Delia’s Diary

Sunday 16th

I’m home- exhausted but home. It is lovely to be home, but strange too. I have managed to catch up with most of my family but I can’t try and explain all of the amazing things I have been privilaged to experience in my time in America. I have been part of an amazing team of people. Annica, Hayley, Amy, Pete and Malcolm have become like family members in the last month, and we have been texting since we have been back (only 12 hours but I miss you already!) and it is a strange experience to be home in my own house. My husband, Steve, hasn’t burnt the house down, so I am relieved that everything seems to be in tact! Great to be home for my birthday. I have made some amazing friendships that I hope to maintain. I have come home with such a lovely and amazing feeling, Rotary International and the GSE programme has offered me something I hope to keep with me. Thankyou again.

Saturday 15th

Well, the day has finally arrived for us to leave. After our fantastic leaving party last night, we did not expect to see a crowd at the airport this morning aswell. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou. I fell I have used the words so much in the last few weeks, they are beginning to sounds lame, but genuinely thankyou everybody that has helped us out along the way, both back in the UK and here in America.

We all plan to update the blog when we return home, but just a quick one to let you know we are here safely in Chicago. The girls are all shopping, Pete and Malcolm are reading somewhere. AMy  has found Cinnibom you will be pleased to hear. Our flight to Manchester is deloayed by 45 minutes, so we are watching screens.

This morning was emotional for all of us, you don’t expect to build the bonds that we have in just one month away from home. There is a cue here for lots of cheesy moments, but I think I have lost all street cred now as i have cried in front of everyone in the 24 hour- it’s just not British! With my stiff upper lip firmly in place, I will thankyou you once more for the most amazing month of my life. I hope I have left you with an impression of the UK as I will be taking home with me of the USA.

Friday 14th

I spent a great morning with Debra Tuefell and some colleagues at the Wihita Chamber of Commerce, I was shocked to hear that an average house price in Wichita is just $116k whilst average wages are $35k. this is unbelievabel given the costs we are facing at home. Debra faced all my questions, and we exchanegd best practise and shared ideas and theories about the future. it was really interesting.

A lunchtime presentation at the Derby club was welcomed by meeting our friend Justin Crafton, who was part of the GSE team that came to England. Justin is working split shifts at the moment, so made a mammoth effort to come and see us, having not slep for 24 hour, and having to head straight into another shift with teh county Sheriffs department when he left us. Justin, great to see you. As ever, the extension of an invite to stay with any of us in England is always there. We have found a friend in you, and a fellow beer drinker is always welcome in my home!

This afternoon we all spent our time trying to catch last minute things, a quick trip around the cowboy stores, and a trip to the mall for me… I need to retire my shopoholic tendencies. I am worries about getting my luggage back through customs….(to be continued…)

This evening we met at The Anchor for our leavign party. It was lovely to see so many faces we knew and quite humbling to see the effort people had made to say goodbye. It was lovely to see our great friends from Newton, Steve Johnson and David Yoder, lovely Donna Pfeifer and Jack Black from Pratt, awesome effort from Margaret Nightingale to come over from Ulysses (4.5 hour drive), Jade Pyros from Hutchinson, so may of our new Witchita friends it was lovely. Yes, I cried, but it is that strange feeling of wanting to stay, but wanting to go home to your own life too. i can say in full honesty, that I have had the most amazing time of my life. I have spent a month with a group of amazing people and everywhere I have been I have met somebody that has touched my heart and made a difference. It sounds cheesy, but it is true. I heard that GSE changed people, and I can hold my hands up and say for me that it has.

Politics is something I hold very dear, and my perceptions of the British political system has changed as a result of the people I have met. Rotarians spend so much of their time, effort and money helping others it can’t help but rub off and make you think more about  not just your community but the communities around you, both nationally and internationally. I go home with more of a sense of responsibility for others. I have enjoyed my time here immeasurably and can’t wait to get home and share what I have learned with my work colleagues, friends and family and I think that is the key. I hope my experience here has made me a better person, it has certainly broadened my horizons and made me think more about the person I want to be.

Thankyou to the Rotary Club of Shrewsbury who have sponsored me to come out here, and also to to the Rotary Foundation who have funded the trip. Wow, what an amazing opportunity. I will be joining a Rotary Club when I return, I hope to be able to help boost future GSE exchanges in my district so others can benefit from the experiences I have.

To all the GSE exchange personnel in district 5690, thankyou. In Wichita, particulart thankyou to Steve Woods, Mac Carter, the wonderful Mark Cassell and my hosts Bailis and Barbara Bell. Thankyou for everything.  I could not have wished for anything more from my time here- thankyou.

I am off to pack my case for home with a heavy heart as I think I leave a little behind with me everytime I do.

 

Thursday 13th

I had a lovely day today. This morning I met with Malcolm and Mac Carter (Malcolms host) and my host Bailis and we all went back to Newton. Malcolm spoke to a class of English Literature Honours students about WilliamGolding. The students had studies Lord of the Flies, and Maolcolm was taught by Golding. It was really interestign to see the kids interacting with Malcolm, theye asked some interesting questions and seemed to hang on his every word.  We had a quick tour of the school afterwards, great to see the facilities they have here. VEry nice kids aswell, very polite and courteous. We were quite shocked to see the students car park though, these kids have amazong cars. You can drive in Kansas at the age of 14 if driving to school or for work purposes. These kids, who at home would still be riding their bicycles, can drive sports cars and big suburbans. A real shock for us Brits to see!

We had a quick coffee in Newton with our friend Steve Johnson, the local Rotary Club President. Always goodgood to have a catch up Steve- hope to see you tomorrow for our leaving party.

Next stop was the Andover club in Wichita. They had several guests from other clubs, so nice to see a crowd of faces and a few familiar ones (thanks to Mac Carter, Steve Woods, Mark Cassell and Bailis Bell who are acting as our drivers this week and escorting us to meetings). Once again I met some great people, my friend June, and a lovely ex -pat from Coventry who shared our love of the Midlands. Thankyou to everyone at the club for the lovely welcome we received and the speakers gifts were very kind. Thankyou.

After the meeting Bailis took me out on a tour of some of the industrial areas of Wichita, I saw Spirit Aerosystems plant, Boeing Military systems and McConnel air base. The scale of things here is amazing. You can look into the sky and you can always see several planes. Bailis used to manage the City airport, so we play plane spotting- I spot, Bailis identifies. If we don’t crash the car on route, I should know alot more about planes by the time I return home.

A swift stop off on route home to have a quick look through a few more of the retail areas…. my credit card is starting to creak with over use……and home to start packing. We have a full day and evening planned for tomorrow to ensure we leave with a bang. I hope to see some friendly faces at our leaving party tomorrow night, 6pm at the Anchor.

ps My prize purchase of the day- Garth Brookes Gretest Hits on CD and DVD!

