The final upload from Kiera's camera has been completed! We hope you enjoy the photos from all of our various activities.
France (Paris and Reims): http://www.flickr.com/photos/marylanddairy2008/sets/72157624449827526/
Luxembourg (host families, judging, sale, and Luxembourg City): http://www.flickr.com/photos/marylanddairy2008/sets/72157624325189883/
Germany (river cruise, vineyard): http://www.flickr.com/photos/marylanddairy2008/sets/72157624325287637/
Just want to browse? http://www.flickr.com/photos/marylanddairy2008/
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Maryland Soil!
Well all, I hope you have enjoyed following along on our European Adventures! We made it home to yet another heat wave. All team members have been successfully reunited with their very excited family members and are hopefully catching some much needed sleep at this hour. Our final alarm went off this morning at 5am in Germany (11pm here on the East Coast) and after checking our bags we found only two to be over the weight limit. VERY impressive considering all the awesome souvenirs that were purchased along the route. A long but uneventful plane ride and next thing you know we were having our shoes scrubbed down by US Customs. The long and short of it is that we had an amazing time and are still sorting out all the memories that were created over the past 14 days.
Thank you again for your support and participation in our efforts! More photos will be posted tomorrow!
Kiera
Thank you again for your support and participation in our efforts! More photos will be posted tomorrow!
Kiera
Monday, July 5, 2010
Morgan stay's with the Frisch's
I apologize in advance, my story is not to the caliber of Connie HA's.
So I stayed with Jean-Paul and Nicole Frisch - aka AMAZINGLY INCREDIBLE people. They live on a small farm-ette in the country where they have a Bernese Mountain Dog (Yahnna- I apologize for any spelling errors), cat (Fritzie), six hobby sheep (of a local endangered Luxembourgish breed), and a few rabbits that they will eat.
Fortunately I can say that my stay with the Frisch family was truly incredible and everything I had hoped it would be. I never expected to meet such wonderful people prior to Ms. Nicole picking myself and Ariel (from SUNY Cobelskill) up at the bus stop. Immediately I noticed the typical Luxembourgish way of FAST driving- particularly around corners. In a speedily fashion we arrived to their house. It's a beautiful older home that Mr. Jean-Paul has spent 10 years renovating (I have pictures!). Our first evening with them we hung out and immediately noticed some potential challenges in regards to communication. They were not completely fluent when it came to English, but we were always able to hold on conversations and eventually understand what each other was saying. Ms. Nicole is an absolutely adorable woman and loves her pictures, so immediately she began showing us photos of their sons, puppies, house renovations, friends etc. We had spaghetti for dinner, then went on a walk with their dog. This was very refreshing as we had been cooped up on a bus all day.
The next morning we woke up and had cereal and coffee with Mr. Jean-Paul, then headed to the show, where he dropped us off. It was a hot day, but we still had a blast helping with the sale heifers, judging a class of 8 animals, and getting to know some people in the dairy show circuit in Europe (I especially enjoyed talking to a few fitters and breeders). Also, each kid got to lead a heifer or two in the sale, and I think we all enjoyed this as we miss our animals at home. The girls would also like me to include one particular event that struck a cord with us; the CRAZY Limousin heifer. CRAZY. So a few of us are in the sale tent, getting a few heifers ready before they head to the sale ring when we see this loose beef heifer run into a wood fence right outside of our tent. This catches our attention, but not quite enough because before we know it she is SPRINTING into the tent like a mad woman (have a mentioned she is HORNED?) running into the sale heifers, and headed straight for us! So of course we scatter- Rocco leaps over a fence & falls on his tush, Mandi screams and hides behind Sam, Wolfgang and I get out of the way, then we try to help corner her (not super smart because she is absolutely psychotic). Then these Luxembourgish men show up with sticks and attempt to calm her down (NOT SUCCESSFUL). Eventually they corner her and get a rope around her horns and stroke her shoulder. We moved the baby heifers that so happened to be trapped behind her. These men tried to lead her away... only for her to become loose again and have the men fall on their behinds and a few signs, and barn sidings fall down. EPIC.
The next day was just as wonderful as the day before. We woke up and had breakfast with Mr. Jean Paul and Ms. Nicole (yogurt, toast & coffee). Mr. Jean-Paul then took us to Mr. JP's farm (a big time Luxembourgish dairy farm). This was quite enjoyable but I will most likely remember watching Mr. Jean-Paul and the baby calves- PRECIOUS. He absolutely loves animals, and was getting down with the babies talking to them and looked to happy. On our way home we stopped by a old castle (and took pictures!). At home we met up again with Ms. Nicole and ate a huge tasty lunch- zucchini soup, waffles & sugar, and strawberries :). Next we made a stop at Ms. Nicole's student's exhibition. If I haven't already mentioned she is a teacher of 3 & 4 year olds and she lives for this job (and actually makes enough money to support the whole family as Mr. Jean-Paul does not work). The exhibition was all about 'dinos' or dinosaurs. I LOVED it, and took so many pictures. Ms. Nicole immediately was filled with joy and pride when we entered the building and it was QUITE the exhibit. We then headed for Luxembourg city, and along the way we passed Emily's host families Highlanders (where Mr. Jean-Paul abruptly and quickly pulled over to the side of the road so we could take pictures. Once we arrived to the city we bought tickets to do a touristy train ride through the old city. It was incredible- it has the charm of Edinborough, the people kind of like London, and the architecture of Paris- I LOVED it and would so want to live near there if it was an English speaking town. We then walked around the city and stopped at a local bar to rest and talk for a little bit. One fun part of this adventure was the German soccer enthusiasts after winning the game. Blow horns, flags, dancing, chanting, and OLAY OLAY OLAY OLAy were included. Then came the barbeque with all the host families and kids. On our way in I saw a man wearing a purple Cinch shirt which made me miss Kansas! And of course the barbeque was filled with laughs and good times.
The list includes:
-Granny's piggy back adventures with Bruce
-Bruce's subject choice of photography
-the breakthrough of Happiness and Sunshine
-Andre's idea of promoting your "milk yield"
Sunday was my last day with the Frisch family and luckily enough for Ariel G and I, their son Michel came home from fishing of some islands. At 8:30 he and his girlfriend arrived and we began a croissant eating extravaganza. Then he and Ketchen took us to Belgium to see the Memorial at Bastogne. This was quite appropriate as it was the 4th of July. In Bastogne we made a pit stop at a local restaurant and got to know Michel and Ketchen a little bit better (he speaks phenomenal English). But we had one place that they required we attend; The local Bistro. On our way back over the border we made a stop to be in two places at once- Belgium and Luxembourg. So the Bistro is where all the local youth hang out from 11am-1pm on Sundays. It was AWESOME.
Sadly, we returned to the house to eat a wonderful traditional Luxembourgish lunch, then said our goodbyes. I will forever remember these truly special people and hope that I will be able to maintain a relationship with them for the rest of my life.
<3 Morgan. aka the Queen Duchess of Fluff.
p.s. it is late, so I am not proof reading this- I apologize. and Margot- I MISS YOU! :)
So I stayed with Jean-Paul and Nicole Frisch - aka AMAZINGLY INCREDIBLE people. They live on a small farm-ette in the country where they have a Bernese Mountain Dog (Yahnna- I apologize for any spelling errors), cat (Fritzie), six hobby sheep (of a local endangered Luxembourgish breed), and a few rabbits that they will eat.
Fortunately I can say that my stay with the Frisch family was truly incredible and everything I had hoped it would be. I never expected to meet such wonderful people prior to Ms. Nicole picking myself and Ariel (from SUNY Cobelskill) up at the bus stop. Immediately I noticed the typical Luxembourgish way of FAST driving- particularly around corners. In a speedily fashion we arrived to their house. It's a beautiful older home that Mr. Jean-Paul has spent 10 years renovating (I have pictures!). Our first evening with them we hung out and immediately noticed some potential challenges in regards to communication. They were not completely fluent when it came to English, but we were always able to hold on conversations and eventually understand what each other was saying. Ms. Nicole is an absolutely adorable woman and loves her pictures, so immediately she began showing us photos of their sons, puppies, house renovations, friends etc. We had spaghetti for dinner, then went on a walk with their dog. This was very refreshing as we had been cooped up on a bus all day.
The next morning we woke up and had cereal and coffee with Mr. Jean-Paul, then headed to the show, where he dropped us off. It was a hot day, but we still had a blast helping with the sale heifers, judging a class of 8 animals, and getting to know some people in the dairy show circuit in Europe (I especially enjoyed talking to a few fitters and breeders). Also, each kid got to lead a heifer or two in the sale, and I think we all enjoyed this as we miss our animals at home. The girls would also like me to include one particular event that struck a cord with us; the CRAZY Limousin heifer. CRAZY. So a few of us are in the sale tent, getting a few heifers ready before they head to the sale ring when we see this loose beef heifer run into a wood fence right outside of our tent. This catches our attention, but not quite enough because before we know it she is SPRINTING into the tent like a mad woman (have a mentioned she is HORNED?) running into the sale heifers, and headed straight for us! So of course we scatter- Rocco leaps over a fence & falls on his tush, Mandi screams and hides behind Sam, Wolfgang and I get out of the way, then we try to help corner her (not super smart because she is absolutely psychotic). Then these Luxembourgish men show up with sticks and attempt to calm her down (NOT SUCCESSFUL). Eventually they corner her and get a rope around her horns and stroke her shoulder. We moved the baby heifers that so happened to be trapped behind her. These men tried to lead her away... only for her to become loose again and have the men fall on their behinds and a few signs, and barn sidings fall down. EPIC.
