as well. We've still got presentations to make at home, lives to improve, decisions to make about what we'll do when we grow up... In a lot of ways, it's a beginning rather than an end.
The start of the next chapter:
Michelle arranged to fly from Modesto to LA, only to have her flight break down and abandon her in Fresno. Little did she know she was to have another GSE blast from the past on her trip! (She hitched a lift to LA with one of our hosts).
Chris headed to Ohio to reacquaint himself with wife Pat and a Rotary Student Exchange friend they'd hosted years earlier. His trip wasn't smooth either. His bags didn't make it, and he was much later to Ohio than expected...
Bobby arrived. Yay! Sarah and her partner Bobby headed off to kontiki tour the South and to chase fun in the sun. By all accounts, they found it!
Glen and Will delivered Sarah safely to Bobby, then spent the afternoon in San Francisco experimenting with clam chowder and beer. Then it was off to Seattle to tour Boeing and Glen's load cell manufacturer. Then the beginning of a long road trip in a convertible...
We've all got more stories to tell, but you'll have to seek us out personally to hear them.
We'll leave this blog as a record of our GSE experiences.
If you were part of making it what it was for us, then thank you.
And if you have the chance to be part of GSE in the future... go for it!
Well. This is it. The end of GSE from District 9830 to District 5220...
I'm not quite sure what to make of it right at the moment. The title above tells me that we've had 5 weeks of GSE. On one hand, that seems like a lifetime. My life at home seems very far away. The relationships we've developed here among the team, and with our hosts, are very much at the forefront of my mind.
On the other hand, I'm acutely aware that this has been a slightly unreal diversion from life. Sometime, in the not too distant future, we'll all be heading back to our lives at home and trying to make sense of them again. Which parts of the GSE experience will we integrate into our lives? Will we be changed by the time away? Which memories will slip by the wayside?
These are questions for which I won't have answers for some time...
Our GSE experience officially concluded with our departure from Modesto airport. Most of us were flying to San Francisco. I'm not sure why it was booked this way, given San Fran is only a few hours drive away, but it is the way the travel people booked the tickets. Michelle actually wanted to end up in LA, so she manage to change her flights to fly directly there. It really is good by now! The team is splitting up.
We gathered together our loved ones (aka our Modesto hosts) for our final good byes.
In a way, our hosts in Modesto were representing all of our hosts over the 5 weeks as they wished us well, and accepted our grateful hugs. Thank you everyone for your generosity, your kindness and for sharing your lives with a bunch of upstarts from the antipodes... Thank you especially to our weekly GSE Coordinators for constructing such an action packed and rewarding program. Thanks Dave, Victor, Bruce, Dorothy and Chris.
Goodbye kind Modesto hosts!
Our last thank you goes to Terri & Howie Amerio-Bell. GSE Chairperson Terri put in an enormous amount of work to make this exchange possible for us. We appreciate it. Symbolism is sometimes dangerously close to cliche, but we hope that you enjoy Errol's company, and that hew reminds you of a great GSE, and a job well done.
Errol finds a new home with Terri & Howie
(Sarah's still distraught...)
(Sarah's still distraught...)
The next step...
So, where do I finish this blog? None of the 9830 team are heading immediately home, so our time in the USA is not yet at an end, and our experience as GSE members has some time to run as well. We've still got presentations to make at home, lives to improve, decisions to make about what we'll do when we grow up... In a lot of ways, it's a beginning rather than an end.
The start of the next chapter:
Michelle arranged to fly from Modesto to LA, only to have her flight break down and abandon her in Fresno. Little did she know she was to have another GSE blast from the past on her trip! (She hitched a lift to LA with one of our hosts).
Chris headed to Ohio to reacquaint himself with wife Pat and a Rotary Student Exchange friend they'd hosted years earlier. His trip wasn't smooth either. His bags didn't make it, and he was much later to Ohio than expected...
Bobby arrived. Yay! Sarah and her partner Bobby headed off to kontiki tour the South and to chase fun in the sun. By all accounts, they found it!
Glen and Will delivered Sarah safely to Bobby, then spent the afternoon in San Francisco experimenting with clam chowder and beer. Then it was off to Seattle to tour Boeing and Glen's load cell manufacturer. Then the beginning of a long road trip in a convertible...
We've all got more stories to tell, but you'll have to seek us out personally to hear them.
We'll leave this blog as a record of our GSE experiences.
If you were part of making it what it was for us, then thank you.
And if you have the chance to be part of GSE in the future... go for it!
Friday, May 2, 2008
Eat early. It leaves more partying time!
Day 35 - Friday, May 2, 2008
Glen couldn't resist packing as much into his last few days as he possibly could. In every presentation, Glen had pointed out that some of his load cells had 'been installed at Modesto Waste Transfer Station back in 1987, and were still in use today.' (Yes, I know that bit by heart. In fact, I think I know all of it by heart!) Anyway, on his last full day in Modesto, Glen thought he'd best go and visit this famous transfer station and find out whether he'd been telling porkies the whole trip!
Luckily for Glen, the load cells were still there and are still in use. Glen, I'll never doubt again!
Now, do you like to eat your main meal in the middle of the day? Or in the evening? At home, my family were always evening eaters. I'm beginning to realise that there are positives to eating early too though... It leaves more time for partying in the evening!
We toured Brunker Ranch (just outside of Modesto). The ranch has been in operation for hundreds of years and has very successfully raised beef cattle for much of that time. We heard some stories about their somewhat less successful efforts at raising buffalo, but we'll leave that for another time. The beef was magnificent.
