Guest speaker: Ginny Bjorkquist, returning Rotary Exchange Student who spent last year in Belgium. Best year of my life so far – thank you Rotary for the fun and learning. Her goal was to visit as many countries as possible – 13 was her total and very easy since the rail system is everywhere. Though Belgium is a small country the beauty and assets are extensive. How did school go was a question – I didn’t understand much till about February but was very appreciative of her 3 host families and their children for helping her fit in. Since coming back she has attempted to attach all of her memories to her red Rotary jacket – amazing – you can hardly see the red material anymore and she said it is too heavy to wear!! The languages of Belgium change from French to Dutch to German depending which border you are near. She says that when speaking she is thinking in several languages. There were 400 other rotary exchange students in this small country & it was great to be able to travel with them. Her learning of the world, its traditions and aspects of life was from her rotary exchange friends. She attended an academic school of 400 students; teaching in a lecture style –much different learning style than here. She also attended a language learning school for immigrants – 18 in total from everywhere. Here she learned all about their countries that they had just left and valuable lessons on how the world runs. In her travels she went to Finland where a family reunion of the Bjorkquist family was planned so she could meet all of her relatives. Very cool. Life was very busy – face book kept them updated as to where the next festival was happening!! Shortly before she would come home there was a 3 day agricultural fair and she got to meet the prime minister of Belgium - he’s the person with the sun glasses – President Kim thanked Ginny for such a great talk and the sharing of all the neat things that she experienced. She was presented with a special card from Rotary that said that a donation will be made to Rotary Foundation to help in the fight to eliminate Polio in the world. |