Wednesday 12th

We have had a great day, this morning we all met at the Greater Wichita Economic Development, Chamber of Commerce. We met with the Chief Executive, Deborah Truefel. I we saw a film about how Wichita developed and grew, and heard more about their economic base, in particular the strength they have here in the aeronatical industry. The group all had the opportuntiy to ask questions abotu teh American economy and we answered as best we could the answers asked of us.

After a quick cup of tea (we may be a long way  from home, but a cup of tea is still on the agenda before we can focus!) we crossed Wichita to reach the Wichita Country Club where the East Wichita Country Club meet. We made our short presentation today but met some lovely people at the club, including Micheal, and English expat- Hi Micheal. Also great to see Maria Bustamante, part of the GSE exchange to England a few weeks ago, who has plans to take us out aroudn the city tomorrow evening.

The afternoon session was filled by a trip to the Cessna factory.  We saw the largest small scale aeroplane factory in the world. We saw several planes in their production stages, including the model that HArrison Ford flies. The price on one of these planes is approx 27 million dollars, about 18 million pounds for the British reading this. After a tour of the manufacturing site we popped over to the other site where the selling takes place, and customers can select their plane and their linings etc. It was amazing to see inside some of these planes, they were unbelievable in their level of luxury. The one I am going to buy is called the Citation Comumbus, it is still in its proto type stage so will be available to buy in 2014 for approx 27 million dollars. A mere snip….. it had a bar, full leather upholstery, room for golf clubs, and room for maybe 10 passengers. Amazing.

A quick trip home via the post office and the mall….and an evening in tonight with my hosts Bailis and Barbara. Tomorrow should be good, I am really looking forward to popping back to Newton in the morning. Malcolm is speaking to an English class at the high school and I am accompanying him. It should be fun, and we may get the opportunity to see some of our Newton Rotarian friends.

It is difficult not to thinkof home now we are so close to leaving, I am enjoying each activity and continue to meet great rotarians so still combating the desire to go home and see friends and family and wanting to stay to experience more of what we have seen.

Tuesday 11th

Veterans Day was impressive to see this morning. Americans are alot more proud of their war heroes and armed forces than we are at home, and that is quite a sad thing to see as a patriotic Brit . The Rotary Club here in Winflield get involved by helping people to put up the Stars and Stripes flag in front gardens. We also saw the parade of military vehicles through the Downtown area this morning. It was  interesting to see.

We spent our morning at the Land Rush museum in Arkansas City, about 20 minutes away from WInfield. It was a really interesting collection, they had information about life on the frontier lands, memorabilia from several wars, about the rise of womens baseball. We all found something of interest. Thanks to our friend, Rotarian Jim Snyder who transported us there in his amazing motor home.

We have had a quick lunch with the Rotarians and we are now all packed up and waiting ot be picked up and taken to Wichita for our final stop of the tour. The WInfield Rotarians have been very kind and looked after the team well, we have made some great friends here. We hope some will be able to join us on Friday for our farewell party in WIchita.

We arrived at Steve Woods house and were met with his normal hug and smile and it is almost like returning home for us now. A cup of tea and a natter about the trip so far helped to make us all relax before we met our new host families. It can be quite nerve racking, as you are about to enter someones home and become part of their family, if only for a few days, so the team does become a little more reserved than usual as we prepare to meet our new hosts. As always, our concern was not necessary. I am staying with a great couple, Bailis and Barbara Bell in a beautiful area of the city. As we arrived in Wichita all those weeks ago, we were all pouring out of the window of the plane staring at the beuatiful houses we saw below that were situated on a lake, with a boat at the back and cars at the front. I am staying in one of these beautiful houses!

Barbara made us a lovely homemade dinner before we dashed off to meet Pete at the shopping mall. That boy is a shopping machine, as much as he likes to tell people he is accompanying me, the truth lies in who buys the most when we shop. Pete will have to come clean, and admit I am merely an accomplice to his addiction! I did manage to buy a few things, but only to make him feel better.

We have an action packed schedule planned, Mark Cassell has put together a great programme for us- thanks Mark. It is a strange feeling, being in our last stop. We are talking about going home, and it is a strange feeling when you are having a good time and want to stay, but want to go home and see your friends and family too. To any of my family and friends reading this, I may be along way away, but I am still counting down the days as ever….5 days until my birthday- see you all Sunday.

Monday 10th

Treasure made us waffles with fresh fruit for breakfast which was lovely, Annica went off to see Treausure morning surgery leavign me to be picked up by Rotarian Warren Porter. Warren works for the City Council in Economic Development and gave me a tour of the City. We visited the City Electrical plant which is owned by the Council and used to help offer inbound businesses an incentive to invest in Winfield. They use it a little like Tax incentives, which are also more readily available than we are able to offer to businesses in the UK. Most electricity here is produced through burning fossil fuels, I asked about the move towards using more renewable energy but there doesn´t seem to be a bug push towards it as they have predicted they have another 200 years of natural gas in this area. Really interesting to hear about the fuel incentives offered to businesses.

We moved onto the tour the town, I saw industrial areas, the out of town ´box units´like we have at home, but a new name for them. The issues that Winfield has in terms of keeping footfall moving through their downtown area is similar to the issues we face at home maintaining our high streets with ever increasing out of town developements drawing our spending habits away from the traditional urban centres.

One issue that is very different is the relationship with cars here in Kansas. As there is so much space here, parking does not seem to be as much of an issue as it is at home. You can park on side streets, and Winfield is served by 4 large parking lots so the idea of Park and Ride schemes is not necessary here.

I met with the City Manager and talked through some of the DOwn town schemes, they have great support for retailers wanting to make improvements to their premises, there is support for the street appearance, with the City picking up the cost of floral displays that are themed throughout the year: Winfield has invested in its appearance and new shops and the towns appearance has certainly benefitted for it.

The team all met for lunch in a Pizza parlour and we visited a huge WalMart afterwards to see the vast range of things you can buy. You could even buy tyres in this one whilst doing your shopping! I have bought a Toby Keith CD to practise my two stepping, I thought it must be a good one to buy, as he has his name on our cowboy hats, so he must be popular. I am guessing he is the country equivalent to David Beckham if he has his own clothing range!

Annica and I walked the length of Downtown this afternoon, in the drizzle, it was just like being at home, btu gave us the opportunity to see the breadth of shops and burn off a few calories before this evenings presentation.

