Going.. going... gone?

Well looks like this is it. We still have the all clear for our flights to leave tomorrow. I should be home by noon on saturday. Well, Kelowna by that time anyway. Have had a pretty busy couple of days though, went to the Natural History museum with my roommate from the hostel. He rolled in at about midnight on tuesday. Spent today at the science museum and had a wicked kebab for lunch. Going to get all packed up and ready to go and will have a bit of time to kill tomorrow am as I don't need to be at the airport until noonish. I'm looking forward to getting back home though definitely!! Well that is probably the last update for me from England, bye for now!

Still in a holding pattern

We're still in England, but it seems like there's light at the end of the tunnel — or a hole in a BIG ash cloud. The government has opened airspace over Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England as of 7 a.m. tomorrow (Tuesday). Rumors are the airspace above London and other parts of Europe will open soon after. So yay! But I won't get too excited until I hear for sure. In the meantime, we're heading to London in the morning and will check into a hotel. We've reserved it for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. Hopefully we'll get outta London before too long. On the plus side, I got to visit Jane Austen's grave in Winchester Cathedral today, and I visited the last home she lived at, which is also where she died. A big thank you to Agnes (my host) for taking me there, and for some great shoe shopping on the way there and back. :-)

If I can, I'll update in the next couple of day. In the meantime, pray we get home soon and Carol (Jim's wife) can come here to see him soon. Also pray the District 1250 team gets outta here when they're expecting to. Again, thanks all for being so wonderful to us when we were here. We had a blast and will miss our English friends very much.

The End Is...Here!

Hello again fellow bloggees and bloggers! Well, it looks like the exchange has now officially come to a close. We had our farewell dinner on Thursday night, and I was most pleased to see a large number of my previous hosts in attendance. Great food, great company, and, of course, our finaly summary speeches were the highlights of the evening (at least I hope our speeches were part of the highlight - ha ha)! It was great to see everyone again and reflect on the amazing adventure we were all involved in! It's hard to believe it's over - seems like we just arrived last week! Having busy (but not hectic) itineraries certainly helped to pass the time and make the experience all the more amazing.

On Friday, I got the opportunity to visit the Surrey Police Headquarters in this area. I spent some time learning more about their dispatch centre, and found that they have an amazing GPS mapping system to track their officers. It's connected with a type of Google Maps template, which means that operators can "zoom in" to any specific area and see what houses are there, as well as view terrain and other geographical characteristics of any given area in the Surrey region! This tool would be GREAT for us in Canada (especially for myself to use when giving directions to lost officers!).

I also got the opportunity to see their K-9 dog training facility. Can you believe they have 26 dogs for the Surrey region alone?! We've only got 3!

We then went to the firearms training centre, and I received a wealth of information from the firearms training centre officer there, who actually turned out to be the son-in-law of the hosts I had in Redhill, Malcolm and Kate Walker! Small world eh?!

We then went for a fabulous lunch at the Lobster Pot (I was being shuttled around all this time by Janet and Victor, Janet is the president of one of the local Rotary Clubs, and is a former County Councilor, while Victor is the former mayor of Farnham, and also a former Rotary Club president - escorted by celebrities - it was pretty cool!). They ended their day with me by giving me a bobby helmet (which fits!) along with a centennial King George Coin, and a book! Very nice indeed - made my day!!

Afterwards, we headed to Janet's son-in-law's house, and he showed me his amazing police memorabelia collection, and we wheeled and dealed to trade RCMP and British memorabelia when I get back too, which is great!

I then got to chat with a local community police officer named Ian, and he drove me around his patrol area, and introduced me to his fellow Farnham officers - I've never felt like more of a celebrity than I have on this trip, let me tell ya!

That night, we went out to a local pub and had a great dinner with Scott and his host family! Yet again, good food, and good company!

Saturday was our last outing of the trip, and we spent it touring London, led by Roger, who was a wealth of information! We saw St. James' Park, the exterior of Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, then went for lunch at a nice little pub nearby. Afterwards, we saw the London Opera House, and toured more area sights, then Scott and I said farewell to the group, and toured the HMS Belfast destroyer docked on the Thames near the Tower Bridge. Very interesting, and very cramped quarters as well!

Scotty and I then went out and painted the town, in this case, we painted it GREEN in honour of the live theatre performance we saw, "Wicked", which is the tale of the wicked witches in the Wizard of Oz (who really wasn't all that wicked, it turns out!). It was fabulous, and both the witches were very well acted, and the singing and stage effects were phenomenal - well worth the money!

This morning, I said farewell to my last hosts, Gord and Bebette, who were great! They had a wonderful home, and were just all-around good, helpful people! I only regret that I didn't get to spend as much time with them as I would have liked, but that's how it goes I guess!

I'm now sitting in an internet cafe awaiting my bus to Munich. Hopefully for the rest of the group's sake, that volcano will stop erupting so that they can all get home, but it sounds like they are in good hands in Farnham with their hosts, so I don't feel TOO sorry for them! They just might get put to work though (so they threatened - ha ha) but they can handle it!

Well, fingers crossed that the transit Gods are smiling upon us all! I have about two weeks left in my journey, as I continue on to travel through Germany and even into Czech Republic - looking forward to it! Hopefully I won't return to London for my trip home May 8th and find the GSE team still waiting!! That would be a bummer!

Next on my agenda, the Moses Lake Conference in Washington May 22nd! It'll be great to meet up with everybody again, and share our trip highlights with the Washingtonian Rotarians! See you all there! Auf Wiedersehen!

Final Thoughts

As you can see from the other blog entries, it appears everyone has had an outstanding time here in England. The best part has been the friendships we have gained in each area we've stayed. We attended a farewell dinner Thursday night where we met up with some of our host families and others we've met along the way. The team from the district here was also present, so we got to meet them and discuss their trip to our district next month. If the volcano prevents our departure, there will be more blog entries, as we will be forced to spend more time in London (oh darn). Of course, Carol is scheduled to meet me here on Tuesday, so we're praying that the ash will move away long enough for her to get here. We've been apart way too long.

