For our day in Germany, we went to two small towns where we walked around leisurely, going into several small local shops. The houses were cute and looked very similar to the one's in Hershey Park. After eating a delicious lunch at a local restaurant, we went on a Rhine river cruise. The ship was very nice and the ride was smooth and beautiful. We saw many local towns located on the Rhine river and beautiful castles on the hills surrounding the river. The cruise was one and a half hours and after we got off the ship we took a short ride to a local vineyard. We tasted three different wines, which were all delicious. After tasting the wine, we stayed at the vineyard for a delicious dinner and desert, and then looked around at the beautiful grape vines which were located on the hills. We are now at the hotel for our last night in Germany and in Europe. Tomorrow we are flying home after an amazing trip!

Love to all,

Hannah and THE TEAM

We also posted the remaining pictures from England, France and Luxembourg. The photos from today will be posted later this week. http://www.flickr.com/photos/marylanddairy2008/

Miss us yet?

Here are some more pictures to tide you over :-) Luxembourg and Germany (well, so far anyway) are posted. Hopefully I have enough time to get France up to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marylanddairy2008/

Derek's Host Family

I stayed with Andre from Michigan State at Cylvi and Louie Guth's house. They picked us up at the the agricultural college after a shindig with the Grand Duc. They took us to a pizza parlor where we ate pizza with a fork. Then we drove to their house where we met the rest of the family, Andre (12), Claude (22), Peris (20), and their worker from Portugal. We sat around the table and looked at Cylvi's picture album of her trip to Canada.

The next morning we offered to help with the chores but they didn't want our help. So we ate breakfast and watched them finish their chores. They milk about 70 holstein cows twice a day. Due to the quota system they cant expand their herd. They share a mixer wagon with the neighbors. While we were in the pasture Peris came and picked us up because the cows were out down the road. After our tour of their farm we went to the neighboring dairy farms. The first farm we went to had dairy and beef cows, methane digester, and a horse barn. The methane digester was built 5 years ago. To keep a horse at the farm it would cost 370 euros or about $814. The next farm we went to had a huge white dog and dairy cows. I was amazed by how big their houses were by just milking 45 cows. After the second tour me and Andre we invited to Claude's friend's wedding. We stuck out a lot and stood by ourselves for awhile until Hannah and her 2 other roommates showed up.

Later we went to the barbeque with Guei, another host family member. It was a lot of fun getting together with everyone again. After that Guei took us into Luxemburg city for the night. The next morning we slept in until about 11:30 which was great. Cylvi and Louie then drove us to the city for Pizza Hut. Then we said our goodbyes and got on the coach to drive to Germany.
They were extremely nice, Cylvi even did laundry for us. Overall I had a really good time and am glad it is a part of the tour.

Derek Lease

amy's visit in luxembourg

well i suppose its my time to write about my host family visit in Luxembourg. I was hosted by JP and Lucy Flemmang--very good friends of Bruce's and the coordinators of our time in Luxembourg. I was with the other Aimee on the trip, from Connecticut, who was very nice. We headed off from the meeting with the Grand Duc with Lucy for a light meal at their house. We then went back into Ettelbreck to find JP at the very nice dinner that turned into a party. Headed back to the house for a very nice sleep in on Saturday.

Saturday morning we had a family breakfast and then were shown the house, the barns, and their farm by JP, Lucy, and Patrick (a foreign exchange student from Poland living with them for 3 months.) Then Lucy, Aimee, and I went to a small town about 5 minutes away to see another castle with another good workout walking up the stairs. We then went to the lake that provides more than 75% of Luxembourg's water supply which was pretty neat. We then headed back home and their girls arrived home from school. Nora is 8 and Lina is 11 and it was obvious they had both worked very hard learning to say 'Hi, my name is...' to introduce themselves to us. Lina can understand about 80% of what we were saying-Bruce has helped a lot with her English- and I think Nora can understand more than we all think. All of us then headed to the World War II museum in Bastogne where the Battle of the Bulge was fought. It was really interesting to see how much the people Luxembourg appreciate what the Americans did for them in the war. We headed back home and got ready to head to the judging and barbeque.