The next day was just as wonderful as the day before. We woke up and had breakfast with Mr. Jean Paul and Ms. Nicole (yogurt, toast & coffee). Mr. Jean-Paul then took us to Mr. JP's farm (a big time Luxembourgish dairy farm). This was quite enjoyable but I will most likely remember watching Mr. Jean-Paul and the baby calves- PRECIOUS. He absolutely loves animals, and was getting down with the babies talking to them and looked to happy. On our way home we stopped by a old castle (and took pictures!). At home we met up again with Ms. Nicole and ate a huge tasty lunch- zucchini soup, waffles & sugar, and strawberries :). Next we made a stop at Ms. Nicole's student's exhibition. If I haven't already mentioned she is a teacher of 3 & 4 year olds and she lives for this job (and actually makes enough money to support the whole family as Mr. Jean-Paul does not work). The exhibition was all about 'dinos' or dinosaurs. I LOVED it, and took so many pictures. Ms. Nicole immediately was filled with joy and pride when we entered the building and it was QUITE the exhibit. We then headed for Luxembourg city, and along the way we passed Emily's host families Highlanders (where Mr. Jean-Paul abruptly and quickly pulled over to the side of the road so we could take pictures. Once we arrived to the city we bought tickets to do a touristy train ride through the old city. It was incredible- it has the charm of Edinborough, the people kind of like London, and the architecture of Paris- I LOVED it and would so want to live near there if it was an English speaking town. We then walked around the city and stopped at a local bar to rest and talk for a little bit. One fun part of this adventure was the German soccer enthusiasts after winning the game. Blow horns, flags, dancing, chanting, and OLAY OLAY OLAY OLAy were included. Then came the barbeque with all the host families and kids. On our way in I saw a man wearing a purple Cinch shirt which made me miss Kansas! And of course the barbeque was filled with laughs and good times.
The list includes:
-Granny's piggy back adventures with Bruce
-Bruce's subject choice of photography
-the breakthrough of Happiness and Sunshine
-Andre's idea of promoting your "milk yield"
Sunday was my last day with the Frisch family and luckily enough for Ariel G and I, their son Michel came home from fishing of some islands. At 8:30 he and his girlfriend arrived and we began a croissant eating extravaganza. Then he and Ketchen took us to Belgium to see the Memorial at Bastogne. This was quite appropriate as it was the 4th of July. In Bastogne we made a pit stop at a local restaurant and got to know Michel and Ketchen a little bit better (he speaks phenomenal English). But we had one place that they required we attend; The local Bistro. On our way back over the border we made a stop to be in two places at once- Belgium and Luxembourg. So the Bistro is where all the local youth hang out from 11am-1pm on Sundays. It was AWESOME.
Sadly, we returned to the house to eat a wonderful traditional Luxembourgish lunch, then said our goodbyes. I will forever remember these truly special people and hope that I will be able to maintain a relationship with them for the rest of my life.
<3 Morgan. aka the Queen Duchess of Fluff.
p.s. it is late, so I am not proof reading this- I apologize. and Margot- I MISS YOU! :)
july 4th and 5th in a nutshell
Ah well the last few days have been hectic and we cannot believe that tonight is our very last night of what has become a long and memorable journey to say the least.
JULY 4th
Happy Independence Day to us Yanks!
After a sad departure from our various host families, the gang reunited at 1pm on the bus. All of us were eager to share stories of our families and the experiences we shared with them; Connie HA's were our favorite by far, and after hearty laughs down the road everything was fine and ducky once again. Our first stop was at Luxembourg WWII American Memorial Cemetery. We learned that 5600 Americans are buried in this cemetery, and even General Patton currently rests there. We were overwhelmed with the staggering number of white cross headstones that were plotted across the lawns. There was also a stone turtle pool/fountain that is supposed to represent the everlasting life. Quieted with reverence, we felt a grave appreciation for all the lives given to our freedom. After that we headed for the hotel and caught a couple z's on the way. The hotel even provided an american style dinner for our 4th of july holiday. The hotel we got to was EPIC, equipped with terraces and spas! We spent most of our time in the pool and sauna with the dairy and livestock kids, and even enjoyed a detoxifying therapeutic foot station and singing showers as well. After getting all pruny we hung out for the rest of the evening and shared a few laughs before our last day.
JULY 5th
After breakfast this morning in the hotel, we headed off to little villages and Boppard where we visited small shops for German crafted souvenirs. The christmas shops and cuckoo clocks were among our favorites and we enjoyed a lunch of brautwurst and fries among other things. The town's architecture was cute and picturesque, in addition to its tiny shops and bakeries. Then we took a boat cruise on the Rhine River where we saw rugged landscapes and architecture. Luckily the air was cool and we enjoyed a relaxed little cruise with our feet pointed out to the water. When we got back on land, we got back in the bus to head to Alzey, for the Hauck wine tasting and barbecue visit. We all enjoyed tasting sips of the home fermented beverages, and then jumped into hearty helpings of pork chops, chicken, potato salad, pasta salad, cucumber salad and more! We came back to the hotel at the best western and our last night with the whole group is coming to a close as we now try to squish all of our clothing back into our crammed bags. Morgan apparently is an expert at this; all of you that are planning on going on a trip should see her to cram your belongings. Additionally, she will provide excellent words of fluff in your postcards. And of course the night ended with a pep talk from Connie Kuhlman, who seemed mildly impressed with our blogging abilities, because while she is a technology retard, she still knows how to put food on the table and take a piss in the morning; that's all that she needs to do.
And now for you and our own personal enjoyment here is some interesting quotes along the way:
-If you can't run with the big dogs you better sit on the porch.
-How nude were you? ...What part of nude beach do you not understand?!?!?!?
-SELF-INFLICTED
-The toilet was so low I had to basically suck my face in it just to use the damn thing.
-I got sailor legs this morning!
(Most of the quotes were semi-inappropriate to post, but we will feel free to share them).
Our early morning tomorrow may be bitter due to its start at 5am, but the memories of this trip will age just as sweetly as the wine.
Thanks to all of our donors, family members, and friends, for your support and for your comments over the last two weeks. We can't wait to see you all again and share even more of our stories and experiences. Our own personal thanks to the people that made this trip beyond memorable: Bruce our organized and comical coordinator, Margot our beloved tour guide and friend, Gordon our source of laughs and smiles, our host families and their hospitality and of course our own Connie the chaperone, for always being a HA.
JULY 4th
Happy Independence Day to us Yanks!
After a sad departure from our various host families, the gang reunited at 1pm on the bus. All of us were eager to share stories of our families and the experiences we shared with them; Connie HA's were our favorite by far, and after hearty laughs down the road everything was fine and ducky once again. Our first stop was at Luxembourg WWII American Memorial Cemetery. We learned that 5600 Americans are buried in this cemetery, and even General Patton currently rests there. We were overwhelmed with the staggering number of white cross headstones that were plotted across the lawns. There was also a stone turtle pool/fountain that is supposed to represent the everlasting life. Quieted with reverence, we felt a grave appreciation for all the lives given to our freedom. After that we headed for the hotel and caught a couple z's on the way. The hotel even provided an american style dinner for our 4th of july holiday. The hotel we got to was EPIC, equipped with terraces and spas! We spent most of our time in the pool and sauna with the dairy and livestock kids, and even enjoyed a detoxifying therapeutic foot station and singing showers as well. After getting all pruny we hung out for the rest of the evening and shared a few laughs before our last day.
JULY 5th
After breakfast this morning in the hotel, we headed off to little villages and Boppard where we visited small shops for German crafted souvenirs. The christmas shops and cuckoo clocks were among our favorites and we enjoyed a lunch of brautwurst and fries among other things. The town's architecture was cute and picturesque, in addition to its tiny shops and bakeries. Then we took a boat cruise on the Rhine River where we saw rugged landscapes and architecture. Luckily the air was cool and we enjoyed a relaxed little cruise with our feet pointed out to the water. When we got back on land, we got back in the bus to head to Alzey, for the Hauck wine tasting and barbecue visit. We all enjoyed tasting sips of the home fermented beverages, and then jumped into hearty helpings of pork chops, chicken, potato salad, pasta salad, cucumber salad and more! We came back to the hotel at the best western and our last night with the whole group is coming to a close as we now try to squish all of our clothing back into our crammed bags. Morgan apparently is an expert at this; all of you that are planning on going on a trip should see her to cram your belongings. Additionally, she will provide excellent words of fluff in your postcards. And of course the night ended with a pep talk from Connie Kuhlman, who seemed mildly impressed with our blogging abilities, because while she is a technology retard, she still knows how to put food on the table and take a piss in the morning; that's all that she needs to do.
