Borkum

Many of my family has gone to Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard. It is super close to Boston and a great getaway spot. Today I have found the German version of this island. It is called Borkum. It is absolutely gorgeous. White, white sand, generous people and a wonderful idea of health and recreation instead of beach vacation. Sure, some sit on the beach, but there is also a thriving bike rentals, live music, wind surfing, dog running and many other things. I am so grateful to be here.

We left Oldenburg early, early, early this morning (I had about 2 hours sleep) and arrived on the island promptly at 11am or so. We took a toy train from the main harbor into the center of town, where I was given the chance to live in the hotel or with a host family. We flipped a Euro coin and I got the host family and am now safely ensconsed in their home, with a wonderful sense of well being. Thank you Carla und Leo!

Today was a recreation day as we walked the island seperately and explored. I found a Dixieland Jazz band playing in the center of town and listened for at least two hours. Enjoyed home made bratwurst mit bier und sechs mit elderbeer (hot dog with beer and champagne with strawberries - a local favorite) The team met for dinner and just remarked that two weeks ago it didn't seem that this trip would be here soon enough and now we are here on this beautiful island, seeing what else life has to offer. We had to say goodbye to Gisela and Richard, but hopefully we will see them soon at a later Rotary meeting. It was sad to see them go, but they will soon have Italian visitors and although they aren't as good as us or as funny with our Deutsch I am sure they soon will be busy with them.

Featured you will see pictures of us traveling by catamarand to the island, graves of ship captains that lie in the old church cemetary, little wind houses on the beach to sit and enjoy sun and not be buffetted by the wind and the sun as it set on our first day on the island.

As of now, Tschuss and enjoy the night!

Slightly easy day

Hallo,
Today we slept late...well more to the point I slept late...well in actual fact I fell asleep blogging last night and didn't wake up until 10:30am. So that was about 10 hours of sleep, which I guess I needed! Anyway we left the house at 12 and arrived in the shopping district of Oldenburg, where we had several hours of shopping in the "pedestrian center". We had beautiful weather with a nice breeze!

At 4 o'clock we had a guided tour of the town center of Oldenburg with interesting facts. Like the first postcard was invented here in Oldenburg. Oldenburg the level 1 Number 1 soccer team as of today :) Woo hoo!! and that in 2006, Oldenburgers (horses) were the third most successful breed in the dressage ring.



After this tour we were invited to Peter and Gudela Hugenoth's house for a Farewell to the Oldenburg Rotary club. It was wonderful. A traditional dinner of beef and cheese with vinaigrette dressing to start. Small chickens with a lovely red and almond sauce for an entree and we finished up with fresh strawberries with a wonderful whip cream top and chocolate flakes. Hmmm yummy!!!

All in all a wonderfully relaxing day and super fun to spend it with such friends as we have made already!!

Vocational Day 1

As many of you know we are coming here to Germany with specific intentions to visit or explore our vocations. Today was our first vocational day and we were all set up with different places to visit and see.

Barbara went to a Real Estate office in Oldenburg to examine commercial real estate sales.
Lisa went to Trauhande an office dealing mostly in tax accounts of individuals and businesses.
Tyshawn went to a family owned department store named Leffers.
Viriginia went to a rehabilitation clinic.
And I went to the Staatstheater Oldenburg, one of the oldest state theaters in Germany.


I was shown around by a Youth Theater coordinator. The differences were amazing between the US and Germany. So many of the theaters artistic efforts aren't housed in the same building. There just isn't enough room in the US or that is not the priority. I saw the set design room which was huge, but even bigger the painting room was the entire width of the building, because they paint the scrims for the shows so it has to be at least the size of the stage. The other thing I noticed is that all these rooms had so much light, huge windows letting in tons of natural light. Next we saw the wig and makeup room, where I was told they use almost 98% real hair. I don't know if this is normal, but it seemed high to me. It was a great facility though and again huge panes of windows. The costume room was just gorgeous. I had the almost uncontrollable urge to try some things on. These gowns are why I am in the business (tee hee)! There were so many stations for working, I was floored. And they kept telling me this is so small for a state theater, which was unbelievable 'cause I can't imagine what a not small theater would be like.

