INTRODUCTION

 

Between february 22nd and april 1st 2002 a Group Study Exchange team from Rotary district 1580 in the Netherlands visited Rotary district 9810 in Victoria, Australia.

The Dutch team consisted of:

It was my privilege to be the team leader of these four young professionals.

The team members were selected before the summer of 2001 and we started our preparations in September. During ten meetings we discussed and prepared our (multi media-) presentation to be held in many Rotary clubs in Australia. It came out that we focussed on three items, the introduction of the Euro (€), an overview of the Netherlands and the work and private life of the team members.  

The team was kindly sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Zaandam, Hoorn, Harenkarspel as well as by Rotary District 1580.

Governor Jan Koster and D1580 GSE committee coordinator Arend Sypestein came to Schiphol airport to wish the team a good journey and, after a two days stay in Hong Kong for sightseeing and to work on team building we arrived in Melbourne on Monday February 25th. We were welcomed by Governor Brian Foley and his wife Helen as well as by members of the GSE Committee.

From there our team was submerged by the hospitality of our hosts.

This report gives the reader a clear view of our experiences and learning moments during our stay in the beautiful Victoria. 

Huub Kolen, Alkmaar
PP RC Harenkarspel

Esther Doodeman

My name is Esther Doodeman, born 31 years ago, on a sunny day in August.

I live in Haarlem, a city with about 150.000 residents, situated 20 km from Amsterdam and 7 km from the sandy beaches of Zandvoort. I live there with my boyfriend Jeroen, who is an IT network specialist working for IBM.

After receiving my degree in Economics in 1993, I started as a management trainee with VSB Bank (now called Fortis Bank). The trainee period of two years ended with my first “real” job as manager of three Fortis Bank offices. After about a year I wanted to make a switch and started as manager for the Business Department of the bank. My task was to advise business clients with their needs for credit facilities, insurance, treasury etc.

In the end of 1999 I felt it was time for a change and I started my current job, Commercial Manager. In this job I’m supporting the office managers in the region around Amsterdam in all aspects of sales. I set up local marketing actions, organize seminars, give guidance to product introductions, train and will and can operate in the future. In short, a job with many aspects.

Inspite of  all this work I do have time off. I spent my holidays skiing (winter) or travelling in South

America, Africa or Asia (summer). Furthermore I am a fanatic athlete in general. Every Tuesday I swim with Jeroen, on Thursday I play tennis with my friends and when the weather is good I also like running or skating.

I am glad that I have the opportunity to go to Australia with the GSE program. For me it’s a unique opportunity to meet people who work in the same business, to exchange knowledge and to make a lot of new friends.

Marjolijn van Essenberg

My name is Marjolijn van Essenberg. I was born in the summer of 1974 in the town of Bilthoven. This little town with lots of woods, is situated near Utrecht, one of the biggest cities of the country.

After high school, I studied pharmacy at the University of Utrecht for six and a half years. I liked the diversity of my education and to keep this diversity in my work I decided to start working as a hospital pharmacist. It takes a specialisation of four years to become a hospital pharmacist. During these four years, you have to follow traineeships at the different departments of the pharmacy. Besides that, you have to take several courses and do research for at least half a year. I started my traineeships in January 2000 in a hospital in Zaandam. The last two years I will be working in one of the two University hospitals of Amsterdam.

Hospital pharmacy is rapidly changing in the Netherlands. There is a shift from the more traditional tasks like production of drugs and distribution to new tasks like pharmaceutical counselling. It is not yet clear what the future role of the hospital pharmacist will be. I am curious if these kinds of changes are happening in other parts of the world as well. The GSE programme offers me a unique chance to find out.

My greatest hobby is dancing. At the age of five, I started taking ballet classes. I have never stopped dancing since. While I was in college, I danced in a students group. We performed at parties, festivals and once a year in a theatre. Now we have started our own group.

I have played the clarinet in several orchestras, I like reading, painting and playing squash from time to time.

I have bought a house with Daniel, my boyfriend, near the centre of Utrecht. We are moving into the house in April of 2002. Therefore, one part of me hopes that this trip to Australia lasts forever, while another part of me just cannot wait to go home.

