Ron’s LAST Report – 29 October

After breakfast I weighed my suitcase and discovered it to be 48 pounds.  Yeah!  My carry on was also below the required 24 pounds.  After saying goodbye to Annie (again) Barry and I headed to the airport.  there we were met by a group of Rotarians who had come to say goodbye.  Several of the Team were over weight and had to pay for the overage.  After saying a FINAL goodbye we disappeared into the airport security area to await our first flight.

Left Norwich, arrived and left Amsterdam, arrived and left Detroit, and arrived in St louis about 815pm local time.  there everyone got their baggage, said good-bye and departed for home.  My wife Lynda, daughter Samantha, and son-in-law Jack met me and took me home.  

In closing this blog I must say I enjoyed every minute in England.  I met some great Rotarians whom all have invited me to visit them in the future (provided I bring Lynda).  The Rotary Group Study Exchange Program is a wonderful opportunity to visit a foreign country and anyone reading this blog who knows of a young professional between the ages of 25 and 40 please direct them to any Rotarian for further information.

Not having anything else to say I’m signing off.  This blog if complete.  God Bless and so long – Ron.

Ron’s Report for 28 October

Well here it is – The last full day of the trip.  Not sure where the time has went but its gone. The time has just flown by.  After breakfast at Alan’s it’s off to Woodbridge Town for a walking tour along the water front.  It had been a lot of years since I have been here and it doesn’t appear to have changed a bit.

 near the town of Woodbridge, in the county of Suffolk, and is the site of two 6th and early 7th century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological.

After a 30 minute walk around the burial grounds it was time for lunch.  The   Wilford Bridge pub was just down the road and I had an old English dish – Ham, Egg, and Chips. 

having a full tummy it was not time for a walking tour of Ipswich which is one of the oldest towns in England.  Enjoy the pictures.

The tour ended about 530pm and we were met and taken back to Norwich for the last night.  the local Rotarians were having a “Frugal Feast” that evening and I had my last meal in England.  the food was great and there was a “sing-a-long” afterwards which was great fun.  I went back to Barry and Annie’s for my last night.  After talking awhile I retired to my room to have another talk with my suitcase.  I hope I am down to the necessary weight.  We’ll see when I get to the airport tomorrow morning.  Good night and Stay Tuned (one more time).

Ron’s Report for 27 October

Today is change over day again.  We say good-bye to our Diss hosts and head to Ipswich for the last two days of the trip. 

the first stop is a place called Tools with a Mission (TWAM) and it is a christian based organization that gathers discarded tools of all kinds, refurbishes them and then sends the like new tools to third world countries.  What a great place.  So many volunteers working and packing up stuff ranging from sewing machines to computers, to hand tools, to just about everything.

They have volunteers all over the United Kingdom who collect unwanted tools from donors. These are tools that are in reasonable condition but are no longer wanted by their owners. When they have a car or van load they will ship them or deliver them to one the TWAM workshops.  See http://www.twam.co.uk/news.html for a news article from TWAM

Picture of team at the TWAM warehouse.

See more pictures of the massive amount of “stuff” TWAM is processing.

to my knowlege there is no organization in the US that soes the same thing as TWAM is doing.  It is a great idea and bears looking into.  After TWAM the Rotary Club of Ipswich had a great luncheon for us and we met a group of RYLA youths who had just completed their training program.  This was held at the Holiday Inn Ipswich.

It was off the Flatford Mill for a tour of the paintings by Constable and a viewing of some of the famous buildings he painted.  I had been there before but enjoyed the visit very much.  See pictures

Here are some pictures of pictures for your enjoyment.  maybe you recognize them as they are very famous.

My hosts for the nigh is Alan Forsdike who lives in a house that was built-in the 1800’s.  It was a tremendous building.  Alan put together a wonderful English roast beef and yorkshire pudding meal to die for.  I only stayed with Alan for one night as the Team was being moved back to Norwich for our last night.  I had a heart to heart talk with my suitcase because I could only have 50 lbs but actually had 61lbs.  what to do?  I know I’ll worry about it tomorrow.  that’s all for today so I’ll say good night.  But………..Stay tuned for the last day.

Ron’s Report for 26 October

Well as I didn’t get the time to complete this trip blog while in england I thought I would finish it off. 

