second report

Christine Brenckmann
89 Ontario Street
Georgetown, Ontario
CANADA
Phone (home): +001 (905) 877-4116
Email: [email protected]

Ambassadorial Academic-Year Scholar 2001-2002
Sponsored by Hamilton-East Wentworth, District 7090 (Canada)
Hosted by Dunedin East, District 9980 (New Zealand)

Submitted December 31, 2002

Copies of this report have been submitted to my sponsor district (counsellor, club president, district governor, scholars' co-ordinator), my host district (counsellor, club president, district governor, scholars' co-ordinator), and the Rotary Foundation (scholarship co-ordinator). To respect the privacy of my host counsellors and academic supervisor, I have removed their contact details from the web version. I would like to acknowledge all the people who made my scholarship period such a success, particularly the members of my host club Dunedin East.

Prior to my scholarship period, I knew very little about New Zealand. I was aware that they produced wool, wine, and kiwifruit, and that the Lord of the Rings had been filmed there. Today, I have a basic understanding of the issues that arise from dealing with complex race relations in the post-colonial era, the economic implications of having a relatively small population on a relatively isolated island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and the environmental impact of life on a small island. I also have gained a tremendous appreciation for the Kiwi spirit - full of adventure, ingenuity, tenacity, and sincerity. Since arriving home, I have been able to appreciate the small things I took for granted while living in Canada - having a common cultural base, being able to speak French with those around me, and most of all being close to friends and family. I hope that I shared the Canadian spirit with those in New Zealand, and that I can bring the best aspects of the Kiwi spirit to people in Canada.

I attended weekly Rotary meetings, participated in fundraising events (staffing the gates at rugby games, quiz nights), and helped out with a weekend leadership conference for young women. In addition, I belonged to the Otago University tramping club and spent time with my flatmates. All these activities allowed me to interact with New Zealanders and other international students as an ambassador of goodwill and representative of Rotary.

The Scholars' Handbook was a great introduction to The Rotary Foundation, and provided clear instructions regarding what documents to submit and when they should be submitted. Unfortunately I was unable to attend an outbound Scholars' Conference, and I believe this may have prepared me even more for my Scholarship. Before leaving, I was most concerned about my responsibilities as an Ambassadorial Scholar - what kind of presentations I should give, how I should prepare, and what materials I should bring with me. One of the most important things I did before leaving was to contact Russ Quin, my host counsellor in New Zealand. He reassured me, answered questions, and made me feel welcome when I arrived. Both Russ and his wife Pam made me comfortable throughout my stay in Dunedin, and were an important connection to life in Dunedin and to Rotary. David Batchelor, our Scholars' Co-ordinator in Dunedin, was also instrumental in making connections between Rotary and the five Scholars in Dunedin, creating opportunities for us to give presentations and do community service.

I have posted detailed advice specific to Dunedin and Canadian scholars on my website on the following website http://www.geocities.com/cbrenckmann/nzletteradvice.html.

I am currently living in Halifax, Nova Scotia and am therefore quite far away from my sponsor club in Hamilton, Ontario. I hope to give presentations in Halifax, and to visit my sponsor club when I return to Ontario. Since I am uncertain as to where I will be living after April 2003 and what I will be doing, I am not sure to what extent I will be able to participate in Rotary activities.

Pre-departure to present
Before leaving for New Zealand, I set up a website so that I could share stories and photos with my sponsor district in Hamilton, and my friends and family all across the world. Since I arrived in the beginning of February 2002, I have written regularly about my adventures in Dunedin and have posted numerous photos from my digital camera. My website can be accessed at http://www.geocities.com/cbrenckmann/main.html.

February 9 to 12
Since my host counsellor Russell Quin was out of town when I arrived in Dunedin, our Scholars Coordinator David Batchelor (Batch), his wife Lesley, and their two daughters Rachel and Erin picked me up at the airport. I vaguely recognized Batch from a photo I had seen on the internet, but could not miss the brightly coloured sign that Rachel and Erin were holding with my name written across it. I stayed with the Batchelors from Saturday until Tuesday and was very grateful for their hospitality, especially the vegetarian meals Lesley cooked for me! On Sunday the Batchelors took me on a tour of the Otago Peninsula to see the Royal Albatross Colony and Hooker's sea lions on a nearby beach. Also up to Signal Hill to survey the land around us. As it turned out I was to find a flat a few minutes walk down that hill.

February 9
I hadn't even been in New Zealand a full 24 hours when I had my first social engagement - a potluck lunch with three of the four other Ambassadorial Scholars who had already arrived in Dunedin - Maureen McClung, Courtenay Teska, and Beccy Brown (Cate McGraw arrived a few days later). The five of us continue to get along and see each other socially. Having other Scholars nearby means that we can discuss cultural differences between our home countries and New Zealand (and even between our individual home countries), and can support each other during fleeting moments of homesickness.

