RoTN Volunteers: Rotary Tennessee: October 2006

LINK- Saturday Midday

Katie, another Ambassadorial Scholar from Newcastle, in front of St. Fagan's Castle built 1580

We then proceeded to St. Fagans National History Museum which is an open air museum bringing to life Welsh history and tradition. It was here that we started to see the unique Welsh language on all the buildings and signs. You can visit the website here: http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans

To allow us to get to know each other better, we were split into groups of 6 or 7 scholars and sent out to explore the buildings and sites of St. Fagans. Here are some of the things we learned about Welsh culture – heibio i a anrhega (past and present).

Splitting of the groups

Melin Bompren Corn Mill: built in 1852-1853

Llwyn-yr-eos Farmstead: built in 1820

Timber Circle - 2000 BCCircular Pigsty: built around 1800

Kennixton Farmhouse: built in 1610

The group in the Farmhouse

Maestir School: used 1880-1916

Jonathan with a horse

Celtic Village from the Iron Age
Jonathan and his group at St. Fagan's Castle

Lindsay with her group outisde St. Fagan's Castle

LINK - Saturday Morning

Brian took us to see some of Cardiff before the official program started. Here is just a little taste of all we saw.

Cardiff City Hall

The both of us at the Hall (it was Lindsay’s birthday…)

Wales Millennium Center – made of slate from different regions of Wales

Interior of the Center Cardiff Bay

Pierhead Building

LINK Weekend - Friday

What a great weekend! We went to Cardiff, Wales to participate in what is called a LINK weekend. Rotary brings together all the scholars studying in UK and Ireland for a weekend of orientation, training, and fun interaction. What a fabulous way to connect to other individuals who are going through the same process as we are. This needs to be a requirement for everyone, it was such a great event.
If you would like to visit the official website, just click this link: http://www.rotarylink2006.co.uk/

We arrived on Friday, along with most of the other scholars and were taken to our host Rotary family home. Jo and Brian gave us an incredibly warm welcome, including a delicious 7 course gourmet dinner. Here’s a picture of it.

More Newcastle Club Pictures

On the left, our host counsellor, Peter, with the District RIBI officer, Phil, in charge of Ambassadorial Scholars (on the right)

Newcastle Club's Medals and Trophies

Where the officers sit during the meeting

View of the city from the dining room

Lindsay with the club's president

What a Warm Welcome!

On Friday we visited our host Rotary club in Newcastle for the first time. They were incredibly friendly. We met some wonderful people who have a passion for service and the community around them. Here are a few photos that will help give you a feel for this group and their meeting place. They have several upcoming events and service projects planned which we will talk about later as the details become more concrete.