What an amazing journey we’ve had on this trip! If anyone had ever said that someday I would be going to Germany for five weeks with four people I barely knew and staying in the homes of people I’d just met, I would have told them they were out of their minds. I can’t say that every minute of this trip was perfect, but I can tell you that I would not have traded it for the world. There were days when I simply could not believe how lucky I was to be in such a beautiful country with such wonderful, generous people. I kept thinking how lucky I was to have been given the opportunity . . .
GSE is hard work, so don’t think that we were just over here sipping wine and drinking beer for the last five weeks, because that’s far from the truth. Okay, I am quite certain that we each had our fair share of the aforementioned beverages while we were here, but we also were almost exclusively on the go each day with jam-packed schedules that had us walking halfway across Lower Saxony! Most days were long–sometimes they seemed too long–but a new day would dawn with other great adventures before us.
I think I surprised myself on this trip at how intensely I experienced emotions while living a life that seemed so unlike my own. I know that statement probably didn’t make all that much sense, so let me try to explain . . . we stayed with wonderful people who wanted to give and show us their best every day, and some days I just didn’t feel that I could possibly be waited on or taken care of for another minute. I never realized how truly independent I was until I came on this trip and suddenly was surrounded by fantastic folks who wanted to do everything for me. I know many of them thought me to be strange . . . I didn’t drink coffee, I didn’t put milk and sugar in my tea (which I told them that I would normally drink out of a VERY large cup with lots of ice each morning), and I wasn’t a fan of water “with gas.” Despite those odd, seemingly inconsequential differences, I have some great memories of the people I met along the way who helped keep us entertained, fed us some amazing food, and showed us some beautiful, interesting sights.
To all of those who helped me get here–the Rotarians, my family, my coworkers, and my friends–I say thank you. To all the folks I’ve met during my five weeks here in Germany–my host families, the District 1850 GSE coordinator, and the GSE coordinators from Nordenham, Bremen, Diepholz-Vechta, Leer, and Oldenburg–I say Vielen Dank! Last, but certainly not least, I just have to say that my teammates rock! The five of us made a motley crew over here, but we survived all the ups and downs of each others’ moods (and there was no blood shed, believe it, or not!) and have formed some lasting friendships. So . . . I’m just sayin’ . . . Wow!
Sounds like you figured out just what GSE is all about Stacey. Funny how 30 days can affect the rest of your life. Congratulations on a successful trip!