And now for you and our own personal enjoyment here is some interesting quotes along the way:
-If you can't run with the big dogs you better sit on the porch.
-How nude were you? ...What part of nude beach do you not understand?!?!?!?
-SELF-INFLICTED
-The toilet was so low I had to basically suck my face in it just to use the damn thing.
-I got sailor legs this morning!
(Most of the quotes were semi-inappropriate to post, but we will feel free to share them).
Our early morning tomorrow may be bitter due to its start at 5am, but the memories of this trip will age just as sweetly as the wine.
Thanks to all of our donors, family members, and friends, for your support and for your comments over the last two weeks. We can't wait to see you all again and share even more of our stories and experiences. Our own personal thanks to the people that made this trip beyond memorable: Bruce our organized and comical coordinator, Margot our beloved tour guide and friend, Gordon our source of laughs and smiles, our host families and their hospitality and of course our own Connie the chaperone, for always being a HA.
Emily's stay
Hello from Emily, it has only been a day and a half away from my family, and I already miss their home and their company. My stay with them began with a walk around their home and looking at their beautiful animals. The Scheer Family consisted of Marc the father, Karen the Mother,and their 2 daughters. Nadean was the only daughter home so I spent most of my time with her, and she spoke very good English, because she went to New Zealand for 6 months to work on a dairy farm. Her excellent English really helped me understand what was going on and what her parents wanted to say to me about Luxembourg. Also the Scheer family had a kitty and a playful dog named Dior, who helped me learn that no matter what country you are in a dog will always be your companion. The Scheer family raises about 23 highlander cows, and has 2 horses named Beauty and Miley ( Miley was not named after Miley Cyrus, if you were wondering). Our first meal together consisted of some highlander meat ( One of their own), salad, bread, cheese, and fries. And for dessert we had chocolate moose. The whole meal was delicious.
The next day, I had limited time with my family because we spent all day at the Luxembourg national show, where I lead two sale calves in the Luxembourg International sale. Nadean even saw me lead my animals and translated the crazy auctioneer's lingo! The following day was a full day of viewing Luxembourg, and enjoying each other and learning about each others culture. First, we went to J.P.'s dairy farm, a well known Luxembourg farmer. His farm was very beautiful and clean and had cool collar's on the milking cows to determine how much food they needed to be fed. Next, we headed to Luxembourg City and saw the history of the city and beautiful scenery of trees, and old buildings. Then, we had Chinese food for lunch, I have no idea why, but the food was good and satisfied our hunger needs. After a nice stroll in the city we went to the lake for a nice cooling swim. The sun was shinning and the water felt great. For dinner we headed back to the show to have a barbecue with all the other families. The barbecue was really fun and I found out that Morgan's host family is good friends with my family which I thought was really cool. With a late night of fun, we head back home for my final night with the Scheer family. The last day together we went and got Belgium chocolate at a local store.(sorry family and friends we ate all of the chocolate so none is coming home with me.) Then for our final meal together we had homemade Lasagna, which was a perfect meal to end a stay with my Luxembourg family that I will never forget.
The next day, I had limited time with my family because we spent all day at the Luxembourg national show, where I lead two sale calves in the Luxembourg International sale. Nadean even saw me lead my animals and translated the crazy auctioneer's lingo! The following day was a full day of viewing Luxembourg, and enjoying each other and learning about each others culture. First, we went to J.P.'s dairy farm, a well known Luxembourg farmer. His farm was very beautiful and clean and had cool collar's on the milking cows to determine how much food they needed to be fed. Next, we headed to Luxembourg City and saw the history of the city and beautiful scenery of trees, and old buildings. Then, we had Chinese food for lunch, I have no idea why, but the food was good and satisfied our hunger needs. After a nice stroll in the city we went to the lake for a nice cooling swim. The sun was shinning and the water felt great. For dinner we headed back to the show to have a barbecue with all the other families. The barbecue was really fun and I found out that Morgan's host family is good friends with my family which I thought was really cool. With a late night of fun, we head back home for my final night with the Scheer family. The last day together we went and got Belgium chocolate at a local store.(sorry family and friends we ate all of the chocolate so none is coming home with me.) Then for our final meal together we had homemade Lasagna, which was a perfect meal to end a stay with my Luxembourg family that I will never forget.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
chelsea's stay
Well each of us will make one post each about our stay with our host families, but I know I speak for the group when I say that it was the best part of our trip thus far. I stayed with the Bosseler family in Wiltz, Luxembourg, which is a small village on this huge hill. My "dad", Arnaud, was a veterinarian for large and small animals, and he stayed involved in his work, constantly being on call in case of problems on local farms. He even told us that he would much rather perform c-sections all day then be out living and partying in the city. My mother, Marion was a sweet and talented women in cuisine, orchestra, sewing, and teaching. Needless to say I never went hungry during my time, always partaking in 4 course meals. She plays in the local orchestra and likes to sew magnificent costumes for all the children in the small plays. While she is not a teacher right now, she is very good at teaching languages and knows 5 (that I know of). My sister Aline was 18, and a wonderful dancer. It was very nice to have someone my age to hang out with and talk to. My brother Julian was 14 and he really liked animals, having rabbits, scorpions, insects, fish, a rat, lizards, and "the one thousand feet" insect (<--i think this was the name for a centipede lost in translation...but this thing wrapped around his hand and was about a foot long). The family had a beautiful estate with two dogs and some chickens.
Our first night we went to eat dinner at the Putz's, a family I became very close with as well. They had a daughter Natacha who was 20 and a son who was 17. They were very kind and made us a HUGE dinner full of fresh food. The next morning Natacha took us kids to the show in Ettelbruck, where we had to judge and help out before the sale. We walked around with her and got to know her really well. The class we had to judge was Holstein cows, and there were 8. I thought I did alright, up until our German judge put my last placed cow in 5th; that threw things off a bit. After helping out in the sale tent with the animals all afternoon, we got ready for the sale which started after 8. I was able to lead 2 small calves, one of which was the first of the sale going for 5,000 euros, while my second calf was 3200 euros. I really enjoyed helping out and talking with the fitters and herdsman of the cattle. The experience was truly rewarding.
The next day we woke up and the Putz's came again with our family to visit some local farms. We crossed the field in our back yard to go up to a dairy goat operation, which had over 600 goats. The farm milked 550 goats with a carousel milker that was able to milk 300 in one hour. He then showed us his greatest producing milker, who milks 16 liters! The next farm was a dairy farm, where the farmer was truly passionate about his cows. He had a dedication to them like one I haven't quite yet seen, and his milkhouse was beyond clean and organized. It was most likely cleaner than the bathroom in my house at home! Then we went to another dairy farm, which was smaller and had Belgian Blues on it. My dad Arnaud and Raol Putz do not like Belgian Blues, because of the risk and complications that occur with such high volume muscle. I'm no beef expert, but what they said made sense.
After another grand lunch we decided to go to the lake for a swim. Only Natacha, her brother and I went swimming, but the water felt great after such hot days in the sun! Apparently the lake is about 50meters deep, which is a longgg way down in american measurement. After that we went to the BBQ at the fairgrounds, where we saw all of the dairy kids with their host families. Natacha told me to try the keiswurscht, which is sausage with cheese inside...lets just say I'm glad I took her advice! After staying for a little while and conversing, the Putz's and my family headed to Luxembourg City. We met up with Arnaud's sister who lovesss to party. In the city was beautiful architecture and old buildings, whose history moved me. We went to this large concert by this spiritual rock band Kneudler in the open courtyard. Then we went to see the fort of Luxembourg, which Raol avidly described its background from the longg ago all the way to around WWI and WWII. (leave it to me, the history buff). Then we decided to go to the "disco" which is a club. I had lots of fun dancing with Aline and everyone for long hours of the night. We got home at 430am and went to bed at 5. (Some Luxembourg people will do this every weekend)!
After lunch the next morning (it was too late to eat breakfast) we packed up our things and went home, but not without seeing our dad's awesome vet office that existed inside his house! It was unbelievable with a waiting room, a surgery/examining room, and then a large medicine closet room. When they dropped us off there were teary goodbyes and as the bus pulled away I made the realization that no matter what location or what language is spoken,the people are the same. They had a natural goodness that made me feel at home, while away from home and I will never forget my stay with them.
Our first night we went to eat dinner at the Putz's, a family I became very close with as well. They had a daughter Natacha who was 20 and a son who was 17. They were very kind and made us a HUGE dinner full of fresh food. The next morning Natacha took us kids to the show in Ettelbruck, where we had to judge and help out before the sale. We walked around with her and got to know her really well. The class we had to judge was Holstein cows, and there were 8. I thought I did alright, up until our German judge put my last placed cow in 5th; that threw things off a bit. After helping out in the sale tent with the animals all afternoon, we got ready for the sale which started after 8. I was able to lead 2 small calves, one of which was the first of the sale going for 5,000 euros, while my second calf was 3200 euros. I really enjoyed helping out and talking with the fitters and herdsman of the cattle. The experience was truly rewarding.
