Breeze September 11 2024- Our Rotary Exchange Student (Sep 11, 2024)

18 September 2024 -RYE Student Sofia Underland (Norway)

Guest Speaker Sofia Underland our Inbound Exchange Student from Norway.

Sofia comes from Ski (pronounced She), a city slighty smaller than Geraldton which is twenty kilometres south of the Norwegian capital Oslo. It is a transport hub.

Norway is a Kingdom, the current King is Harald the 5^th. It has a population of 5 million plus and shares a border with Sweden, Finland and Russia. Its economy is driven by petroleum, minerals and fishing. While the main language is Norwegian, there are over one thousand dialects and two forms of the written language.

It is famous for its Viking and Norse heritage.

Norway has an indigenous population called Sami who are traditionally reindeer herders. They have a separate culture and mainly live in the far north.

Winter sport is a major pastime in Norway. They have been very successful at the Winter Olympics where they have won over 600 medals the highest number of any participating country.

The main foods of Norway include fish, lamb, pork and cheese. Sofia apparently cooks a very good lamb dish!

Some of Norway's famous people include Raold Amundsen, Magnus Carlsen, Henrik Ibsen, Edvard Greig and pop group Aha... and now of course Sofia Underland.

Sofia shared her frustrations of not being able to see the fabled 'northern lights'. She will have to wait until the Norwegian summer of 2025.

Questions:

Russell McKinnon – Do Viking helmets really have horns?

Laurie Dines How many people in your family? Two older sisters. One is on exchange in Singapore

Prathamesh Despande – Did you have culture shock when you arrived? No I felt I was on holidays.

Laurie Dines- Is school different. Yes we don't have uniforms and our periods are often far longer than the ones at Geraldton Grammar.

NB: Sofia has been learning and speaking English since First Grade.

Guest Speaker thanks by Grant Woodhams: Sofia is presented with a book of WA wildflower drawings by Margaret Peironi.

Our Travellers - Well a Couple at least ...

Di and Dennis Gilleland continue their travels and are now in Mareeba, FNQ. Always involving themselves in the local Rotary activities and cherishing the opportunity to meet so many great people. Happy travels Di and dennis.

Hi Di,

We would love to see you when you arrive.

Rotary Club of Marina at Rotary Park Mareeba Saturday morning, a catering event for the Cardiac Challenge Bike Ride which supports the FNQ Friends of the Hospital Foundation.

Joined also by their newly arrived Rotary Exchange student from Japan

Bike Ch

Sent from my iPhone

Robert (Bob) and Maeva Hall have just returned from a trip to the UK and shared this post from Scotland (mid-August).

Am currently sitting in a Costa Coffee-house Oban Scotland 0955hrs (1655hrs your time awaiting next ferry to the Island of Barra (1330hrs Aus 2030hrs).

Am sending a couple of photos one is of Oban sunset yesterday and Massacre at Clencoe memorial

Wishing you and all fellow Rotarians all the best.

Regards Bob & Maeva.

Today it's raining [ As one would say "Scotch Mist"

PS Yesterday drove through the Glencoe Valley absolutely stunning drive.

The Magic of Rotary - President Hugh

President's Report - Hugh Lavery:

Apologies for not presenting in person. Thanks for getting zoom working to enable the sharing of the incoming World President Stephanie Urchick's address:

It can be found on the internet here: “The Magic of Rotary”

Short version

Long Version and well worth the 15 minutes.

It is also very rewarding to watch Stephanie Urchick's presentation on making a Rotary Club irresistible.

Hugh's message echoes Stephanie's in making our meetings irresistible and engaging. Have conversation, connect, learn and get involved in the Community. It is important that we become a more diverse membership.

Expand our Reach - Rotary International Action Plan

Rotary International has recently developed an Action Plan for the future and it includes the following

EXPAND OUR REACH

As Rotarians, we’re committed to embracing and exemplifying diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in everything we do at Rotary. We have revised our DEI statement, which now reflects our stronger-than-ever commitment to being an organization that values, respects, and welcomes everyone who interacts with us. Now we’re developing a comprehensive plan of action with achievable, measurable, and meaningful DEI outcomes for Rotary. I strongly encourage you to read and follow Rotary’s new DEI Code of Conduct, which points the way to creating more just, open, and welcoming communities for all people.

Outbound Exchange Student Nesaea Foster

Outbound Exchange Student Nesaea Foster presented to the Club in December and departed for Germany in early January.

Nesaea is going to a small town near Munich in Germany called Dillingen. It is on the Danube River.

Official presentation of Nesaea's Rotary blazer by President Geoff Wood.

Link to Nesaea's Powerpoint Presentation on Youtube

HMAS Sydney II Memorial

“OUR GIFT TO THE COMMUNITY”

In 1998 the Rotary Club of Geraldton (now Greater Geraldton) embarked on an ambitious journey to build a memorial on Mt Scott in Geraldton, dedicated to the 645 sailors lost at sea when the HMAS Sydney II was sunk off the Mid-West coast during World War II. The HMAS Sydney II Memorial is by far the largest and proudest project the RCG has undertaken.

Australia’s worst naval disaster occurred on 19 November 1941 when HMAS Sydney II was lost following a battle with the German raider HSK KORMORAN, in the Indian Ocean off the Western Australian coast. Geraldton was the last port visited prior to her demise. The loss of the SYDNEY with its full war complement of 645 sailors remains etched in the nations psyche. The KORMORAN was also sunk, but 317 of its crew of 397 survived. The fate of the Sydney remained one of Australia’s greatest wartime mysteries until the location of the wreck in 2008.
“LEST WE FORGET”