Some other things we have done in the past few days that may not have been mentioned:
Trip to Hever Castle, home of Ann Boleyn, the beheaded wife of Henry VIII
Day in London - The Monument, Tower Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral
Hampton Court, palace home of Henry VIII
More great PUB visits
Castles in Guildford and Farnham
Great food, including black pudding, bangers and mash, steak & kidney pudding, etc.
Visit to Guildford College

Well I'm off to London, and then will try to figure out how to get everyone home.

We're heading home Sunday — if the ash moves on

Hi all. Well, we're coming to the end of our journey — and an amazing one it's been. Last night was our farewell dinner in Guildford. Friends from Horsham, Arundel, Chichester, Worthing, Burgess Hill and Reigate and Redhill were there. It was great to see everyone and to meet the GSE team from England who will be heading our way in about a week. Today were our last vocational visits (though Cam had his last one yesterday). Tomorrow we will again visit London (Westminster Abbey, here we come!) and then providing the volcanic ash has disbursed, we'll head home Sunday morning.

I think I can speak for everyone when I say that it has been busy, tiring and absolutely amazing. We have been overwhelmed by the hospitality and the amazing things everyone has taken us to see. I will be sad to go, but happy to see Corey and Moxie. I will be going home with TONS of pictures, a new love of tea, coffee and clotted cream, and new friends — friends I met here and four friends who traveled with me all the way.

Some highlights I haven't yet discussed: Jane Austen's writing desk. As a writer and English major I can't even begin to describe how much it meant to me to see where she wrote. It's amazing that such a small piece of furniture could have led to some of the best books in the English language.

On Wednesday Scott, Jim, me and hosts Malcolm and Kate went to Windsor Castle and Hampton Court. To stand where Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and William Shakespeare stood was awesome. The queen was in at Windsor (hence the flag flying in the picture at the beginning of this post), but we only saw someone walking one of her dogs.

Also at Windsor, we watched the changing of the royal guards. It was complete with a band, and quite impressive. As any tourist, I had to have my picture taken with one of the guards. It was so weird, because it actually felt like I was posing with a statue. What a weird job. They stand there motionless for a while and then suddenly yell and march for a bit, then march back to their place, and then stand motionless again.

Well, it's time for me to sign off. I'll say goodbye the way most of the Brits seem to: "Right."

First Post & Nearing the End

Hello faithful bloggers and readers! Well, this is my first blog, and I have to say, the American contingent has put us Canadians to shame! Great job on the blogs you guys! I've been down with a cold recently, and add some internet connection issues, and well, those are my best excuses! In any case, from start to finish, this has been one heck of a journey for me! I've met so many interesting people, and have also made some friends in the process. Sure, it's been pretty busy for us morning, noon and night, but somehow it still feels like we only just got here!

Being the token "Mountie" of the group, I've been privileged to have met with most all types of police officer here, from volunteer special constables in rural detachments such as Horsham, on up to semi-armed response officers in the bustling metropolis of Brighton, and I have to say, I've been impressed by what I've learnt thus far. The multi-levels of officers is a bit confusing, and I'm sorry to say I still don't have it straight, however the common theme that all the officers seem to share is that they all seem to be very "plugged-in" to their communities. Whether in a bustling city like Brighton, or a small rural area like Arundel, these officers seem to know their neighbors, along with the bad guys, and they are out there talking to people on a regular basis. Talking is such a basic concept, but these officers gather a lot of local intel, and seem to enjoy a high level of local cooperation from the general public. What is also interesting is that, although the majority of these officers are lightly armed, they manage to get the job done, and even have the time to liase with the maze of government organizations and officials like magistrates and parole officers, including the offenders themselves, a strategy which, in West Sussex in particular, has resulted in an 18% reduction in the number of offenders who re-offend! This strategy must be working!

There is more that I will post later, however I would just like to add that all of the officers I have spoken with over here have been very forthcoming, and shared most every aspect of their daily routines with me. I've even gotten in to see one of their dispatch and CCTV control centres!

Speaking of CCTV, I'm learning that it is a very valuable strategic tool for officers here. While apparently not very well liked by the general public, it is nonetheless tolerated, while officers use the intel and tracking abilities of these high definition, hard disc driven and highly zoom-capable (if that's a word) cameras to identify suspects in crimes that would otherwise have not been witnessed, assist people in distress, and track criminals fleeing from crime scenes (amongst several other uses). Whether or not these cameras act as a true crime deterrent is really hard to guage, especially when the majority of Britons seem to forget that they are there, but the value to police as a tool is certainly insurmountable! The cost is somewhat prohibitive though, as, at approximately 60,000£ per camera (roughly $115,000 CDN) they aren't cheap, but I still think that they can be used in trouble areas in Vernon and surrounding districts to help fight crime and make these areas safer.

I've talked a lot about my vocational visits, and that's mostly because everyone else has talked quite a bit about the activities that we've done. Let me just say on that note that every host I've had has been most kind and generous, and an absolute pleasure to stay with and get to know. Not to mention my team - it's really going to be weird to be without them after this trip, because I've gotten so used to them being there. From our fearless leader Jim (aka "Wandering Jimbo") with his kind words and gentle manner, to Kevira (aka "Merv") with her inquisitive mind and boundless energy, to Scott with his unfading smile (which is why I call him "Guy Smiley") and great sense of humour (I will get you back for that candid photo of me Scott, oh yes, I will!) to my fellow Canadian and friend Cam (aka "Action Man" and "The Dirt Bike Kid" - just made that one up) for being such a dependable sidekick and partner in crime, all you guys, you helped to make this trip the fun adventure that it was and is continuing to be.