February 12
I attended my first Rotary meeting in New Zealand at the St. Kilda club. The meeting began at 7:30am, and although I am normally still in bed at that time of the morning, I was still functioning on Canadian time and had already been awake since 2:00am. Maureen McClung, the Ambassadorial Scholar hosted by St. Kilda, gave her first presentation that morning and so I had the pleasure of hearing her talk about her hometown of Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

February 12 to present
I attended my first meeting at the Dunedin East Rotary club on February 12, and since then have enjoyed going to weekly meetings at the Shoreline Hotel. Fortunately, my club meets for dinner, so I can still sleep in! Club members are always willing to buy me a glass of wine, and continue to tease me about my "easy" schedule of classes!

February 12 to 15
Russell Quin and his wife Pam kindly took me in for a few days while I got myself settled and looked for a flat to live in. Having a place to stay, a table to eat at, and a phone number where prospective flatmates could leave messages was wonderful. They have also kindly loaned me a bicycle for the year so I can get around town, get some exercise, and save on the cost of transportation. Although I moved out of their house and into my new flat on Friday the 15th, the Quins have continued to include me in their lives - inviting me on tramping
trips, giving me lifts to Rotary meetings, and having me over for tea.

February 15
The first day in my new flat ended with a trip to the Last Night of the Proms with Batch, Lesley, Rachel, Erin, the other four Ambassadorial Scholars, and Mary - a GAP student from Scotland. The Proms is a week of classical music held in Britain; the Last Night is a silly night with popular classics such as "Pomp and Circumstance" and "God Save the Queen" where people dress up in fancy costumes. In New Zealand they have borrowed the Last Night tradition without the entire week of Proms. Scholars usually attend every year, faces painted with their national flag. At the end of the night we walked up Baldwin Street - the
steepest street in the world, and only two streets away from my new flat.

February 20
Batch organized a potluck for all scholars and counsellors at the Quin's house. Much fun was had by all, eating some New Zealand cuisine and meeting one another. District Governor Andrew Meek was also there with his wife Rosemary.

March 8 to 10
Shortly after we arrived in New Zealand, Batch invited the five of us to help out with a Rotary project called Rypen - a leadership weekend for young women aged 12-14 attending Queen's, a local girls school. Rypen was organized and funded by the St. Kilda Rotary club of Dunedin, of which Batch is a member. From then on we were busy planning acitivities and logistics; I helped Lesley with risk management and was the designated health and safety officer for the weekend. Fortunately I had very little to do! The weekend ran brilliantly, and I was amazed at the depth and maturity of the women who attended. As scholars we ran sessions and debriefed them afterwards to draw out issues related to leadership, communication, consensus building, and conflict management. Saturday afternoon the girls participated in a mock search and rescue scenario organized by the New Zealand Red Cross. Afterwards we had lessons in etiquette from a Rotarian, followed by time for the girls to create dinner costumes from newspaper and crepe paper. Dinner was served by Rotarians dressed as waiters. District Governor Andrew Meek was there with his wife Rosemary and took charge of the haggis ceremony, with some assistance from the Ambassadorial Scholars. The five of us provided comic relief in the form of a skit between dinner and dessert. Much fun was had by all, including staff! Staff held a debrief a few days later to evaluate the weekend, and were elated to hear that we had received only positive feedback from the participants.

March 24
My Rotary club raises funds by helping out with numerous sporting events. One Sunday I helped out with a golf tournament, collecting tickets at the entrance. Our club is paid for each Rotarian who helps out that day. After the tournament I spent the afternoon with Russ and Pam Quin, visiting with one of Pam's friends, talking a walk along Tunnel Beach, and having tea with the family.

April 5
Another fundraiser I helped out with was a rugby game at Carisbrook (the home stadium) between the Otago Highlanders (the home team) and the Wellington Hurricanes. We collected tickets at the Neville Street entrance from 5:00-7:30pm. Afterwards I sat with Rotarian David and his wife, both of them avid rugby fans, and enjoyed the game (we won 19-10!). Since I was born and bred in the land of snow and ice, and thus taught to view hockey more as religion than sport, I failed to grasp the intricacies of the game (why did they do that? is that a good thing they just did?). David was kind enough to enlighten me, and by the time I leave Dunedin I should have a greater grasp of the game!