Although we all agreed with each other, the official did not seem to like how we placed the class. We had a very good meal and it was fun to see everyone again. This morning started out with another family breakfast and then the family headed out to a castle about 15 minutes away from the house.

It was a beautiful morning to be outside and we had a great last outing together. The weather was awesome and the views were absolutely breathtaking. Learning about Luxembourg was really neat and I had a great time. I guess my only regret is the amount of time. I wish we could've stayed there longer and helped them get ready for their big show next week. I took many pictures. Love and miss you all-pretty much ready to come home. See you soon =)
Love,
Amy

my time in Luxembourg

Well, I was really nervous about spending time in another person's house that I really didn't know. However, when I met my host Luc, I knew I would have a good time. Turns out Luc, is really friendly and showed us a great time in Luxembourg. I met Luc on Friday afternoon, when we went to his beautiful house and Limousine beef farm, which surprisingly are connected and located in the "village" (town). We ate a classic Luxembourgish dinner, which consisted of bread and mozzarella cheese, which was delicious. After dinner we went out in the city where we met some of Luc's frineds, who spoke English. I was surprised to find out that most people in Luxembourg speak many languages, including, Luxembourgish, French, German, and English.

In the morning, we took a drive through many parts of Luxembourg and the edges of Germany and France. We saw beautiful landscapes, homes, and even a vineyard. We then had a delicious Italian lunch and went for an easy 3 mile hike through the forest. The path only had one steep part so the hike was very relaxing. After the hike, we went to a Luxembourgish wedding reception, which has many different traditions than in America. I didn't feel really out of place though becuase Derek, and his roomate Andre also ended up being at the wedding. What a coincidence.

After the wedding, we went to the barbeque with all the other host families. After the barbeque, we once again went back into the city for the night. In the morning, we woke up early and got pictures with the family which consisted of Luc, his mother, father, and grandmother.
Then we toured the city and I got a lot of good scenery pictures.

I must agree with Laurel, when she said that Luxembourgish driving is scary. If you think some Americans drive crazy just come to Luxembourg. However, I must say, I was really impressed by Luxembourg. The people are very friendly and very well educated. I had an amazing time and this has been the highlight of the trip.

Hannah

a visit with Pierre

I'm not going to lie. I was terrified at the thought of going to some strange person's house who didn't speak English. And when Pierre greeted me with a huge hug, I was more than a little creeped out. But it turned out that Pierre was one of the funniest people I have ever met. On Friday night, Pierre took me and my roommate, Amanda, to a disco to meet some of his friends. I was surprised to find out how many people there actually spoke English. The next morning, Pierre, Amanda, and I met with some of the other Americans and hosts to tour a nearby castle. The view was absolutely amazing. While at lunch at a local restaurant, we discovered that in Luxembourg, you have to pay for any extra ketchup you use. We then drove to Belgium to see a memorial for Americans that died in World War II. That night we went to barbeque with the other host and Americans. A good time was had by all.

The next day, Pierre took Amanda and I to see a methane digester that is shared by his community. A total of 19 farms send the manure there and the heat is used to heat all of their houses. We then went to a farm to see robotic milkers before catching the bus to head to Germany.

All this joy riding might sound like a lot of fun, but riding in a car with Pierre was quite the expereince. I would compare it to riding a rollercoaster. And I held on for my life every time I got in the car. Another interesting point was that in Luxembourg, all you have for breakfast and dinner is bread. And sometimes cheese. But it was a very good experience and I had a lot of fun.

