2012 YFU Port Clinton Training

[Honeylioness]

Friday, April 27, 2012


In what must be some odd cosmic occurrence I was actually packed the day BEFORE I was scheduled to leave on a trip. I even had completed my To Do list ahead of leaving my house.

I arrived early at Logan Airport which turned out to be a good thing because I accidently entered the wrong garage - the one that would be costing me almost $30 a day. Finally was able to find the exit and the lady on duty in the booth was nice enough to wave me through the gate so I could go over to long term parking.

Things were going well - Check-in, security, I even had time to grab a quick bite to eat as it was after 1:00 pm. It was as I was handing my Boarding Pass to the gate attendant that I got my first hint this was not going to be a normal flight.

I had with me two small carry ons. Either of which would fit under the seat or a regular overhead bin. The agent looked at them and told me they would BOTH need to be gate checked. I must have given her quite the look because she smiled and said that the overheads on this plane were only THIS big .. then made a motion with her hands about 6" tall.

Oy, so I had to crouch down on the floor and reshuffle things because they would not check my PC so I had to remove it and my purse from one of the bags. Then I headed down the escalator towards the "gate". But for some reason I got disoriented on the first step and one of my bags got left behind at the top. There was an airport employee at the top who said he would send the bag down - I thought that meant he would lay it on a step and let it progress down to me.

WRONG - he sent it wheels first surfing over the moving treads towards me at warp speed. I turned a bit to put out a hand to stop it from slamming into my legs - and did not realize I was at the bottom of the escalator already .. so down I went in a tangle of limbs, bags and other paperwork. Another airport worker - a woman wearing a complete Islamic headdress - ran over to see if I was okay then yelled up to the man at the top of the escalator that he was an idiot and why hadn't he just brought the bag down himself???

I got up, collected my things and hobbled down a long concrete block hallway that made me wonder for a moment if I was perhaps in the wrong place and was actually being directed towards a third world country's subway system until I finally came to the correct numbered gate where I handed off my luggage to a man in an orange vest and turning got my first look at the plane.

Notice I said "plane" and not "jet" - because my first impression was that this was perhaps a starter jet. You know, a pre-pubescent model that had aspirations of one day growing up to be a REAL plane. Like a starter kit for a 737. The "stairs" were actually part of the door that opened into the cabin area - and as you walked up them you knew your weight was making the plane rock a bit as it sat there. I squeezed my way down the "aisle" and found my seat. It's a good thing I am only 5'2" tall - any taller and I would have had my knees tucked under my chin for this flight.

So I am the last to arrive and we are pushed back to start the long trip out to the runways. Now, in one of those bad quirks that sometimes happens, the lovely calm weather we had had for several weeks had disappeared and on this day we had seasonal winds buffeting the city - and the airport. So not only did we get to take off fighting cross winds sweeping off the harbor - but directly into the jet wash of the Jumbo 747 that took off just ahead of us. Just when I wondered if this was a flight or a roller coaster the pilot made a turn.

Now perhaps it was the smallness of the plane - perhaps he "forgot" until the last minute that he had to make this turn. Either way he cut to the left .. HARD. I think we were now perpendicular to the ground, and if not for my seat belt I would have slid across my seat and into the aisle.

Once we got above the cloud cover things did smooth out - thank goodness. Otherwise my seat mate may have had to hold my hair while I availed myself of the Air Sickness bag in the seat pocket in front of me. As we approached the end of the flight and the captain announced we would be landing soon I looked out the window at the wide expanse of water to the right - Lake Eerie. My first look at any of the Great Lakes. Then my eye drifted along the coast .. hmmmmm, interesting cloud formation there ... oh wait, those are not clouds but steam coming from two cooling towers of a nuclear reactor plant sitting almost on the beach of the lake.

At that moment the pilot did another of his about face turns - only this time I was worried about sliding out the window of the plane and plummeting thousands of feet to my demise. Yeesh.

Once safely on the ground it was manage the shaky door stairs and collect our luggage from a rack parked on the tarmac next to the plane .. across the asphalt and into the terminal ... oh wait, we need to go up a level to exit the terminal .. and golly gee .. stairs. And only stairs ... so on my sore knees I hauled my things upstairs, found the sign for the Baggage Claim area where I was supposed to meet the others arriving about the same time - and we were to then all catch a hired van out to the meeting site. So I set off walking in that direction.

And walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked .... I swear - we had disembarked at the terminal and gate the farthest possible distance away. No exaggeration - it was over 1/2 mile trek to Baggage Claim.

My paperwork said "Go to the Continental Baggage Claim area" - Okay, just one problem - there IS no Continental Baggage claim anymore .. there was four years ago when the form was created but they are all listed as "United" now. Okay, I can handle this - the form says we are meeting Madeleine who is our contact and coordinator for the airport meeting, and there is a list of attendee's names, arrival times and phone numbers. Great. Except for one thing. The only blank space on the listing? You guessed it - Madeleine. *insert picture of me here banging my head on the nearest wall*. Finally after calling two of the other numbers I locate the ladies and after a few minutes our van arrives and off we go.

One of the things I continue to struggle with is my innate shyness and introvert personality. Something many will find hard to believe about me but it is true. All the other women I was with knew each other from years of working together and other meetings. So I felt rather awkward not being able to really contribute anything to the talk as I barely knew what they were even talking about.

After about a 90 minute drive we arrived and checked into the Inn - my roommate was not there yet so I picked a bed and unpacked a couple of things. Then it was time for dinner. Yippee - another opportunity to be the odd duck.

I found a table that had two people at it and sat down. A few moments later a nice young lady sat to my left, introduced herself and asked me a question. In the middle of my reply - actually about two sentences into my response a woman from the shuttle that the young lady knew sat down on her other side. Immediately she turned to her and began an animated conversation - and said not one word to me again. An older lady sat down on my right and another lady across from me - they started talking to each other across the table and never even introduced themselves. Le sigh. So I ate dinner. I decided to get up for second small helping of salad from the buffet, leaving my utensils, drink and purse.

When I returned it took me a moment to realize my chair was gone. The woman from across the table was now sitting in it continuing her talk with the older lady. I stood there awkwardly for about 30 seconds then leaned over and pickup my water and utensils and asked the woman if I could grab my purse from under her feet - still standing there holding my plate of food. She shot me a look and said "Fine, we'll move over" but in a tone that implied she was less than happy. Sitting down I finished dinner, gathered my things, said "Good Night" to those still sitting there - and got not one response.

So I decided to go sit out on the porch for a little bit and make some calls. While I was on the phone I became aware that from over the top of the subway shop across the street I could once again see the tell-tale plume of steam coming over the roof line. That is when it hit me .. we are downwind of the nuclear reactor that I saw from the airplane, the Perry Nuclear Power Plant. I wonder if I will be glowing in the dark by the time I get home.

[Honeylioness]

Saturday, April 28, 2012



Well, I barely slept last night. Partly because of the strange bed, or sharing a room with a stranger, or perhaps because I did not have three cats fighting for space all night.

My roommate though is really nice. We were up really late just talking. She has been a volunteer for over 20 years with YFU and this year announced she would be retiring.

As I sit here right now, I am more than a little tipsy. :-)

Okay, the day started with a buffet breakfast, and I was invited to join a table of all men - which actually I find easier to talk to then women.

Then we had to go down a block or so down the road to the Knights of Columbus Hall where we spent the day getting our training. The session before lunch was very informative.

For lunch we all went to a local Jamaican restaurant - Bahama Mama's which was really good. I got to spend time at a table with a new host father, a long time volunteer, and unbeknownst to me, a member of the governing board.

The first session after lunch was conducted by a man who either A) needs to convert to de-caf or B) should be checked for drug use of uppers. There is no way his energy level could be natural. At one point I wanted to ask him if this was an Amway rally and not an exchange student organization volunteer training.

One of the things I found exception with, and voiced to several people (one of which it turns out is now on the Board of Directors) was that the focus of the entire training seemed to be only on supporting the students. So I asked “what about support for the Host Families?” .. .and no one so far has had a satisfactory answer to that query. However one of the people I did talk to about this during a session break is the newly appointed Director of Onboarding Programs and she agreed that we needed to have additional items in place to support Host Families, especially new and first time families. So I gave her one of my cards and she has promised to contact me next week about some of the ideas I have to better prepare new families for success – because a family that has a great experience is MUCH more likely to become a repeat Host Family. And without Host Families to take in the foreign students the entire system is going to fall apart.