The next day we woke up and the Putz's came again with our family to visit some local farms. We crossed the field in our back yard to go up to a dairy goat operation, which had over 600 goats. The farm milked 550 goats with a carousel milker that was able to milk 300 in one hour. He then showed us his greatest producing milker, who milks 16 liters! The next farm was a dairy farm, where the farmer was truly passionate about his cows. He had a dedication to them like one I haven't quite yet seen, and his milkhouse was beyond clean and organized. It was most likely cleaner than the bathroom in my house at home! Then we went to another dairy farm, which was smaller and had Belgian Blues on it. My dad Arnaud and Raol Putz do not like Belgian Blues, because of the risk and complications that occur with such high volume muscle. I'm no beef expert, but what they said made sense.
After another grand lunch we decided to go to the lake for a swim. Only Natacha, her brother and I went swimming, but the water felt great after such hot days in the sun! Apparently the lake is about 50meters deep, which is a longgg way down in american measurement. After that we went to the BBQ at the fairgrounds, where we saw all of the dairy kids with their host families. Natacha told me to try the keiswurscht, which is sausage with cheese inside...lets just say I'm glad I took her advice! After staying for a little while and conversing, the Putz's and my family headed to Luxembourg City. We met up with Arnaud's sister who lovesss to party. In the city was beautiful architecture and old buildings, whose history moved me. We went to this large concert by this spiritual rock band Kneudler in the open courtyard. Then we went to see the fort of Luxembourg, which Raol avidly described its background from the longg ago all the way to around WWI and WWII. (leave it to me, the history buff). Then we decided to go to the "disco" which is a club. I had lots of fun dancing with Aline and everyone for long hours of the night. We got home at 430am and went to bed at 5. (Some Luxembourg people will do this every weekend)!
After lunch the next morning (it was too late to eat breakfast) we packed up our things and went home, but not without seeing our dad's awesome vet office that existed inside his house! It was unbelievable with a waiting room, a surgery/examining room, and then a large medicine closet room. When they dropped us off there were teary goodbyes and as the bus pulled away I made the realization that no matter what location or what language is spoken,the people are the same. They had a natural goodness that made me feel at home, while away from home and I will never forget my stay with them.
Luxembourg Hospitality
Hi again,
Loretta and Kiera filling in for the crew while they are still with their host families. After a long day at the fair grounds yesterday, we decided to have a calm day and pick up 144 stamps to ready our postcards for the States with that completing most of the day time activities. The girls enjoyed the day with various activities with their host families. We gathered with the host families and team members at 8pm at the fairgrounds for a BBQ hosted by the Young Farmers Association. Great food, company and awards were enjoyed by all. The girls each received a certificate for participating in the event and a great thanks for leading and helping with the sale the night before. After much socializing and conversation we departed the group to catch the last train out of Ettlebruck to Luxembourg City. The team is being picked up at 1pm tomorrow and driving south to meet the chaperons and coaches at our hotel at 2pm. Then we head East to Germany. Expect host family updates soon!
Loretta and Kiera filling in for the crew while they are still with their host families. After a long day at the fair grounds yesterday, we decided to have a calm day and pick up 144 stamps to ready our postcards for the States with that completing most of the day time activities. The girls enjoyed the day with various activities with their host families. We gathered with the host families and team members at 8pm at the fairgrounds for a BBQ hosted by the Young Farmers Association. Great food, company and awards were enjoyed by all. The girls each received a certificate for participating in the event and a great thanks for leading and helping with the sale the night before. After much socializing and conversation we departed the group to catch the last train out of Ettlebruck to Luxembourg City. The team is being picked up at 1pm tomorrow and driving south to meet the chaperons and coaches at our hotel at 2pm. Then we head East to Germany. Expect host family updates soon!
Friday, July 2, 2010
A substitute post
Hi all,
Kiera and Loretta here. Apologies for not posting but it has been a whirlwind few days and wireless has proven a bit tricky. We write to you from Luxembourg City after having traveled across France with a stop in Riems to view the Cathedral and town on Thursday. A quick pass through Belgium led us into the Ardennes Forest area and our first host family stop. Chelsea, Emily and Morgan were all introduced to their host families at this first stop and Ariel met her family at the second. Nervous smiles and a lot of luggage accompanied the girls to their host family homes. (Amy - I got a picture of Lucy and the girls for you)
Friday started with a train ride to the town of Ettelbruck to attend the National Fair and Show. We met all the 4-H and FFA members there and they couldn't wait to tell each other about the adventures they had enjoyed so far. The consensus is that the people of Luxembourg are crazy drivers and love high speeds. A very long and hot day at the show was enjoyed by all as the crew was able to judge a class of cows and take care of the sale animals being sold that night in the First Annual International Sale in Luxembourg. Being able to lead and care for the animals really seemed to give everyone a taste of home that was certainly needed. The sale committee invited the tour group to lead the animals in the sale and each of our team members led two heifers all while avoiding a CRAZY Limousin on the loose. I'm sure they will have more on that later. The sale was a big success from our point of view with strong prices all the way through the 45 lots. The buyers receive a bottle of Champagne with each purchase and they play rock music between lots. Both are ideas that we think could be incorporated at home :-) After making sure that everyone was reconnected with their host families, we made the trip back to Luxembourg City.
Today is a free day for the team and their individual families, but we will all meet up tonight for a BBQ. More to come later as well as a full recap from each team member on their time in Luxembourg.
Loretta and Kiera
Kiera and Loretta here. Apologies for not posting but it has been a whirlwind few days and wireless has proven a bit tricky. We write to you from Luxembourg City after having traveled across France with a stop in Riems to view the Cathedral and town on Thursday. A quick pass through Belgium led us into the Ardennes Forest area and our first host family stop. Chelsea, Emily and Morgan were all introduced to their host families at this first stop and Ariel met her family at the second. Nervous smiles and a lot of luggage accompanied the girls to their host family homes. (Amy - I got a picture of Lucy and the girls for you)
Friday started with a train ride to the town of Ettelbruck to attend the National Fair and Show. We met all the 4-H and FFA members there and they couldn't wait to tell each other about the adventures they had enjoyed so far. The consensus is that the people of Luxembourg are crazy drivers and love high speeds. A very long and hot day at the show was enjoyed by all as the crew was able to judge a class of cows and take care of the sale animals being sold that night in the First Annual International Sale in Luxembourg. Being able to lead and care for the animals really seemed to give everyone a taste of home that was certainly needed. The sale committee invited the tour group to lead the animals in the sale and each of our team members led two heifers all while avoiding a CRAZY Limousin on the loose. I'm sure they will have more on that later. The sale was a big success from our point of view with strong prices all the way through the 45 lots. The buyers receive a bottle of Champagne with each purchase and they play rock music between lots. Both are ideas that we think could be incorporated at home :-) After making sure that everyone was reconnected with their host families, we made the trip back to Luxembourg City.
Today is a free day for the team and their individual families, but we will all meet up tonight for a BBQ. More to come later as well as a full recap from each team member on their time in Luxembourg.
Loretta and Kiera
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
paris holds the key to your heart:)
Salut! from Paris:)
It was an early start at 5am, and nobody experienced that more so than Ariel and Morgan. As Ariel attempted to wake Morgan from her slumber, she was extremely concerned that Morgan's ridiculously sound sleeping was in fact unconsciousness. She literally had to physically awaken the beast after minutes of panic and fear for Morgan's life; Morgan arose with a murmur, until she realized she had less than 15mins to finish packing and eat breakfast downstairs. That certainly forced her to wake up; quite the episode to begin the morning.
The chunnel itself was also an experience as we struggled to make it to the platform in the morning rushhour. Chelsea, Emily and Ariel were all thrilled to discover that they were standing in the train station where Harry Potter was filmed. Although we did not hop on the Hogwarts Express, Ariel continued to struggle finding her way with 5 bags and every member of the team's drinks and snacks for the trip. She barely made it onto the train, as she dangled from the step, to put her suitcase inside. Because it could not fit in the compartment up front, she managed to drag it to the back of the train where she hit multiple Asian individuals. Even Morgan had to lift her 50lb zebra bag over her head in the above compartment and launch it in order to secure it. Talk about a morning work out. Luckily, we all were able to sleep for the majority of the ride.
Immediately arriving to Paris, we started out with a bus tour of the city. The traffic and heat combined to make a somewhat boring ride, but nothing took away from the natural beauty of the monuments and statues that we were fortunate enough to see along the way including but not limited to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, L'arc de triumph, Notre Dame cathedral, and many more. Although our tour guide was nice, we still miss our dear Margot, who definitely spoiled us with her spunk. Interestingly, France has a great population of drivers, who are willing to drive over curbs and hit pedestrians on the street, especially riders on speeding mopeds.