Today is vocational day and Heather is taking me to the 100th (Bloody 100th) Bomb group at Thorpe Abbots.  This is an old USAAF air field used during the war and they flew B-17’s.  They have restored the control tower and have made a museum with all kinds of things on display.  Overpaid, over-fed, over-sexed and over here is what the British said about the Americans.  Underpaid, under-sexed, and under Eisenhower is what the Americans said about the British.  All in good fun.  while in the control if you stand real still you can hear and see the B17s coming and going.  I recommend this museum to all who visit the area.  See pictures.

Here are a few paintings of the base in operation.  It must have been really busy for the 2 years the Americans were there.

This was followed by a tour of Diss, a town which I have never been to in the past.  A very nice town with a market.  See pics.

By now it is time for lunch so we head to the Crown Hotel in Framlingham.  this is a nice pub and I had been there before.  the rotary Club had reserved a section of the Pub for us and we had a platter of mixed sandwiches (yum-yum).

Of course no trip to Framlingham is complete without a visit to the castle.

This is one of the only days that it has rained.  See the beautiful rainbow over the castle.  Then the picture that appears to be snowing – actually it was raining and the sun was out at the same time.

here are some other pictures around Framlingham for your enjoyment.  This is a must see town when touring England.

It was back to Heather’s house for a change of cloths and then out to the Fighting Cocks Public house for dinner with a group of Rotarians.  I had a steak and ale pie with veggies – great.  this is an old pub with a long history and as usual the food and beer were very tasty.

Another late night but is was great fun.  Back at Heather’s i got my “grip” ready for tomorrow as it will be another fas paced day.  Good night and Stay tuned.

Ron’s Report 25 October

Well I guess the count down has begun.  As departure is on the 29th there are only 4 more days and the trip to England will be in the books.  But not just yet.  there are still many things to see and do.

Today is host change day and I am up and packed for departure.  Having said good-by to Jim and Jenny we departed for a visit to Sloley Hall.  This is an old stately home belonging to Rotarian Simon Gotyon.  It is out in the country and a very beautiful place indeed.  See below.

 

 

Simon has invited us to come back and visit any time.  I may just take him up on that offer.

From Sloley we headed back towards Norwich for some lunch then off to the Lotus car manufacturing plant.  The chief design engineer took us into the plant where we got a view of the 2012/13 line of cars.  Mega bucks as you can image.  Every lotus is hand-made and there is almost mo automation in the plant.  Most of the cars being made have already been spoken for.  From there we were taken for a spin on the Lotus test track by one of their race car drivers who told us a little about the cars and the track.  To my surprise the driver pulled over and let me drive.  What a thrill to drive a Lotus around the track.  I thought I was doing good and going fast (about 80mph) until the driver took over and took me on a real drive.  Approaching 150mph I had to close my eyes as things were going by so fast.  To much for an old man.  As I wasn’t able to take pictures I took these from the www which are about the same.

They had a classic Lotus division and they had the very same care I had seen when I first visited England in 1963.  The car is priceless.

Brought back memories.  This car was driven by Jim Clark and I car remember meeting him back in 63.  Clark is no longer with us but his chief mechanic was there and I met him for the second time.  He did not remember me but it was my pleasure to talk to him about the “old days”.

My new hosts Heather and Keith Babb were very nice and they had a lovely home.  I noticed that Heather was a quilter and when she found out I could quilt she was very surprised.  A man who quilts – those yanks are sure funny people.  See pictures

 

After attending the Diss Rotary Club meeting that night it was off to bed.  It has been another full day and Ron is tired. 

As I am 2 days behind with my blogging I may not get another chance to make a report while here in England.  But stay tuned as I will complete this trip reporting once I get back home.  Stay tuned.

 

Ron’s Report for 24 October

Today is another dry day and after breakfast it was off to the Bacton Gas Terminal.  This facility import/exports gas from England to Belgium or the other way as the market dictates.  The security was very intense there and no cameras or telephones were allowed.  A person had to have an appointment well in advance in order to gain entrance.  A Rotarain in the area had a connection and was able to get our group into the facility for a tour.  The pictures are from the www.

A very interesting place and I hope they can keep it safe and in good operation order.  The GSE folks made us a great lunch and we ate in their conference room.  It was ver good and tasty after touring the plant.

From there it was off to a local farm operated by Louis and Fran Baugh at Neatishead.  It is a arable and dairy farm and Fran is the third generation to live there and operate the farm.  The farm is in the environmentally important and sensitive River Ant valley which is a designated wetland area of international importance.  I did not know there was so much to dairy-farming.  Enjoy the pictures.