Thank you very much to our kind hosts for the food, the tour and a lot of laughter!
After a fantastic lunch, we waddled back to our hosts' houses and spent a few hours packing our bags. We also packed several boxes full of excess luggage to post home. For the record, Will had the least excess (mostly because he had been too distracted chatting with Chris and Jenny to pack anything!). Sarah on the other hand, had the most. I'm sure her California Highway Patrol ball point pens are going to make great gifts for her colleagues, but they will be very expensive presents by the time she gets them home!
When evening rolled around, we had a great big good bye party hosted by the Currie household. Chris did the Haka for us all, Fiona and Claudia played piano and Jenny smuggled the kiwi flag into our photos. Mind you, she was only paying back Westy for putting the Aussie flag up in full view of all arriving guests without telling her!
It was a great night. Quite a few of our hosts from earlier in the exchange were able to make it down from Stockton, Oakhurst, Merced and even Sonora for the evening.
There were tall tales told (remember the one about the escaped convict, the gung-ho policeman and the way too fast car trip home??). And some of those yarns were even true! (Sorry US readers... 'yarns' means stories to an Aussie or a Kiwi). After the stories, there were speeches, shenanigans, drinks, hugs, tears and laughter. Not necessarily in that order. It was a great night. Thanks for having us Modesto, and especially thank you to the Curries.
Glen couldn't resist packing as much into his last few days as he possibly could. In every presentation, Glen had pointed out that some of his load cells had 'been installed at Modesto Waste Transfer Station back in 1987, and were still in use today.' (Yes, I know that bit by heart. In fact, I think I know all of it by heart!) Anyway, on his last full day in Modesto, Glen thought he'd best go and visit this famous transfer station and find out whether he'd been telling porkies the whole trip!
Modesto waste transfer Station
Luckily for Glen, the load cells were still there and are still in use. Glen, I'll never doubt again!
Elphinstone load cells in use in the US
Now, do you like to eat your main meal in the middle of the day? Or in the evening? At home, my family were always evening eaters. I'm beginning to realise that there are positives to eating early too though... It leaves more time for partying in the evening!
The history of Brunker Ranch
We toured Brunker Ranch (just outside of Modesto). The ranch has been in operation for hundreds of years and has very successfully raised beef cattle for much of that time. We heard some stories about their somewhat less successful efforts at raising buffalo, but we'll leave that for another time. The beef was magnificent.
The present at Brunker Ranch! They were delicious...
Thank you very much to our kind hosts for the food, the tour and a lot of laughter!
Brunker Ranch - Great Company
Brunker Ranch - Plenty of Laughs!
After a fantastic lunch, we waddled back to our hosts' houses and spent a few hours packing our bags. We also packed several boxes full of excess luggage to post home. For the record, Will had the least excess (mostly because he had been too distracted chatting with Chris and Jenny to pack anything!). Sarah on the other hand, had the most. I'm sure her California Highway Patrol ball point pens are going to make great gifts for her colleagues, but they will be very expensive presents by the time she gets them home!
Our very last presentation... :-(
When evening rolled around, we had a great big good bye party hosted by the Currie household. Chris did the Haka for us all, Fiona and Claudia played piano and Jenny smuggled the kiwi flag into our photos. Mind you, she was only paying back Westy for putting the Aussie flag up in full view of all arriving guests without telling her!
Jenny adding a special Kiwi touch to the photo
It was a great night. Quite a few of our hosts from earlier in the exchange were able to make it down from Stockton, Oakhurst, Merced and even Sonora for the evening.
Many of our hosts from throughout the exchange were able to attend
There were tall tales told (remember the one about the escaped convict, the gung-ho policeman and the way too fast car trip home??). And some of those yarns were even true! (Sorry US readers... 'yarns' means stories to an Aussie or a Kiwi). After the stories, there were speeches, shenanigans, drinks, hugs, tears and laughter. Not necessarily in that order. It was a great night. Thanks for having us Modesto, and especially thank you to the Curries.
Errol's last hurrah... Goodbye!
Thursday, May 1, 2008
A raucous bunch. (And no, I’m not talking about us for once…)
Day 34 - Thursday, May 1, 2008
Another day, another sunrise Rotary club! I remember seeing this on the very first draft of the schedule that we received and thinking, "wow, they're getting their money worth here! We're up for a 6:30 AM meeting on our second last day!" What I didn't realise at the time is that some of the members of the very same club we were visiting would conspire to have us out to a late hour the night before the meeting! Nice work guys... :-) Thanks for that! At least one member of the co-conspirators from the club didn't make the meeting, but all of the GSE team did. So I think that means we win!
To be honest, I was never in any danger of not making it. If we'd been absent or late, then Chris would have been fined even more than he already was! I was pretty safe... Actually, Chris and I had an interesting trip to the meeting. Chris has a mate (that's "friend" for you Americans) in the club who is from Ghana. They joke that no one can understand either one of them, so they translate speeches into American for one another. I haven't heard this, but I suspect it would be hilarious! Chris and I decided we'd do something similar. I'd speak int eh most incomprehensible Australian I could muster, and he would translate. Now, Chris is a Kiwi, but that seems basically like a cousin when you are as far away as Modesto, so this seemed like a good plan to me. I had brainstormed a little, but hadn't written anything, so Chris and I drafted a speech in the car park before we went into the meeting. We made sure to include gday, drongo, flat out like a lizard drinking, thong, maggotted... etc. Slipshod preparation like this would normally spell disaster, but I think we were a success. (Success meaning that I was totally incomprehensible, and Chris' translations only made things worse...) Fun!
