John Carr in Fiji - 3 April
April 3, 2009
Posted by trudeau-william
Bula vinaka! I hope the Spring season is bringing nice weather to Joplin. Today, I gave my first presentation to my host club; it went great. The topic of my presentation was the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship program. Naturally, some Rotarians could write a book on the subject, while others know little about the educational programs. Therefore, I provided a brief history, purpose and logistics of RAS program, naturally focusing on my experience of getting to Suva. I am glad I waited a few weeks to give my first speech as it gave me time to analyze the club and learn some local dos-and-donts. It is very discouraging to me when I see other Americans or foriegners who blindly step on the toes of the locals. As an RAS, I know I have a very unique, special and fortunate role that most American visitors and exchange students do have. The RC of Suva East invited me to return on Monday as their guest speaker so I have been thinking about what to speak about. They also have an ambassadorial scholar, Minako, from Japan. She is very nice. She took us to local Japanese resturant to show us some a glimpse of her culture. Last night, I attended the RC of Peninsula Sunset by invite to their cultural visit to the New Zealand High Commissioner's residence. The HC of NZ and his subsequent replacement have recently been forced out of Fiji by the government due to controversial governmental issues. The secretary for the HC hosted us and she is also a member of the RC. It was quite an awesome experience to see behind the scenes, as the beautiful residence is vacant. Also, being an evening RC, it has been inevitable not to follow along downtown for coffee, wine, etc. It truely offers me a great way to get to personally know several of the Rotarians! I am really enjoying my stay in Suva and I am learning a lot everyday. My classes are going well, but I find I learn much more by associating with local friends I am making. There have been several Rotarians that have reached out and it just shows the amazing group of people that can be found in any and every RC worldwide. John
