Jack & Mum
Guest Speaker Jack Kadoaui gave an interesting presentation and shared his experiences over the last 12 months as an exchange student in Germany, including things with Rotary and Rotex and where he hopes the experience will take him in the future. Many questions from members followed Jack’s presentation indicating our interest in the exchange program.
A report received recently from Jack Kadaoui, our outbound student currently in Germany …. I’d have to say the past few months since my last report have probably been the best of my exchange. I’ll start on the 3rd of July with the start of Schützenfest. Schützenfest means shooting festival and is held in almost every town in North/Central Germany. It is held every year as a festival for all the shooting clubs in the surrounding area to meet. Hannover holds the biggest in all of Germany with a little over 300 clubs ranging from near 500 year old clubs to as recent as 10 years old. These days it’s more of a festival with rides and stands but it still has its traditional dress and music and naturally a lot of beer. The festival goes for 10 days and on the first Sunday there is the parade of all the clubs from the city center to the fest. The parade goes for a little over 2 hours with all the clubs and many different organizations participating. It is a very interesting and fun parade with many bands and a lot of floats giving out things such as sweets and the Germans’ two favourite things, fresh baked bread and beer. Every night at 11 there was fireworks and music all night and day. It was like this non-stop for 10 days with thousands of people going every day and night. I was there for the first 3 days and the last 2 and I’d have to say it is the best thing I’ve done in Germany. Directly after the festival all of the summer Inbounds began to head home, but I didn’t have time to get sentimental as I had the best three weeks of my life ahead of me in the form of Europa Tour. And the best three weeks they were. 9 countries, 15 cities, 44 exchange students, 1 bus and all in 21 days. For me it was a dream come true to finally travel Europe and to make it even more amazing was that it was with 43 of the best people I’ve ever met. We went from being total strangers to family after the 21 days. It’s the magic of exchange. During the three weeks experienced so much from pizza In Venice to a theme park in Vienna and almost everything in between. I have to thank Rotary back home and in Germany again for the amazing experience I was given. Words truly do not begin to describe how amazing my trip was and I can’t wait to get home and share my stories in person. Yours truly … Jack Kadaoui 😉
We look forward to welcoming Juliette Raggi, or Jules, at our meeting on Wednesday. Jules arrived here last Thursday. There was a little drama as she missed her connecting flight from Sydney, so rather than getting here at 9.30am she touched down at 4pm. She is now staying with the Kadoui family, her first host family. Kelly Kadoui took Jules to meet a few of her future host parents on Sunday, including us. It was great to meet her and we are certainly looking forward to having her as part of our family
Our Swedish Exchange Student, Agnes, gave us an excellent powerpoint presentation covering many interesting aspects of Sweden … its history, climate and location. We also shared with Agnes detail of her family life, schooling, recreation and aspirations for her future. She spoke of her desire to become an exchange student stemming from travelling throughout Europe with her family. She is enjoying her exchange year and the opportunity to live in another environment thanking Albury Hume members and families for the opportunity to spend her special year with our club. Thank you Agnes for an enjoyable and informative presentation.
PS … It was also Agnes’ 17th Birthday … she was presented with a cake (with candles !) and we were able to “serenade” her with “Happy Birthday” !
For those who were unable to attend our meeting a couple of weeks ago, Paul Armstrong tendered his resignation from the Club for personal reasons at the end of the last Rotary year. I am grateful that PP Pete and the Board at their last meeting extended to Paul an honorary membership of the Club, and that Paul kindly accepted this invitation. I know that Paul is greatly respected by all in this Club, and it is wonderful that he & Marcia continue to be part of our Club. We are also fortunate to welcome Agnes Westlund, our exchange student from Sweden – welcome Agnes and we look forward to sharing the next year with you. Thanks also to Rod & all the exchange families. The sadness of the Malaysian Airlines disaster in the Ukraine highlights the importance of organizations such as Rotary in promoting international peace. It also reminds us of how fragile life is. Our thoughts go out to all families suffering from this tragedy, and other areas of conflict. Whilst we are truly lucky to live in this country, this event shows that our nation is not immune from the effects of such violence. It reminds us that through Rotary and other areas we are called to foster international fellowship. Justin