Getting Ready for Travel
I attended 6 monthly meetings to get ready for my trip. We learned a lot about Australia,
as well as many hints and tips for traveling abroad.
January 2005 |
The role of an ambassador is to peacefully negotiate with the host country while representing the home country. Being an ambassador is a very important event for me and it means a lot to me to be able to make a difference in Australia and help Australian children gain a better understanding of American children. | A student ambassador should always behave like the guest of honor at the White House. We should not bring drugs or alcohol on the trip, stay up past curfew, or use sexual activity. To be ambassadorial is to be calm, helpful, kind and respectful to the host, and achieve the goals of the travel experience. Which are: an appreciation for the world in which they live, build their self-confidence, enrich their education through learning in the global classroom, and develop increased levels of maturity and independence. |
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Weighing and Measuring our luggage |
What I learned about People to People is that Jesse Owens, Walt Disney and President Eisenhower started the program in 1956 with the belief that if people could come together in peace so would countries someday. I also learned that Australia is not the only place to go, and that People to People offers many ambassador programs. |
February 2005
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I found five interesting facts about the Australian economy. One
of them is that Australia has a 6.9% unemployment rate, while the
U.S. has a 4.2% unemployment rate. Australia does have a 5.2% educational
expenditure, but the US has only a 4.2% educational expenditure. The
GDP (gross domestic product) of Australia is 368,762 million, while
the U.S.’s is 10,019,700 million. GDP per capita is very different.
Australia’s GDP per Capita is 19,056, but the U.S.’s is
34,788. Australia’s primary energy production is 232,377, but
the U.S.’s is over 1.6 million! I learned these facts and a lot more by visiting the United Nations Cyber School Bus and using the “country at a glance” and “InfoNation” tools |
| If an Australian student came to my school, they could experience
a lot of things. If they came on different days of the week, they
would go to different specialists. On Monday they would go to Spanish,
Tuesday Library, Wednesday Fine Arts, and Thursday and Friday are
Physical Education (Gym). Depending on what day they come, they would
experience different things. For example, “Decade Days, a party
where we celebrate the end of learning about one of the decades in
the twentieth century, Passport Club testing, where we go to the library
and get tested on where certain countries are and what their capitols
are. Homework Club, an after school homework time, and Chess Club,
a time when we go to Mrs. Neault’s room and play chess for thirty
minutes. They would also meet a lot of people. Mrs. Kragen , my teacher, Mr. Davalos the principal, and Mr. Byers the P.E. teacher, are a few examples. A few more people are Mrs. Rabura, the fine arts teacher, Mrs. Kidder, the Spanish teacher, Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Kass the librarians and Jacob Bruce, Marc Acob, Max Gallant, Evan Gallant and Helena Peterson, my friends. There would also be a lot of places to visit. The Pond is a basket marsh that our school planted in 2002. If they came in November, they might go to Islandwood, a camp that fifth graders go to. If anyone came to visit our school, there would be a lot to do and see. |
This is my small group leader Miss Paulsen |
Queensland is one of the most
heavily populated states in Australia. Most of the Queensland population
is centered in Brisbane. This might be because Brisbane is one of
there most populated cities in all of Australia. Queensland is also
one of the most mountainous states. Queensland has mountains, rain
forests, reefs, plains and deserts. Queensland also has a lot of
wildlife. It has birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, fish and
insects. The plant life includes ferns, trees and cactuses.
My project was on Queensland. Queensland is the largest state, not territory in Australia. Queensland plants and animals have a very wide range of species. The plants vary from the fern to the Strangler Fir (images-4.jpg), from the orchid to the Bumpy Satin Ash (images-5.jpg). Animals vary from mice to Dingoes, from spiders to Kangaroos. Queensland also has a lot of sports. They are things like soccer, Foot Ball and Tennis. Queensland also has a high economy, and the population increases every day! |
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March 2005 |
Mrs. Hansen |
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Some ambassadors collecting snacks for the upcoming flight |
April 2005 |
Pretend you were visiting your own hometown
as a tourist/ambassador: In Poulsbo, I saw a beautiful waterfront. Boats were coming and going. There is a park when you go down to the waterfront. There are lots of wonderful statues. In the summer, it has an “Arts By The Bay” festival, and a “Viking Fest” where there is a big parade games, carnival rides, and food. Speaking of food, there were also a lot of good restaurants in Poulsbo, like J.J.’s Fish House, the Bayside Broiler, and many others. There are also some good shops in Poulsbo. The Dancing Brush is really cool because you go in, buy a plate or a piggy bank, or anything, you paint it, you come back later and it’s a good plate or whatever. There is also Rubber Soul, Boehms Chocolates, Liberty Bay Books and Sluys Bakery. Most of my trip it was sunny, but not too warm. At the beginning and the end though it ws raining cats and dogs. |
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May 2005
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My Community service project was to work at the Cat Adoption Center for PAWS of Bainbridge. PAWS is a nonprofit organization that promotes the welfare of animals. I worked by cleaning cages, scooping litter boxes, providing food & water to cats, taking out the trash, socializing cats and providing information to people thinking about adopting a cat. I had lots of fun at the same time. Ambassadors should do community service to improve relationships and to help out the world. |
We got our People To People pins and Lanyards |
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June 2005
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We got personalized t-shirts and our People to People polo shirts |
During this Meeting we:
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