The lights are going off now, so I'd best sign off for now. More later about my vocational visits and new friendships!

Politics and dressing up

Hello again. While here (in England) I've learned so much about UK politics. For example, did you know that England does not have a written constitution? I didn't until I got here — or if I did learn it in school, I didn't remember it. And voters here didn't know until Tuesday when their general election would be held this year. That's because the Prime Minister gets to decide when to call the election, but he can't rule more than five years since the last election. That gives him the chance to call for an election when his party's poll numbers are good. It's more complicated than that, but that's the gist of it.

So on May 6, 650 MPs (or members or Parliament/members of the House of Commons) will be up for election. There are three main parties: Labour (Prime Minister Gordon Brown's party), Conservative (challenger David Cameron's party) and Liberal Democrat (challenger Nick Clegg's party). United Kingdom voters will elect the MPs and whichever party has the more seats will name the prime minister. There has been talk also of a hung parliament, but I won't go into that right now. :-)

It seems like Prime Minister Gordon Brown might have missed the boat this time and not called the election when his poll numbers were good. Some sources say conservative David Cameron will become prime minister because voters are looking for change — sound familiar? I'll definitely be watching once I return to the U.S.

Now, back to the touristy stuff. When in Rome, do as the Romans do ... or when in Lewes (pronounced Louis), dress as medieval lads and ladies. Here we are at Lewes Castle. Notice that the outfits Jim and Scott are wearing have a bit too many embellishments on them — we think they were meant for women. You might not be able to tell, but I'm making rabbit ears behind Cam and Brad's heads.

Today I went on another vocational visit — to The Argus, a regional paper based in Brighton. They're focusing on local coverage, just as we have for quite a while. More on that when I return.

Rotary in the UK

It has been fun to visit the local Rotary clubs on our trip, and talk with Rotarians about their fundraisers, social events, projects, membership, etc. Clubs here seem to be doing a good job of community service, with quite a few projects that focus on children. They also have many smaller fundraising events where the money collected goes to specific international projects such as disaster relief, shelter boxes, polio eradication, and club favorites like supporting orphanages, helping AIDS victims, etc.

District 1250 has the same number of clubs as our district (around 61), but fewer members (1850 compared to our 3000), so the clubs are generally smaller in size. I would say from my observations so far, that the average age of the members is higher than clubs in our district, and there are much less women members. Several clubs don't have any women, and we've been told that a few don't care to have any.

There is a strong organization here called Inner Wheel, which his made up of spouses (like the old Rotary Anns). There are some very active groups in this area, and they provide a positive outlet for women who want to be involved in fellowship and service, and at the same time be linked with Rotary in a way.

Some of the clubs here have an interesting concept called "friends of Rotary". I'm trying to find out more, but it seems like people can get involved in Rotary projects, and attend occasional meetings without joining the club. This partial involvement give them a chance to see if Rotary might be for them, and it give the clubs more help with projects. Hmmm, something to think about. There are lots of other great ideas I am gleening from our visit.

Overall, the hospitality shown us has been outstanding. We couldn't ask for better hosts throughout our trip. This Rotary fellowship doesn't surprise me, but I think it has been an eye-opener for the non-Rotarian team members. We can't wait to host the District 1250 team when they come to our area at the end of this month.

Burgess Hill

This is an important place for me, as my mom's maiden name is Burgess. I'm sure my early descendants must have come from this area of England. The weather has been lovely the past couple days, and after meeting our new hosts a couple of us were taken to Wakehurst Place. This is an old estate that is now a trust. They have a large seed bank here, as well as beautiful gardens. It was nice to stroll around and sit outside with no coat.

In the evening we gave our presentation to the Burgess Hill Rotary Club, the best club in the district by their account. They meet at a golf club from 6:00-8:00 or so. It was a fun club, and we got to have fish and chips (coincidentally for the third straight time).

This morning I visited with a teacher at a special needs school. This school has over 100 kids from 4 to 16 years old, who have some type of special need (autism, hearing impairment, behavior concerns, learning disabilities, etc.). The school is one of three in the county that services these types of kids. It is fully funded by the county government. The kids are given access to vocational training, and have opportunities to do work experience with local businesses.

Hello everyone, it smee again.

We just wrapped up our stint in Worthing and had a wonderful time. On our last day we took a day trip down to Brighton and had a fun day. We took a tour around the Royal Pavilion which was a palace that was built by Prince Regent George IV back at the turn of the 19th century. It is an amazing creation in that it was based on the culture and architecture of India and China; it looks very out of place here in England. It is a very extravagant structure, and it’s just fascinating to think what daily life was like back then. Here is the website for the Palace if you want to see more about it:

http://www.brighton-hove-rpml.org.uk/RoyalPavilion/Pages/home.aspx

After the Palace we walked along the waterfront and then attended the Brighton Rotary lunch meeting for fish and chips. Later that night we had fish and chips again for dinner with the Worthing Rotary club and finished off the night with bowling. As an aside, team North America convincingly beat team British thanks to a few timely strikes and spares by our fearless leader Hutch (we think he’s been bowling more than he says he has as evident by his elegant form and follow through).

Today we said goodbye to our wonderful hosts in Worthing and were introduced to our new hosts for the next leg of our GSE adventure in Burgess Hill. We all gathered and had a cup of tea and refreshments before departing with our appointed hosts.

The weather here has been “brilliant”, very similar to what we would expect back home in the Spring.