So I will just have to wait and see if the new Board is really serious about making proactive changes.

We had some time before dinner and I considered going over to the beach – however it was pouring so fingers crossed tomorrow the weather clears enough for me to go over after breakfast. I would hate to waste my first opportunity to see a Great Lake and not even get one picture.

After dinner – in which we had assigned seat, which was odd – each table was joined to another table as a “team” under a specific YFU staffer and we played a game called PictShareAde – a mixture of Pictionary, Taboo and Charades with various random people picked on for penalties and challenges. Despite my doubts, it was actually a lot of fun and really entertaining as each “team” competed for points. Losing points if they failed to complete a challenge when their cue was given (such as if the moderator tugged his ear)).

When it was my turn for my team I drew a “ Taboo” topic – I had to get my team to say “Lion Heart” without using the words: Africa, cat, Richard, war, or king. No problem for a history geek like me *grins*. So I said to my team: “This was a man from the Middle Ages from the British Isles. He was a ruler of Britain during the Crusades and was named this for being so brave” .. At which point a team mate said “Richard The Lion-Hearted” and we won the points. The overly hyper guy emceeing the event (the same as the hyper man from the earlier training session) almost fainted. He had thought for sure no-one would be able to do this one and my team had guessed it in under 20 seconds!!!! He then said to the assembled group that he wanted a big round of applause for me who he had met earlier that day and had been at the dinner table at. He also told them I had a great talent for story telling. Not just the stories themselves – but my descriptions and timing.

Privately, and much more seriously, told me he thought I really should either write a book or a screen play. He told me he was a documentary film producer and I had a flair for story, not just the content but the descriptive language I used and my timing was great. Actually, I have thought about writing a book about the large number of loser dates I have been on. Maybe I should really look into this.

Anyways, back to me being a “little” drunk. Each table at dinner had two liters of wine – a red and a white – and we only had six people at our table. And since I don’t have to get up early tomorrow, nor do I have to drink I thought “what the heck .. I will have several glasses of wine” … besides, the game we were all playing called to us to be uninhibited, something I find easier to do when a bit under the table to honest.

Oh, one more note. Last night my roommate and stayed up really late talking .. we kept saying we should go to sleep – but then kept talking. It was very nice. Not only to talk to someone who had also hosted before .. but she has kids about my age and got my references from the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Well – it is now after 1:00 am I should probably try to get some sleep. Everyone was invited to a local dive after the group games to listen to a local band and dance – but honestly, I was not sure I could stay away that long. More tomorrow on my last day in Ohio.


**footnote** - Because I was not in town this weekend I was unable to volunteer for the Sheep Shearing Festival that I have worked for the last 12 consecutive years. And if you think that did not feel weird … well then, I have not explained fully just how much I love this particular volunteer opportunity.

[Honeylioness]

Sunday, April, 29. 2012


The rain ended and while it was cool the skies were clear. Which was one of the only good things about the morning. My roommate was up at 06:30 am showering and getting dressed. While I tried to ignore the fact the sun was up. I got to bed around 02:30 am … .but had a very hard time falling asleep. I do remember seeing the clock at one point and it was 03:20 am – so I was not feeling all that spry to jump out of bed when the roommate did. Besides, as far as I remembered Breakfast was at 08:00 am … but when Mary asked if I planned on getting up .. she mentioned dinner was at 07:30 this morning – and we would probably not have time later to pack. At this point it was 07:15 am.

One of the good things about my hair is that being so curly and I only need to wash it once a week. So dragging myself out of bed I used a lot of cold water to wash my face and other areas before getting dressed and putting away the few items I had removed from my suitcase.

Not sure I even need to add here that I was feeling really “punky” … the combination of too much wine and too little sleep was doing a number on my stomach … and to be honest, the sight of the quiches on the buffet table did not help.

And perhaps this is a good time to mention that the coffee we had all weekend was … *shuddering* … NOT good. So here I am craving a decent cup of coffee to ward off exhaustion and I only get the sludge available. Then they made an announcement that the speaker for the morning’s training was not coming – though he did have a good excuse, he was in the hospital. This meant that the organizers were scrambling to re-arrange the schedule and finally we were told to go back over to the Hall for a presentation from a representative from the China office.

