Hi,

Time to me to write some lines on the blog, too. We have now stayed here almost two weeks and are soon going to leave for District Conference in Niagara. Every one of us have been hosted by two families and and we stayed in a cottage close to Point Pelee Natural Park since now. Everyone, host families and those who have taken care of us during the visits in attractions and vocational organisations, as well have been very very hospitable and nice. They have done everything needed or even more for our accommodation. Many Thanks to them!

Thanks to Team Members, as well. They have done well, no problems, no missings, nothing negative - great Team!

My personal vocational day in USA was usefull, I visited two consultancy companies dealing with satisfaction surveyes. Both visits gave me ideas to develope my own company. The day in Canada differed from that one in USA; I had a very interesting possibilty to follow with Teemu training in the police and military training center in Windsor. We made pistol and rifle shootings were in both Teemu as an professional did pretty well, neather bad me as an amateur.

The rest of the days have we visited tourist attractions here in South Ontario and received a general outview on Canada and people in there. Surprisingly Canada seems to be a pretty strong wine producer as well as there have been a real war about two hundred years ago, not a total one but several major battles any way.

Some words about Rotary: fund raising for donation making and voluntary work are in totally higher importance compared to ours in Finland. Several, even millions of dollar financing wide projects have been implemented or are under way. Our small domestic and/or local projects seems to be unremarkable compared to them. The purpose of Rotary to contribute humanity is realising in an understandable way through these immense projects.

The first weekly meetings we have attended, have been a new experience for me; not very formal, much noise, singing, positive mood raising. Attractive! Our presentations, four times since now have been a challenge for us: the material has been good but the presenting in foreign language - the purpose of the GSE-programme, to deepning the professional skills is fullfilling.

Good team, good programme, excellant host, beautifull country - what could we hope more!

Jorma

Virve, Gordon & Mary Lou Drake and the wonderful breakfast with pancakes and homemade maple syrup
Pointe Pelee
At the downtown Windsor is a Rotary peace memorial

Hello there,

Yesterday in vocational day my host Gordan Drake took me to his work, to the University of Windsor. We walked around the campus and visited physics labs. Then we went for coffee with a wonderful man from Hungary, professor Mordechay Schlesinger. We were compering our mother tongues and found out lots of similarities.

After that we met professor Angela Sodan from School of Computer Sciences. She told about her research, job scheduling for clusters and grids. She is doing amazing work there and I got some ideas for my master's theses.

Then we quickly met the head of Computer department Akshai Agarwal and had nice little chat with him.

After visiting the university Gordon drove me to St. Clair College. Jamie Wilson, chair in School of Business & Information Technology. He gave me a tour in College and we visited many different departments and met many wonderful people. We had a lunch with Ruth Susannah, Professor in School of Business. Ruth is doing same kind of work as I do back in Finland so we shared many ideas. Of their curriculums I got ideas how to improve ours.

At the dinner in our host family, we had a visiting professor from Cuba Victor Fajer. See, how international this programme is!

Virve

Me and Mike at the outdoor shooting range.

Police department's shooting qualification, my result 63\64.

Preparing a dinner

Me and my C7 with 203 in FATS.

Hi there,

I had my first vocational day today. Me and Jorma visited Major F.A. Tilston VC, Armour and Police Training center. It's a combined training center for Military and Windsor Police department with great facilities. It includes classrooms, equipment storages, drill hall, medical services, both indoor and outdoor shooting range and a large indoor shooting range for semi-munition shooting training with live targets. There's also a one acre space for outdoor training.

The morning was hosted by Mike Akpata, a 40 years old local policeman and a teacher of the training center. During the morning we got familiar with police department and police training system, we did some indoor shoooting with 4046 Smith and Wesson, patrolled Detroit river with police boat and followed the training of Police department's tactical squad.

The afternoon was hosted by Chief warrant officer Kirk Drew and liuetenent colonel Hardy Wheeler. We got aquainted to Canada Army's organization, training system and training center's equipments and vehicles. After that we did a shooting exercise with FATS (pneumatic system for indoor basic and advanced shooting training). For a dinner we had a Army's food ration. I cooked Chicken a' la King. Portion was prepared with 40 ml water, which was warmed up with chemical reaction in a special bag. Quite a quick way to make a dinner, took only under 10 minutes to get it done.