Recently I’ve been working on my Cockney accent and trying to learn the lingo (I think I've pretty much mastered my Canadian accent as our Officer Rod Farva can attest to). Cockney apparently refers to the very distinct accent and vocabulary that someone born and raised in London would have acquired. My previous host was one such Cockney, and I had a fascinating time trying to understand what he was saying. True it was English (I think), but the vocabulary and speed at which he talks made for very interesting conversation. They have rhymes and abbreviations for many words and phrases, and originally this slang was developed so two people could carry on a conversation of a somewhat “dodgy” nature in a pub and not have to worry about any wandering ears from the police overhearing their conversations. For example, my last host asked me if I had my “daisies” with me. He could tell by my blank expression that I wasn’t following him so he clarified his previous question. Do I have my daisy roots on me? Still, no idea what he was talking about. Finally giving up he blatantly explained, “Daises... daisy roots... BOOTS!”. It’s a fascinating slang language and I wrote a bunch of it down to confuse the locals back home, I’ll give it to you all when we get back.

Cheers!
-Scott

We've landed in Worthing

Hello all. We just completed our away weekend in Portsmouth. It was a chance to see the sites and bond more as a group. We saw a bunch of sites, went to a comedy club (the comedians were OK, but the conversation between the group was good), wandered the streets and took buses just to see the sites.

Here's me getting cozy with Henry VIII outside the museum for his favorite ship, the Mary Rose. I figured it would be best to appeal to his taste for the ladies, so he wouldn't have me beheaded. :-) Remember the old rhyme: "divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived"? I wasn't taking any chances.

Anyway, we also saw the first iron-hulled, armour-plated warship — HMS Warrior 1860 — and Lord Horatio Nelson's ship, HMS Victory. Rotarian David Shannon not only gave us an amazing history lesson about the ship and Nelson, but he gave each of us a signed copy of a book he wrote about Nelson. We're so grateful he took time out of Easter Sunday to spend time with three Americans and two Canadians.

Anyway, here's a shot of Victory in all its restored glory. On board we saw the approximate place where Nelson was shot during the Battle of Trafalgar, and the place where he died below deck. After many viewings of "That Hamilton Woman" over the years, it was all very exciting to me.

At the Battle of Trafalgar, the British Navy, under the command of Nelson, defeated the French and Spanish in 1805, during the Napoleonic Wars. The ship has been restored to how it was at the time of the battle.

This morning we left Portsmouth and Southsea and headed to Worthing. We met Ian, David and Barbara there and then went to Parham House in Storrington.

Speaking earlier of Henry VIII, Parham was built in Henry's daughter Elizabeth I's reign, in 1577. The house has amazing gardens, and the day was perfect to view them. The inside of the house is filled with amazing needlework and antiques, and lots of paintings of British royalty and those who have owned the house and their relatives. It was absolutely breathtaking, so of course I had to buy a guidebook. Ask the guys — I ALWAYS buy a guidebook. :-)

Tomorrow and Wednesday will be busy with vocational visits, a meeting with a local mayor, some Rotary club meetings, and even some bowling, so we probably won't be able to update the blog much. But as soon as we can, we will.

Easter Sunday

I had a great time meeting people at King's Church, where I attended Easter Sunday. It was an Assembly of God affiliation that was alive and joyful today. About 100 people were at the service, which was held in a school gym. They have many college kids, but since they were on spring Easter break, there were fewer of them. Lots of other younger kids. The pastor's wife is from Portland, and one of the members I met has a sister in Seattle. A great way to start the day.

Our group then met up at the HMS Victory, the flagship of Admiral Lord Nelson. He is credited with defeating the combined French and Spanish Navy in 1805, a victory that perhaps allowed England to then expand its empire and rule the seas for many years to come. The ship was awesome. Local Rotarian David Shannon (pictured with the team) gave us a history of the ship and Admiral Nelson. He also gave us signed copies of the book he wrote, "Nelson Remembered".
We then took a bus ride around the larger town, and ended the day with a Mediterranean dinner. Weather was sunny and warmer today. It's starting to look like spring here after their harsh winter. Tomorrow we are picked up and taken to Worthing for the next half of our adventure.

Weekend of Rest???

Well, we finished our time in the Chichester area and were taken to a B&B in Portsmouth for a weekend away. This is a time where we can catch our breath, relax, and get caught up on things like our journals, laundry, and sleep. I'll have to say it has not been too taxing yet, and we probably won't get much rest this weekend because there is so much to see and do here in Portsmouth.

After attending a Good Friday service in Chichester Cathedral (Anglican), one of England's finest (begun in the 11th century), we all had a farewell lunch at my host's home and then were driven to Portsmouth. That afternoon we walked a short distance to the ocean, checked out the area there, and walked into town. After dinner, we went to a comedy club. First time we had seen many younger people on our trip.

Today we took a cab to the newest part of town where we took a harbor tour, went up to the top of the Spiniker Tower, and visited the Mary Rose Museum (one of Henry VIII's prize ships that sunk in 1556), and the first ironclad ship, the HMS Warrior (1860). They also have a HUGE factory outlet there, so we spent some time checking that out. Being Easter weekend, it is a pretty busy place.

I'll try to find a church nearby to attend tomorrow, and then it's off the the aquarium, the D-Day museum, the submarine museum, and a personal tour (local Rotarian) of the HMS Victory, Lord Nelson's flagship in the battle of Trafalger.

Arundel Castle

Today we had great weather and a wonderful visit to a Castle that had it's roots back to about 1066. It is still the home of the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk (the 18th Duke) and their 5 children. We were going to meet them but they were off skiing in Europe. We were given a tour by John Penny, the District 1250 Foundation chairman and member of Arundel Rotary Club. There is a member of the Rotary club that resides on the grounds. 3 of us were hosted by James who runs one of the farms owned by the Duke, the Duke's butler lived next door.

That afternoon we toured Cathedral Works Organization, a stone masonry company that renovates historic buildings. They did the Monument in London, and are currently working on parts of Buckingham Palace. It's quite an art, and we saw small pieces that have taken over 90 hours to do by hand.

