BULLETIN TEMPLATE (Jul 18, 2018)

Our guest speaker, Suzanne Johnson, a member of Rocky Point Rotary (preceded by membership in the Middle Island Rotary Club), told us about her experience as a member of the most recent Swedish Rotary Friendship Exchange. Rotary Friendship Exchanges (RFE's) are meant to broaden international understanding, foster peace and service, and give participants a chance to learn about a new culture first hand, while at the same time sharing one's own culture with new friends- usually fellow-Rotarians- from around the world. Last year, Nancy Uzo took part in the Swedish exchange. This year, Rotary offered group opportunities to visit Sweden, the Philippines, and Australia. The RFE is less formal than other adult exchanges offered under the auspices of Rotary, usually a 10-12 day visit along with around 12 other participants. Every Friendship Exchange trip is entirely the responsibility of the Rotarians involved. Activities focus on cultural events, and participants are expected to pay their own expenses. Friendship Exchanges involve two visits, with each country hosting participants from the other. Our District's RFE Chairs are Rose Quaranta and Gabor Karsai. The dozen travelers in Suzanne's group came from all over Long Island. They met on a monthly basis prior to the trip and got to know each other fairly well before departure time in August. The US travelers became a pretty cohesive group, as a result. Starting in Copenhagen, Denmark, the LI Rotarians got their first taste of Scandinavia before entering Sweden. Suzanne spent 3 nights in 4 cities in southern Sweden, which suited her well, as part of her family came from this area. The Swedish hosts then got to visit LI from September 24th to October 5th, splitting up into 3 groups to cover three geographic areas here. Suzanne was pleased to welcome Monica and Olof Ohlson. Olof, a Rotarian, is now retired after 40 years of farming on land that has been in the family since the early 17th century. The couple's 6 adult children have just taken over managing the farm. Monica, a Consultant Anesthetist, still practices her profession. Among Olaf's interests: history, farming, cars, trains, music, and traveling, while Monica especially enjoys art and culture- theater, opera, cooking, sports involving horses, and activities with her dogs. Suzanne and fellow LI hosts arranged interesting visits for their Swedish guests to a variety of special local sites including to the Brookhaven National Laboratory, vineyards, the aquarium, beaches, museums, and even a tour of JFK Airport. RFE hosts, here and abroad, are expected to provide guests with a place to sleep and breakfast (and, hopefully, a private bathroom). The traveling teams need access to transportation, and sometimes work out carpools in order that the visitors can appreciate as much of the local sites as possible. The result of the visits inevitably ends with plenty of good fellowship and lots of learning. Often, the most interesting aspect of a RFE trip, from the travelers' point of view, is the opportunity to stay with local families. Among the things Suzanne learned via her travels: While Sweden has welcomed many thousands of refugees, offering them all kinds of care, Swedes are now becoming increasingly concerned about resulting economic issues that threaten to negatively affect their lives; Swedes are especially careful about separating drinking and driving; understanding one another is rarely an issue for English speakers, as Swedes begin to learn the language in the 1st grade; and one becomes used to the custom of changing into and out of bathing suits on the beaches while lacking privacy of any sort. Next summer, LI Rotarians are again invited to travel as part of the RFE. In addition to visiting Sweden, Israel and Australia are possible travel goals as well. If you wish to be an RFE participant, you must also be willing to be a host. Suzanne looks forward to repeating the RFE experience, next time including family members as traveling companions.