Eventually we were able to arrive at our hotel where we were greeted by VIBRANT color schemes inside our rooms, and beautiful views. Moreover, we had a rooftop terrace that allowed us to overlook the ENTIRE city. We got plenty of pictures, to say the least. Our poor Emily felt a bit under the weather, so we scampered off to the neighboring grocery store to aid her illness with saltine crackers, peanut butter, and good ol sprite. Talk about your fixer-upper! After our saltine cracker party with Em, we decided to venture out in the local streets. We were able to eat dinner, shop at touristy shops, and have crepes all along our street with ease. Now listen up bloggers: if you ever need a bargain shopper, Loretta is the way to go! Lets just say she knew how to wheel and deal inside the locally owned shops.
As it began to darken, we ventured onto the metro in order to view the base of the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. We loved the accordian and guitar-playing musicians on the metro, who advised us to "don't worry and be happy". How original. At the base of the tower we were amazed by the size and stature of the edifice, and its specific architectural designs. The lights alone, however, illuminated the entire city and swept us all away. Soon even, sparkling lights lit up the tower and added to our amazement. Lots of vendors attempted to sell us keychains and glowing plastic eiffel towers, and they do not like to take no for an answer. One find we did enjoy, however, was a group souvenir of hand-crafted paintings of places in Europe, like the Notre Dame or Eiffel Tower. These were gorgeous and well done, and we just could not resist!
Perhaps delusional from sleep deprivation, the gang headed back to the hotel on the metro. Chelsea thought that the beeping sounds on the tube sounded like beats from a Lady Gaga song, and she opted to demonstrate for the entire group in a sing-song.
For now, we are going to partake in sleep for the duration of our evening, awaiting our introductions to our host families in Luxembourg tomorrow:)
Bon nuit:)
It was an early start at 5am, and nobody experienced that more so than Ariel and Morgan. As Ariel attempted to wake Morgan from her slumber, she was extremely concerned that Morgan's ridiculously sound sleeping was in fact unconsciousness. She literally had to physically awaken the beast after minutes of panic and fear for Morgan's life; Morgan arose with a murmur, until she realized she had less than 15mins to finish packing and eat breakfast downstairs. That certainly forced her to wake up; quite the episode to begin the morning.
The chunnel itself was also an experience as we struggled to make it to the platform in the morning rushhour. Chelsea, Emily and Ariel were all thrilled to discover that they were standing in the train station where Harry Potter was filmed. Although we did not hop on the Hogwarts Express, Ariel continued to struggle finding her way with 5 bags and every member of the team's drinks and snacks for the trip. She barely made it onto the train, as she dangled from the step, to put her suitcase inside. Because it could not fit in the compartment up front, she managed to drag it to the back of the train where she hit multiple Asian individuals. Even Morgan had to lift her 50lb zebra bag over her head in the above compartment and launch it in order to secure it. Talk about a morning work out. Luckily, we all were able to sleep for the majority of the ride.
Immediately arriving to Paris, we started out with a bus tour of the city. The traffic and heat combined to make a somewhat boring ride, but nothing took away from the natural beauty of the monuments and statues that we were fortunate enough to see along the way including but not limited to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, L'arc de triumph, Notre Dame cathedral, and many more. Although our tour guide was nice, we still miss our dear Margot, who definitely spoiled us with her spunk. Interestingly, France has a great population of drivers, who are willing to drive over curbs and hit pedestrians on the street, especially riders on speeding mopeds.
Eventually we were able to arrive at our hotel where we were greeted by VIBRANT color schemes inside our rooms, and beautiful views. Moreover, we had a rooftop terrace that allowed us to overlook the ENTIRE city. We got plenty of pictures, to say the least. Our poor Emily felt a bit under the weather, so we scampered off to the neighboring grocery store to aid her illness with saltine crackers, peanut butter, and good ol sprite. Talk about your fixer-upper! After our saltine cracker party with Em, we decided to venture out in the local streets. We were able to eat dinner, shop at touristy shops, and have crepes all along our street with ease. Now listen up bloggers: if you ever need a bargain shopper, Loretta is the way to go! Lets just say she knew how to wheel and deal inside the locally owned shops.
As it began to darken, we ventured onto the metro in order to view the base of the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. We loved the accordian and guitar-playing musicians on the metro, who advised us to "don't worry and be happy". How original. At the base of the tower we were amazed by the size and stature of the edifice, and its specific architectural designs. The lights alone, however, illuminated the entire city and swept us all away. Soon even, sparkling lights lit up the tower and added to our amazement. Lots of vendors attempted to sell us keychains and glowing plastic eiffel towers, and they do not like to take no for an answer. One find we did enjoy, however, was a group souvenir of hand-crafted paintings of places in Europe, like the Notre Dame or Eiffel Tower. These were gorgeous and well done, and we just could not resist!
Perhaps delusional from sleep deprivation, the gang headed back to the hotel on the metro. Chelsea thought that the beeping sounds on the tube sounded like beats from a Lady Gaga song, and she opted to demonstrate for the entire group in a sing-song.
For now, we are going to partake in sleep for the duration of our evening, awaiting our introductions to our host families in Luxembourg tomorrow:)
Bon nuit:)
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
our day in London :)
After waking up and taking the Tube to Westminster (yes, we minded the gap), we began our day at the London Eye. This was an incredible experience and the views were spectacular (no worries group photos were taken!). It was then decided that we were in dire need of coffee so we stopped at Cafe Nero, where each one of us got a version of a frappuchino- lucky enough for us our barista was SUPER sweet and adorable. We then progressed to Parliament Square. This is a small grass area where people were holding a protest against a variety of things including the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In fact there is one man who has lived in this square for 14 YEARS. Morgan felt the need to talk to him, yet as she approached his general area he began LOUDLY communicating with a news reporter (in a not so friendly way). Once seeing that he was occupied we instead watched from approximately 10 yards away. After the reporter got flustered enough to leave he approached our group and asked to interview us (from the tourists perspective). After talking to Morgan and Emily it was obvious that he was not getting the answers he wanted (because we didn't call the protest a "visual sore") and we continued on our journey.
We came across one of the lovely red phone booths on our way to see the changing of the horse guards, and a team photo was taken (all girls in 1 not so flowery smelling phone booth). We continued our team photoing by taken pics with a guard and his horse. We then trekked into the stable area only to find a seductive blue eyed young lad slash guard. No worries lady readers, we broke his silence. We unfortunately had to leave him and began our walk through Green Park where Ariel became best friends for life with a variety of squirrels (aka rodents) and creatures of flight. The park led us to Buckingham Palace, home of the queen. We stopped for a photo op and dubbed the house Ms. Loretta's since she is "Queen Kong." Here, Ms. Loretta also suggested that Kiera make friends with a pole and Ariel also was able to 'fly' at this stop. Herrod's was our next desired stop, but of course we had adventures on the way there- this includes Chelsea further demonstrating her Chuck Norris skill's on an innocent by-standing tree, and also channeling her inner Mary Catherine Gallagher.
So if you are not aware of what Herrod's is, it is an uber expensive (AS IN REALLY REALLY expensive) 5 story shopping mall that includes an entire section for Pet Fashion. We kid you not. There was a dress for a small dog (at the puppy age) that was priced at 70 pounds. Also the baby carriage section was more like a car dealership with a variety of models priced around FOUR THOUSAND pounds. We visited a wide variety of stores from touristy places, to the most expensive kinds, and then in between. The streets were constantly packed with people, even some very attractive London boys, which triggered the "alert heifers."
Our food selection today was interesting, with lunch at quite the authentic Italian restaurant and then light appetizers in the early evening at a local bar and grill. At the bar and grill Chelsea successfully managed to try an anchovy after first throwing it in Ariel's glass. Let's just say she would not recommend them. We then headed to the show The Lion King, which we were all pretty thrilled about. The show was PHENOMENAL, with amazing voices, rocking, and dancing that shook the playhouse. Kudos to the woman playing Rafikki, and the intense puppetry and set design. Our favorites were the giraffes and the jaguar, which realistically pranced about the stage by ballet dancers. The light effects and musical talent swept us away in the African spirit, and we were uplifted leaving the theater.
(Believe me, we opted to join in a sing-song).
After navigating the tube, we came home for the night; it was indeed a long and packed day. Tomorrow we have quite the early morning starting at 5am, where we head to Paris for one day and one night. While we had tons of packing to do, Chelsea decided to try on every piece of Morgan's 30 pounds of jewelry and name every necklace. Equipped in shades and a scarf dewrag, she was definitely a figure of amusement to end the long day.
Good night all,
The Team:)
We came across one of the lovely red phone booths on our way to see the changing of the horse guards, and a team photo was taken (all girls in 1 not so flowery smelling phone booth). We continued our team photoing by taken pics with a guard and his horse. We then trekked into the stable area only to find a seductive blue eyed young lad slash guard. No worries lady readers, we broke his silence. We unfortunately had to leave him and began our walk through Green Park where Ariel became best friends for life with a variety of squirrels (aka rodents) and creatures of flight. The park led us to Buckingham Palace, home of the queen. We stopped for a photo op and dubbed the house Ms. Loretta's since she is "Queen Kong." Here, Ms. Loretta also suggested that Kiera make friends with a pole and Ariel also was able to 'fly' at this stop. Herrod's was our next desired stop, but of course we had adventures on the way there- this includes Chelsea further demonstrating her Chuck Norris skill's on an innocent by-standing tree, and also channeling her inner Mary Catherine Gallagher.