Other noteworthy items from the meeting:
Glen presented his speech without any notes whatsoever. And it was arguably his best of the trip! Why didn't we do this earlier? He was great!
The 'board of cynics' at the table in the back had smart alec things to say about every speaker. They were funny! Thank goodness I couldn't hear them when I was up front...
Scholarship awards were presented to several local students who were completing high school. They from a range of ethnic backgrounds, and were off to study chemistry, biology and engineering (forgive me if I've mis-remembered these!). My overall impression was one of awe at the capability and fantastic presentation of these young women! Not sure about Australia, but if these girls continue on their way, then the US is in good hands...
Right... Well I've just written 3000 words, and we're not at 9am yet! I'm going to have to hurry things up a bit here... Fortunately today was a vocational day. This usually makes for easy blogging because either team members write their own entries, else they are really short! There are also never any pictures unfortunately... It is usually inappropriate to be happily snapping away as we tour a business!
Here's a quick run down of what we got up to:
- I visited newly completed Enoch high school and checked out how they've used ICT. interesting to see that they keep their PCs for a very long time, and that purchasing decision making and support are almost all centralised. Then Chris and I visited a hospital and had a good time checking out their ridiculously big data centre. We also think we might have recruited a new GSE member, Tim. I'm definitely barracking for more ICT blokes to go on GSE!
- Glen saw a million dollar laser cutter that can cut 100 sheets of 5 mm plate. he says it's the most modern and advanced piece of technology he's seen so far. And on the last vocation visit of the trip! Impressive....
- Michelle looking at training programs with the local program director. He is a Lions member, but I suspected he'll be crossing over to the dark side (Rotary) after meeting her!
- Sarah went helicopter flying (again). This time all the way to Sonora. (Get a map... that's a long way! Took us hours in the car). I can't remember if this was city, county or CHP. I'm thinking county, but I could be wrong. There are a lot of choppers here...
Well, we finally made it to lunch time! What an epic blog entry! This was a big day. Lunch was at St Stan’s brewery. I'd been eyeing this place off our first night here, so I was pleased to be able to finally try the beer! The beer was OK, but more impressive were Michelle's onion rings,m which I think were the world’s largest. I haven't got a photo, but imagine this; I tried to wear one as a wrist band, and it only broke right at the last moment! These things were big...
In the afternoon, we went on some industry tours. We saw two businesses, Gallo wine and Sciabica's olive oil. It was a study in contrast. Gallo is big. Very big. We had a tour run by a couple of charming young ladies who were employees of the winery. They were able to explain that the winery did in deed make wine, that it had been open sine just after prohibition ended, that it was successful, and that it was very, very big. This was the main impression we were left with. I would have liked a little more detail, but I guess there is only so much you can do in an hour when you have that many gallons of wine to worry about! They had one storage tank that was one million gallons, and that was one of many... Altogether they make about a litre of wine for each person in the US each year. Think about how many kids and teetotallers there are. That's a lot...
On the way out of the winery, Terri gave us the opportunity to visit the staff only store to buy wine at discout prices. I couldn't buy anything because I'm already overloaded for my flight home, but it was cool to see all the products available. Including some dodgy imported Aussie brands. These were from the salubrious wine region of 'South East Australia.' When I read the fine print, this could mean barossa, murray river or hawkesbury river regions, depending on the bottle! There was a promotion happening at the store. Several attractive young ladies were dressed as brides and were spruking the wine. They looked great. As a special treat, if anyone proposed at the shop that very afternoon, then they would receive 10 cases of wine for their wedding reception. Sarah considered phoning Bobby and popping the questions, but it didn't eventuate...
Sciabica's olive oil business on the other hand was a small family business that focused on high quality and low volume. One of the grandsons of the founder gave us a personal presentation on the production process, on types of olive oil, and the company history. We also tasted 6 fantastic olive oils. Tasting oil by simply dipping bread into it was a new experience for some of the team... We told him it is pretty common at home!
It is possible to flavour olive oil by adding flavours after it is pressed, but Sciabica's oil is flavoured by adding fresh ingredients before pressing. Some of their fantastic infused flavours include jalapeno, basil, lemon and garlic. Have I given away the fact that I enjoyed them yet??
Last stop for the day was a reception at Gallettos. This is a Gallo owned bank converted into an up market (up scale) restaurant and bar. For those of you who have been following the blog since day one, you might remember that we wandered through here on our first night in the US. We were very impressed that Terri arranged for us to be able to come back here!
We had a great night. Lots of fun, lots of nice people to talk to. Lots of photos too. I'll leave you with some of those...
Another day, another sunrise Rotary club! I remember seeing this on the very first draft of the schedule that we received and thinking, "wow, they're getting their money worth here! We're up for a 6:30 AM meeting on our second last day!" What I didn't realise at the time is that some of the members of the very same club we were visiting would conspire to have us out to a late hour the night before the meeting! Nice work guys... :-) Thanks for that! At least one member of the co-conspirators from the club didn't make the meeting, but all of the GSE team did. So I think that means we win!