We presented to maybe 80 at the WInfield club this evening, but were delighted to be joined by some of our friends from Wichita who had travelled down to hear our presentation. The President from the Downtown Club, Tom along with Geri Apfel, Steve and Kitchel Woods, Mac and Marion Carter and Jill Frasco all came along. It was a lovely surprise. We were also treated to some entertainment from a local barbers shop quartet who were great. The club were very welcoming, and rewarded our presentation with some Jayhawk gifts, the mascot of Kansas University.

Tomorrow we are going to visit a museum in the morning that is on the borders of Oklahoma that will tell us about the Land Rush, when people first took the land in this area (just like the film Far and Away in my mind). We are meeting some of the Rotarians for lunch before heading back to Wichita for our final few days……..

 

Sunday 9th

All is quiet this morning in the bed and breakfast, I have seen Malcolm who has gone out for a morning stroll, but I think the others may be sleeping off last nights wine….!

We had a lovely time at the retreat, and had some well needed R and R that have rejuvenated the team and set us up to take full advantage of every opportunity in our last week. The lovely ROtarians of Winfield came to pick us up from the B and B and Annica and I are staying together this time, with a lady Doctor called Treasure. We have had a quick look around Winfield, and we managed toi stumble across Braums, the ice cream cafe that we have heard so much about on our travels. Purely int he interests of market research, Annica and I popped in to sample their produce. It was as good as promised.
We had a cook out this evening at Jim and Lauries house, another ROtarian couple. We meta  few more of the club members and had a chance to chat with our hosts a little more. Tomorrow we all have a vocational morning planned, then we are all meeting for lunch to decide on our afternoons activity before presenting to Winfield Rotary Club tomorrow evening.

Saturday 8th

I’m not sure how my bags seem to double in weight everytime I move towns, I’m not buying that much, surely!? I’m going to have to post some things home or they won’t let me on  the plane next week!

We were all very sad to leave Pratt this morning an as ever we were a little teary. It is a surreal experience, we are only staying in most places for just 3 days, but you are being welcomied into a home and community and made to feel so welcome, it really is like leaving family behind in each place we go. Our lovely driver Barry took us down to meet the Rotarians from Winfield. The club president Bob met us all, and priorities, we ere taken for lunch at an awesome Mexican restaurent. Oh dear, another town offering us good food….

We have been delivered to our retreat, a lovely bed and brekfast called Bluestem a few miles outside of Winfield. It is in a beautiful setting, very tranquil and Malcolm has insisted that we take 24 hours out to recharge our batteries a little. We all have beauty treatments booked, I have a facial and some reflexology booked for later on, but have made the most of the fantasitc weather to go out for a walk to see the area. Its a lovely place for a break.

We stayed up, played a few games and enjoyed our time relaxing and recharging.

Friday 7th

I had a vocational morning, and spent my morning talking with the City Manager, City Commisioner and later a County Commissioner. Thankyou all for taking time out to talk to me. I learned alot about how your area works. I met the team for lunch before heading off with my hosts Jerry and Kay for an afternoon of shopping, or I should probably phrase that as experiencing the economic development of the town first hand…I am single handledly saving any blight to the american economy, me and my Mastercard! Shopping is a joy here, everything is cheaper than at home, and clothing sizes are 2 sizes smaller! Shopping with Jerry and Kay also meant I could fast track to the very best shops in town. I had a lovely time, and can gladly say I have found the white Hersey bars that I have been trying to track down since Ulysses.

This evening I have been to private members club in town and was fortunate enough to be asked to join the ‘Friday Night Club’ a group of wonderful people who meet every Friday- the name kind of gives it away! I may have a few calender years on these people, but at heart they are right ther ewith me. I was made to feel very welcome, and we even toasted the Queen. Thankyou all, particularyl my new friend Annette, who will be 93 next week and drank Vodka with me.

Pratt is a lovely plavce to live, I have met some wonderful people and some great Rotarians. Thankyou to all the Rotarians who have taken us in, driven us around and generally looked after us. Our time here could not have been any better. Thankyou. A big thankyou to my Pratt family, Jerry and Kay who have spoiled me rotten- I even drove their Cadillac- not overly successfully I grant you (they don’t have clutchs on cars over here!!) but we did have fun, thankyou! Jerry I will work on the goal setting, thankyou for the long walks and answering my endless questions. I will very fondly remember  the time I have spent with you both, thankyou.

Tomorrow we move to Winfield for a break stop. We have 24 hours off, and I think most of the group plan to  sleep- something that has been a little lacking so far! We are definitely working hard and playing hard, but a 24 hour break will be great.

Thursday 6th

The winds are back in Kansas……. after an early start for a hearty breakfast at the Sale Barn, Kansas states 2nd largest cattle sale, we set off for Z Bar Ranch, a 43,000 acre estate owned by Ted Turner, the largest land owner in the US. It was stunning, but the wind here is so mean, you get blown around just getting out of the trucks. We saw the barn area where the Buffalos are treated and managed before being turned out onto the ranch. They were impressive to see. We also saw the Prairie Dog communities.

A quick trip over to Clearwater for more good food , a local pizza shop where we all experienced our first sweet dessert pizzas. We went onto Greensburg to see the impact of the Tornado that hit the city 2 years ago and Rotary have played a role in helping to get the City up and running again.

We attended Pratt ROtary club this eveing, it is a lovely club thast meets at the local Country Club. WE all spoke well this eveing, I think we have found our flow. We also did our entertainment slot from the conference and asked the Rotarians about their knowledge of Britain during our ‘Great British Pub QUiz’. It was alot of fun, and we all enjoyed our evening.

Wednesday 5th

A quick update, the day after the election has been interesting. I have picked up a few newspapers to bring home as momentos. Staying in a largely republican area has given a different perspective to the celebrations, but really interesting to a part of it, and a real highlight of the trip for me to witness real history being made. Fantastic.

I spent the morning packing (groan- again, and I’m no better at it!) which would have been easier on more sleep and less’ celebrating’….thanks Ed, Pete and Brian for an amusing evening but it nevers seems as much fun the next day! A quick trip to the Chamber of Commerce to catch up on the differences between Economic Development practises in HUtchinson and Shropshire was interesting. Hutchinson has a strong tourism industry as we do, as they have the Cosmosphere and the Salt Mines aswell as strong links with hunting parties to the area. We have similar issues with out of town superstores detracting from growth in our town cetres, so interesting to compare. The rest of the group went downt he salt mines before we met up and left Hutchinson and headed to Yoder to visit the community that stroingly follow the Armish religion. It was really interesting to see their way of life. We stopped for lunch in a local cafe and we had fantastic food, and as recommended we tried their homemade pies. OMG- they were fantastic, but huge.  We are all now beginning to worry about the weight we have have added on this trip!!