So if you are not aware of what Herrod's is, it is an uber expensive (AS IN REALLY REALLY expensive) 5 story shopping mall that includes an entire section for Pet Fashion. We kid you not. There was a dress for a small dog (at the puppy age) that was priced at 70 pounds. Also the baby carriage section was more like a car dealership with a variety of models priced around FOUR THOUSAND pounds. We visited a wide variety of stores from touristy places, to the most expensive kinds, and then in between. The streets were constantly packed with people, even some very attractive London boys, which triggered the "alert heifers."
Our food selection today was interesting, with lunch at quite the authentic Italian restaurant and then light appetizers in the early evening at a local bar and grill. At the bar and grill Chelsea successfully managed to try an anchovy after first throwing it in Ariel's glass. Let's just say she would not recommend them. We then headed to the show The Lion King, which we were all pretty thrilled about. The show was PHENOMENAL, with amazing voices, rocking, and dancing that shook the playhouse. Kudos to the woman playing Rafikki, and the intense puppetry and set design. Our favorites were the giraffes and the jaguar, which realistically pranced about the stage by ballet dancers. The light effects and musical talent swept us away in the African spirit, and we were uplifted leaving the theater.
(Believe me, we opted to join in a sing-song).
After navigating the tube, we came home for the night; it was indeed a long and packed day. Tomorrow we have quite the early morning starting at 5am, where we head to Paris for one day and one night. While we had tons of packing to do, Chelsea decided to try on every piece of Morgan's 30 pounds of jewelry and name every necklace. Equipped in shades and a scarf dewrag, she was definitely a figure of amusement to end the long day.
Good night all,
The Team:)
Monday, June 28, 2010
Warwick to London
Well we'll start you off from last night when we were lucky to be introduced to Gordon, a previous bus driver for Agrotours. After Margots emotional departure, we felt at ease to meet a new friend so quickly. This older man was quite a hoot; from old stories about Bruce and Esmerelda, to bent telephone poles, and sing-song concerts, we could not stop laughing. He is definitely a character we will never forget on this trip.
The morning started off towards Warwick Castle, a beautiful preservation of medieval life. We toured the quaint little city and then entered the castle. Upon entering the gates, we were greeted by a peacock, who was quick to give Morgan "the up-down" eye. We immediately were swept up in the medieval characters, including a swordsmen, archer, butler, and maid, who were eager to participate in group photos. Inside the castle we met numerous realistic wax figurines and robots, including Henry VIII's six wives. We climbed up many towers (all 530 winding stairs) to outlook on the distant scenery and magnificent landscapes. Ariel's calves were a-burnin and we all felt a bit discombobulated after the circuitous route.
After a quick lunch at an excellent service stop, we drove into London. We started out with a tour of the city and were immediately swept up by the overwhelming sights of the Cathedral, the Wembley Stadium arc, the London Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Buckingham palace, and the harmonious combination of antediluvian and modern architecture. The tour was longer than usual, with a stifling heat setting in, so we were excited to reach our hotel and unpack for the night. After a little while to recharge (physically and photographically)we decided to take our chances on the tube(British for metro)and struggled to get the tickets and find the correct destination before heading to London. Be sure to "mind the gap" everytime you enter a foreign subway. A heartfelt thank you to our own Morgan who terrifically managed to successfully direct our routes. Arriving in London, we enjoyed the buildings lit up in lights along the water. Although our attempts at the London Eye flights were failed for the night, we were able to take copious amounts of group photos and even came across a great place to eat! The Four Udder Belly was right up our alley and we enjoyed some big sandwiches and hearty laughs. After dinner we scooted off to the tube again, in bright spirits to end our evening.
Our discoveries in a nutshell:
-Ariel's highlight: "Our hotel has q-tips, a fan, and a toilet that always flushes!"
-Emily learned how to spell "knowone" the proper way. Spelling Bee Score: Chelsea 1, Emily 0
-Emily is the first to officially receive the retractable backpack awards
-Past Adopted Child: Morgan; Present Adopted child of the day: Ariel
-Food Battle at Dinner: Morgan/Chelsea 3, Ariel 0
-Chelsea is a disciple of Chuck Norris
London tomorrow loves, can't wait to share all the stories.
Chip chip, cheerio:)
~The Team~
The morning started off towards Warwick Castle, a beautiful preservation of medieval life. We toured the quaint little city and then entered the castle. Upon entering the gates, we were greeted by a peacock, who was quick to give Morgan "the up-down" eye. We immediately were swept up in the medieval characters, including a swordsmen, archer, butler, and maid, who were eager to participate in group photos. Inside the castle we met numerous realistic wax figurines and robots, including Henry VIII's six wives. We climbed up many towers (all 530 winding stairs) to outlook on the distant scenery and magnificent landscapes. Ariel's calves were a-burnin and we all felt a bit discombobulated after the circuitous route.
After a quick lunch at an excellent service stop, we drove into London. We started out with a tour of the city and were immediately swept up by the overwhelming sights of the Cathedral, the Wembley Stadium arc, the London Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Buckingham palace, and the harmonious combination of antediluvian and modern architecture. The tour was longer than usual, with a stifling heat setting in, so we were excited to reach our hotel and unpack for the night. After a little while to recharge (physically and photographically)we decided to take our chances on the tube(British for metro)and struggled to get the tickets and find the correct destination before heading to London. Be sure to "mind the gap" everytime you enter a foreign subway. A heartfelt thank you to our own Morgan who terrifically managed to successfully direct our routes. Arriving in London, we enjoyed the buildings lit up in lights along the water. Although our attempts at the London Eye flights were failed for the night, we were able to take copious amounts of group photos and even came across a great place to eat! The Four Udder Belly was right up our alley and we enjoyed some big sandwiches and hearty laughs. After dinner we scooted off to the tube again, in bright spirits to end our evening.
Our discoveries in a nutshell:
-Ariel's highlight: "Our hotel has q-tips, a fan, and a toilet that always flushes!"
-Emily learned how to spell "knowone" the proper way. Spelling Bee Score: Chelsea 1, Emily 0
-Emily is the first to officially receive the retractable backpack awards
-Past Adopted Child: Morgan; Present Adopted child of the day: Ariel
-Food Battle at Dinner: Morgan/Chelsea 3, Ariel 0
-Chelsea is a disciple of Chuck Norris
London tomorrow loves, can't wait to share all the stories.
Chip chip, cheerio:)
~The Team~
First Photos of England
Well we've all been battling the low battery issue with our digital cameras over the past 24 hours. The following photos are a compilation from the entire group and our first day in England. Enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marylanddairy2008/sets/72157624253480891/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marylanddairy2008/sets/72157624253480891/
Scotland Photos
Hello! Kiera's photos from Scotland have been added to the web for you to enjoy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marylanddairy2008/sets/72157624249676843/
There are a lot of photos and they haven't been edited in any way yet but hopefully in the near future. Enjoy and thank you again for your interest and support!
There are a lot of photos and they haven't been edited in any way yet but hopefully in the near future. Enjoy and thank you again for your interest and support!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Scotland and England
Today we spent a lllooonngggg time on the bus and took numerous photos though the bus windows trying to avoid the window glare and trees that line the highway that always block your view of the sights. It was our last day with our tour guide Margot. She has been an awesome guide and has treated us more like family and friends than foreigners. We truly appreciate all her time and effort. We will never forget her humorous stories, cheerful dog, Tweed, and her rockin' Scottish pants. Our first stop was in Moffat to shop at Woolen Mills. There we bought Celtic jewelry, shortbread, postcards, cashmere scarves, heather-stone items, and much more. We also had a wee snack at the cafe. Then, it was back on the road. We made a quick stop for lunch at Burger King where we went on a napkin hunt...Kiera won. We ate on the bus to save time. There was almost a ketchup, tomato sauce, famine... it could have been deadly but we survived with one extra packet. Next we headed to Ricky Jones's Dairy. The farm was absolutely gorgeous and extremely well kept. He milks around 100 Holstein cattle in a double 6 parlor. And has around 30 heifers. We walked around the farm and visited many of the pastures and crop fields. He talked to us about milk prices in England and the control the super markets have over the farmers. Interesting tidbit... In England you are paid for your milk by liter for example the top price right now is 25 pence per liter. (Pence is equivalent to cents)The most interesting part of the operation was the feeding. The milking herd is fed grain while in the parlor and TRM in the free stall that contains whole potatoes! For dinner we went to Leedham Farms for a BBQ. There we had pulled pork sandwiches with sage stuffing and apple sauce on the sandwich. It seems a little weird but it was very tasty. Afterwards we mingled with the other teams and local farmers who came to visit. We also signed a petition in opposition of constructing four windmills about 1/4 of a mile from the farm. On the way back we looked through the Luxembourg sale catalog, in which we will be participating in a few days. Tomorrow we are going to Warkick Castle in the morning and then on to London.
The Maryland Dairy Judging Team
The Maryland Dairy Judging Team
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Final Full Day of Scotland
JUDGING CONTEST DAY !!!!!!