Maarten Arjen Klein

My name is Maarten Arjen Klein, born on the 10th of November 1972 in Rotterdam. Today, I live in Alkmaar, situated about 30 kilometres north of Amsterdam, and not more than twenty minutes by bike from the beautiful beaches and sandy dunes of Bergen. I live alone in my apartment, but I plan to buy a small house with my girlfriend Maaike when I am back form Australia. Besides reading, my favourite way of relaxing is being active. I like to run, play squash, tennis, and soccer.  I also love to ride my ATB along our beautiful coast, sometimes even together with Maaike.

After receiving my degree in Economics at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam, I started working as a management trainee at Royal Ahold. Royal Ahold is a rapidly growing international food provider serving consumers on four continents. I started as a project manager at Albert Heijn headquarters, the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands. In January last year, I became a sales manager in an Albert Heijn supermarket. This experience has allowed me to acquire a sound understanding of the operational processes at Albert Heijn and to experience what it is like to managing large groups of people. In this position I am responsible for managing almost a hundred people, for meeting targets in terms of sales, productivity and cost, and also for meeting high quality standards. One of the most interesting aspects of being a trainee for Ahold is the international scope of the organization. In both my jobs, I have enjoyed exchanging knowledge, experiences, and practices, with colleagues all over the world. The numerous differences I have experienced with respect to retailing in general and specific business cultures have boosted my interest in foreign countries and cultures. During my stay in Australia, I hope to achieve a good understanding of the specifics of retail down under, and I look forward to meeting all the people who want to meet me!

Frank Roedig

My name is Frank Roedig. I was born in Rotterdam on March 12th 1972. After having completed secondary school there, I went to Leiden to study psychology. I chose to study psychology because of my interest in the interaction between people and organizations. During my studies I studied Human Resource Management (HRM) as an exchange student at the business school of The George Washington University in Washington, DC. Living and studying in Washington was one of the highlights of my student days. In 1996, I finished my studies at Leiden University and got an MA in Organisational Psychology.

My first employer was a Dutch consultancy firm, specialized in HRM. I started as a junior consultant. It was a perfect start because of the professional environment and since I was offered an extensive curriculum with skills training and courses on HRM and consultancy. After some time I moved to the banking industry, working at ING Group as an HR generalist. Things went very well and as a result I was offered a position as an international management trainee HR at Rabobank Group. Rabobank is the only non-governmental triple-A bank in the world. It operates in Australia under the name of PIBA. As part of my traineeship I worked at Rabo’s New York branch, which was a tremendous experience. Subsequently, I joined Rabobank International as HR project officer, contributing to a joint venture and several other global projects. I was recently asked to participate as HR project manager in a Group project concerning Management Development.

One of the aspects to the GSE I find most interesting is the opportunity to meet with peers working in the same professional field, but in a different cultural environment. I hope to learn a lot, both professionally and as a person. Further, meeting with peers will enable me to explore future work opportunities: it would be great to work in Australia. I will be enjoying more of its beauty by traveling around with my girlfriend Hilke at the end of the GSE.

Huub Kolen

My name is Huub Kolen, I was born in 1949 in Tilburg which is in the south of the Netherlands. After receiving my masters degree in Social Science, I moved to the north to start my career as a manager in home care.

From 1980 I worked for many years as coordinator of an exchange organization for young professional people. I was involved in International Youth work as a representative of our Government. In this capacity I visited many countries in Western  and Eastern Europe as well as in the US, Canada, China and North Korea.

I also acted for five years as the national coordinator of two European programs related to Youth as well as employment. Between 1982 and 1990 I also served in the town council of Sint Maarten four years of which as alderman.

At present, I run my own consulting firm. We work in an international context to provide consulting and management services to local and national agencies including welfare and education. Our services include monitoring project implementation procedures and establishing an overall audit framework.

I live in the centre of the ancient city called Alkmaar. I have two children. Judith age 20 studies Cultural Anthropology and Arne, age 22 is currently working in catering.  My partner Odette lives in Tilburg and we have a very happy ‘lat’ relation.

After many years in service club Round Table, I joined Rotary in 1994 and served as president in 1996/1997.

Throughout my professional career, I considered international experience a very valuable asset to young people and I think that the Rotary Foundation’s GSE Program is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for young business and professional men and woman in the early stages of their careers.