Jeff & Howie out flank a pair of unsuspecting Sunrise Rotarians
To be honest, I was never in any danger of not making it. If we'd been absent or late, then Chris would have been fined even more than he already was! I was pretty safe... Actually, Chris and I had an interesting trip to the meeting. Chris has a mate (that's "friend" for you Americans) in the club who is from Ghana. They joke that no one can understand either one of them, so they translate speeches into American for one another. I haven't heard this, but I suspect it would be hilarious! Chris and I decided we'd do something similar. I'd speak int eh most incomprehensible Australian I could muster, and he would translate. Now, Chris is a Kiwi, but that seems basically like a cousin when you are as far away as Modesto, so this seemed like a good plan to me. I had brainstormed a little, but hadn't written anything, so Chris and I drafted a speech in the car park before we went into the meeting. We made sure to include gday, drongo, flat out like a lizard drinking, thong, maggotted... etc. Slipshod preparation like this would normally spell disaster, but I think we were a success. (Success meaning that I was totally incomprehensible, and Chris' translations only made things worse...) Fun!
Southern Hemisphere Chris x2 are dwarfed by Jeff
Other noteworthy items from the meeting:
Glen presented his speech without any notes whatsoever. And it was arguably his best of the trip! Why didn't we do this earlier? He was great!
The 'board of cynics' at the table in the back had smart alec things to say about every speaker. They were funny! Thank goodness I couldn't hear them when I was up front...
Scholarship awards were presented to several local students who were completing high school. They from a range of ethnic backgrounds, and were off to study chemistry, biology and engineering (forgive me if I've mis-remembered these!). My overall impression was one of awe at the capability and fantastic presentation of these young women! Not sure about Australia, but if these girls continue on their way, then the US is in good hands...
Right... Well I've just written 3000 words, and we're not at 9am yet! I'm going to have to hurry things up a bit here... Fortunately today was a vocational day. This usually makes for easy blogging because either team members write their own entries, else they are really short! There are also never any pictures unfortunately... It is usually inappropriate to be happily snapping away as we tour a business!
Here's a quick run down of what we got up to:
- I visited newly completed Enoch high school and checked out how they've used ICT. interesting to see that they keep their PCs for a very long time, and that purchasing decision making and support are almost all centralised. Then Chris and I visited a hospital and had a good time checking out their ridiculously big data centre. We also think we might have recruited a new GSE member, Tim. I'm definitely barracking for more ICT blokes to go on GSE!
- Glen saw a million dollar laser cutter that can cut 100 sheets of 5 mm plate. he says it's the most modern and advanced piece of technology he's seen so far. And on the last vocation visit of the trip! Impressive....
- Michelle looking at training programs with the local program director. He is a Lions member, but I suspected he'll be crossing over to the dark side (Rotary) after meeting her!
- Sarah went helicopter flying (again). This time all the way to Sonora. (Get a map... that's a long way! Took us hours in the car). I can't remember if this was city, county or CHP. I'm thinking county, but I could be wrong. There are a lot of choppers here...
How many choppers do the California Police own?? Just ask Sarah!
Well, we finally made it to lunch time! What an epic blog entry! This was a big day. Lunch was at St Stan’s brewery. I'd been eyeing this place off our first night here, so I was pleased to be able to finally try the beer! The beer was OK, but more impressive were Michelle's onion rings,m which I think were the world’s largest. I haven't got a photo, but imagine this; I tried to wear one as a wrist band, and it only broke right at the last moment! These things were big...
Gallo maturation barrels. All 600 of them are in this cellar...
In the afternoon, we went on some industry tours. We saw two businesses, Gallo wine and Sciabica's olive oil. It was a study in contrast. Gallo is big. Very big. We had a tour run by a couple of charming young ladies who were employees of the winery. They were able to explain that the winery did in deed make wine, that it had been open sine just after prohibition ended, that it was successful, and that it was very, very big. This was the main impression we were left with. I would have liked a little more detail, but I guess there is only so much you can do in an hour when you have that many gallons of wine to worry about! They had one storage tank that was one million gallons, and that was one of many... Altogether they make about a litre of wine for each person in the US each year. Think about how many kids and teetotallers there are. That's a lot...
On the way out of the winery, Terri gave us the opportunity to visit the staff only store to buy wine at discout prices. I couldn't buy anything because I'm already overloaded for my flight home, but it was cool to see all the products available. Including some dodgy imported Aussie brands. These were from the salubrious wine region of 'South East Australia.' When I read the fine print, this could mean barossa, murray river or hawkesbury river regions, depending on the bottle! There was a promotion happening at the store. Several attractive young ladies were dressed as brides and were spruking the wine. They looked great. As a special treat, if anyone proposed at the shop that very afternoon, then they would receive 10 cases of wine for their wedding reception. Sarah considered phoning Bobby and popping the questions, but it didn't eventuate...
Sciabica's olive oil business on the other hand was a small family business that focused on high quality and low volume. One of the grandsons of the founder gave us a personal presentation on the production process, on types of olive oil, and the company history. We also tasted 6 fantastic olive oils. Tasting oil by simply dipping bread into it was a new experience for some of the team... We told him it is pretty common at home!
It is possible to flavour olive oil by adding flavours after it is pressed, but Sciabica's oil is flavoured by adding fresh ingredients before pressing. Some of their fantastic infused flavours include jalapeno, basil, lemon and garlic. Have I given away the fact that I enjoyed them yet??
Sarah chatting up April & the 2nd most attractive guy in the bar
Last stop for the day was a reception at Gallettos. This is a Gallo owned bank converted into an up market (up scale) restaurant and bar. For those of you who have been following the blog since day one, you might remember that we wandered through here on our first night in the US. We were very impressed that Terri arranged for us to be able to come back here!
We had a great night. Lots of fun, lots of nice people to talk to. Lots of photos too. I'll leave you with some of those...
A motley crew in a very happy place! (Note: I was kneeling, Westy isn't that much taller than me!)