We gave our presentation to about 90 people from several area Rotary clubs that evening. It's great to visit with so many Rotarians, and see the great things they are doing in their communities and around the world. As usual, dinner was lovely.

Greetings from the U.K.!

Greetings from the U.K.!

As we are now approaching the half way point of our trip, it seems aboot (the spelling is a reference for our Canadian friends) that I posted a note on our Rotary GSE blog as well.
First of all let me just say a huge thank you to all of our Rotarian hosts and friends that we have met on this trip so far. Their hospitality has far exceeded anything that I could imagine, and they have gone to such lengths to put together a wonderful trip for us all. Thank you!

As the other members of our team have previous documented, we have been having a blast doing a wide range of activities. We are getting an in-depth cultural experience as to what daily life is like in Southern England. Everything from marvelling at grand cathedrals, walking on ancient Roman roads, feasting on fine English meals of lamb shanks and wood pigeon, and of course enjoying all the amenities that the local pubs have to offer. My favourite experience so far has been the time spent exploring the English country side. There are vast expanses of farm land, and scattered throughout is an extensive network of walking paths. I have thoroughly enjoyed going for a few walks along these paths and coming upon unexpected farms and villages, and enjoying the beauty that this region has to offer. It’s been bloody muddy and I’m glad that I brought my hiking boots with me; they have come in very handy on multiple occasions. The vast areas of rolling hills that we go walking on are called the Downs, and essentially they were formed a very long time ago when millions of little sea creatures were deposited on top of each other, back when the ocean still covered the island. The collection of all their remains has resulted in these elevated areas of land, and due to the decomposition of their organic sea shells, this area has now become a very large deposit of chalk. Anyways, walking on these Downs is amazing, and I’ve got lots of great pictures to share when I get home.

As far as the vocational side of my U.K. adventure, I have visited a local physician’s office, a retail pharmacy, and two hospital pharmacies. The local physician’s office is very similar to what we have back in the States, except it has a “dispensary” in the back, which essentially is a pharmacy. The MDs write an Rx for their patients, and then before the patient leaves the office they swing by the dispensary and pick up the Rx. There is no pharmacist onsite which is allowed because there is always a physician onsite who is responsible for the whole operation. The local retail pharmacy that I visited was equivalent to the local independent community pharmacies that we have back home. I met a very nice Irish pharmacist onsite and she explained the whole operation to me, it was a great experience. The first hospital pharmacy that I visited was an oncology specific hospital pharmacy. They specialize only in the inpatient chemotherapies and have a fascinating system of operation. Lots of automation like we have back home with a few differences. The last hospital that I have visited was essentially a mirror image of Memorial hospital (the hospital I work at) back home. The Director of pharmacy met with me and gave me an in-depth explanation of how the pharmacy healthcare system works in the U.K., and explained the daily operations of his facility. We ended with a tour of his whole hospital, a very unique experience.

People have asked what unexpected or interesting things I have learned or experienced so far and here are some thoughts to end this post:
- Every Rotarian that we have met over here has been so incredibly gracious and nice; it has just been a wonderful experience.
- Walking along the English country side has been a thrill and was everything that I had hoped it would be.
- My pharmacy vocational experiences have been fascinating. Two interesting things that I have seen so far are:
o EVERY medication is unit dosed. Medications come pre-packaged in blister packaging in small boxes (with brail on them, which is interesting too), and the physicians write the quantities of their prescriptions based on how the medication is supplied. For example, amoxicillin capsules come in boxes containing 10 blister packs each, a typical short course for an antibiotic. Generic atenolol comes in boxes of 28 blister packs, a typical once a day dose for a month. Pharmacists RARELY split up boxes to complete an Rx because they already come packaged in the quantity that the physicians are writing for. A sharp contrast to what we do in the states where we will have a 1000 count bottle of a medication and count out 30 pills for a patient on a counting tray (which the English pharmacy I visited couldn’t even find because they don’t know they last time they had to use it).
o The payment system for prescriptions is very interesting and complex. There are too many finer details to explain here, but essentially, if you are over 60 years old you get ANY and ALL your prescriptions for free. There are a few exceptions where you can be less than 60 years old and have other qualifications that also lend you to this category. Also, if you have to pay for your prescription, it is only 7 pounds and 20 cents. Period. Even if the medication only costs pennies or if it costs 5000 pounds, which is the price you pay for one prescription. Essentially the U.K. has a national formulary which their equivalent of the FDA has approved, and as long as the proper channels are followed and the drug is on the U.K. formulary, it is what it is. This whole concept is very complex and confusing, and I’m trying to sort it out while over here, hopefully I have it straight in my head so I can explain it when I get home.

Okay, well I have rambled on enough for now. In closing, I hope everyone back home is doing well, I hope Spring is there when I get home, yes Mom I am taking care of myself and not getting run down, Scotty loves his wife very much, and as always, Dexter (the puppy dog) is in charge while I’m gone.

Cheers!
-Scott

Fish Heads...

Well I'm a bit behind as this is my first post, but Kevira has been doing such a good job so far I haven't had a lot to add.

I had a vocational visit yesterday at a financial planners in Arundel, he had a book in his waiting room called "101 Bunny Suicides", and sure enough thats exactly what was inside. It was al cartoons and not gory, but still a little odd... The visit was quite good, there are a lot of similarities to how things are done in Canada, but also some pretty major differences. England is moving to a fee-based planning system in 2012, so instead of having the planning costs embedded within the MER of a mutual fund, each client will be required to pay per hour, similar to an accountant or a lawyer.

Today we wandered around town a bit (fuddled about is the technical term) then went for lunch at the harbour. It was freezing!!! Gale force winds, rain, and it was only about 3 or 4 degrees. So I had chili for lunch which helped. My host had White Bait which was little deepfried beeer battered fish. Whole. Eyes, guts, and the whole nine yards. So I had to try one, everyone else did to!! I picked a wee one that pretty much had fried down to nothing so it just tasted like eating batter. Was still very weird to have my food looking at me though! Afternoon went to Goodwood Circuit where they hold the Festival of Speed every year. Wasn't much going on though, just had a cup of tea and left.