We met our hosts in Pratt i int he afternoon, I am staying with a lovely couple Larry and Kay Larsson. They own one of the local mortuaries. Our first evening we travelled upto to stay with Hayleys hosts the Blacks, where we have been treated to a lovely supper and a big pot of ‘hot tea’ especially for the English!  

Tuesday 4th

ELECTION DAY IS HERE!!!

I woke early this morning and went out for a walk with my host Ed, and his dog. We walked up to the nature reserve nearby, which doubles up as a polling station, we were there about 7.20am and there were queues out of the door. It was great to see.

My morning vocational time today was spent watching a city council meeting. It was intersting to watch, they only had a panel of 4 Councillors, including the Mayor as Chair. I saw the towns Economic Development awards beign given out, which was impressive. People were awarded for innovation and entrepreneurship, along with long service awards for those that have worked in public service for long periods of time. I was impressed with the recognition that I saw for work with the economy, and I will be sharing this as one of things I hope to broing back to the UK. Another interesting debate to see, is the smoking in bars debate. My understanding is that smoking in food estbalishments has already been banned, but in bars this is being handled on a town by town basis. We heard some passionate debate abotu this form both sides, but alas no conclusion, as it has been deferred to the next meeting.

We all met for lunch, and it was great to see so many rotarians joining us too. It has given us a great opportunity to catch up with the rotarians and find out more about their clubs.

We sped off after lunch to see a polling station in action. The polling stations here are years ahead of us in the UK. Not only can you call in at local court houses and vote in advance of election day (you can postal vote like we can at home too) but you can also vote electronically at the polling stations. Ballot papers here have slots like on our lottery tickets at home, so as you post your ballot paper into the electronic ballot box, your paper can be read, and figures are automated. It was impressive to witness, and the responsibility of the presiding officers (electral judges here in America) are greatly reduced. It made me feel that British elections are almost third world in comparison the efficiency of the US system. Great for me to see and learn from.

We popped over to the local College sports centre to see their facilities. Unbelievable treatment rooms for the college teams. Anyone who represents the college uses the facility for free- including access to whirlpools, ice treatments and physios. We were impressed.

A quick trip over to an after school club for teenagers followed. It was intersting to hear their thoughts on the elections and answer a few question about David BEckham!

The evening was spent with our hosts, after a lovely steak dinner (thanks Ed) we watched some of the election results coming in and went along to a Democratic party in town. The mood was mixed as they hoped that Kansas would moce more towards the Democrats but the electorate here stayed Republican. That is not to take away from the national picture, and the mood lifted as McCain made his speech admitting defeat and Obama stood before his nation and made his acceptance speech. It was an amazing feeling to bepart of history, despite being in a largely republican area, there were democrats where we were who were all very emotional, and sharing their pride, that America has chosen a non white president.

The patriotism we have seen today, supporting both parties, has been quite awe inspiring. I am beginning to understand the love that the Americans have for their country. It is very different to home. I have been invovled in several elections since leaving University, and have never experienced the passion that we have felt here in America, even as observers. Today has been the highlight of my trip to far, it was great to be able to see history being made.

Off to pack, as we are off to Pratt tomorrow.

Thanks to my host Ed, you have been a star. Hutchinson is a great place to live/ vist/ tour. I hope to return. It is the first place that our entire team has said we would like to live in. Thankyou to everyone that has shown us around and made us feel so welcome.

Monday 3rd

Hutchinson seems lovely, alot larger than most of the towns that we have spent time in, but with the same friendly people wherever we go.

We spent time this morning looking around the Hospital which Annica found very interesting as she was able to make comparisons with the way things work at home. The Rotarians at the hospital were kind enough to take us along to the Rotary club meeting. The Hutchinson Rotary Club is the second largest in the district, so we presented to approximately 100 today. The club were interested to hear our perceptions of the US elections, so I spent a lovely lunchtime chatting about politics in the UK in comparison to the US system.

The afternoon was spent looking around the Cosmosphere, which was unbelievable! The Museum has the largest collection of US space memorabilia, and the largest collection of Russian memorabilia outside of MOscow. We saw amazing things, space suits, real space craft, the apollo 13  capsule. The list goes on, we spend the whole afternoon being wowed. As with most of our visits here, Rotary have great connections. The CEO of the Museum is a Rotarian, Chris Orwell, and he took us down into the vaults of the museum to see some of their treasures not yet on display. We held space gloves that Buzz Aldren has worn on the moon! We touched space suits, parts of space craft. We saw memorabilia that was lifted from the Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean- dollar bills, dimes, personal items that not only had travelled to the moon and back but also lay on the bottom of the ocean for several years. It was an amazing experience that money could not buy. Chris presented us all with a pack of information when we left, including details so I can show you all the amazing things we saw I haven’t mentioned (moon buggies, moon rock etc) but also a signed photograph of Charlie Duke- the youngest man to have walked on the moon, as part of the Apollo 16 crew. Unbelievable! A huge thankyou to Chris Orwell- wow.

This evening we met our hosts family, my new friend Katy, Jenny and Lindsay came around for dinner. Hey girls! Have a look for your picture in the photo gallery. After the girls went home, we also popped out to watch some of the pre election football (American Football) game, which has predicted the result of the election coreectly since the 1950’s. This year, it has predicted a win for Obama……. we shall see. Election fever is huge, everyone seems to be talking about it, it is fantastic! It is an amazing atmosphere, and great to hear the passion that everyone has. In some areas, people have talked about feeling exhausted as the primaries seemed to drag on for so long, but in Hutchinson, people are enthused. Whilst traditionally a republican state, there are some democrats in Hutch, so interesting to hear the debate. As a team, we are trying to take it all in, without getting dragged into anything too controversial, but we have got the feeling that we are witnessing history…… very excited about tomorrow!

Sunday 2nd

We are presenting this afternoon at the conference, and I am doing a brief slot encouraging the Rotarians to come along to the conference in Birmingham next June. This evening we move up to HUtchinson to spend a few days with their club.

Presentations went well, our overview about Birmingham encouraged a few people to consider coming over to sample our beautiful 2nd city and the delights in store. Our team presentation was well received and we were pleased to deliver a little bit more information than we have managed at most of the club presentations.

The conference has been great, lovely to see our friends from Ulysses and Newton again, and as ever, difficult to wave goodbye to them all this evening as we were whisked off to HUtchinson. OUr friends from City came to wave us off too, as our most recent hosts we were a little teary waving goodbye to Terri and Helen. Thankyou all for the time you took out of your schedules to show us around your area and spoil us with your kindness.

We have arrived in Hutchinson, Pete and I are staying with a lovely Rotarian called Ed. We have a great schedule planned and make our presentation to the club tomorrow. We also have plans to attend an election party…. will keep you posted!

