European Guests
On July 6-8, eighteen young people arrived at the Columbia airport as the 2007 South Carolina Lions Club International's Youth Exchange Program participants. Two of these young men, Mads Lundsby from Denmark and Samy Baehler from Switzerland, have been my guests since then as I volunteered to be their American host family.
They have kept me busy. Mads is 18 and Samy is 17, so I have tried to introduce them to South Carolina teenagers and some of our international students at FMU. We spend an evening at North Myrtle Beach where they soundly beat me in a round of putt-putt golf. We have eaten out a lot but have cooked some at home. They have been to Winnsboro with me both weekends where we were also able to host a dinner with local teens. This worked out nicely as some of the teens invited them to go to a movie in Columbia. Mads and Samy had also been to a movie here in Florence with a couple, their daughter and a friend. While we have spent some time traveling to and from Winnsboro and the beach, they have checked email and surfed the web at my workplace, and they have shot pool in the campus center. A friend took them to some archaeological sites as part of the Francis Marion Trail Commission project. They paddled kayaks around Lake Oakdale, and they made multiple shopping trips, to Wal-Mart, Magnolia Mall, Food Lion, Doug's Harley-Davidson, Florence Toyota, etc. We have eaten Mexican food, Chinese food, Italian food, southern American cooking, Wendy's, Pizza Hut, Subway, Mall Food Court, Stevens Seafood (North Myrtle), and a few other places.
We went bowling Tuesday night, and this old man had to show them up. We bowled four games, and I was the overall leader (428, with the fourth game at 156). But I paid for it. Next morning felt like my legs were made of concrete. Now my right arm is sore too. Samy injured a finger on his right hand and claimed that affected his game. Mads made some impressive strikes and spares.
The two things we have done that seemed most exciting to Mads and Samy were 1) looking at new and used cars in various car lots and 2) cutting grass on a large hillside in Winnsboro with our two Husqvarna lawn tractors. Got some great photos of them on the Huskies. They mowed a large field in short time and enjoyed every second of it. They are very interested in classic American autos, especially Mustangs, Camaros, and everything else out of the '60s and '70s. We saw a small lot in Ocean Drive that had '62 and '64 Chevy convertibles, an old Vette, a '66 Mustang, an old MG, and a '57 Chevy inside.
On Saturday we return to Columbia where they will join the other 16 Youth Exchange students for a two-week tour of the state, from Myrtle to Florence to Santee to Charleston to Aiken to Greenville to Spartanburg and then back to Columbia, leaving for home August 4. SC Lions has an exciting, fun-filled two weeks planned for them.
This has been a great experience for me, getting to know two very fine young men from Europe. Both are gracious, polite, and very friendly. I hope they leave with a favorable impression of my native state and its good people and of our fair land. I highly recommend volunteering to host international visitors. It is a learning experience for visitor and host, very rewarding and beneficial. As we talk about the global village, this is part of it. Thanks, Mads and Samy for allowing me to serve as your host and show you why I love my state and my country and its peoples and places. Maybe some day I can visit you in Denmark and Switzerland? Godspeed.
They have kept me busy. Mads is 18 and Samy is 17, so I have tried to introduce them to South Carolina teenagers and some of our international students at FMU. We spend an evening at North Myrtle Beach where they soundly beat me in a round of putt-putt golf. We have eaten out a lot but have cooked some at home. They have been to Winnsboro with me both weekends where we were also able to host a dinner with local teens. This worked out nicely as some of the teens invited them to go to a movie in Columbia. Mads and Samy had also been to a movie here in Florence with a couple, their daughter and a friend. While we have spent some time traveling to and from Winnsboro and the beach, they have checked email and surfed the web at my workplace, and they have shot pool in the campus center. A friend took them to some archaeological sites as part of the Francis Marion Trail Commission project. They paddled kayaks around Lake Oakdale, and they made multiple shopping trips, to Wal-Mart, Magnolia Mall, Food Lion, Doug's Harley-Davidson, Florence Toyota, etc. We have eaten Mexican food, Chinese food, Italian food, southern American cooking, Wendy's, Pizza Hut, Subway, Mall Food Court, Stevens Seafood (North Myrtle), and a few other places.
We went bowling Tuesday night, and this old man had to show them up. We bowled four games, and I was the overall leader (428, with the fourth game at 156). But I paid for it. Next morning felt like my legs were made of concrete. Now my right arm is sore too. Samy injured a finger on his right hand and claimed that affected his game. Mads made some impressive strikes and spares.
The two things we have done that seemed most exciting to Mads and Samy were 1) looking at new and used cars in various car lots and 2) cutting grass on a large hillside in Winnsboro with our two Husqvarna lawn tractors. Got some great photos of them on the Huskies. They mowed a large field in short time and enjoyed every second of it. They are very interested in classic American autos, especially Mustangs, Camaros, and everything else out of the '60s and '70s. We saw a small lot in Ocean Drive that had '62 and '64 Chevy convertibles, an old Vette, a '66 Mustang, an old MG, and a '57 Chevy inside.
On Saturday we return to Columbia where they will join the other 16 Youth Exchange students for a two-week tour of the state, from Myrtle to Florence to Santee to Charleston to Aiken to Greenville to Spartanburg and then back to Columbia, leaving for home August 4. SC Lions has an exciting, fun-filled two weeks planned for them.
This has been a great experience for me, getting to know two very fine young men from Europe. Both are gracious, polite, and very friendly. I hope they leave with a favorable impression of my native state and its good people and of our fair land. I highly recommend volunteering to host international visitors. It is a learning experience for visitor and host, very rewarding and beneficial. As we talk about the global village, this is part of it. Thanks, Mads and Samy for allowing me to serve as your host and show you why I love my state and my country and its peoples and places. Maybe some day I can visit you in Denmark and Switzerland? Godspeed.
posted by Paul Dove at 12:18 PM
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