Nov 13, 2005 By Dave Zuchowski For The 9 min read

Smithfield resident Kary Coleman never had before ventured out of the country before this past summer. But chances are, it won’t be her last trip abroad.

Thanks to Rotary International’s Group Study Exchange Program (GSE), Coleman got to spend five weeks in northern Germany.

Coleman, 29, a senior development consultant with the Fayette County Community Action Agency (FCCAA), linked up with the Chestnut Ridge Rotary of Uniontown in November 2004 when she spoke to members about the importance of food drives and the local food bank a week before Thanksgiving.

“At the meeting, I heard about how District 7330 – made up of Rotary clubs in Fayette, Washington, Greene, Westmoreland, Somerset, Cambria and Indiana counties – was looking for young professionals between the ages of 25 and 40 to participate in their planned GSE trip to Germany,” said Coleman. “After the meeting, I spoke to President Bill Long and asked about the program. He told me what he could, then referred me to the Rotary International Web site for more details.”

Coleman discovered that local District 7330 and District 1850 in northern Germany had decided to pair up to sponsor a people exchange that would send five residents from southwestern Pennsylvania to northern Germany in the summer of 2005. The following year, District 7330 would reciprocate by hosting a group of five Germans from their partnering district.

“In the U.S., Rotary International uses the GSE program as a recruitment tool for new members,” said Coleman. “That’s why only the group leader can be a Rotarian. The four remaining members cannot be members.”

As part of the selection process, Coleman filled out an application that included an essay explaining why she thought she would make a good GSE candidate, then sent it in to the review committee before the Dec. 18 deadline. After the holidays, she went before the committee and answered questions in a personal interview.

Around Feb. 15, she found out that she was one of the four applicants accepted for the all-expense-paid trip to Germany. In addition to team leader Keith Whipkey, 50, of Ligonier, her traveling companions included Helene Gleason, 26, of Johnstown; Vitaly Pemnkovsky, 39, of Mount Pleasant; and Julie Yusko, 35, of Washington.

“I didn’t know any of my fellow applicants prior to the time we met as a team and learned of our role as ambassadors of the district and the U.S.,” said Coleman. “Before leaving for Europe, we took an intensive crash course in German for three hours each Saturday in March and April led by Nancy McKinnon, a German teacher at Ligonier Valley High School.”

In addition to her duties as a public relations representative, grant writer and fund-raiser for FCCAA, Coleman also is an adjunct instructor in speech communication at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus in Uniontown and at Seton Hill College in Greensburg. Fortunately, her classes at both colleges were over by the time she left for Germany, and her supervisors at FCCAA supported her decision to make the trip.

On May 6, Coleman and the four other exchange team members left together on a flight from Latrobe to Amsterdam, Holland, via Detroit, Mich. In Holland, the team then boarded a flight to Bremen, Germany.

“Rotary is all about service above self,” said Coleman. “As team members, we came from different backgrounds and worked together to share our knowledge of southwestern Pennsylvania – its history, culture and education and health care services – with six different Rotary clubs in Germany.”

In their host cities, the team was split up and housed in the homes of various Rotarian families. From May 6 to June 12, they visited a total of four of Germany’s 14 federal states, including Bremen, Berlin, Lower Saxony and North Rhine.

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One of the most important aspects of GSE is learning to work as a team,” said Coleman. “GSE is not a vacation. The sooner you realize this, the better your experience will be. You’re working almost the entire time you’re traveling abroad, whether you’re giving a presentation, serving as a Rotarian ambassador or ambassador of the U.S., or learning about your vocation in another culture,” Coleman said.

Because each of the host Rotarians wanted to “pack in” as much as they could, Coleman and team often got up early in the morning and went out on excursions until late at night. Because they “went strong” for five weeks, the experience sometimes was very tiring.

During their visit, the team toured colleges and universities, local government offices, farms and businesses. They also met with state governors, went to history and art museums and small fishing villages. They also attended a soccer match where they were given special treatment, sat in on a press conference and met the players.