Even reporters can party sometimes! Lisa and Sarah
Sarah & Glen making friends
Jeff's daughter can do about 100 push ups... Just thought you'd like to know!
Michelle is about to take her on...
Michelle is about to take her on...
Why do we have so many photos of the party and so few of vocational day?
Does this say something about us??
Does this say something about us??
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Vocational Day Modesto. Discounts if you buy in bulk
Day 33 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Has anyone at home ever hear of CostCo? If not, chances are we will in the not too distant future. Unconfirmed reports on the internet suggest that there will be a CostCo warehouse built as part of the docklands development in Melbourne. My guess is that it will grow from there.
CostCo is a warehouse style supermarket which aims to sell high quantities of fairly high quality goods at fairly low prices. And, interstingly, it is a membership based shop. You have to spend $50 or $100 to buy a membership before you can even shop here! Lots and lots of peoepl do though. It is an extremely successful business. I'm not a good enough shopper to really be able to compare prices (the exchange rate doesn't help) so I'll leave it to others to pass judgement on the affordableness (or otherwise) of CostCo. I'll just say that I was really impressed with theri scale adn volume. There weer many peoepl lined up waiting to go in when the place opened at 10am. The vote of the consumer is what counts!
We met at lunchtime with Oakdale Rotary at a very classy country club. They had leather chairs with little rolling wheels on them! Very comfy. Also had great desserts. My kind of place really. I sat at teh back table with all the other rebels of the club. It was fun, except that there was a womens' luncheon of some description happeneing behind some partitiions just behind us, adn they pretty much drow3ned out the club president! At the end of our presentation there was tiem for questions. One bloke made a wise crack about being really keen to get to Tasmania. He said he woudl hire a sports car and drive around aqs quickly as he could tryign to get a ticket (presumably from Sarah). For the longest tiem I didn't know where he was heading wit the story, but i n the end I'll give it credit. I found it funny...
The afternoon provided a chance for vocational visits. Chris Currie had gone to some effort to try and arrange for us to do things we hadn't seen before. I think this is a tough ask in teh last week, but he worked at it and did a good job. I can't speak authoritively about what teh rest of the team did, but, in brief:
Michelle visited a local governemnt training authority
Sarah was out with county police
Glen went to Jack Rabbit who make machinery for almond harvesting
Chris had a pow wow with the membership coordinator for the local Rotary clubs
& I (Will) got to visit a local IT Solutions company who were named… IT Solutions!
IT Solutions is run by Modesto Downtown Rotarian David and his business partner. He's actually a competitor of sorts with CHris, so it was nice of both of them to arrange the visit. David and I had a great time discussing things as diverse as choosing their customer base, employing staff, time management, salary adn incentive schemes, low labour services that can provide ongogin revenue streams, hang gliding (a favourite of David's!) and finally, what we each wnat to do when we grow up. It was a thoroughly entertaining afternoon. Thanks David.
Wednesday evening presented us with ten pin bowling and pizza and partying. Terri & Howie dropped in, as did many of our hosts. I don't really want to talk abotu my bowling, suffice to say that Chris' 10 year old daughter beat me pretty consistently!
On the upside, the bowling alley had a radar on the alleys to tell you your ball speed, and I did hold the speed record for a short time at 19.1 mph. I was knocked off though. First by Chris, and later by Jeff and Glen who fought out a tough contest with Jeff finally taking the prize at about 23 mph... A productive evening I'm sure you will agree!
Has anyone at home ever hear of CostCo? If not, chances are we will in the not too distant future. Unconfirmed reports on the internet suggest that there will be a CostCo warehouse built as part of the docklands development in Melbourne. My guess is that it will grow from there.
CostCo is a warehouse style supermarket which aims to sell high quantities of fairly high quality goods at fairly low prices. And, interstingly, it is a membership based shop. You have to spend $50 or $100 to buy a membership before you can even shop here! Lots and lots of peoepl do though. It is an extremely successful business. I'm not a good enough shopper to really be able to compare prices (the exchange rate doesn't help) so I'll leave it to others to pass judgement on the affordableness (or otherwise) of CostCo. I'll just say that I was really impressed with theri scale adn volume. There weer many peoepl lined up waiting to go in when the place opened at 10am. The vote of the consumer is what counts!
We met at lunchtime with Oakdale Rotary at a very classy country club. They had leather chairs with little rolling wheels on them! Very comfy. Also had great desserts. My kind of place really. I sat at teh back table with all the other rebels of the club. It was fun, except that there was a womens' luncheon of some description happeneing behind some partitiions just behind us, adn they pretty much drow3ned out the club president! At the end of our presentation there was tiem for questions. One bloke made a wise crack about being really keen to get to Tasmania. He said he woudl hire a sports car and drive around aqs quickly as he could tryign to get a ticket (presumably from Sarah). For the longest tiem I didn't know where he was heading wit the story, but i n the end I'll give it credit. I found it funny...
Meeting at the country club
The afternoon provided a chance for vocational visits. Chris Currie had gone to some effort to try and arrange for us to do things we hadn't seen before. I think this is a tough ask in teh last week, but he worked at it and did a good job. I can't speak authoritively about what teh rest of the team did, but, in brief:
Michelle visited a local governemnt training authority
Sarah was out with county police
Glen went to Jack Rabbit who make machinery for almond harvesting
Chris had a pow wow with the membership coordinator for the local Rotary clubs
& I (Will) got to visit a local IT Solutions company who were named… IT Solutions!