Catching Up

We've been so busy that none of us has had time to update the blog, so here is a glimpse of a few of the activities we've been enjoying since March 27th.

Sunday, after breakfast on the waterfront, and lunch at the Arundel Rotary Club president's home, we were taken to an ancient Roman Villa that dates back to 230 AD. It's hard to imagine the degree of Roman culture and architecture that was common all over southern England during this time. We also took a walk along the old roman road at the top of the Downs.

Monday I visited a secondary school. I'm still trying to figure out the educational system here. Public schools are really private, colleges are often for age 16 and up, grammar schools are nearly gone, prep schools are for the younger kids, academies are schools which haven't made the grade and have been re-named and re-tooled, and then there are $20,000 per year boarding schools. All these are driven by a national curriculum, although public (private) schools have more flexibility in how the day-to-day things are done.

We were handed off to the Chichester Harbor Rotary Club for the next few days Monday afternoon, toured some of the area, and relaxed with our host families. I stayed with Sue & Malcom Danks. Sue will lead the District 1250 GSE team that will be coming to our district at the end of April.

Tuesday, I visited Aldingbourne Farm, a facility that assists developmentally challenged adults by helping them run various enterprises. They grow and sell plants, refurbish furniture, sell crafts, recycle wood, and other activities. The place deals with around 90 clients, and has a volunteer staff of 40 part-time people helping out. After lunch at yet another PUB (they are the common place to have drinks and a meal), we were taken for a walking tour of downtown Chichester, which included the marvelous Chichester Cathedral and St, Mary's Hospital (which is really a boarding place now). That evening we gave our presentation to the Rotary Club of Chichester (our hosts that day). About 90 people were in attendance.

Our vocational visits and Arundel

Note: I think my cold addled my brain. Earlier I misspelled one of the Rotarians' names. It's now fixed.

I'll make this short, since I'm nursing a bit of a cold and need to get to bed. We all spent time learning about similar businesses to ours over here in England. I talked to Gary and Theo at the West Sussex County Times, and also spoke to Matt at The Resident, another newspaper in the Horsham area. It was very enlightening and left me with some new ideas and an understanding that newspapers here are struggling just like those in the United States. As a side note, the Times of London announced yesterday they will begin charging readers for access to its content online.

Brad spent a day with a police detachment in West Sussex; Jim went to Lancing College, also in West Sussex; Scott went to a hospital in Brighton; and Cam went to two separate financial services facilities. They'll have to fill you in later about what they learned, but it sounds like they had a wonderful time.

Yesterday we were treated to a tour of sites around Arundel by Rupert Brooks, a local man who wrote a book about pub sites around the area. We got a nice view of the castle (here's me in front of it), but we're looking forward to a better view next week.

We then headed to the St. Mary's Gate Inn, a local pub, and met Rotarians James, Mark, Keith, Tim and Stephanie. We also met James' wife Helen and Keith's wife Sam. Mark's wife Clare was a bit ill and couldn't join us, but since I'm living with them I was able to visit with her yesterday and today. We share a love of Jane Austen and visited Jane's home in Chawton today. It was amazing. Tomorrow we will spend more time with the local Rotarians, we will move on to Chichester on Monday, we'll have more vocational visits on Tuesday, and we'll do our next presentation Wednesday.

Another update — this time with pictures

We've moved on to the city of Arundel, and just left Horsham. But let me catch you up with pictures.

This was our welcoming party in Horsham. From left to right are Gaby (whom I lived with for five days), Janet, Jim, Mary, Brad, Peta, Brian, Scott, Richard and Cam. You can also barely see Geoff behind Scott. Gaby, Brian, Richard and Geoff are members of the Horsham Rotary Club. Jim stayed with Richard and Janet, Scott stayed with Geoff and Mary, and Brad and Cam stayed with Brian and Peta. We've spent a lot of time visiting with them and sharing information about our jobs, our hometowns and Rotary clubs in America and the U.K.

They made us feel SO welcome. We were very sad to say goodbye to all of them last night and today.

This is the bed and breakfast Geoff and Mary own — where Scott stayed — called The Thatched House. It looks exactly like I always imagined a thatched cottage would look.

This is the Church of St. Andrew and St. Cuthman in Steyning. It was built on the site of a church built by St. Cuthman in 750 AD. The story goes something like this: "His legend states he was a shepherd who had to care for his paralysed mother after his father's death. When they fell on hard times and were forced to beg from door to door, he built a one-wheeled cart or wheelbarrow (with a rope from the handles over his shoulders taking part of the weight) in which he moved her around with him. They set out east, towards the rising sun, from his home and, even though the rope broke, he improvised a new one ... deciding that when that rope broke he would accept it as a sign from God to stop at that place and build a church." It broke in Steyning.

And for now I'll end with this story: A worker was fixing a wall in Steyning. Someone in the past had, for some reason known only to him, put a pair of false teeth into the wall. So the worker who was fixing the wall asked for people to bring their false teeth to him. He put a pair he received into the wall. :-)

I'll fill you in tomorrow on our vocational visits and what we toured yesterday and today.

Mid-week Activities

Wow! It's hard to keep up with all the activities we have been doing. Tuesday we met Rotarians from another club who took us to tour the old town of Steyning. Houses in this own date back to the 1200's, and are still lived in. Most structures are of the 14-1500's. A very lovely town with narrow alleys, and winding streets. We then went to see the oldest airfield in England.

The weather was cloudy and cooler, but we had a great timc. I still can't get used to riding on the left side of the road, and when I get in the car, I automatically grab for the steering wheel, which is now in the other side of the car. I have also found myself lifting the toes on my right foot as if to regulate the non-existent gas pedal.