Laurel

More pictures

All the UK photos have been posted. Gail and I are working on the France and Luxembourg photos tonight :-) http://www.flickr.com/photos/marylanddairy2008/

Our first night on our own

The blog has been assigned to Gail and I to maintain while the team visits with their host families, so bear with us. To continue the tradition, food: Breakfast at the hotel, and on the bus by 9:15am (a late morning for us). We witnessed the crazy Parisian traffic adding almost an hour to our drive, three accidents, none involving us thank goodness, our capable driver Lucian kept us safe. Once beyond city limits, beautiful rolling grain fields and small French villages off in the distance. We did get pictures! We made our lunch stop in Reims to visit another Notre Dame cathedral. This one was the site of French king coronation for over 800 years. We were able to witness restortation in progress. After a quick lunch at a boulanger with sandwiches to go (Hannah even ordered in French! Panini Poulet!) Back on the bus for the continuation of the journey to Luxembourg.

We traveled through the Champaign region of France then onto Belgium and much steeper hills and forest. We traversed small roads for about an hour before arriving in Luxembourg. Along the way we saw Belgian Blue cattle along with many Holsteins, Ayrshires, Limousins, Charlois, and Holstein/Belgian Blue crosses. Bruce informed us that most if not all Belgian Blues have C-section births since they have weak hearts. We arrived in Ettelbruck to celebrate the 125th year anniversary of the founding of the Agricultural College. The Grand Duc made an appearance (he is the President/King of Luxembourg). The reception was held in the instructional greenhouse where we could enjoy viewing the final exams of the students in the floral and horticulture programs. Our Luxembourg coordinator, JP, took us on a tour of the campus including the ag shop and machinery repair, the classroom, and a lecture hall.

The reception was a perfect opportunity for the host families to meet up with the individual students. Anxious nervous faces on both parts were quickly overcome by smiles and warm greetings and common language(English) as well as photographs. All the adults boarded a very empty coach and headed to Luxembourg City for a group dinner to visit amongst ourselves.

We also learned today that the Connecticut FFA coach, was coached in college at UConn by our very own Jeff Semler :-)

We will explore Luxembourg City and meet up with the kids at a small judging contest and BBQ tomorrow evening. We'll keep you posted

Kiera and Gail

Walking around Paris

Last night we had our first dinner in Paris. We first started our adventure in the supermarket next door to match food with names. After 20 minutes of confusion and getting in the way we decided to find food there instead of going to a restaurant. We took our salads, sandwiches, and cocoa puffs up to the roof of our hotel. We could see the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, and the Arc de Triomphe. While we ate we saw the sun set and the Eiffel Tower light up.

Today started off with breakfast in the hotel as usual. We then loaded the coach and met our orange-haired tour guide for the 3 hour tour of Paris. We saw many sights as we went along including the Louvre and a monument for the Bastille. After making our way around the Arc de Triomphe, with crazy traffic we were able to get out at the Eiffel Tower to get some pictures. The sketchy guys tried to sell us souvenirs and some our friends from Michigan even bargained with them to get Eiffel Tower figurines for 1 euro. After the Eiffel Tower we saw Notre Dame and saw the tunnel that Princess Diana had her crash and where she spent her last night.

After the tour we got off the bus at the Louvre to explore by ourselves. We ended up walking at least 5 miles around Paris. On our exhausting trip we saw many vendors by the river that had paintings and other artwork. Laurel bought a painting of the Eiffel Tower that she is very excited about. During our walk we stopped at Jardin Du Luxembourg for much needed rest and a water break. We saw the original statue of liberty inside of the park. After the park we walked a long way back to our hotel and saw many shops.

Dinner tonight was right across the street at a small French restaurant wear the waitress was dressed like she belonged on the next street over (Moulin Rouge). The food was very good and fulfilling. We are now at the hotel and are very tired. Tomorrow we travel to Luxembourg to meet our host families. We are all feeling a wee bit nervous about staying with them but hopefully it will turn out alright. We'll keep you updated as much as we can.

Love,
Derek Lease/Amy and THE TEAM

The Scotland Photos!

OK, a little time at breakfast this morning, we have now posted all the Scotland photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marylanddairy2008/
Enjoy! The England photos will be up tomorrow hopefully!
Kiera

London on foot....