Saturday 1st

We helped with the opening ceremony of the conference this morning as we each carried one of the flags into the conference hall. We listened to the presentations this morning and learned a little more about rotary, and were all impressed to hear about the student exchange programmes that are offered. We heard a great presentation from Barbie Weaver ( our last hosts daughter) about her 12 months in SYdney, Australia.

We closed the morning session with some light entertainment, and gave the audience a great british pub quiz. Pete was MC anad as ever charmed the audience. We were also very impressed with how much the audience knew about the UK, particularly the round on the Royal family which even our team had to have a think about before we could answer!

The afternoon was passed onto us to have some time to ourselves, we have been moving at a rate of knotts since we have been here, so nice that everyone had a few hours to themselves. I used my time very productively and experienced the shopping malls…..! WOW! I am going to have to do somethign about sending things home though.

We had a lovely evening being entertained in Cowtown by the Diamond W Wranglers, a cowboy band. All of the Rotarians made the trip out to the museum which told you a little about the old WIchita lifestyle, and we were entertained by the band. It was lovely to see Jill Frasco and Justin Crafton part of the American GSE team that had visited the UK before we came to America.

The team headed out to the old town afterwards, and with a few of our Rotarian friends from Ulysses, we found a lovely bar and were dancing to 80’s music until the early hours. It was great to let our hair down a little, a little more for some than others, but a lovely evening was had by all.

Friday 31st

After a long, long drive we have arrived in Wichita. As ever we are managing to eat well on route, fantastic pancakes this morning before we left Boise City, and a quick stop or two on route. We called into Greensburg to see the town that was hit by a Tornado 2 years ago. The Rotary Clubs in the district have all been helping to rebuild the town, so great to see what they have achieved. Quite chilling to see the devastation that still remains even 2 years on.

We have been over to Steve Woods house this evening and experienced Halloween US style- wow! Everything here is done on such a huge scale. We have taken photos and will try and get them on asap…..

Big day tomorrow so only a quick entry today.

Thursday 30th

Our last full day in Boise City has been our best yet, Terri and Helen acted as our guests and literally drove us around in circles to make sure we could see everything we wanted to see. Today we started in Oklahoma, and travelled through Texas, New Mexico and Colorado- a perk of staying in a pan handle! We have of course piled out of the car and taken the obligatory pictures. Also, the signs for Amerillo left the group in fine song for the day (a joke only the brits will appreciate, and our hosts in Boise City who have been introduced to the joys of Peter Kay on You Tube).

Another fantastic breakfast prepared by Terri saw us head off to Autograph rock, an impressive sandstone outcrop set on the Sante Fe trail route that the passing traders/ travellers/ workers signed. The earliest date we saw was from 1826, but they are still trying to authenticate others. The people who own the site came out to speak to us and explain some of the history to us. The locals are justifiably proud of the site and the owners gave us a whistestop tour of the highlights. We are all starting to appreciate the area has a very different sort of history to the kind we are familiar with at home. We are hearing about the struggles between warring native americans, the struggle to settle in the mid west and the dangerous trails that you can still see in this area.

After a wonder around at signature rock we met Vicky, who manages a B and B in the most fantastic location you can imagine. It is something off a Wild West film. The house and buildings lie on a prarie surrounded by table mountains. You can’t see another house form the house, and as we sat out on her porch drinking earl grey ( a little surreal, in itself) you kind of lose your sense of time out there. It was truly beautiful, and we have vowed to return. Vicky cooked us a fantastic meal (great food seems to be a recurring theme on this tour) of beef stew, corn bread and green tomato pie and cream for dessert.

The journey home took in the main tourism point that Vickys B&B benefits from, the Black Mesu, the highest point in Oklahoma and then some of the most amazing scenery I have ever seen. It is the ‘fall’ or autumn over here so the trees are changing colour, but we are havign the most fantastic sunshine so the colours look fantastic, we have finally found the hills of Oklahoma, and even a few bends int he road- it is just like home! We ventured on to see the dinosaur fossils, and I stepped into a T- rex footprint. We foudn the point where Oklahoma, New Mexico and Colorado all meet, and again took the obligatory pictures. We moved on and found the existing track marks from the Sante Fe Trail, that was impressive. Within reason alot of history can seem like story telling, but seeing the signatures int he rock and the trails left by the buggys as they moved through the area makes it all seem more real.

We saw local beauty spots, where the locals all come out for barbecues by the lake in the summer, fossilised trees, where the local church kids go for summer camp, legendary rock crops. We were all shattered by the end of the day but have seen and heard so much, it has been a great day.

This evening we have had a cook out at Terris, some of the Rotarians came over to help out, and we had real American hamburgers. They were great, and for a quick treat we have just nipped down to Dairy Queen for an amazing Ice Cream called a Blizzard- abit like a McFlurry, but bigger, better and enough of a reason to make us want to stay in Boise City for longer.

We have had an amazing time here, the weather is stunning, better than our summers at home, and the people have a lovely laid back way of life that is infectious. We leave very early in the morning to begin the 6 hour trek to Wichita for the conference. We are trick or treating with Steve Woods tomorrow night, so looking forward to Halloween US style.

Thanks to all in Boise City, we feel really priviliged to have been able to share some of your town and spend time with you all, thankyou. Looking forward to seeing a few more of you at the conference this weekend. Terri has taught me to 2 step, so hoping to see some of you on the dance floor on Saturday night dancing to the Diamond Wranglers.

A special thankyou to Terri and Jimmy, great hosts, thankyou for giving us the run of your house! Hope you can make it back over to us for the International Conference in Birmingham, next June.

Wednesday 29th

Another busy day……..

Terri is spoiling us all, and invited the whole team over for breakfast, we were treated to biscuits (scones), egg and bacon, muffins, Cinnamon rolls……… every type of fruit juice is on offer. Americans do breakfast in a big way!

we started the day by meeting with a Rotarian, Ken Cannon who is the local judge. We had a quick introduction with him, before being invited to watch a few cases being tried in his court. We heard three cases in court, the first being the most serious as the man on trial was already being detained and was dressed in his prison uniform (an orange work suit) and he had his ankles chained together. It was quite a shock for all of us. It was interesting to follow a little of the courts process.

We were then whisked off to a Beef jerky plant. I had heard of jerky, but didn’t know what it was. For those at home in the UK, the process sees fresh beef being marinated, then laid out to dry on trays. The meat is then left to dry in a drying room for several hours so in essence it is dehydrated meat. I did try it, but can’t say I am a fan. It is a favourite here in America, and the local firm send box fulls out to serving soldiers in the armed forces. It is a lovely, family run enterprise, so interesting to hear that they don’t do any marketing or advertising, and their sales base relies entirely on word of mouth.

