Monday, March 30, 2009

Back Home in Kentucky

On Saturday night our visit to Norway was completed with a wonderful dinner in Hamar, attended by hosts and Rotarians from all the towns we visited, including Kongsvinger, Gjøvik, Lillehammer, and of course Hamar.  It was great to see friends again from our month-long tour and to share memories from the trip.  We were presented with a nice gift from the Rotary District, and paid tribute to our hosts.  On behalf the whole team, we all want to say thank you to our wonderful new friends in Norway for their hospitality, and to Rotary for making this life-changing experience possible.   Our lives are forever enriched.

We are back in Kentucky today, where the weather is a bit different than in Norway when we left. Spring is in full bloom here.  The grass is green and the temperature is in the mid-60's Fahrenheit (that's about 18 degrees Celsius for our Norwegian friends).  We are happy to be home, but also a bit wistful for our new home in Norway, and for our many friends there.  The GSE team intends to stay in touch with each other, and with our new families in Norway.  We are excited for the Norway GSE team who will visit Kentucky in May and June.  We hope and expect they will have as wonderful an experience as we did.

Rotary is bringing peace to the world, one person at a time, through the experience of friendship and sharing via the Group Study Exchange.  We are all so honored to have been a part of this, and look forward to making that experience possible for others in the future.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing stories of your travels and adventures during your stay in the beautiful country of Norway. We are thankful that you have returned safely to Kentucky.

    Thanks also to the kind and generous people of Norway who have welcomed Gary, Jayme, Cara, Sara, and Bill into your homes, communities, and and country.

    May peace, good health and prosperity be with you this day and always!

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  2. Thnaks for sharing your travels and adventures in the beautiful country of Norway.

    Thanks also to the generous and kind people of Norway who welcomes Sara, Gary, Bill, Cara, and Jayme into your homes, communities and countries.

    May peace, good health, and happiness be yours today and always!

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  3. Hey guys,

    I just happened to acidentaly come across your blog after doing a search on the internet. I leave this weekend for Norway as an exchange studant through Rotary and will be there for a whole year. So, I was pretty excited when I saw your site. Anyway, I just wanted to say hi and...any tips or information that I should know before my travels? ha.

    God Bless,
    Sara Martin

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