It is a privilege to be chosen as a team leader in the 2002 exchange between district 1580 and 9810 and I really hope that all the people in our team gain as much as possible from our visit to Victoria both professionally as well as personally.

Week 1
by Esther Doodeman

Friday 22nd February

After a long time of preparation it was finally time to go to Australia.  We met each other at the airport along with a lot of family that came with us to say goodbye. With big suitcases full of presents for the Australian clubs and families and of course also some summer clothes we were ready to go.

Our flight with Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong (HK) left one hour late but on the plane the delay disappeared and 11 hours later we arrive in HK. Time is 7 hours later in HK so we feel like it is two o’clock in the morning but the time in HK is nine in the morning. 

Saturday 23rd February

After arrival we catch a bus to our hotel in the center and have the first impressions of HK. An amazing view, the harbor (like Rotterdam), the mountains, and the impressive high apartment buildings.

In the hotel we take a quick shower and go out for the day.

Because in the Netherlands we only did our preparations together, this is the first ‘free time’ that we spent with the five of us. It’s very good for the teambuilding to have this weekend in HK and learn more about each other before we arrive in Australia.

Opposite our hotel there is a ferryboat to HK Island. We take that ferry. It is a pity that it was  misty today so we can’t enjoy the skyline of HK Island. If we arrive the first impression are the immense buildings again. It’s like they all touch each other in the sky. We decide to take a walk and see the small crowded streets, the double decked busses, thousands of advertising boards, the temples in the middle of the streets. We continue to the Peak Tower with a very old train (1880). On the top we have the most beautiful sight over HK. We now really need a cup of coffee because we’re beginning to feel very tired after so many hours without sleep. We walk back to the harbor and take the underground system to go back to the center of HK. There we try to find a restaurant. There are a lot of street restaurants but we don’t dare to eat there ….we still have five weeks to go! It takes some time but than we find something. After dinner we visit the street market from HK and than it’s really time to go to the hotel for a long sleep.

Sunday 24th February

After a very good night with 11 hours sleep and a good breakfast we decide to go and see another part of HK, Lamma Island. Lamma Island is the holiday resort for the HK people and is beautiful to walk. We spent a couple of hours walking the Island. Sometimes we take a rest and enjoy the sun. When we arrive in a bay Maarten, Marjolijn and I fall asleep in the sun. Marjolijn is as red as a tomato when we wake up. We are warned for sunburning!

When we travel back to HK Island there is a party going on. The town hall exists 40 years and there is a big party. It is great to experience this but we have to go back to our hotel because the bus leaves for our flight tonight to Melbourne.

Monday 25th February

At twelve o’clock local time (10 hours time difference with the Netherlands) we arrive at Melbourne airport. When we leave the plane our host families for the first week are already waiting for us. We all get a big hug.

Huub is going away with the district governor, Brian Foley and his wife Helen, and we are having a quick lunch with each other and than each of us goes to their first host family.

My first host family is Judy and Stewart Goodman. When I arrive in their house my first impression is that it is very big and…...they have their own swimming pool. They invite the neighbor and a friend to meet me and while I am only a few hours on Australian ground I really like it here. They are so friendly.

In the evening we have a BBQ at one of the Rotarians house (Eddy and Michele, Marjolijns host family). We start with a short briefing with the GSE Committee and make our first introduction talk. When we go home with our host families we have a lot of new friends and have learned to say goodbye in the Australian way (a very very big hug with everyone).

Tuesday 26th February

Today we have a free day and we (Marjolijn, Maarten, Frank and I) decide to go to Melbourne and explore the city. Huub is still with the district governor. Judy brings me to our meeting point and from there another Rotarian brings us to the center. It is all very well arranged by the hosting families.

We start at the Rialto Towers where we visit the Observation Desk that gives us a good overview of Melbourne. The city itself is not so big but there are a lot of suburbs that also belong to Melbourne. We practice our presentation in a small café and hang around for a while. We go back by train and have a short rest before we go to our first official meeting: The cocktail party organized by RC of Knoxville.

