Newsletter for the Rotary Club of Greater Geraldton - Issue No.: 782 Issue Date: 29 Apr, 2024

Hi everyone, hope you have all been doing well! I'm sorry for my lack of updates- but it is because my life has been so busy and amazing lately I have had no time to just sit down and write.

I have now seen parts of Europe that even Europeans haven't seen! On my euro tour which went for 12 days, I travelled from Paris-Strasbourg-Munich-Prague-Venice-Milan-Chamonix-Geneva-Dijon. I would have to say surprisingly my favourite city was Prague, closely followed by Venice. The Euro Tour was unforgettable, our rotaracts who came with us were our best friends by the end, on the final day we all cried like babies saying goodbye to them, but we are planning to visit them.

I have so many moments I could tell you about from the Euro tour, but it was 12 unforgettable days so I will just summarise with my favourite moments. Seeing the tomb of Napolean was surreal, eating strawberries outside St Peter's church in Munich. Everything about Prague was amazing- the architecture, the food, the people, the innapproprate Irish man's performance on the street, the music, the John Lennon wall, they even have portable bars where the people drinking have to peddle it around! Italy was also a dream, we got to see the beach again and that is where we got to spend both our nights, we all danced and sang together both nights. In Venice of course I went on a gondola with my friends, we ate Italian pizza and ate gelato. We went up the mountain in Chamonix and I also got to visit the United Nations in Geneva, which is a dream for me obviously because I would love to work there one day, so I dressed up fancy and was obviously asking a lot of questions. The final night was for sure the best because our rotaracts threw us a party in the basement of a hotel with strobe lights and everything and it was such a nice way to end an amazing trip.

My post euro tour depression didn't last long because Monday morning our rotary district took us to Amiens for 3 days to celebrate ANZAC day. The first day we went to a museum and split into groups with an Aussie or New Zealand leader who would answer questions and explain our history and involvement in the war, because the other exchange students knew virtually nothing, not even what ANZAC stands for. I also met a really nice elderly lady who was just sitting there smiling hearing all the exchange students talk to each other in different languages, and I ended up talking to her for an hour. Tuesday we had our district conference which was huge because the international president Ian Risely was there, us exchange students opened the day by walking down with our flags while waltzing matilda was playing. We had free time that afternoon and I found so many Australians everywhere! That night we slept for 1 hour before leaving at 2:30 to walk to where the battle of Villers-Brettoneux took place at that exact time 100 years ago. It felt eery and overwhelming to be walking where they were fighting, and to have my dawn service at the exact place which they died. Malcolm Turnbull, Tony Abbott and Prince Charles were all there, and virtually every person I met there was Australian, I could tell when I saw a collingwood scarf or a kathmandu jacket they were most likely Aussie. 

I have now left my first host family, and am staying with another family for a week until my second host family come back from holidays in the south. I was sad to leave my first host family but my current temporary host family is so welcoming and kind, they are even taking me to Paris this weekend!

Sorry for the lengthy report, I had a lot to catch up on! Until next time!

Rachel