Summary of November 14, 2006 meeting.

Tonight marks the first official meeting of the GSE team headed for Thailand on February 19, 2007 – March 20,2007.

We began our meeting with introductions. Each person shared his/her name, occupation and affiliation with Rotary. Judy, Steve, and Eileen were able to share their experiences of first being involved in Rotary and their journey thus far. We learned of some of the many programs and activities that Rotary offers and the vast areas of the world that Rotary assists.

We discussed the idea of starting a scrapbook to share with the people of Thailand so that they have an understanding of our life and culture.

In order to best represent Canada and the United States, we will be selecting and purchasing an outfit (uniform) that will be worn whenever we are involved in a Rotary function. Kim will be looking for selections that may best suit the team.

Although English is widely used, we are looking into the possibility of taking language classes so that we might communicate better with those in Thailand. Even if we do not need the lessons, we would at least like to know some words and phrases to show our interest in their culture.

Eileen recorded some questions that we would like to ask in regards to our journey. These questions will be forwarded to Thailand and the answers will be returned via Eileen.

We scheduled our weekend away meeting. Using the Homewood Suites as our base, and with the help of Jeannette Saquet, we are going to build our team to prepare for the month long experience. It is exciting to think what is in store for us as we begin forming friendships and learning to work as one.