Well, yesterday was quite busy. The day started at 8 when we ate breakfast at the hotel. We loaded the buses and headed to Buckingham Palace at 9:30. After being dropped off at the Palace at around 10, we quickly secured a place at the entrance gate to the palace for the changing of the guard. The area around the Palace quickly became crowded before the ceremony began at 11:30. We saw the band enter the gates and carriages and horses with guards go by. The ceremony was very long and a bit confusing. Also, the people around the gate were pushy and kept smashing us against the Buckingham Palace gate. Although, we are very glad to see part of the ceremony, we left after an hour and a half. We then went to Picadilly Circus where we ate lunch at a small cafe. Then the real walking began. After lunch, we quickly walked to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliment. On our way, we saw the house of the guards, where we took a photo with a horse guard. We then walked to Westminster Abbey and Saint Margaret's Church. We did not go in the Abbey, but we took photos of the outside, and went to the gift shops. We then rode the double decker bus to Harrod's department store. The bus was really fun, and of course we set on the upper level. In Harrods we were able to view dresses from designers like Versache and Gucci. The girls loved the experience, but needless to say, this was not Derek's favorite part of the trip. We then rode the Tube (which is like their subway), to the area where the theater was located called Covent Garden. We ate dinner at a small cafe, and went to the small local shops. After dinner, we headed to the theater where The Lion King started at 7:30. The show was amazing. This was my personal favorite part of the trip. The costumes were bright and beautiful, the actors were graceful and talented, and the set design was intricate and detailed. The show ended around 10:30, when we took the Tube back to our hotel and called it a night, after miles of walking during the day. Today, we were able to sleep in until 8. We ate breakfast and then headed across the street from our hotel to Hyde Park. We saw Kensington Palace, where Diana Princes of Wales lived. We strolled through the park, and took a rest on the park benches, before catching the buses to head to the Eurostar terminal at 12:30. The Eurostar is a fast train that took us from London to Paris. We are currently in Paris, and our hotel has a great view. From the top floor, we can see the Eiffel Tour. We went to the grocery store for dinner, to try and learn some of the foods, since everything is in French. This was quite an experience. The store was crowded and we didn't understand any of the labels. We settled on cocoa puffs, milk, dessert, salads, and chips and dip. We will be up early tomorrow to start a tour of Paris.

Hannah and THE TEAM

A couple of long days

well I tried to post this earlier on the hotel computer but it didn't work so I'll try to re-create as best as I can. We started yesterday at the Scottish woolen mill which was really interesting. Laurel and I tried on authentic Scottish kilts and we looked pretty darn cute. It was a perfect day to ride on the bus because the weather was horrible. But as we crossed into England, the weather turned for the better. We arrived at a dairy farm just outside of Coventry for a farm tour. It was really fun learning about the similarities and differences in dairy farming. We were especially interested in the fact that they use potatoes in their TMR (total mixed ration for Dad =)) for energy. We then headed to a pub just down the road for dinner and played soccer with Archie and Susanna--two children related to the farmer. This morning we headed to Warwick Castle for a beautiful day! We toured the dungeon, the main house and the grounds. The 530 steps to the top of the main tower was our work-out for the trip. Derek almost punched a ghost woman in the 'ghosts of Warwick castle' show. We stopped at a service station for lunch and had KFC. We were super excited because it was our first American meal and we were really craving it. As we made our way into London, we could hardly control our excitement. We went on a fast bus tour to familiarize ourselves a wee bit with London. After checking in and settling into the hotel, we went had another American meal at a nice pizza place. Again, we were very excited with the meal choice. We walked around a sketchy shopping district and decided not to stay very long. A free day in London is the plan for us tomorrow and we can't wait! We've been having a blast and learning many new things in our travels but we miss all of you at home. We will try to keep you updated as much as possible. Missing and loving you all lots.
Love,
Amy and THE TEAM

Confusing.