Next Hanna (my guide) introduced me to an expat conductor from Arizona, living here for abour 14 yrs. He very kindly answered all my questions after I watch the orchestra rehearsa a Rameau piece called La Fete. It was lovely to be surrounded by musicians again, although I must say I was again struck at how different the rehearsals were run. Plenty of time for questions and drinks and such, with a small regard to the time passing. That is the difference perhaps between a contract to contract musician and house musician which these all were. Jason (the expat) took me to lunch and then surprise I was allowed to sit in on some auditions for incoming singers. Although it wasn't told to me I think they were auditioning for a Donna Anna as four of the sopranos came in singing Non mi dir. It was very helpful to see how the auditions went and what was called on and such. For example most houses I know of don't audition on the stage of the theater or can't audition on the stage of the theater due to scheduling, but pictured above is where they all sang. So invigorating and beautiful. I was really grateful that it worked out.

I ended the day watching a Youth Theater rehearsal of about 10 kids 15-17 that through a month of improve have put together a small play set to music. Here you can see the opening pose on the back wall. Even though it was all in German I was really able to grasp a lot of what was going on as the kids were super talented. Two of them saw me as they left the building and asked what I was doing and how I like New York and were just super friendly and curious. It was a pleasure to meet them and I am so happy my first vocational day was so good!

Oldenburg delights...!

Hallo...

So as I mentioned today was our first presentation and although there were hitches it went well...First we went to Offis Institute of Information and Technology which has a very big connection to Oldenburg College. At Offis we were given a tour that included a prototype apartment for elder care. The apartment came equipped with a special prototype of hearing aid care. The TV with a special remote could tell you when the phone was ringing, when your tea was ready on the stove and if someone rang your doorbell! The TV could also change the pitch tone of the television speaker to make it easier for a hard of hearing person to understand. It was really amazing to listen to what a hard of hearing person actually "hears". It sounds like they are listening underwater and when you speak louder the underwater just gets louder and painful. Strange...

Next it was Rotary presentation which went very well. We have some kinks, but we will work it out. Kein problem! Thank you Oldenburg-ammerland for hosting us today. We greatly enjoyed meeting all of you.

We had a short break and moved onto the Hortzentrum (hearing center). We were given a tour of the "seminar room" which is where the hearing house does all their testing. They can simulate an opera house, a cafeteria or a train station so as to test out a hearing aid and/or an individuals hearing problem. I got to sing a little bit for the test to see how each room sounds and feels different. We moved onto the hearing garden where there are sculptures to help describe either sensations of hearing or how hearing works...etc.

Virginia getting her ears done...
Does this look like an eardrum? Hello Barbara!
I can't hear anythin'! Hallo Gisela!!

We then had dinner with District 1850's Inner Wheel, the women of Rotary in this district. It was a lovely dinner and a presenation by Dr. Moeller about learning to play the piano without reading notes, "Noten Forboten" (Notes are forbidden). He was kind enough to let me sing several songs with him and I hope that the ladies of the district were entertained.

Das ist alles fur das nacht. Gute Nacht meinem freundshaft!

Back in Sandkrug..

Our trip to Berlin ist finished :( We are back home in Sandkrug with Gisela und Ricard.

We started the day going to the Bundestag (the German Parliment). We were VIPs and had a special entrance and a special guide for the tour. It was amazing to see this building as it was built for the people. Inside the building everything is normal...no great icons or woodwork, just a simple glass and metal building. There was a big fire in the 1900s and all the woodworking burned so when they rebuilt everything had to be as fireproof as possible.
They even have there own color scheme for all the chairs on the floor. The color is copyrighted, bundestagblau - parliment blue (it's a kind of a purple-bluish color). We walked to the top of the building where I gazed on the whole of Berlin. Remarkable.

Chancellors Building and the Top of the Bundestage. Hard to believe that this building is where the third Reich started. The Bundestage was so beautiful and they were careful to mention that Hitler never stepped foot in the building.

Then we had the whole rest of the day before our train to shop and dine. We walked to the financial district and saw a typical mall. Prices were pretty much the same even at H & M. I did try to buy a telephone card to call home in emergencies, but I didn't speak German well enough and ended up buying a sim card for a phone I don't own. Ooops. Debitel 'took it back' though (canceled the purchase), whew! Finally got two phone cards...but hey Skype is treating me well enough that maybe I don't need it.