We made a presentation to Boise City Rotary Club, and our friend Rod O’Hara came over from Guymon club to see us again. Hi Rod, lovely to see you again. I hope your daughter Hayley liked the messages we sent.

This afternoon the group split, Hayley, Annica and Amy went to the pharmacy and the hospital, Malcolm to tour some local farms and Pete and I went to the local High School. The facilities they have for such a small school are unbelievable. The school has kids 14-18 years old, and only 98 pupils. The curriculum on offer is great, as in some cases, several classes can be taught from all over the state of Oklahoma. The rooms have CCTV and TV screens, and a teacher in one place can instruct kids all over. It was amazing to see. Being a rural area with a multi racial population, the focus on academic subjects is less important and more on finding a subject that will appeal to the kids and be useful for their future. We saw an agriculture class, saw the mechanical workshops where the kids can work on their own cars. ( Kids drive at 16 in Oklahoma, but 14 in Kansas). Also we popped into a wood working class. The facilities are great, the kids seemed really enthusiastic and very polite as we asked them questions. Dan Faulkener, our guide and a Boise City Rotarian very kindly gave up his afternoon to spend with us.

A quick tour of the towns museum followed, which was great and brought our team back together. They have dinosaur relics, old clothes, cars, tractors, furniture. The bulk of the museum has been donated by local people, so everything has a story. We learned more about the dustbowl form the 30’s which was a real problem in this area of the country. We also saw the towns war mermorials and wall of honour, which was impressive. We are in a very patriotic area of the country. I’m almost ashamed to say we probably spent the most time at the museum playing on the toys in the playground…….(see the photo gallery).

Terri our host cooked a big roast this evening, and all of our team, our hosts and some Rotarians came over to eat. I have been out with two of the Rotarians, Mike and Helen to see Boise City by night, we have cruised around the town and they told me about the history of the area, local legend and fable.

We have had a great day, but we’re tired.

Tuesday 28th

We spent the morning touring the schools in Ulysses, we met some great kids. A special hello to my favourite tour guides in Sullivan School Carmina Baeza and Michelle Barb, two lovely fifth graders who told me all about their school. I promised to remember your names and put them on the blog, photos will follow shortly!

We also visited the School academy to meet some of the kids that drop out of school and are offered extra assistance to gain vocational qualifications. They seemed like good kids and were curious to ask abotu our lives in the UK, which one of our team has a tattoo (I’ll leave you guessing on that one- I was shocked), how much we all earn, how long we trained for etc.

We left our lovely hosts in Ulysses, I think I have been very fortunate with my host families. I have had a fantastic time with Judy and Ken and was sorry to say goodbye. Margaret and Rob were kind enough to drive us over to meet our Boise City Rotarians. I am staying with Terri Weaver, a lovely lady who has four daughters, so a lovely house full of cosmetics, hairdryers, a gym and a hot tub!  Terri thinks I am leaving on Friday, but I might just move in for good! Annica and I are staying here with Pete- but Pete has the cowboy room and hopes to utilise the full size Pool table with Terris husband Jim.

Boise City Rotarians are apparently known as the party club, so we have arrived with great expectation, and so far haven’t been dissappointed. We have a great schedule planned, we are going out for Mexican food later, have plans to see Autograph rock tomorrow and take a trip to Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. It all sounds great.

Monday 27th

We have had a really busy day today as the Rotarians of Ulysses have tried to make sure we saw as much of their community as possible. Our first visit was to a Grain Elevator. For those at home in the UK, an elevator is like a grain store, but much bigger than I have seen at home, and they have rows of them all attached together to accomodate the vast quantities of grain they have to deal with here. We took the lift up to the top of one of these elevators- when I say lift it is a metal cage that is only big enough for one, so a little scary! We saw the conveyor belts the grain is transported on, and managed to walk out onto the roof of the store and enjoyed the view over Ulysses. The country is so flat we could see for miles and miles.

We moved onto a large plastics factory in town which produced piping, an important commodity in Kansas as the area is so dry. Being British, we are still trying to understand this concept of a drought and looking forward to having the rains come, but it just isn’t something we can get our heads around!!

We moved onto a care home and were invited to have lunch at the Senior Centre in town. We were made very welcome and enjoyed a beef stew with the locals before being invited to introduce ourselves and field some question about the UK. One thing we are finding on our travels, is that alot of Americans here have been to the UK and not just to London. It is lovely to hear where people have been and the experiences they have had travelling around our country too.

We took a really interesting tour around the Sante Fe Dairy this afternoon. They have 6000 head of cattle on just 80 acres. The whole process was very efficient, and we were fortunate enough to have a tour of the site with the site manager, Josh Rottinghaus who explained that they have to keep the plant functioning 24 hours a day. Annica and Hayely were with me on this part of the tour as the others were on vocational training, but we were fortunate enough to see a new calf just being born.

A quick stop in town to see the towns main stores was enjoyed, particularly by the girls. Any excuse to shop! The grocery store is called Russ’ and we were shown around the store by Russ’ son, Cary Binney. Cary is an active Rotarian, as his father was. Cary showed us all around the store, and gave us all a bag of goodies to take home, including a cookery book of local recipes that the local people of Ulysses all contributed towards when Carys father died. It is alovely momento of Ulysses.

We made our presentation to the Ulysses CLub this eveing, and they had invited some of the surrounding clubs along to hear our presentation. Again, we meet great Rotarians wherever we go and this club were no exception. It is over 250 miles to Wichita from Ulysses, btu the club is taking a strong representation along to the District Conference this weekend.

A highlight for us all this evening was hearing Jerry Trailor speak. Jerry has Cerebal Palsy and has crossed the US on his crutches. He is now an inspirational speaker, and we will be fortunate enough to hear him speak again this weekend at the District Conference. Jerry is also a Rotarian, and whilst crossing the entire country from San Francisco to New York, (which took him 7 months, 23 pairs of trainers and 3 sets of crutches) he was hosted by Rotarians as he travelled. An amazing man.

A big thankyou to our guides today, Larry, Scott and Gene. Scott used to work for the Chamber of Commerce and Gene is teh currect Economic Development Director, so I spent most fo the day asking them lots of question about the local economy- thankyou for your patience!

Tonight we are packing, as we travel south again tomorrow to meet the Boise City Rotary Club and stay with them for a few days. Ulysses is a wonderful place, very rural and very inspiring people. They have several cooperatives working here that help to deliver some of their core services such as electricty, but they also have an active credit union and a very strong sense of service before self- the rotary motto. We managed a quick visit to a community art gallery that has been set up as a coop to help local artists, which rents its gallery space from a clothing cooperative. Local women all clubbed together to form the cooperative, as they didn’t have a clothes store in the town. A lovely community of people, although Pete may have blown their cover by exposing the fact that poeple don’t lock their doors here… if there is a sudden rise in crime, it is Petes fault.