“The Emden Club gave us a free day on the largest of Germany’s seven North Sea islands, Borkum,” said Coleman. “It was cold, but wonderful. There was a boardwalk similar to what you would see here in America when you’re at the beach with shops and restaurants.”

“The air was so clean. Borkum is where Germans are sent when they have sinus and allergy problems. Their doctors prescribe them a two-week hiatus on the island and their medical insurance pays for it.”

In Emden, the team also got to tour a sailing vessel that was docked there, the Sedov, previously a German ship that was captured by the Russians during World War II. The vessel was restored and now is a training academy for young Russians who want to go into the Russian Navy. The training academy sails from port to port and docks at each for a few days. The Sedov was docked in Emden the same time as the GSE team’s visit.

“We had a great time on board, and the sailors were extremely friendly and hospitable,” said Coleman. “One even asked me to marry him, and said I looked like a ‘Serbian princess’ he wanted to take home to his mama.”

One thing the GSE team didn’t expect was the cool and wet weather they encountered in May and June, which Coleman compares to what southwestern Pennsylvanians experience in March and April.

As for the food, breakfast was taken each day with the host families, and Coleman was surprised to learn that the entire family ate together for about an hour at a large meal consisting of cheese, meats, bread, fruit, yogurt and muesli. Lunches usually were taken in restaurants, where the “portions were smaller than in America but the courses were more numerous.” Suppers were eaten either at the hosts’ homes or at a restaurant.

“The food in Germany was different from what I was used to, but very good,” said Coleman. “We ate a lot of seafood, and, because asparagus was in season, we had it with almost every meal because it’s expensive and our hosts considered it a treat.”

Coleman, a devotee of yogurt, found the Germany dairy products – butter, milk, cheese and yogurt – richer and tastier than their American counterparts. She was surprised to see that more wine was consumed with meals than beer, and said she wasn’t served sauerkraut or bratwurst during her entire stay.

Many times during the five-week experience, Rotarians asked her if her expectations were being met. They were concerned about the well-being and contentment of the team members. Her answer was always the same – that she left home with no expectations or preconceived notions about the experience.”

“I believe that is the best way you can approach a GSE journey,” she said. “One must be open to a new culture, to new experiences and adventures. If you’re not, then you should not participate in GSE.”

As a result of her trip, Coleman is planning to give speaking engagements on Germany and its culture not only at area Rotary clubs, but also at schools and other group organizations. Her appetite for travel also has been whetted to the point where she’d like to return to Europe soon to visit southern Germany and Austria, where some of her ancestors are from.

“It’s difficult to describe my experiences in Germany in only a few words,” said Coleman. “This was my first experience traveling abroad, and it was a phenomenal one. Rotary International provided me with a once in a lifetime opportunity. The places I saw, the friends I made and the memories I have will be difficult to duplicate in any other adventure abroad.”

Coleman offered the following observations and discoveries about her trip:

– Higher education for German citizens is completely paid for by the government. Bachelor’s, master’s and even doctorate degrees all can by earned, with the German government footing the bill.

– Both men and women get “family leave” that can last as long as three years. In year one, the employer pays their full salary. In the second and third years the government pays their salary in full, and their job has to be saved for them.

– Usually, when women get married and have children, they don’t work outside of home. For those men and women who do work, vacation time is a minimum of eight weeks a year, plus there are a lot of four-day holidays. Also, the work week averages 36.7 hours.

– Germans are very “green” conscious. While touring a wind turbine plant, Coleman learned that each turbine (there are many along the coast of the North Sea) can power 5,000 homes. Many of the houses of her Rotarian hosts were equipped with solar energy devices, and Germany has been able to reduce air pollution to the point that the air is very clean. The Germans also walk or bike a lot more than Americans. In short, the experiences the team had on the visit made them more conscious about energy conservation.