At the end of the day we followed Army Reserve's basic training. About 25 young men did drills concerning company hide, raid and obstacle crossing. The training itself was quite similar to the training we give to our conscripts.

I had a really interesting day. I can't wait to visit Us National Guard next week.

Teemu

Hello!

I had a great vocational day today, with all the lovely people showing the work they do. In the morning I went to Canadian Mental Care Assosiations one clinic whic belongs to City Centre Health Care of Windsor and had a tour in there. Shannon was very nice to give some of her time to show me around and tell about they do in there.

After that I got to enjoy the company of 4 to 5 year olds at the Summit Centre for Preschool Children with Autism. I was taken care of Laurie Leeming, the senior therapist in there, and rest of the wonderful staff and got to observe the work they do in there. You can see them in the picture above. We also had lunch with Mary Lou Drake, my host, at the the Queen Elisabeth Cafe (with her picture on the wall) and afterwards went on to the Building Blocks for Better Babies, (supervised by my host Mary Lou Drake) Canada Prenatal program for pregnant and just delivered mothers with low income. There I got to attend their nutrition and physical exercise classes, and ofcourse to hold all these lovely children under 6 months! They all are so lovely!

That was my this weeks vocational activity, now we have some Rotary meetings to attend and on thursday we head to Niagara.

Love you all at home. Lots of kisses.

Mari the Mom

Heips!

Olipas mielenkiintoinen ja antoisa ammatillinen paiva. Aamusta olin lyhyella kierroksella Kanadan mielenterveysjarjeston yhdessa toimipaikassa, jossa Shannon esitteli minulle organisaatiota ja ymparistoa. Sen jalkeen sain osallistua esikouluikaisten autististen lasten kontoutukseen organisaatiossa, josta kuva on. Siella seurasin opetusta ja leikin lasten kanssa, joiden ika on 4-6 vuotta. Ihania, kuten lapset aina. Useimmilla on ongelmia kouluunlahdon kanssa, monet eivat puhu tai ovat vasta alkaneet puhua joitakin sanoja.

Lounastimme kuningatar Elisabeth II:n cafessa, jossa seinalta katsoi itse kuningatar Mary Lou Draken, emantani kanssa. Paasin myos hanen mukaansa hanen omaan organisaatioonsa, jossa tarjotaan vahatuloisille raskaana oleville ja juuri synnyttaneille naisille ohjausta ja tukea terveelliseen ravintoon, liikuntaan ja lapsen hoitoon liittyviin asioihin liittyen. Parasta oli, etta nama upeat naiset antoivat minun hoitaa lapsiaan. Ne kun ovat joka maassa 6 kuukauden ikaisena syotavan ihania!

Taman viikon ammatillinen ohjelma oli siina. Huomenna osallistumme joihinkin rotarykokouksiin ja torstaina lahdemme kohti Niagaraa.

Rakastan omiani kotona. Suukot ja halit!

T: Mari-Aippa

Hei!

Perjantaina kiertelimme Windsoria ja kaupungin eri osia. Walkerville syntyi tislaamon ymparille, silla perinteiseen patruunatyyliin tyontekijoille rakennettiin asunnot, kunkin yhteiskunnallisen aseman mukaisesti. Ei liene vaikea arvata, mista Ford City sai nimensa. Henry Ford levitti autoteollisuuden myos Kanadan puolelle. Mutta autoteollisuuden alamaki nakyy myos taalla. Ford Cityssa on paljon tyhjia taloja ja vilkkaasta menneisyydesta muistuttavat vain suuret seinamaalaukset. Ensimmaiset eurooppalaiset tulivat Windsoriin 1700-luvun alussa ja asettuivat Sandwichiin. Eras mielenkiintoinen vierailukohde oli rotareiden aikaansaama Children Safety Village, jossa opetetaan lapsia valttamaan vaaratilanteita niin kotona kuin liikenteessa. Talon toiminta-ajatus oli mahtava ja sain monia ideoita, joita tuoda myos kotikaupunkiin. Perjantaina kiertelimme paljon autolla paikkoja, silla aina kun yritimme tehda pienen kavelyn, alkoi sataa
.

