Friday, March 4, 2011

Housemates and Rotary VTT Group

I have told you where I am living. Now, let me tell you who I am of living with.

From Left to Right:

KYLE GUNNELS - Kyle is another Rotary Ambassadorial scholar who I corresponded with prior to coming to Australia. He is from Texas and studied Public Relations at The University of Alabama. He is currently studying a Masters of Communications. He previously worked in New York at a communications firm. He has a heart for helping to improve the education system in America.

JOHN MAYNE - John is Australian and he is the landlord of the house. He makes sure we pay our dues and gives us chores to do around the house. He is a leader of Student Life and works full time for the organization. He has a heart for sharing the gospel and 'seeing that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus.' He is also very funny. He told me about two beans who were traveling around Australia. These beans went to Sydney for a few days and then traveled in Melbourne for the Australia Open. They then went up north where they ended up in Cairns (pronounced Cans). Funny joke right? Consult John for more humor.


ME - If your following this blog, then you know enough about me. If you don't just click on the About Me link at the home page!

DAVE  ALEXANDER -  Dave, 'AKA Kiwi Dave', is from New Zealand. He studied Geology in his undergraduate degree and is currently working on a PhD in Glaciology. His research thesis is on 'the Melting of Ice at the Base of New Zealand Glaciers.' He is very good at soccer in real life but hates losing to me in the FIFA soccer video game.

JOEL WHITTAKER - Joel is another Australian bloke. He is studying Computer Science with an emphasis on video game design. He enjoys playing all sorts of sports. Joel and I have developed a bit of a rivalry when it comes to gaming. I consider myself to be good at sports and video games, so naturally we have bonded and bonded quite competitively.

All of my housemates have one thing in common. THEY ARE AWESOME.
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I went to another Rotary meeting this week and the speakers were a group of students picked to represent a VTT team to Louisiana. The VTT stands for Vocational Team Training and provides a vocational experience for young businessmen and women across the world. The purpose of this specific exchange group will be to examine the causes and effects of the major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and, in addition, view the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The applicants come from backgrounds that include the energy and fuel industries, wildlife and environmental bodies, commercial and recreational fishing interests, disasters and emergency services, engineers, security, government agencies, relief, rescue, clean up organizations and a host of similar industries. Likewise, there will be a team traveling from Louisiana to Queensland (explains the whole exchange thing) to do the same thing except they will be looking at the effects of the floods and Cyclone Yasi. It was nice to be there as I was able to give them feedback on their presentation as well as tell them what to expect in the southern United States.




Give me four days and I will have another 'blog post' posted. See ya.

2 comments:

  1. Tremendous! What a challenge!

    I am a Detroit Rotarian helping both Rotary districts here - 17 Rotary Clubs in Ontario and 91 in Michigan - host a VT Team from Queensland who are here assisting us with our adult illiteracy disaster.

    I'm delighted to learn of your exchange to Louisiana, where our Club made a $5,000 contribution to the Slidell Northshore, Louisiana Rotary Club in 2005 to help restore a Community Center there.

    Good Luck on your important service!

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  2. Wow! Rotary experience constantly brings neat little surprising coincidences.

    In 2005, as part of sending our contribution to Slidell Northshore's recovery efforts, we sent a member of Detroit Rotary Club to bring our greetings and best wishes to Slidell, along with the money. Other than their acknowledgement, we haven't had any more contact with them. Fran subsequently left town for a job change and resigned from our Club. Fran's been gone for over two years and we hadn't heard from her in that time, either. While I was in the *midst* of posting my earlier comment here, Fran actually called my wife, our Membership Chair, to say she had moved back to Detroit and wished to re-join Detroit Rotary!

    What're the odds!?

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