I will be sorry to say goodbye to Judy and Ken tomorrow, Judy is a tea drinker, and I have had the pleasure of working through her vast tea collection each day!

Sunday 26th

We have arrived in Ulysses, Kansas. The town has approx 5,500 residents and is largely based around their main industry, agriculture. We drove in past huge grain stores and agricultural warehouses. As in all the places we have stayed, the Rotarians that we are staying with are great. I am staying with Ken and Judy Keusler, Judy is the Rotarian. After a quick tour of the house, I was whisked off for a game of golf with last years District Governer, Rod. A lovely man and former Head of Economic Development so really interesting to chat to, but he plays off a 2 handicap… perhaps a little more advanced than my own game. I will claim that I played three straight holes on par, and on the final hole, my drive managed abour an extra 5 yards on Rods, so I think I can claim to have given Rod a little light entertainment if nothing else.

We have been shown the new water treatment plant that is being built around the extension of the golf course, a little off road golf carting amused the GSE team, as we nearly lost Pete in the ‘recycled’ water lake….we have also had a quick tour of the town museum.

Tonight we are meeting up with Margaret Nightingale, who was part of the US team that toured the UK before we came over here. We are all looking forward to seeing her again, although it is only a a little over a week since we saw her at teh farewell dinner in Wolverhampton, it feels like a month ago.

Time is moving on, and as we are cramming so much into each day, it feels like we have been here for along time already. The Ulysses Club have links with the Newton club, so it has been great today to chat with Rod about the fantastic time we all had with our friends in Newton. We look forward to seeing some of them again at the conference this weekend in Wichita.

Saturday 25th

We have spent a very full day in a nearby town called Goodwill. Goodwill has the County Higher Education College, so we were invited over to take part in their home coming. We had out own float in the parade, attended the opening of a new science buildign on campus, joined the President in his box to watch the College Football game, and have once again been spoiled with gifts- bags, jumpers, t-shirts etc. We are certainly promoting the local brands as we travel around. Today we are most definitely Team- Oklahoma Panhandle State University- OPSU. I think, I am starting to understand this game, with its seperate offense and defense, with a little help from our American friends who are very patient and answer my many questions (thanks to Tyler and Rod if youa re reading this). We also met an English student form Cumbria who is studying here. Hi Steve!

We watched the crowning of the home coming King and Queen and had our photos taken with the King before moving out of town and pony riding. Apart form a little bucking from my pony (aspirations of rodeo riding I think) we all enjoyed the fresh air and the sunshine.

I did manage a little shopping in town before heading home. 30% sale in the boutique, it seemed rude not to..! We have had a wonderful day today, people here are very kind, and we are being treated like local celebs.

We are all eating out at a mexican tonight, then hope to pop into town to meet some of the Rotarians for a brief farewell before heading up to Ulysses tomorrow.

Update: Had a lovely evening with the Rotarians at the restaurant, I hope when we return home that the team meet up and go for Mexican food as we are beginning to understand the menu a little now.

The team all went along for a drink at a bar in Guymon called Texas Jacks after the meal and met my friend Betty that I has spent my vocational time with yesterday. Betty was out with some of her friends and invited us to spend a typical Saturday night on the town in Guymon. It was lovely, I saw a few bars, and chatted with her friends. Women chat about the same things on both sides of the Atlantic whilst they are out drinking with their friends. I did hear a lovely local phrase from one of the girls who had a lovely rolling local accent……..

“Cowboys are like Diamonds, they look real pretty, but not all that practical in the home.”

I think I will take that one home to share with my sisters!

Friday 24th

Our presentation to Guymon club went well today, I think we have all relaxed now and have ‘found our flow’ Pete works the corwd with ease these days, I think the man was born for this line of work!

I spent the afternoon with Betty Mosberg, a lovely Rotarian who works for the Panhandle Regional Economic Development Coalition. Betty showed me around the city, I met the City Manager who explained the responsibilities he has which I think are most comparable to a Town Centre Manager at home in the UK, but the level of involvement they have in city affairs here greatly exceeds the expected worklaod of our English counterparts. I met the Manager of the City’s incubator unit, and it was interesting to hear they have similar issues in developing businesses in the rural areas of the US to the issues we face in helping rural business in the UK. Guymon is hoping to develop a commercial kitchen within the incubator to help small scale food producers in the area take the step towards commercialising their business. I explained the similar concept we have at home in Shropshire with the Home Enterprise HQ that has been established in Shrewsbury.
i met some great entrepreneurs who are developing bio fuels from pig fat, and have situated alongside a pig factory int he town so they are close to their raw materials. I took a tour fo the factory and heard about their fully bio degradable product. Betty took me out on a tour of the coty, and we travelled out to the Texas border to look at the huge wind farms that have been developed there. They are larger than I have ever seen, and seem to stretch for miles. I understand that there are still lengthy debates in the US about developing wind energy as there is at home in the UK, btu interesting to hear the american interpretation of ‘NIMBYism’ (Not in my back yard).

Charlotte and Elmer had been workign hard when I returned home, and entertained all of the GSE team along with their hosts in the evening. Long days and my lack of sleep are starting to kick in. I hoep I acclimatize to the timezone soon, the bags under my eyes are growing!

Thursday 23rd

Well, it was very sad to leave our new friends and adopted family in Newton this morning. I woke to a fantastic breakfast with Connie and Dwight, and I am still persevering to eat my meals with just a fork under Dwights excellent tutorage!

President Steve acted as our chauffeur for the day and managed to cram all of our luggage into his Chelsea Tractor (I think in America we would call it a Suburban) and we began our trek to Oklahoma. Our stay in Newton has been fantastic, Amy has even gone as far as to pick out which house she wants to buy when she moves over here. The people were fantastic and to say we were spoiled doesn’t cover the kindness and welcoming we have been shown. David Nygaard one of their leading rotarians explains this by saying, you never meet a bad rotarian.

We stopped in Liberal, Kansas to go to the Wizard of Oz Museum which was fantastic. We found out that Glenda the Good Witch had to keep having her hair dyed to keep it the same colour throughout the film, and as hair dye wasn’t very advanced in those days all her hair fell out and never grew back. Everyday is a school day here!

We also stopped in Dodge City, but it was so cold we had a quick jog down the main street and moved on to our truck stop diner for a lunch of burgers…..I’m not sure about my baggage being overweight when I return home, but my waistline is certainly expanding.