Friday was our city tour day. We visited in Albert Kahn's Willistead Manor (I am an architect, I remember designer, not a owner) and we saw Walkerville, Ford City and Sandwich. We also tried to see parks and sculptures on the riverside, but each time it started to rain. We all liked to see Children Safety Village. I got a lot of ideas to bring back to my home town. The Finland needs that kind of places too!

Lauantaina aloitimme kahvilla Tim Hortonin kahvipaikassa, niita loytyy vahan joka kulmalta. Kahvittelun jalkeen suuntasimme kuljetus- ja automuseoon. Museolla olisi ollut myos mielenkiintoinen ulkomuseoalue, mutta jalleen satoi. Loppuohjelma olikin sitten sisaohjelmaa. Vierailimme puutarhamyymalassa nimeltaan Colasanti's. Toiminta oli alkanut kurkkujen ja tomaattien viljelysta 1940-luvulla ja nyt se oli valtava viihdelaitos. Kasvihuoneiden keskella oli minigolfrata, elainpuisto (mm. kilpikonnia, alligaattori, minipossuja, papukaijoja...) huvipuisto, pelisali, juhlasaleja, kaikkea mahdollista puutarhaan ja sisustamiseen, ja kylla - myos kukkia. Alue, jossa liikuimme, muistutti Pohjanmaata, ja kaikkialla oli kasvihuoneita. Vierailimme yhdessa niista, pitkat tomaatti- ja paprikarivistot olivat uskomaton naky. Ja tuoreet kirsikkatomaatit uskomattoman hyvia. Melkein kuin oman aidin kasvattamat.... Vierailimme myos Pelee Island Wineryssa. Saimme pienen turistikierroksen, jonka jalkeen olikin kiva maistella erilaisia viinilaatuja. Ja poimia muutama pullo mukaan, silla illalla oli ohjelmassa kaivattu lepohetki nuoren rotarin mokilla lahella Point Peleen luonnonpuistoa. Istuimme iltaa, soimme hampurilaisia ja nautimme kuumasta kylvysta ulkona isossa poreammeessa.

Sunnuntaina retkeilimme koko paivan auringonpaistessa luonnonpuistossa katsellen lintuja, kevatkukkia ja luonnon monimuotoisuutta. Pienelle alueelle mahtui niin soita, kuin kuivia katajistoja. Point Pelee on Kanadan etelaisin karki, samalla leveysasteella Rooman kanssa. Kun karjen nokassa seisoo ja katselee aaltojen hakkaavan rantakiviin, ei voi uskoa, etta olemme jarven rannalla. Vesi on turkoosia ja horisontissa nakyy vain taivaanranta. Oli ihanaa kayda lapi kuluneen viikon kokemukset keskenamme ja rentoutua. Ja siina sivussa taisi kylla palaa naama ja niska itse kullakin. Joten kun blogiin ilmestyy uusia kuvia, niin tiedatte mista nama kaikki punanenat tulevat. Ja ai niin, kanadalaiset ihastuivat Molkkyyn, jonka toimme mukanamme. Sunnuntai-illan barbecuen jalkeen pelia ollaan tilaamassa useaan kotiin.

Saturday we visited in Canadian Transportation Museum. Sadly weather wasn't good so we couldn't see historical village at all. But the museum was very nice. Essex is green house area(Heinz!!!) and we saw two very different kind of places. One was Colasanti's and other was more traditional green house with tomatoes and peppers. Colasanti's is not a only green house, it is a wonderland with animals, plants, indoor playground and mini golf. We also visited in Pelee Island Winery. We didn't know there is wineries in the Kanada. We loved Ice Wine!

We took some wine bottles with us and we went to spend overnight in summer cottage with Ken near park Point Pelee. We had very unwind time there. Just sounds of lake, lots of laughing, card games and good food. Sunday was really SUNday. We spent almost 5 hours all around Point Pelee. All those birds, flowers, and different types of nature. We also saw cactus, which grows here. And we got a lots of sun too, I have very red neck and face now. But we have a very nice weekend and at the Sunday evening a excellent barbecue with Molkky!

Katja