IT Solutions is run by Modesto Downtown Rotarian David and his business partner. He's actually a competitor of sorts with CHris, so it was nice of both of them to arrange the visit. David and I had a great time discussing things as diverse as choosing their customer base, employing staff, time management, salary adn incentive schemes, low labour services that can provide ongogin revenue streams, hang gliding (a favourite of David's!) and finally, what we each wnat to do when we grow up. It was a thoroughly entertaining afternoon. Thanks David.
April & her son
A kiwi in his element
Wednesday evening presented us with ten pin bowling and pizza and partying. Terri & Howie dropped in, as did many of our hosts. I don't really want to talk abotu my bowling, suffice to say that Chris' 10 year old daughter beat me pretty consistently!
Enjoying bowling the way Terri, Els, Howie & I prefer
On the upside, the bowling alley had a radar on the alleys to tell you your ball speed, and I did hold the speed record for a short time at 19.1 mph. I was knocked off though. First by Chris, and later by Jeff and Glen who fought out a tough contest with Jeff finally taking the prize at about 23 mph... A productive evening I'm sure you will agree!
Glen bowling at 20+ Mph
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
A dodgy ‘baulk’ call cost us the game
Day 32 - Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tuesday saw us touring some of the sites of Modesto. First stop was the (relatively) new Gallo Arts Centre. Gallo being the mega rich wine dynasty who sponsored the building of this facility and Arts Centre being what it is. A multipurpose venue for theatre, music, presentations etc. They are about to host a touring production of cats that many locals are excited about seeing. They have something like 180 'curtains' planned for 2008, which compares pretty favourably I think. Even better, the people of Modesto are really supporting the venue, and most shows are selling really well. It was an interesting tour.
Glen particularly enjoyed the tour, because I was late. Normally he is last anywhere and I give him grief, but this time it was Chris and Jenny and I dragging the chain. We got caught for about 15 minutes at a level crossing while the longest train in history went past. I hearby pledge not to hold Glen up again! It just isn't worth the trouble... I don't pledge not to hassle him next time he is late though! I figure it is likely to be tomorrow, so I'll get plenty of chances!
After completing the tour of the Arts Centre, we walked up the street to have a look around the Modesto Bee. The Bee is the local newspaper, and is also the proud employer of District 5220 GSE team member Lisa Millegan. Our tour guide did a great job of giving us a broad overview of operations. We saw the actual printing presses and actual advertising inserts. We also the advertising staff and journalists in action and were able to sit in on a news meeting that was planning the front page for the following day's paper. It was interesting. (And I'm terribly sorry, I've left it too long between the event and the blog, and I've misplaced our guide's name... :-( Her picture is below though).
Another short wander through the streets of Modesto took us to our lunchtime Rotary meeting with the downtown (aka 'old man') Modesto club. It was a blast from the past for us because it was held at the very same Double Tree hotel where we stayed our first night in the US. I can remember sitting outside the meeting room that Rotary uses about 11pm that first night. I was chatting to Michelle over VoIP while the Hispanic Lip Sync contest raged in the background. Seems like only yesterday in some ways, but in other ways it has been a long long time! We've met a brigade of great people since then, and seen so much of the district. It's been great. And, even better, I can still call home at 11pm, and the conversations are still great! The debriefs and encouragement in those phone calls have made my trip so much more enjoyable. Lucky me. OK, tangent complete. Let's get back to the story.
We shared the Rotary meeting with 30 interact students who were all introduced, the drawing of a major raffle with twenty odd prize and the introduction of a giant deep fried asparagus dressed up like Mr Potato Head! I was very concerned that we were going to have to cut our program short on the fly.
I was worrying about this because I'm last, so I'd be the one dropping material. i was trying to decide whether to drop my talk about the Taste and the Hobart Summer Festival, my jokes about bacon, or the story of the Tassie Devil. I had decided to leave the Devil in. Fortunately, that was all academic and we didn't have to cut it at all in the end. Nice group again, fun meeting. I met David, who I would be meeting for a vocational excursion later in the week, and a couple f charming students from the local Catholic high school. As a side note, their fees are about four times those of St Mary's! The government should really pitch in over here...
In the evening, we travelled into San Francisco to attend a baseball game. It was the SF Giants against the Colorado Rockies at AT&T Park. Great venue, if a little cold. The Currie girls warned me that it would be cold, but I didn't believe them. Luckily for me they badgered me until i took my Wallabies Jersey and a jacket. Lucky they did! The wind off the bay was icy!
Our guides at the baseball were Sarah's host Alan, my host the Currie family and their friend Jim and his son Rick. We were barracking (aka rooting) for the local team of course! It's great to have some local knowledge at a time like this. They explained that young up and coming pitcher Tim Lincecum was going to be the star of the show. He pretty much was. Robust catcher Bengie Molina was also a highlight. Great catcher, good hitter, fantastic leader. Best we don't mention his running ability... it was comical!
So, now we come to the part of the story where you figure out what the subject line actually means! Some background, as succinctly as I can manage it. In baseball, runners on base are forever trying to 'steal a base' by running when the batter doesn't even hit the ball. At the very least, they want to sneak off the base a bit to get a head start in running to the next base if the batter does hit it. Well, instead of pitching, the pitcher is allowed to throw the ball over to the baseman to try and run out a runner who has sneakily moved away form his base. This is quite legal. A 'baulk' occurs if the pitcher has begun his pitching motion (his 'wind up') and then stops, either to try for a run out, or to just trick the batter. If the umpire calls a 'baulk' then the batter on base gets to walk a base.