We worked on our presentation all the way to oldenburg and i think it is going to be great. Wish me luck for our first presentation tomorrow :)

My Darling,

Wandered through the Blog sign-up and finally read your messages. Heard from you to night so all is well. Mom is in Western N.Y. meeting with fellow gurus and wizards. She will be home Thursday night. I am proud of you and pray for you every night. Have a great adventure in Europe.

I love you.

Dad

Yeah Noelle!!! I hope that you are taking plenty of pictures!!! Glad to hear from you and know that you are ok, all is well here darling, I love you!!! Enjoy the 95 degrees also, it's only like 60 here, yuck!

Berlin Wall tour and others

Hello all,

just back from a day in Berlin....
First we saw the Berlin wall...well really only about a 200 meter piece of it. After the wall came down no one wanted to keep reminders so they tore them all down. I imagine this one piece was even hard to keep as before the Wall went up it was a huge cemetery and after the Wall went up all the graves were moved. When the wall came down the relatives wanted the cemetery back, but the government awarded it to a Berlin Wall Memorial. Needless to say it was amazing. I have posted some pictures as I think these speak louder than words.

I was really floored by the tour guide's explaination of how the Wall went up and it's first 10-15 years. For instance
1. Did you know the Wall was built around East Berlin in 1 day?
2. Did you know in East Germany the Berlin wall was called the Anti-Fascist Protection Wall?
3. Did you know that almost 130 persons died trying to leave East Berlin?

The weather did not hold up well and we were stuck in a cafe for two hours, but then it did let up a little for dinner. Turkish food we are told is the German food of this decade so that was on the menu tonight. Happy to say it is very similar to what you get in the states.

Next to come an Aussie glossary of slang...stay tuned

Berlin

Hallo Berliners!

We are here in Berlin as of this morning! We got up super early (thanks to Gisela and Richard for waking up so early when they unusually sleep in until 10am) :) and took a train from Oldenburg to Hannover and then to Berlin. We met the Australian Team from District 9650 and have toured with them all day. On the train we exchanged money and saw how different the money was. They invented a "plastic" sort of money! It can go through the wash and not tear AT ALL. Wow By the way I love this Aussie accent :)!!!!

Anyway we arrive in Berlin and have a great time getting to and checking in at the hotel. A small taxi full of four persons with luggage driving through Berlin is ...whew ... tight. anyway we have a small snack and go on a Historical Tour of "older" Berlin. His name was Jan and he just finished his schooling at Humboldt university in History and Sports to teach high school.
He was wonderful. Not too much historical (boring) information and just in
interesting facts to make it fun. The day was beautiful and the temperature was about 95 degrees. We started in East Berlin (our hotel is in old East Berlin) and walked for about 3 hours ending at the Brandenburg Gate and the Jewish Holocaust Memorial. By this time we were all tired and so we headed back to the hotel.




We met at 715pm to have dinner at Vivolo, a wonderful tappas restaurant. We sat and ate and talked for hours :) Much wine and beer and jokes! Wonderful time was had by all :)

Ich bin sehr mueder (I am very tired)

Flower exhibition

Our host Gisela von Bousse who matches her car all in orange.

MOIN (Guten Tag oder Hallo!)

So for all you horticulturalists (not me) today was a great day for you!! Our main outing today was going to the Baum Schule Bruns or Tree School Bruns (named after Herr Bruns).

Before that however we got up around 8:50am or so. Had some breakfast ...of course Nutella on read (gluten free) hmmmmmm and then off to Church. I am not especially religious, but any little bit with the language helps and I liked it. The church was a combination of modern and very old. The priest sat on a stone bench (no frills here) and yet the windows were huge and full of stained glass abstract art. It was lovely. Plus I got to sing in German with the hymns :)

Then we went to the Baum Schule. 10 or so acres of different "gardens" all together. The guide told us that you can pay your entrance fee and bring a picnic and stay all day! A very nice day indeed :) Each garden was its own entity. A Japanese garden with towering bushes scaled a walk to heaven,
an herb garden within which all is edible and a pine tree garden featuring over hundreds of varieties of pine trees. But the best is saved for last .... rhododendrons...so beautiful...we came at the end of their life, but still some were in bloom.




We then went to a traditional "house-restaurant" for dinner. We took a small ferry over the "Ocean of Bad Swischenahn" and had a dinner of pork, potatoes and a special dessert of "red berries" and cream. Yummmy!!!