 

There were animals there that had produced more than 100 tons of milk during their lifetime.  Can you image 100 tons of milk?  Absolutely amazing.  There were also little calves that were only a few days old.  What a place.

    from there it was back to Jim and Jenny’s for a wash up and change of clothes.  Then off to a local rotary club where the team gave its last official presentation.  the Rotarian’s and their wives were very friendly and really enjoyed us being there.  this evening was very late and after we got home and into bed I was exhausted.  Stay tuned as tomorrow promises to be another great day.

Planting the seeds of a new family tree

While in school at Eastern Illinois University, I belonged to Phi Sigma Pi, a co-ed national honor fraternity based on the tripod of scholarship, leadership and fellowship.

Those same three principles have become relevant topics during this Group Study Exchange trip, making the experience even more worthwhile.

But the ties between this Rotary excursion and my fraternity don’t end there. A line from one of our fraternal songs, “Brother,” has been stuck in my head for several days: “We started out as strangers, but now we’re more than friends. We’ve become a family that I know will never end.”

Those sentences as a good summation of our team, at least in my humble opinion. When I stop and think that seven months ago, Courtney, Nikki, Ericka and I were all complete strangers, it continues to baffle me; it seems like we’ve known each other forever.

During our final presentation to the Diss Rotary Club, Nikki pointed out that we’ve watched each other grow and develop. But not only have we grown as individuals; we’ve grown as a group. And while we’ll always be friends and have this shared experience, I for one hope the bonds of our friendship remain this strong for years to come.

The three girls have basically become like the sisters I’ve never had, and we each add something different to our group dynamic.

But I’d be remiss to not mention the final member of our little “family.” He’s been known as many different names throughout the trip, including Captain America and “the grandfather,” but no matter what people were calling him, Ron was there with us each step of the way.

I have to especially give him credit for keeping this blog alive during the second half of the trip. I’ve found myself facing computer and Internet problems that prevented me from posting too much, and our schedule has been jampacked, while my energy levels have been depleted. Thanks to Ron, we maintained new content on this site almost every day, and his efforts deserve to be recognized.

Now, here we are. About 48 hours from boarding the plane back home. Saturday will be bittersweet for all of us. On the one hand, we’re ready to return to the regular routines of life in Southern Illinois, but on the other, we’re leaving behind dozens of new friends and members of that new extended family.

We have plenty of offers on the table to return whenever we’d like, so who knows what the future will really hold. Maybe it’s time to check to job listings at the Eastern Daily Press…

Nikki’s notes

I’ve lost track of time & realize that we only have a couple days left before going home. That’s very bittersweet as we have made new friends & would love to stay longer to get to know them better. I really feel blessed to have been given this opportunity so again give my thanks to all involved in making this trip possible. I’ve learned so much about the history & culture here in East Anglia and have a great deal of new information to share with my other professors about the educational system. We’ve had great experiences from simple to complex & enjoyed them all. This past week has been wonderful with amazing hosts & activities. Driving a Lotus was awesome too!
Thank you to all & please keep in touch!

Ron’s Report for 23 October

Got up to another nice day and after having breakfast I headed off to Cromer,  A beautiful little seaside town that I had never been to.  As it was Sunday and as the weather was so nice it seemed that everyone on East Anglia was there.  After a walk along the sea front we went to the Cromer Lifeboat station and had a special guided tour of the lifeboat.  These lifeboats are manned by all volunteers who life in the community and they take their jobs very serious indeed.  The lifeboat is at the end of the town pier.

 

The inside of this boat looked like the cockpit of an airliner.

 

 

 

 

It was now time for lunch and what better to have at the seaside than fish and chips.

Here a few pictures from around Cromer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ron’s Report 22 October

It was up , packed, and off to Wymondham for a change over of host families.  I said good-by to Gwyn and Eileen and met Jim and Jenny Costello who live in the village of Ingham.

After dropping off my bags we headed out for lunch and a cruise on the Norfolk Broads.  the Broads is a system of waterways all around Norfolk where a person can rent a boat of any size for a day, week, or longer.  It reminded me of my Longboat cruises in other parts of England only there are no locks on the Broads.  Some very nice scenery along the waterway.

This cruise lasted about 2 hours and I enjoyed it very much.  I may look into a future vacation here on the Broads as it looks easy (no locks) and the boats are bigger giving more room onboard.  From there it was back to Jim and jenny’s for a cleanup and then out to dinner.  It was a great meal followed by some good conversation.  Bed time came around pretty fast today so it’s good night again.  Stay tuned.