Got that so far? Good. Well, it happened in this game, and a runner got to walk from third to home, scoring a run that won the game for the visitors, three to two. The weird thing was that the umpire motioned to call time out while the pitcher was in his wind up. SO the pitcher stopped his wind up, and was called for a baulk. This is a muck up somewhere. The ump shouldn't call time during the wind up anyway. So if he did, why call the baulk? If he didn't, why did he lift his arms up and make it look like he did? It was either a bad call to signal of time out, or a ad baulk call, or both...
Anyway, after the call the Giants manager and catcher both argues with the referee until the manager was thrown out of the game. Didn't help though. The visitors won...
The only things left for the night were a few photo opportunities and the trip home. I'm very grateful to Jim for driving us home. I was shattered and really struggled to stay awake and keep talking on the trip. Many others didn't manage to stay awake at all! I'm glad I wasn't driving. Thanks for getting us home safely Jim!
Tuesday saw us touring some of the sites of Modesto. First stop was the (relatively) new Gallo Arts Centre. Gallo being the mega rich wine dynasty who sponsored the building of this facility and Arts Centre being what it is. A multipurpose venue for theatre, music, presentations etc. They are about to host a touring production of cats that many locals are excited about seeing. They have something like 180 'curtains' planned for 2008, which compares pretty favourably I think. Even better, the people of Modesto are really supporting the venue, and most shows are selling really well. It was an interesting tour.
Glen particularly enjoyed the tour, because I was late. Normally he is last anywhere and I give him grief, but this time it was Chris and Jenny and I dragging the chain. We got caught for about 15 minutes at a level crossing while the longest train in history went past. I hearby pledge not to hold Glen up again! It just isn't worth the trouble... I don't pledge not to hassle him next time he is late though! I figure it is likely to be tomorrow, so I'll get plenty of chances!
Gallo Arts Centre tour
After completing the tour of the Arts Centre, we walked up the street to have a look around the Modesto Bee. The Bee is the local newspaper, and is also the proud employer of District 5220 GSE team member Lisa Millegan. Our tour guide did a great job of giving us a broad overview of operations. We saw the actual printing presses and actual advertising inserts. We also the advertising staff and journalists in action and were able to sit in on a news meeting that was planning the front page for the following day's paper. It was interesting. (And I'm terribly sorry, I've left it too long between the event and the blog, and I've misplaced our guide's name... :-( Her picture is below though).
The business end of the Modesto Bee
Lisa Millegan returned form her GSE trip to Australia more theatrical if nothing else!
Another short wander through the streets of Modesto took us to our lunchtime Rotary meeting with the downtown (aka 'old man') Modesto club. It was a blast from the past for us because it was held at the very same Double Tree hotel where we stayed our first night in the US. I can remember sitting outside the meeting room that Rotary uses about 11pm that first night. I was chatting to Michelle over VoIP while the Hispanic Lip Sync contest raged in the background. Seems like only yesterday in some ways, but in other ways it has been a long long time! We've met a brigade of great people since then, and seen so much of the district. It's been great. And, even better, I can still call home at 11pm, and the conversations are still great! The debriefs and encouragement in those phone calls have made my trip so much more enjoyable. Lucky me. OK, tangent complete. Let's get back to the story.
We shared the Rotary meeting with 30 interact students who were all introduced, the drawing of a major raffle with twenty odd prize and the introduction of a giant deep fried asparagus dressed up like Mr Potato Head! I was very concerned that we were going to have to cut our program short on the fly.
Terri in full flight at Modesto Rotary Club
I was worrying about this because I'm last, so I'd be the one dropping material. i was trying to decide whether to drop my talk about the Taste and the Hobart Summer Festival, my jokes about bacon, or the story of the Tassie Devil. I had decided to leave the Devil in. Fortunately, that was all academic and we didn't have to cut it at all in the end. Nice group again, fun meeting. I met David, who I would be meeting for a vocational excursion later in the week, and a couple f charming students from the local Catholic high school. As a side note, their fees are about four times those of St Mary's! The government should really pitch in over here...
Our presentation at Modesto Rotary
In the evening, we travelled into San Francisco to attend a baseball game. It was the SF Giants against the Colorado Rockies at AT&T Park. Great venue, if a little cold. The Currie girls warned me that it would be cold, but I didn't believe them. Luckily for me they badgered me until i took my Wallabies Jersey and a jacket. Lucky they did! The wind off the bay was icy!
Our guides at the baseball were Sarah's host Alan, my host the Currie family and their friend Jim and his son Rick. We were barracking (aka rooting) for the local team of course! It's great to have some local knowledge at a time like this. They explained that young up and coming pitcher Tim Lincecum was going to be the star of the show. He pretty much was. Robust catcher Bengie Molina was also a highlight. Great catcher, good hitter, fantastic leader. Best we don't mention his running ability... it was comical!
So, now we come to the part of the story where you figure out what the subject line actually means! Some background, as succinctly as I can manage it. In baseball, runners on base are forever trying to 'steal a base' by running when the batter doesn't even hit the ball. At the very least, they want to sneak off the base a bit to get a head start in running to the next base if the batter does hit it. Well, instead of pitching, the pitcher is allowed to throw the ball over to the baseman to try and run out a runner who has sneakily moved away form his base. This is quite legal. A 'baulk' occurs if the pitcher has begun his pitching motion (his 'wind up') and then stops, either to try for a run out, or to just trick the batter. If the umpire calls a 'baulk' then the batter on base gets to walk a base.