We arrived in Guymon late afternoon, and I am staying with Elmer and Charlotte Nossaman, a retired Doctor and School Teacher along with Annica. We have a busy few days planned, we have a presentation to the Guymon club tomorrow lunchtime, then an afternoon with our vocational counterparts. I am meeting a women from the Rotary Club involved in Economic Development. Tomorrow is Charlottes birthday and we have all of the GSE host families coming around to the house for dinner.

I have been a little homesick today, we had alot of quiet time whilst we were travelling across Kansas today. I also have no phone reception, so apologies to anyone trying to contact me. It looks like I might not have any until we return to Wichita on Hallowean.

Wednesday 22nd

We had a great day today, our morning rendez vous was at Drubers the towns donut bar, where some of the rotarians meet each morning to read the papers and put the world to rights. We were very honoured to be invited to join them.

An hours drive followed and we visited the Dwight Eisenhower museum at Adeline, whic was fantastic. Eisenhower is the only US President to have hailed from Kansas, so the locals are suitably proud of their son. The Museum also tracks all US presidents, and we saw Clintons saxophone almongst other treasures.

Lunch was at the Kirby House in Adeline, a house dating back to the 1890’s and a swift trip back down to Newton to meet representatives from the Economic Development Council and the towns First Bank. We met the president of the bank and had a tour, and the trip the ED Council was of particular interest to me. The state ED OFficers are funded through the state lottery, so very different to the way we operate at home, but we have a similar role.

This evening we have been treated to a steak at MOntana Mikes- I don’t think I can eat again this week. The portions sizes are huge, but really good!

We haev had a fantastic time in Newton, and gained some real friends. I have loved hearing about their politics and the build up to the elections here. The talk of the local Sheriff race is as high profile as the race for the Presidency. Tomorrow we move to Guymon, Oklahoma, so an early night is planned so we are on full form for the long journey. We aim to stop at Dodge City on route, and a trip to Liberty to visit the Wizard of Oz museum.

Tuesday 21st October

Apologies for the delay in updating my diary, life has been hectic!

The flights over from the UK were fine, we were greeted in Wichita by Steve Woods GSE chair for district 5690 and escorted to the Hilton Hotel, which was as lovely as you would imagine. We were treated to a lovely hotel room each, and a great dinner. I was very proud to be the last one standing when I finally retired to bed at 9.30pm, as that would be about 3.30am at home and I had been awake bar a few snoozes on the plane for 24 hours! It all caught up with me as I was prowling the corridors ofthe hotel at 3.30am US time and in the gym by 4am trying to use my time productively!

Sunday was spent with Steve Woods and Mac Carter. Rotarians from the Wichita Club who have bought led GSE teams in previous years, so great to spend some time with them and learn a little more about GSE and Rotary.

A trip to Sheplers on Sunday afternoon (the largest cowboy store in the area) has led to the whole team being decked out in Cowboy boots, hats, shirts etc. We now look like we can handle the conference in a few weeks, where we will be entertained by the Diamond Wranglers- a genuine Cowboy band.

Wichita is a beautiful city, very open and green and not very city like at all. All the facilities are there, they have beautiful restaurants and bars, theatres, sports facilities, I am yet to sample their shopping facilities but I am hopeful! They have very wide streets in the older parts of town from where they used to drove cattle. People are very friendle, customer service is outstanding as you would expect but the atmosphere is not city like- drivers are courteous and give way to each other. Nobody is in a hurry, even in rush hour. Evidence of the election is everywhere, people have bill boards in their gardens, and everyone I have asked so far has been willing to talk about it (and I do ask).

Monday saw us make our first presentation to the Wichita Club- the largest club around here, with several hundred members. I think there were approx 250 so a little bit of a baptism of fire, but the team managed it well, after a few technical difficulties. We were whisked straight out of town after the presentation by the ROtarians from Newton CLub. Newton is approximately 30 miles north of Wichita and an amazing place. The slogan for the town is ‘Newton- how life ought to be.’

After a quick tour of the town I was taken out to the farm I am staying on with the Claasens, Dwight and Connie. A lovely couple who have four grown up boys who have all left home now, so I am staying in my own wing of the house, on their 2700 acre farm. I have explained that farms of this size just don’t exist at home. Dwight took me out on a quad bike to collect wood for the ‘Weener roast’ everyone was invited to later. The nearest thign I can compare that to, is roasting sausages on long roasting forks for hot dogs. We sat around on bails and generally ate too much ( a recurring theme on this trip) and has a lovely eveing, before heading into town to see an American football game. We were supporting the Denver Broncos (I think)- well, they lost to the New England Patriots anyway.

Tuesday

Thismornign we toured the courts, the social services departments, and some childrens charities. All very intersting, and people were more than prepared to give us some of their time to tell us about their roles. A quick lunch at an amazing Mexican restaurent was follwoed by a trip to the latest developments in older peoples care in the US and then a trip to a huge agricultural implement plant in a nearby town, Agco. We saw combines and bailers being built on massive conveyer belts. We returned to our hosts to prepare to present at teh Newton Rotary Club.

Our presentation this eveing was to a much smaller club, maybe 35- 40, and we have been spending alot of time with them over the last few days so alot less intimidating. I think we had all relaxed this evening, and the way of life here is so relaxed you can’t help but absorb it. A lovely meal, was followed by our talk and some interesting questions emerged from the audience. The club have presented us all with fantastic gifts, and couldn’t have been more hospitable.

Already we feel at home here, and whilst excited about what we have to see, could easily settle into spending out full month here in Newton.

I hope to update the diary before I move onto Guymon on Thursday.

Wednesday 15th October 2008- 3 days to go

Well, we had our final group meeting last night to prepare our presentations. Give or take a few technical hitches, we are just about ready to go. More pressing issues have been discussed…..how many pairs of shoes would you pack for 1 month away? Is 5 too many? Our luggage allowance seems generous but then we do all plan to shop! Should I pack cowboy boots, or buy the real thing whilst I am there?

It is an interesting time for us to be heading to the states, with US politics being so prevalent in the news, the build up to the elections on November 4th should be a fantastic time for us to be on American soil. The team are really looking forward to the experience and hope to absorb as much as we can.

We are all very busy this week, trying to tie up loose ends and fit in packing around our other commitments. I am playing netball this evening, seeing some friends tomorrow and having a hair cut and looking forward to a day off on Friday for my final preparations and seeing my family before I go.

Friday evening we are all travelling up to Wolverhampton to see the American team at their farewell dinner, it will be great to see the team before we chase them back over the Atlantic. Our flights are only a few hours apart, so it is a real shame we couldn’t all travel together. We hope to meet up with them all whilst in America.

We are all very excited now!

Dx