The last full day of Scotland was a day filled with smiles, laughs, and a lot good memories. The day started bright and early for us as today was the competition day! So we headed for day two of the Royal Highlands Show, which just as amazing as the our first day. The competition was quite different than the way we do judge at home. Classes were only 5 MINUTES!!! Whether they were reasons or not. Also, they don't use the same numbering or identification system of 1234, they use ABXY,which was very different and a little difficult when giving reasons to say " I placed this class XBYA ... " Also the cows were not necessarily lead in ABXY so it a minute to figure out what order the cows were in. Giving reasons was pretty similar to US reasons, but the atmosphere was much more relaxed and everyone was sitting on the lawn chatting after the classes were over. There was some confusion in the beginning as to how many reasons we were going to give at a time because we were told that we were going to give both sets back to back. We came to find out that it was one at a time. In Scotland, they wear white lab coats when judging and we thought we looked pretty cool and smart. The time constraints made us a little stressed. It was not always clearly announced when we were supposed to change rings which made us have less time in the next class. Although, it was different than we are used to we all managed to adapt and learned to "speed" judge.
After the judging contest, we went over and saw the parade of champions, there we saw the impressive lineup of animals, including, beef: Angus, Charolais, British blues, British Blondes, and much more. The dairy lineup included, Holstein, Jersey, Ayrshire, and Milking Shorthorns. Shortly after the parade show jumping fences were set for the international contest of Show Jumping. This was very interesting and we even captured some cool action shots of the horses jumping. Next came the Awards dinner, the meal included a choice between venison or fish and chips, and to top it off for dessert we had delicious strawberries with cream and tarts.
The Results:
( We were divided into judging pairs for the contest Morgan and Ariel were a team and Chelsea and Emily were a team)
*1st place 4-H team
*2nd place team overall
*Ariel and Morgan were 3rd pair overall
*Chelsea and Emily were the 6th as a pair overall.
*Morgan was high reasons individual
*2nd place reasons team
*Morgan and Ariel were 1st place reasons pair
We are very happy with the new experience and hope to cherish the Royal Highlands in our memories for a long time.
~The Team~
PS lady readers of the blog:
the men of Scotland are certainly not lacking in the looks department. They always have uniquely wonderful hair and wear IMPECCABLE jeans of which make the tushies look wonderful.
Also Emily pants were doodled upon unintentionally by a variety of Scottish male judgers, and Morgan got a kiss on the cheek by another Scottish man during the awards that was SUPER awkward because apparently its custom and she had already started to walk away.
Fans of Chelsea please inquire about her accident today (the one involving the bathroom and her pants!) But no bodily functions were involved :)
The last full day of Scotland was a day filled with smiles, laughs, and a lot good memories. The day started bright and early for us as today was the competition day! So we headed for day two of the Royal Highlands Show, which just as amazing as the our first day. The competition was quite different than the way we do judge at home. Classes were only 5 MINUTES!!! Whether they were reasons or not. Also, they don't use the same numbering or identification system of 1234, they use ABXY,which was very different and a little difficult when giving reasons to say " I placed this class XBYA ... " Also the cows were not necessarily lead in ABXY so it a minute to figure out what order the cows were in. Giving reasons was pretty similar to US reasons, but the atmosphere was much more relaxed and everyone was sitting on the lawn chatting after the classes were over. There was some confusion in the beginning as to how many reasons we were going to give at a time because we were told that we were going to give both sets back to back. We came to find out that it was one at a time. In Scotland, they wear white lab coats when judging and we thought we looked pretty cool and smart. The time constraints made us a little stressed. It was not always clearly announced when we were supposed to change rings which made us have less time in the next class. Although, it was different than we are used to we all managed to adapt and learned to "speed" judge.
After the judging contest, we went over and saw the parade of champions, there we saw the impressive lineup of animals, including, beef: Angus, Charolais, British blues, British Blondes, and much more. The dairy lineup included, Holstein, Jersey, Ayrshire, and Milking Shorthorns. Shortly after the parade show jumping fences were set for the international contest of Show Jumping. This was very interesting and we even captured some cool action shots of the horses jumping. Next came the Awards dinner, the meal included a choice between venison or fish and chips, and to top it off for dessert we had delicious strawberries with cream and tarts.
The Results:
( We were divided into judging pairs for the contest Morgan and Ariel were a team and Chelsea and Emily were a team)
*1st place 4-H team
*2nd place team overall
*Ariel and Morgan were 3rd pair overall
*Chelsea and Emily were the 6th as a pair overall.
*Morgan was high reasons individual
*2nd place reasons team
*Morgan and Ariel were 1st place reasons pair
We are very happy with the new experience and hope to cherish the Royal Highlands in our memories for a long time.
~The Team~
PS lady readers of the blog:
the men of Scotland are certainly not lacking in the looks department. They always have uniquely wonderful hair and wear IMPECCABLE jeans of which make the tushies look wonderful.
Also Emily pants were doodled upon unintentionally by a variety of Scottish male judgers, and Morgan got a kiss on the cheek by another Scottish man during the awards that was SUPER awkward because apparently its custom and she had already started to walk away.
Fans of Chelsea please inquire about her accident today (the one involving the bathroom and her pants!) But no bodily functions were involved :)
Friday, June 25, 2010
Hello blog readers :)
Scotland is awesome! Today we started out by doing a bus tour of Edinburgh which is the Capitol city of Scotland. Although it may not be as large as Glasgow it certainly does not lack in character. We were all incredibly impressed by the Edinburgh Castle and the architecture in general. There were tons of cute little shops and LOTS of kilts! Like expensive 200 pounds worth of kilts!
If we haven't already mentioned it the landscape of Scotland is beautiful- LOTS of hills and fields. In fact, Edinburgh is surrounded by these great hills and we were lucky enough to drive to the top of one and see the overlook- IT WAS AMAZING! And major kudos to Margot and her wonderful guide abilities, and humorous jokes.
So next we hit up the Royal Highland Show where they show in outdoor grass show rings with white fences. The show is huge and we wish we had even more days so we could experience each part. So we are food consuming girls, and thus we hit up the food area, and samples were the apples of our eye! I immediately found our initial sample, and by the end of our food excursion we had tried every sample possible, and boy were we stuffed! We tasted everything from strawberries to shortbread cookies, fudge, meats, ice cream, cheeses, jams and chips. We didn't even purchase a legitimate lunch and walked the entire length of the building. And we even had full-cream Jersey milk out of a plastic shot glass! John may have been bashing on Jersey's yesterday, but somebody in Scotland puts them to wonderful use :).
So back to the cow part, we were really impressed by the Young Farmers program that Scotland has, and they seem to be very involved and fun. They had a large booth set up and it was quite cool. Outside they had a Wii sheep shearing game that was led by an enjoyable young red-headed fellow. They also had a bike racing contest (on the kind you ride in the gym), all in hopes to raise money to promote agriculture education in Africa. Inside they had a variety of booths that Young Farmers created, much like those that 4-H clubs create in contests. They had AMAZINGLY decorated cakes in an African Safari theme- asks to see pictures because they were way cool.
We ended up being led around by two gents named Alexander and Graham. Alexander won the Young Stockman Contest last year and showed us all the livestock and dairy and explained how they evaluate each. VERY DIFFERENT they are when it come to beef cattle, but they really do judge Dairy in a similar fashion, with the exception that they prefer them to be more moderate framed, and are not as incredibly into the 'dairy' look (don't get us wrong they are still angular and feminine). They only show a few dairy breeds and they are Holsteins, Ayrshires,and Jerseys.
We have an early day tomorrow with the contest and will update you sometime tomorrow night with the results. Another long, but successful day, we are hungry for more!
<3 The Team <3
Scotland is awesome! Today we started out by doing a bus tour of Edinburgh which is the Capitol city of Scotland. Although it may not be as large as Glasgow it certainly does not lack in character. We were all incredibly impressed by the Edinburgh Castle and the architecture in general. There were tons of cute little shops and LOTS of kilts! Like expensive 200 pounds worth of kilts!
If we haven't already mentioned it the landscape of Scotland is beautiful- LOTS of hills and fields. In fact, Edinburgh is surrounded by these great hills and we were lucky enough to drive to the top of one and see the overlook- IT WAS AMAZING! And major kudos to Margot and her wonderful guide abilities, and humorous jokes.
So next we hit up the Royal Highland Show where they show in outdoor grass show rings with white fences. The show is huge and we wish we had even more days so we could experience each part. So we are food consuming girls, and thus we hit up the food area, and samples were the apples of our eye! I immediately found our initial sample, and by the end of our food excursion we had tried every sample possible, and boy were we stuffed! We tasted everything from strawberries to shortbread cookies, fudge, meats, ice cream, cheeses, jams and chips. We didn't even purchase a legitimate lunch and walked the entire length of the building. And we even had full-cream Jersey milk out of a plastic shot glass! John may have been bashing on Jersey's yesterday, but somebody in Scotland puts them to wonderful use :).