Our wake up calls came at 5:15 this morning. What a great way to start the day. We quickly traveled to the fairgrounds. After meeting at the Young Farmers pavilion, we were given our lab coats, stains and all, and got ready to start judging. As Derek mentioned yesterday, the contest was a bit different than we were used to. I would use the words "organized chaos" to describe it. The cows looked a lot like the ones we are used to, but judging was different. First of all, we stood in the middle of the ring to judge. This made some of us really dizzy and Hannah almost got run over by the cows. And then, of course, we only had five minutes. We surprised ourselves with the amount of notes we were able to take. Judging the four classes took about a half hour, but then the organized chaos really kicked in. We were told to walk to the other side of the fairgrounds to give reasons. We made our way there and waited with the other Americans for instructions. The Scots, however, were busy scribbling away on their notepads. Confused, Hannah started to ask all Scottish people what we were doing. We were told to "write them out as fast as you can" and to memorize both sets. They also said that we could use our notes to give reasons and not lose points. About two and a half hours later, we were finally done giving reasons and could go get lunch.

Everyone will happy to know that Hannah tried a new food at lunch today. When she brought her chicken curry to the table, we were all very surprised. Derek had a hot dog, which he waited in the queue (line) for twenty minutes. Sadly, he was disappointed with his "super-sized" choice. We had the afternoon to explore the fairgrounds. At first we watched the Parade of Champions. After watching what we thought was a lot of horses walk through the ring, the cattle began to circle. Once they were all in the ring, there were at least 200 dairy and beef cows. It was definitely a sight to see. We then began to walk around the shops and displays. Our favorite was the European Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development. There was a crazy man with glasses at this booth and he really liked Derek's tie. He called us out as Americans right away and then proceeded to quiz us on our knowledge of European geography. As a team, we did very well. As individuals, we did not. Derek had no idea where Portugal was, but the rest of us (and some of the Europeans) directed him on the map. Amy definitely knows her countries because she had to help us all out. Then the crazy man asked the other spectators if they had heard of Baltimore (they hadn't) and if they liked Americans (they didn't).

For dinner, we had a traditional Scottish meal at the fairgrounds with the awards ceremony. After tonight, we will not eat any more fish and chips. That is all they eat here. When they announced the winners, we were happy to find out that we hand swept the 4-H contest!! We then walked in the rain to the buses and came back to our hotel.

You will be happy to know that Derek has taken 7 pictures so far. But the rest of us have taken plenty for him. And we will send you a CD of the pictures when we get home. Logan, I hope this is enough detail for you.

LOVE,
Laurel and THE TEAM

Tour and Fairgrounds

Hello everyone
Today we took a bus tour of the city Edinburgh. We saw a huge castle that the royal family stays in when they're in town. Our tour guide was given by a scottish man that was dressed in a kilt. We then traveled to the Royal Highland fairgrounds which was like a huge mall with all the different tents. Later a very soft-spoken man took us down to the barns to see the dairy cows. None of us could really hear him but I did learn that they use a lot of Semex bulls. Such as, September Storm, Talent, and Gibson. I also saw a mostly black Shottle fall calf (which I had never seen before). Then we were told about tomorrows contest. To our surprise we learned that there are only 5 minutes to place and take reasons on the classes as opposed to our 12-20 minutes back home. There are 4 classes 2 of them being reasons. The cows are also numbered differently, A B X Y. Another change is that everyone judges together; College, 4H, and FFA. The top 6 individuals from each species (Dairy, Beef, and Sheep) go on to the finals where you have to judge all species and give reasons and demonstrations on the animals. We have been told that the contest is very chaotic so we really don't know what we are getting into. We learned a lot at the fair like the things under goats neck are call toggles or tassles and that their pizza is different from ours. Laurel also kicked a dog at the fair. We left the fairgrounds for our hotel and a night on our own. We walked through the rain to find somewhere to eat and finally settled on a place that I cant remember the name of. The waiter could not understand Laurel at all for some reason. We have to wake up at 5 tomorrow so I need to go to sleep.