Wednesday was a vocational day, and we were all out to different places of business that match our vocations. I spent time at a youth center created by three different churches, and one that has had a big impact on anti-social behavior in local youth. I then went to Lancing College, a private boarding school for 13-18 year-olds. It looked more like our universities, with a chapel that rivals most big cathedrals here.

We're here and loving it

After about 18 hours either in a plane or an airport, we arrived in London about 1:30 p.m. Sunday (about 6:30 a.m. Wenatchee time). It took us about another hour to get through the line for passport checks and then we were off to Horsham. By the way, we were greeted by the most friendly, wonderful people at the airport - about 10 of them. In Horsham we sat down with all of them for some tea and biscuits. After tea, and dinner at our respective homes, we were a bit tired. :-) So forgive me for not writing before now.

We're getting the Internet thing worked out (I'm using someone else's computer right now), so hopefully updates, pictures and Skype calls home will be coming soon. Today I ate breakfast, met up with the whole group, toured the local district government, ate lunch at a local pub, walked to a local church and by some older homes (as in 17th century kinda old), and then toured items that will be auctioned later this week (ranging from the 17th to 20th centuries).

Now we're resting for a bit before heading to a Rotarian's home for dinner at 7 p.m. So far it's been amazing, and it's only been one day! The people are wonderful, the food is good (and there's plenty of it) and the countryside is absolutely beautiful.

Wanna see where we're going?

We will be traveling throughout Surrey and Sussex, England. Here are the towns we will be visiting:

Horsham, Arundel, Chichester Harbour, Portsmouth, Southsea, Worthing, Burgess Hill, Reigate, Redhill, Farnham, Guildford and London.

These are some of the sites we'll see:
Weald and Downland Museum
Bignor Roman Villa
Arundel Castle
Chichester Cathedral
HMS Victory
Jack and Jill Windmills

Our presentation

GSE Englandpresentation

View more presentations from kvoegele.

Meet the District 5060 GSE team for 2010

Jim Adamson, age 60, team leader.

Vocation: school counselor/youth training consultant, 36 years.

Personal: My wife, Carol, and I have two grown children Kristie (34) and Kenny (30), and 7 grandchildren. We live in East Wenatchee in Washington State, USA.

I have been in Rotary 23 years and have held numerous positions, including District Governor (2005-06), Club President (1994-95) and every avenue of service in the Wenatchee Sunrise Rotary Club. I am the coordinator for materials and Sgts. at Arms for our 9-district PETS, and will be the District Trainer in the 2010-11 year.

Interests and hobbies: I enjoy photography, walking/fitness, tennis, golf, biking, kayaking, travel, and watching sporting events and movies. I also like history, and have taught the subject in schools.

I am looking forward to seeing various aspects of the English educational system, especially any part that deals with students who are not making it in the regular system. Also, I am interested in visiting agencies that help with career planning and job training.


Kevira Voegele, age 39, team member.

Vocation: journalist, 9 years.

Personal: My husband Corey and I live in Wenatchee, Washington. We have a cat named Moxie. I work at The Wenatchee World newspaper.

Interests and hobbies: I enjoy drawing, researching my genealogy, watching movies, spending time in nature and reading.

What I'd like to do: Vocationally, I would like to visit several newspapers in Surrey and Sussex (and London, if possible). I would like to talk to city/local editors and Web editors and ask them how they have changed their coverage, if at all, to attract more readers. I would also like to see their Web sites, and learn how they are trying to reach readers online. Are they charging money for online content? If not, do they expect to do that in the near future?Are readers contributing to the Web sites and print editions? Do they pay readers for the content they are contributing?

While in England, I would like to see a castle or palace, such as Hampton Court, Farnham, Arundel and/or Guilford; the abbey and battlefield of the 1066 Battle of Hastings; and examples of industries in Surrey and Sussex (fishing, agriculture, etc.). I would also be interested in visiting A.A. Milne sites in Hartfield; an English country garden; a pub; Tickerage Mill, Tickerage Lane, Blackboys, Uckfield, East Sussex (near Framfield); and the Jane Austen Museum in Chawton, Hampshire; Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire; Westminster Abbey; The National Gallery; and other sites of London; and the White Cliffs of Dover.


Scott Van Horn, age 25, team member.

Vocation: hospital pharmacist, 5 years.
Specific areas of interest: Oncology and infectious diseases.

Personal: I am married to my wife Brenda who is also a hospital pharmacist. We live in Yakima in Washington state, and both work at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital.

Specific tasks related to vocation:
• Review patient medical charts and medications to assess appropriateness of pharmacotherapy.
• Recommend dosing and monitoring parameters for hospital medications.
• Answer physician and nurse medication questions and provide therapy recommendations.
• Participate in the healthcare team in designing and implementing a care plan for the patient.
• Respond to emergency code situations and provide assistance with critical medications.

What I'd like to do: Vocationally, I look forward to visiting and learning more about the English medical system in regards to hospitals and community clinics, and focusing on the role that pharmacy plays in this system.

A broader goal is to gain an understanding of how the English medical/healthcare system functions as a whole. It would be fantastic to visit and tour large medical institutions to see how the hospitals operate in England as well. I would like to see how the healthcare team operates in a hospital, and specifically experience the role that the pharmacist performs. Another interesting avenue I would like to learn more about in regards to the English hospital system is how its drug distribution system works and the technology in place to meet this need. As well, understanding how patient health information is shared between medical professionals in the form of electronic medical records is a point of interest to me.