So back to the cow part, we were really impressed by the Young Farmers program that Scotland has, and they seem to be very involved and fun. They had a large booth set up and it was quite cool. Outside they had a Wii sheep shearing game that was led by an enjoyable young red-headed fellow. They also had a bike racing contest (on the kind you ride in the gym), all in hopes to raise money to promote agriculture education in Africa. Inside they had a variety of booths that Young Farmers created, much like those that 4-H clubs create in contests. They had AMAZINGLY decorated cakes in an African Safari theme- asks to see pictures because they were way cool.
We ended up being led around by two gents named Alexander and Graham. Alexander won the Young Stockman Contest last year and showed us all the livestock and dairy and explained how they evaluate each. VERY DIFFERENT they are when it come to beef cattle, but they really do judge Dairy in a similar fashion, with the exception that they prefer them to be more moderate framed, and are not as incredibly into the 'dairy' look (don't get us wrong they are still angular and feminine). They only show a few dairy breeds and they are Holsteins, Ayrshires,and Jerseys.
We have an early day tomorrow with the contest and will update you sometime tomorrow night with the results. Another long, but successful day, we are hungry for more!
<3 The Team <3
Thursday, June 24, 2010
our first adventure in Scotland
Day One: Complete.
Immediately following the flight we found ourselves on the tour bus ready to start. While some of us could barely keep our eyes open, we saw rolling green hills and tons of pastures with animals grazing. Our first stop was at the National Museum of Rural Life, where we saw a scottish "man trap" and soon ventured up to the preserved farmhouse. On film we captured a ridiculously photogenic Highlander cow and soon saw the owner herding his sheep in before a rain storm. This sight was impressive, noticing not only the herder's specific and alternating calls, but his sheep dog's aggressive and experienced training. Morgan also could not help but wonder why the sheep's tails were not docked.
Our next stop was at the Scottish Agriculture College, where we were greeted by the manager of dairy operations at the college, a pleasant Mr. John. John took us for a tour of some of his pasture lots, barns, and milking parlor. In Scotland, cows primarily graze on rye grass, unlike the Marylandish alfalfa and clover. We learned from John that cows are turned out when the length of the grass is approximately the height of a beer can, and they are switched to another lot when the grass is as tall as a golf ball. The average herd size is around 200, because it is the maximum number put out on pasture; even the number of cows spending the majority of time out on pasture alone, astounded us yanks. John informed us that because Scots are not good record keepers, they tend to view management and reproductive practices from other countries, like the United States, New Zealand, and Germany. (Never trust the records of an Italian). On another interesting note, we found the identification system to be much more strict, since the outbreak of BSE.
Down in the barns we were showed their grain supplement, a "PMR", pelletized distillers grain, pelletized beet pulp, and soy beans. Then we came across a calf pen, where John showed us his new automatic calf-feeder, which can be programmed to ration out milk, knew which calf was drinking and how much, and could slowly wean the calves by distributing less milk. There were about eight calves on just one machine, and the calves were in excellent health and condition. We learned new vocabulary when venturing into the "cubicles", or what we refer to as free stalls. Even the barn alleys are known as "passageways" in Scotland. The milking parlor was a double twelve herringbone, and parlors are the most type of milking facility in the UK, where most cows are milked twice a day (three if your lucky).
~The Team
Immediately following the flight we found ourselves on the tour bus ready to start. While some of us could barely keep our eyes open, we saw rolling green hills and tons of pastures with animals grazing. Our first stop was at the National Museum of Rural Life, where we saw a scottish "man trap" and soon ventured up to the preserved farmhouse. On film we captured a ridiculously photogenic Highlander cow and soon saw the owner herding his sheep in before a rain storm. This sight was impressive, noticing not only the herder's specific and alternating calls, but his sheep dog's aggressive and experienced training. Morgan also could not help but wonder why the sheep's tails were not docked.
Our next stop was at the Scottish Agriculture College, where we were greeted by the manager of dairy operations at the college, a pleasant Mr. John. John took us for a tour of some of his pasture lots, barns, and milking parlor. In Scotland, cows primarily graze on rye grass, unlike the Marylandish alfalfa and clover. We learned from John that cows are turned out when the length of the grass is approximately the height of a beer can, and they are switched to another lot when the grass is as tall as a golf ball. The average herd size is around 200, because it is the maximum number put out on pasture; even the number of cows spending the majority of time out on pasture alone, astounded us yanks. John informed us that because Scots are not good record keepers, they tend to view management and reproductive practices from other countries, like the United States, New Zealand, and Germany. (Never trust the records of an Italian). On another interesting note, we found the identification system to be much more strict, since the outbreak of BSE.
Down in the barns we were showed their grain supplement, a "PMR", pelletized distillers grain, pelletized beet pulp, and soy beans. Then we came across a calf pen, where John showed us his new automatic calf-feeder, which can be programmed to ration out milk, knew which calf was drinking and how much, and could slowly wean the calves by distributing less milk. There were about eight calves on just one machine, and the calves were in excellent health and condition. We learned new vocabulary when venturing into the "cubicles", or what we refer to as free stalls. Even the barn alleys are known as "passageways" in Scotland. The milking parlor was a double twelve herringbone, and parlors are the most type of milking facility in the UK, where most cows are milked twice a day (three if your lucky).
~The Team
We landed !!!!
Our adventure began with a lovely 45 minute wait on the excessively hot runway. Although Emily, Chelsea, and I sat together Morgan sat by herself and embarked on her journey by making new friends right away. She sat between a dear Alabamian woman and a Scots man. The Scottish man turned out to be a very interesting man. On the plane we watched Dear John and tried to sleep to no avail. Chelsea also had the opportunity of running into someone in the bathroom due to a faulty vacancy sign. We just arrived at the Glasgow airport and thankfully all our luggage arrived with us and we successfully passed through customs. US currency is worth about half the value of sterling. We will be leaving with the tour bus in a few moments. We are all very excited to venture out into Edinburgh today!!
The Maryland Dairy Judging Team
The Maryland Dairy Judging Team
Friday, June 18, 2010
So close!
Just purchased our tickets to the Lion King! There is a great little video on the following website to give you a taste of the performance.
http://www2.disney.co.uk/MusicalTheatre/TheLionKing/home/index.jsp
We also have organized our travel arrangements to the airport. Looks like we really are leaving in five days!
~Kiera
http://www2.disney.co.uk/MusicalTheatre/TheLionKing/home/index.jsp
We also have organized our travel arrangements to the airport. Looks like we really are leaving in five days!
~Kiera
Friday, June 11, 2010
Luxembourg Host Families
The Luxembourg Young Farmer assignments have arrived!
Emily Gill will be staying with Marc Scheer-Ewen
Chelsea Davis will be staying with Arnaud Bosseler
Morgan Meisenheimer will be staying with Jean-Paul Frish-Kuffer
Ariel Taxdal will be staying with Aart Versteegh
On Thursday July 1st, the 4-Hers will be meeting their hosts for the next few days. They will be living on the farms until Sunday July 4th. This is a day longer than it has been in the past due to the impact these visits make on both the Young Farmers and the trip participants. It is routinely ranked as the highlight of the two week trip.
~Kiera
Emily Gill will be staying with Marc Scheer-Ewen
Chelsea Davis will be staying with Arnaud Bosseler
Morgan Meisenheimer will be staying with Jean-Paul Frish-Kuffer
Ariel Taxdal will be staying with Aart Versteegh
On Thursday July 1st, the 4-Hers will be meeting their hosts for the next few days. They will be living on the farms until Sunday July 4th. This is a day longer than it has been in the past due to the impact these visits make on both the Young Farmers and the trip participants. It is routinely ranked as the highlight of the two week trip.
~Kiera
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Two weeks to the day!
We have all had our orientation meeting and have completed our fundraising goals. First and foremost, a huge thank you to all who have helped us get to this point. I know that the team is extremely honored to have been able to bring ANOTHER National Title back to Maryland and continue an amazing tradition. For those of you who do not know, this year's team members are:
Ariel Taxdal of Harford County
Chelsea Davis of Cecil County
Emily Gill of Harford County
Morgan Meisenheimer of Howard County
Loretta Wright of Carroll County coached this great group
The travel plans include visiting Scotland, England, France, Luxembourg and Germany. We will have the opportunity to judge cattle in multiple countries, see a play in London, take a cruise down the Rhine River and so much more. The ladies have even been invited to lead cattle in 1st Annual International Sale hosted by the Luxembourg Herd Book Association! So much more to be shared with you in the days and weeks to come. Thank you once again for your support as this trip would not have been possible otherwise.
~Kiera
Ariel Taxdal of Harford County
Chelsea Davis of Cecil County
Emily Gill of Harford County
Morgan Meisenheimer of Howard County
Loretta Wright of Carroll County coached this great group
The travel plans include visiting Scotland, England, France, Luxembourg and Germany. We will have the opportunity to judge cattle in multiple countries, see a play in London, take a cruise down the Rhine River and so much more. The ladies have even been invited to lead cattle in 1st Annual International Sale hosted by the Luxembourg Herd Book Association! So much more to be shared with you in the days and weeks to come. Thank you once again for your support as this trip would not have been possible otherwise.
~Kiera
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