I am now exhausted and tomorrow we go to Berlin so I am off for ONE beer with my host and to bed :)

Tschoess

We are here!

Posted are pictures of Virginia on the plane (looking bright eyed and bushy tailed), Barbara using her dramatic origami skills on the US $1 bill and pictures of the home I am staying in (looks like a fairy tale house!)
hello everyone...
So I made it through customs and they let me into Germany. The flight left JFK at about 11pm and we touched down in Frankfurt Germany at 11:30am. Took a small layover in Frankfurt and then one hour later we were being met at the picturesque Bremen airport by no less than 5 Rotarians!

Super nice all of them...they arranged a small room for us and we chatted for ten minutes and then off to the host family. Lisa, Barbara and I are being hosted by Gisela and Richard von Bousse (in case you are wondering that is a noble name in Germany) in the beautiful town of Sandkrug (about 30 minutes from Bremen). I feel really wecolmed into their home already ...but I still miss you Mom and Dad :) I am staying in their sons room and all I can think of is what if he comes home, like in the movies and sees ME in the room :)

I am reminded of the first time I saw a naked boy that wasn't related to me. 1999, 15 years old, Peter in Germany walking to the bathroom in his BVDs...(sigh) what a great Germany trip :)

Much love to all...

Noelle, We will miss you terrably and are so proud of you for following your dream and moving forward!!! We love you so much and wish you safe and happy travels!!!!! K,G, E, and N

intro to the team

Many of you have asked who I am going to Germany with...well here they are in full techni-color! (from L-R Me, Barbara Morris, Lisa Hunte, Virginia O'Brien, Tyshawn Henry)

You all know who I am, right...?
Barbara Morris - Team Leader, former Real Estate Owner/Broker, lives in Rockaway on the beach with husband Dennis and loves to golf :)
Lisa Hunte - Team Member, accountant for Cablevision, lives in Uniondale, attends church regularly and loves charities that help kids.
Virginia O'Brien - Team Member - freelance Occupasional Therapist, lives in Rockaway, close to her family and adores her nephew.
Tyshawn Henry - Team Member, operates her own textile business, lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and plays rugby whenever she can!

This is the team, everyone. This is who I will be spending the next month traveling along with! Let's hope we all get along :)

What to pack....

hmmm, that is always a good question when traveling. Generally I over-pack, but traveling to Europe, I will be carrying all that I pack and with the airlines restrictions on baggage I am severely limited. Basically go through my belongings, pack what I want, purge the pile, look at the pile and then purge again. Maybe then I have gotten down to a manageable or at least packable level. I so want to bring this beautiful Anne Klein shoes, but they only go with gowns and how many of those am I am packing? "Zero" These are the hard decisions one is faced with when traveling.

Of course I am also fully occupied with cleaning. There is a never-ending dearth of dust bunnies under my bed that desperately need cleaning. Help me before I drowned :)

Four days before we leave for Germany

(Pictured here are Lisa Hunte, Virginia
O'Brien and me outside of Skytop Lodge)

Okay!
The team has just attended Rotary District 7250 District Conference in Skytop, PA. What a wonderful weekend. Full of meeting new friends and attending many fun filled activities. Exhausting, but rewarding to get a better idea of Rotary and see what a year in the life of a Rotary District feels like. Go District 7250!!

There were so many clubs represented I feel as if I didn't get a chance to meet everyone, but we tried :) I am constantly amazed at the types of people who Rotarians. I must admit I thought Rotary was a bunch of older gentlemen reminiscing about the "old days", when in fact that is blatantly false. There are of course older men, but a lot of women who are driving forces in the Youth Exchange Program, the Group Study Exchange and in RotaCare (onprofit corporation providing free medical care to people in need).

They are all brought together by this organization. The young people are amazing though...such motivated and interesting young adults. I met a young woman (age: 13) who is already an entrepreneur, selling her homemade beautiful jewelry. A man who has been to more countries outside of North America already (at age: 20) than I have even dreamed of going. An elderly woman who recounted her experience of a former Exchange Student looking her up while in NY after 30 years! Just amazing.... I am so grateful for this opportunity to meet these new people and experience all this.

This is the video I made for the District Conference 7250 to introduce the 2009 GSE Team!
Enjoy :)