Got that so far? Good. Well, it happened in this game, and a runner got to walk from third to home, scoring a run that won the game for the visitors, three to two. The weird thing was that the umpire motioned to call time out while the pitcher was in his wind up. SO the pitcher stopped his wind up, and was called for a baulk. This is a muck up somewhere. The ump shouldn't call time during the wind up anyway. So if he did, why call the baulk? If he didn't, why did he lift his arms up and make it look like he did? It was either a bad call to signal of time out, or a ad baulk call, or both...
Anyway, after the call the Giants manager and catcher both argues with the referee until the manager was thrown out of the game. Didn't help though. The visitors won...
Giants at the stadium on the bay
The only things left for the night were a few photo opportunities and the trip home. I'm very grateful to Jim for driving us home. I was shattered and really struggled to stay awake and keep talking on the trip. Many others didn't manage to stay awake at all! I'm glad I wasn't driving. Thanks for getting us home safely Jim!
San Francisco at night. Taken from the inland end of the bay bridge.
Currie Family in San Francisco in the bl**dy cold
Monday, April 28, 2008
Governator tour of Sacramento
Day 31 – Monday, April 28, 2008
Chris the Kiwi, Ashwini and the Aussie team rolled out of Tahoe on Monday morning. We didn’t’ just get up and leave though. Of course not! Instead we went out for breakfast at a genuine 1950s style American Diner. It had old advertising posters for RC (Red Cherry Cola) with carton girls with blonde hair curled with curlers. It had Red leather on the round stools set at the counter. It had the sort of food you’d expect. It was quite fun really. Like being in an old movie! I enjoyed my bottomless coffee and eggs, but didn’t bother with the full half plate of hash brown I was served. Hash brown here is a sort of grated potato that is (I think) fried. Actually I’m not too sure how it was cooked, because I didn’t taste. I think my cholesterol went up just from looking at it though…
On our way from Tahoe to Modesto, we stopped in Sacramento to have a look around the state capital. Confirmed nerds Chris and I took the opportunity to have our pictures taken outside the Intel plant. This place is huge by the way. Many buildings, many floors, many people and too much security for Chris and I to be able to wander in unannounced.
The next stop on the tour was a date with Michelle’s favourite Governator Arnie at the Capitol Building. Sarah had made friends with the local constabulary before we even got inside. They were there to manage a crowd expected to attend hearings to memorialise the Jewish Holocaust during WWII. They were also dealing with a protester dressed in surgical robes. I don’t know what he was protesting, perhaps he didn’t either. I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t anything to do with the hearings…
The dome shaped capital building looks a little like its sister structure in Washington DC. Inside, there are high decorated ceilings, large portraits of past state governors, museums, galleries and gift shops. We wandered right through the place and took in the sights. Taking photos in front of Governor Arnie’s office was a bit of a highlight, even if he was out of town. Once again, the local police were very obliging! We sat in on a few minutes of the hearings in the lower house of the legislature, and then were on our way.
Chris took us to Old Sacramento to have a little bit of a look around. This is a part of town hear the old ports where there are many old fashioned shops, eateries and attractions. It is cute. Sort of Salamanca meets Sovereign Hill for Aussies. Sarah had fun looking at signed movie memorabilia. I enjoyed the Peruvian crafts. Glen murdered the first ice cream he found!
After Sacramento, it was off to Modesto to meet our hosts and get ready for another big week of GSE!
Chris the Kiwi, Ashwini and the Aussie team rolled out of Tahoe on Monday morning. We didn’t’ just get up and leave though. Of course not! Instead we went out for breakfast at a genuine 1950s style American Diner. It had old advertising posters for RC (Red Cherry Cola) with carton girls with blonde hair curled with curlers. It had Red leather on the round stools set at the counter. It had the sort of food you’d expect. It was quite fun really. Like being in an old movie! I enjoyed my bottomless coffee and eggs, but didn’t bother with the full half plate of hash brown I was served. Hash brown here is a sort of grated potato that is (I think) fried. Actually I’m not too sure how it was cooked, because I didn’t taste. I think my cholesterol went up just from looking at it though…
On our way from Tahoe to Modesto, we stopped in Sacramento to have a look around the state capital. Confirmed nerds Chris and I took the opportunity to have our pictures taken outside the Intel plant. This place is huge by the way. Many buildings, many floors, many people and too much security for Chris and I to be able to wander in unannounced.
A nerd at home
The next stop on the tour was a date with Michelle’s favourite Governator Arnie at the Capitol Building. Sarah had made friends with the local constabulary before we even got inside. They were there to manage a crowd expected to attend hearings to memorialise the Jewish Holocaust during WWII. They were also dealing with a protester dressed in surgical robes. I don’t know what he was protesting, perhaps he didn’t either. I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t anything to do with the hearings…
Capitol Building
The dome shaped capital building looks a little like its sister structure in Washington DC. Inside, there are high decorated ceilings, large portraits of past state governors, museums, galleries and gift shops. We wandered right through the place and took in the sights. Taking photos in front of Governor Arnie’s office was a bit of a highlight, even if he was out of town. Once again, the local police were very obliging! We sat in on a few minutes of the hearings in the lower house of the legislature, and then were on our way.
Capitol Building - Recognise this at all?
Chris took us to Old Sacramento to have a little bit of a look around. This is a part of town hear the old ports where there are many old fashioned shops, eateries and attractions. It is cute. Sort of Salamanca meets Sovereign Hill for Aussies. Sarah had fun looking at signed movie memorabilia. I enjoyed the Peruvian crafts. Glen murdered the first ice cream he found!
Obliging local hosts Errol
After Sacramento, it was off to Modesto to meet our hosts and get ready for another big week of GSE!
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