Goodbye

Derek Lease

First Day in Europe

After arriving in Europe, we were all excited to get off the plane, gather our bags and stretch our legs. We went through customs, where we got our passports stamped. Then, after a short break we headed to the coach that carries the Dairy Judging teams and headed to a rural agricultural museum. We had sandwiches at this stop and then hiked a small trail to an older house and barn. On our hike we were able to see sheep, draft horses, Holstein, Ayrshire, and Scottish Highland cattle grazing on the lush green grass. The house and gardens were beautiful, and it was interesting to see the person who lived in the house before it became a museum showed Ayrshire cattle and had won several awards which were on display.

We were not able to spend a lot of time at the museum before we had to get back on the coach and we headed to the Scottish Agricultural College where we talked with the farm manager about the practices dairy farmers use in the UK. The most interesting differences between the dairy at the college and farms in Maryland are the way the public perceive dairy farmers. In Scotland, animal welfare is extremely important to the public. It is actually illegal now to house calves in hutches, because the public does not want to see young calves by themselves. In addition, no BST is allowed, and they do not eat veal. Also, the public like to see the cows outside grazing on the pastures instead of indoors. However, at the college they do use American bulls such as Shottle and breed their cows AI. The breeding goals are slightly different though, as in Scotland, they want there cows to last 8 to 10 lactations. Again this is because the public would be upset if the cows only lived through 3 or 4 lactations. Also, in Scotland freestalls are called cubicles and a freestall barn is called a cubicle shed. The trip to the Scottish Agricultural College was very interesting and a great learning experience.

After the college, we took the coach to our hotel in Glasgow. Along the trip we were able to see sheep and cattle grazing on the lush grass and rolling hills. Our hotel is very nice and we had a delicious dinner of salad, chicken, potatoes, salmon, veggies, and desert. Tomorrow we will be up early to start on our next adventure. Thats all for now.


Hannah Smith for THE TEAM :)

Addition! Day 1 pics are up http://www.flickr.com/photos/marylanddairy2008/

We're here!

Hello all! We have arrived in Scotland after being delayed on the runway in Newark for almost 3 hours. The flight was fine--just a little turbulance. going to catch the bus! more later
love,
amy and THE TEAM

Ketchup Bottles

Hey y'all. We're sitting in the airport right now about to board the plane. We just had a very tasty dinner at a steakhouse in the airport and Hannah was very impressed by the small ketchup bottles that we were given. We kept some of the extras as souvenirs. If you saw them you would be impressed too. Derek is so excited he can barely contain himself.

We recognize some of the other kids that are at the gate from Holstein activities and from judging. And we can't wait to get to know them all.

Love to all,
Laurel for THE TEAM

Travel day is here!

When we started this process back in October, it seemed like June would never arrive! But what do you know, here it is and we are taking care of last minute details before heading to the airport. Do I have a power converter? Passport? Camera? The list seems to grow as departure time gets closer! We are headed to the airport in two separate groups, both leaving Maryland at 1:00 to drive to Newark.

Can you believe that tomorrow morning (about 2:30am on the East Coast) we will be landing in Glasgow? Check the blog for updates since we won't be able to call home right away. Off to make sure my bag is under the 50 pound limit (2 weeks, fifty pounds, that hardly seems fair).

Maybe an update from the airport tonight...
~Kiera

We will have pics!

Make sure to keep an eye on our photos throughout the trip also!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marylanddairy2008/

The countdown is on!

Only six days remain before we catch a plane from Newark NJ to Glasgow Scotland! There is a lot to do before we depart:
Pack, check paperwork, pack, write letters to our host families, and did I mention we need to pack?

We have a terrific opportunity to travel for two weeks through five countries (Scotland, England, France, Luxembourg, and Germany) and see what should prove to be some incredible sights! We are even scheduled to see The Lion King in London and stay on host farms in Luxembourg!

More to come!
~Kiera