April 9
I gave my first presentation at one of our regular Tuesday night meetings, with slides of home, family, and my life in Canada. A number of Rotarians had already visited Canada, and many others were sufficiently familiar with Canadian culture to ask about French-English relations, First Nations people, and population density. Thanks to the Government of Canada and the Human Rights Commission I had publications to pass around (supplemented by some of my own books) and small Canadian flag pins to distribute to each Rotarian.

April 12 to 14
I was graciously invited to stay with Pip Chapman and his wife at their holiday home in Wanaka.

April 19 to 21
I went to the Scholars' Conference in Wellington to meet other incoming and outgoing Ambassadorial Scholars in New Zealand. Transportation to and from this conference has kindly been provided by our local Rotary clubs.

April 24
Four of the Rotary Scholars (Beccy, Maureen, Cate, and I) plus two friends (Jo and Lorraine) participated in a quiz night at the Shiell Hill Pub. It was a fundraising event for St. Kilda Rotary club. The pub holds weekly quizzes hosted by various organisations, and the proceeds are given to a different charity each week. The first question asked who the Prime Minister of Canada was - I was possibly the only one in the room who got it correct! Unfortunately when the announcer told us the answer, he mispronounced it horribly - Jan Cretin instead of Jean Chretien! Also unfortunately, our group scored the second lowest of all groups there - 56/100 (top score was 91 and lowest was 36). They actually gave prizes for the lowest score, and at one point we considered losing on purpose.

May 1 to 5
I walked the Milford Track with Pam Quin, wife of my host counsellor Russ Quin. Among the ten others we tramped with were Cliff McAuley and Louvain Johnston, both members of my host club Dunedin East. I had a wonderful time!

May 11
I helped my host club to fundraise at Carisbrook for a rugby game of the Highlanders versus the Queensland Reds. The home team won 40-26.

May 31 to June 2, 2002
The five Dunedin Ambassadorial Scholars attended the District 9980 Conference and gave a presentation.

June 20, 2002
Maureen and I gave a 20 minute presentation to the Taupo Rotary club as part of our tour around the North Island. We were warmly welcomed by Helen and Stewart Mulvay who gave us a bed for the night!

June 17, 2002
Maureen McClung and I gave a 10 minute presentation to the Kerikeri Rotary club as part of our tour around the North Island. We were warmly welcomed by Robert and Barbara Collins who gave us a bed for the night!

July 3, 2002
I gave a 20 minute presentation to the Taieri Rotary club in Dunedin.

July 9, 2002
I gave a 20 minute presentation to the St. Kilda Rotary club in Dunedin.

August 5, 2002
The Quins had me over for tea in celebration of my birthday.

August 23, 2002
The Meeks (District Governor Andrew and his wife Rosemary) had all five Rotary Scholars and their children's families over for tea. We sang show tunes while Andrew played piano and Rosemany cooked up a storm.

September 7, 2002
I helped my host club to fundraise at Carisbrook for a rugby game of Otago versus Southland. I left halfway through because our team was doing poorly and I had heaps of schoolwork to do! I also had the priviledge of meeting Tim Shadbolt, the infamous mayor of Invercargill, located in Southland.

September 15, 2002
I had tea with the Quins.

September 18, 2002
The girls who attended Rypen plus the organisers and the Rotary scholars had get-together at the Queen's school for girls in Dunedin. All of us watched the movie October Sky, ate pizza, and talked about dreams and hopes.

September 24, 2002
The five Rotary scholars participated in a panel discussion at St. Kilda Rotary club in Dunedin. We discussed differences in education, politics, and other issues in New Zealand, the USA, the UK, and Canada.

October 3 to 16, 2002
I house-sat for my host counsellors the Quins while they were travelling in China.

October 15, 2002
I went tramping in the Silver Peaks with Cliff McAuley, a member of the Dunedin East Rotary club.

October 24, 2002
I had dinner at Corstorphine House with Nico and Irina Francken, members of the Dunedin East Rotary club.

October 31, 2002
Beccy Brown and I gave a 20 minute presentation to the Timaru North Rotary club in Timaru. We were warmly welcomed by Morgan and Marian Hodgson who gave us a bed for the night! Their club sponsors Meaghan Hoyle who is a RYE student from Vancouver, Canada.

November 5, 2002
I gave a 20 minute presentation to the Dunedin East Rotary club in Dunedin, and spoke about what I've done since arriving in New Zealand.

November 29 to December 1, 2002
I spent a weekend in Wanaka with Pip and Karen Chapman. Pip is a member of the Dunedin East Rotary club.

December 10, 2002
The Dunedin East club met for the last time in 2002 for a Christmas party with their partners. I received a pounamu necklace as a gift, and said my thank-yous and goodbyes.

December 17, 2002
I had tea with the Quins, and said my thank-yous and goodbyes.