Areas of professional interest include oncology pharmacy and infectious disease pharmacy. These fields of the pharmacy profession are closely connected, and I hope to specialize in one of these realms of pharmacy someday. A prime focus of mine is outpatient or ambulatory oncology, so if there are any cancer treatment clinics available to visit, that is ideal. I would like to see how a community/retail pharmacy operates as well, but this is more of a curiosity interest, and is not a prime focus of mine. If there are any opportunities to see production or research facilities for pharmaceuticals, that would be interesting as well.

Interests and hobbies: If an opportunity was available to play golf on one of the English links, that would be special. I would also like to travel around the English countryside and visit family farms, famous/historic castles, historic World War II sites, and landmarks (like Stonehenge, Wimbledon, Oxford and Cambridge Universities). Tour the Palace of Westminster; visit Bath Abbey in Bath and tour around southwest England including Torquay, and see the White Cliffs of Dover. Experiencing local pubs and restaurants is always a treat. I would also like to watch an English rugby, soccer, or cricket game. Anything related to The Beatles (visiting Liverpool for example) or James Bond would be a fun experience.

Brad Haberstock, age 37, team member.

Vocation: watch clerk with The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (civilian employed by the City of Vernon), 1 year.

Personal: I am single, and live with my two cats, Boomer and Pepper, in the rural, primarily farming community of Armstrong, British Columbia. I attended Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC, where I received a Bachelor of Arts in the Applied Science of Communication and a Certificate in the Liberal Arts. I also attended Humber College in Toronto, Ontario, where I received an Honours Certificate In Customs And Immigration. I am currently taking human resource management courses part time via distance education with Camosun College in Victoria, B.C., with the intention of achieving an Advanced Human Resource Management Diploma. I have lived in a number of cities throughout Canada, from west to east.

Interests and hobbies: I enjoy traveling, and have lived in Finland, as well as visited Sweden, Germany, France, Poland, Russia, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, Cuba, and Mexico.

My hobbies include collecting militaria, antique pocket watches, old German stamps and Canadian currency, certain kinds of books (like “Warlord For Boys”), and antique die-cast and lead military toys. Interests and hobbies: I enjoy movies, politics, live theatre, squash, slo-pitch, bowling, golf (although I’m more of a “hacker”), military history, cycling, skeet and target shooting, snorkeling, cats, castles, paintball, camping and European history.

What I'd like to do: Whilst in the United Kingdom, I would love to see a few castles, visit some military museums and historical battlefields, tour Roman ruins, see a live British football (soccer) or rugby match, see a live theatre performance in London, and enjoy a pint in an “authentic” British pub. Specific locations I would like to visit in England include: Bath Abbey in Bath, Stonehenge, London’s Imperial War Museum, take an underground tour in London, Westminster Abbey, tour the battleship docked in London, and see the masted wooden naval tall ships docked at Portsmouth.

Vocationally, I would like to visit British law enforcement services and police detachments in order to review their record keeping processes, specifically how they store, organize, and issue police equipment, dispatch emergency and non-emergency calls, and handle public queries and complaints. I would also be interested in visiting a police training facility in order to see how they train their officers. I am specifically interested in examining how the tactics of their lightly armed officers differ from those of our armed Mounties. Additionally, I want to see how effective their closed circuit television monitoring systems are when it comes to both fighting crime, and preventing crimes from occurring. Perhaps the information I gather can be used to improve record-keeping and emergency dispatch procedures at home, while possibly assisting with the introduction and potential implementation of cctv in “problem” areas within the city of Vernon.

Cameron Rauschenberger, age 26, team member.

Vocation: financial planner, 3 years.

Personal: I am single and live in the city of Kamloops, British Columbia. I completed my Bachelor of Tourism Management from Thompson Rivers University in 2006.

I played rugby for several years and currently race motocross competitively. Most recently I won the 25+ spring series championship in 2009.

What I'd like to do: Vocationally, I would like to observe one or two appointments with a financial advisor (could be from a company such as Barclays Financial Planning, or something similar) who is meeting a prospect for the first time. I am interested in seeing how they run the appointment, build trust, and what techniques they use during a meeting. I am also interested in learning about how advisers prepare a prospect for that first meeting (i.e. do they supply a checklist of points of interest, send out introduction packages, verbally explain, etc?).

I would like to have a general overview of the financial planning industry including how it is structured from a regulatory perspective to see what the differences and similarities are to Canada. I think that will help provide context for what I learn during the site visits, and provide insight into how I can transfer that knowledge back to Canada.

What are some of the major issues/common problems facing their clients? In Canada/U.S. we have the baby boom shaping things but in England that hasn’t been the case, so what is driving change in the industry? Other examples might be the ‘sandwich generation’ of people who are taking care of their children and their parents, or ultra long mortgages (up to 99 years from what I understand). It would also be valuable to possibly do a case study or two and see some of the specific planning techniques that are being used. This would also be good in comparing the products that are available in England to what is available in Canada and would hopefully present some now ideas I can use.

Finally, I would like to explore the systems that advisers are using to grow their practices in terms of client base. How do they find prospects, track them, and develop them through until they become clients? What do they do in terms of servicing their clients and client retention/appreciation approaches? What marketing activities have been used successfully?

Rugby - I definitely have to catch a game or two of rugby union. I might also be interested in playing a pick up game. Gaelic football is something I would also love to see live. I’m very interested in the history and architecture of England and would be excited to visit some historical sites such as castles, museums, Stonehenge etc. I’ve done some sailing while in Australia and would like to go out for a trip. I don’t know if there is any good diving in the area but going for a scuba dive would be fun as well. There is a Rotaract club in Chichester, so as a Rotaract member I would be interested in attending one of their meetings to trade info and see what they are doing. I am a huge fan of live music so heading out for a couple of concerts or shows might be a nice end to some of the evenings. If any of the Rotary members or family ride dirt bikes going for a ride on a free day would be right up my alley.

The Team

This is our team during a training session in Osoyoos, BC.

Kevira, Scott, Cam, Brad, and Jim