I decided to skip the presentation and walk over to the lake shore. It was really bothering me that having come all this way and being so close that I would not even be able to say I had seen a Great Lake. So I followed a pathway through the park towards the shoreline – the clean air and cool breeze helped in clearing my head a bit.

After admiring the expanse of water for a few minutes I reached into my purse for my camera – only to discover that the batteries were dead! … AARRRGGGHHH !!!!!!!!

((ETA: After I got home and I was telling my mother this she casually said “Doesn’t your cell phone have a camera?” Actually it doesn’t, but my iPOD does AND it was in my purse as well!! … DOH!!))

So instead of pictures I will have to settle for a visual description.

Standing on the shore was like looking out at the Atlantic from Cape Cod. Off to the right was a small jutting of land that curved inwardly slightly, but past that water and sky merged into a hazy horizon.

Small wavelets lapped gently at the shore reminding me of a calm ocean, one of the things that brought it to me strongly that this was NOT an ocean or sea was the smell – cold, clean and crisp without any hint of the salt you get from the ocean.

The shore seemed to be divided into three separate strata. Nearest the water there was a thick mud and lot of woody reed-like items about 6” high that ran about four feet back from the water’s edge. I was sure that during the summer this section would be a thick grove of reeds and marshy plants. Working their way between and around the stems were seagulls pecking at the mire. Probably seeking out small mollusks or insects.

The next strata was about 10 feet wide and comprised of a gravelly sand covered widely with what at first seemed to be white sand or pebbles. In reality this was a layer of small shells, some clam shaped, mollusks, scalloped, conch or spiraled. I have rarely ever seen shells this tiny – I took a picture of them with a dime for size comparison.



The third strata was another 10 -12 feet deep and was again mostly mud. This was also where large rocks and pieces of dead trees had washed up, probably from various storms. This section rose slightly to a grassy lawn area where I could visualize families on blankets during the summer.

I spent almost 40 minutes sitting on the sandy, section of the Lake just watching the gulls and sifting through the tiny shells … collecting some to bring home along with a few pieces of weathered glass. And it gave me some time to think.

About the upcoming students, my possible volunteer commitments, my job search and why I did what I did last night. Regarding the latter item – the reasons get complicated. A reflex from the past, the little niggling voice in the back of my head that says I am not the person people usually want to hang out with socially because I am not that interesting. I am the wallflower who never seems to part of the “in” group. And I felt this much more keenly last night being as everyone else there seemed to know at least half of the other attendees and I was feeling very isolated.

So after this quiet time alone I left the park and walked over to the Hall and caught the tail end of the China presentation. From the twitchy looks on the faces of the District and Area Managers the presentation had gone on a LOT longer than anticipated .. and then they had a question and answer period which also dragged on. As a result, instead of getting the complete training on the final communication topic it was very truncated. Added to that was being tapped on the shoulder and told I needed to leave NOW as the driver had arrived and would be leaving for the airport in 15 minutes.

Seeing as how several people had to take this shuttle they set up a revised lunch buffet with brown bags and ziplock bags so we could make our own sandwiches, grab some chips and cut up fruit so we could take it with us.

Another snag we ran into is that all the door key cards automatically shut off at 11am which was the check out time .. so there was much running up and down stairs to get cards re-keyed and luggage hauled downstairs.

Now – this part I did NOT understand. There were two vehicles sent by the shuttle service – a large van that would comfortable seat 14 and a limo that was meant to seat seven people including the seat next to the driver. And for reasons passing understanding someone decided to squeeze nine people into the limo. In fact, they had to remove the spare tire from the trunk in order to cram all the luggage in. I wound up on the back seat in the middle .. sitting on the “hump” for the almost two hour ride to the airport. And in an increasing amount of pain. Pain that a bumpy turbulent plane ride back home did nothing to alleviate.


*footnote* - The days following my return, my lower back and tail bone felt as though they were getting progressively sorer. I called my chiropractor’s office on Thursday to make an appointment for next week. But then I said – how about tomorrow?

Turns out my left hip was severely out of alignment and he was able to manipulate it back into place – the pain ceased immediately in my hip and lower back. However my tailbone is still sore. And as silly as this may sound it took me several days to put two and two together. I did bruise my tailbone – most likely when I fell down those steps on the Logan Airport escalator.