We are dressed in our uniforms. There are almost 200 Rotarians at this cocktail party and after the toast to the queen of Australia and The Netherlands we have to make our introduction. One by one we tell something about ourselves. Of course we speak in English and we are a little bit nervous if we can find the right words.

But every one is very enthusiastic about our English and we speak English all night. Tonight we also speak with the outgoing Australian team and meet a lot of our later host families.

Wednesday 27th February

When I wake up I’m first going to call my boyfriend Jeroen. I am really glad to hear his voice again. He is almost going to sleep on Tuesday while my Wednesday has just started.

Today we have a day with the RC of Bayswater North. We are going to the Mornington Peninsula, almost a one hour drive from the meeting point. One of them has a very nice house on the beach and we start there with a cup of tea. Then we drove up a hill to Arthur’s Seat and walk around in very nice botanical gardens. For lunch we have about 50 sandwiches for 9 persons. Wow, they can eat a lot.

After lunch we go to Briars Historical Park with an old house where memorabilia of Napoleon are on exhibit (!). Time flies because it is already time to go back. At seven o’clock we have to be at a combined meeting from RC of Bayswater Noth and RC Boronia. There are around 90 people tonight (Rotarians and partners) to listen to our presentation. In the presentation we tell something about the Euro, a remarkable event for us, The Netherlands (landscape, water, sports, monarchy etc) and of course about ourselves. It is not yet perfect but we are satisfied. We get a lot of applause and afterwards the audience asks a lot of questions about The Netherlands. We are very pleased to answer them.

Thursday 28th February

We go away for the day with RC of Healesville. We start at a Gerbera flower farm. They explain us the process of growing Gerberas and we even get an orange Gerbera when we leave. Our next stop is Healesville Sanctuary. The Sanctuary displays 200 species of Australian wildlife in 31 hectares of natural bush. Here we see kangaroos, koalas, the platypus, a lot of birds and of course wombats. We can’t get enough but the next thing is waiting for us. After a walk in a beautiful bush with big fern trees we taste the great Australian wine at a famous winery. Frank is trying to negotiate to buy 2 bottles of wine for a cheap price (really Dutch), but we have to pay the full price.

At night we have a meeting at the Healesville Rotaryclub. Our presentation is going better and we are introduced to some special Rotary habits like the raffle and the presidents fine. Marjolijns host father Eddy takes us all back to my host families house. There’s a party going on for a Swedish Youth Exchange student that is going to leave. It’s late again when I lay down in my bed, very tired.

Friday 1st March

Today is our first vocational day. My day is at the National Australian Bank and Judy brings me there early in the morning. It is a nicely arranged, interesting day. In the late afternoon I’m brought back home again and I really want to spend some time to type an e-mail to my family and friends. After just one week I have already so much that I want to tell them…..

Saturday 2nd March

It’s a free day today and together with our host families we have decided to go to a tourist attraction: Puffing Billy. This is a really old (for Australians) steam train that makes a ride through the Dandenong Hills, a really amazing rainforest. The sights from the train are wonderful. Despite the rain (we are all wet) it is absolutely a very nice trip. At the top of the hill the host fathers are ready to pick us up with their cars and we drive to a very nice restaurant to have lunch. Afterward we go to a small town to look around and…find a shop that sells Dutch liquorices (dropjes). Mmmmmmm. 

It’s my last night tonight with Judy and Stewart so we stay at home and make this a relaxed evening.

It’s great in Australia.

Week 2
by Maarten Arjen Klein

Sunday 3rd March

I woke up this morning with a bit of a sad feeling. Yesterday was a great day with all the host families; the most perfect ending of our wonderful first week. In the evening I had a delicious tea with Leigh and Caty and we spoke until midnight about our families and about the nice things about the Netherlands I showed them. So I felt sad to leave them, but on the other hand I was anxious to meet my next family. After I had packed my suitcase we went of to the meeting point at Safeway’s car park. The plan for our team today is to go and experience the Melbourne Grand Prix at Albert Park on our own. Frank was a bit late so we missed our train to Melbourne, luckily that gave us a good opportunity to say goodbye again and again to our host families! After about half an hour another train arrived and we were off to the circuit. The Melbourne Grand Prix is held on a track surrounding a lake which is about five k long. Drivers have to complete eighty-five rounds and the speed record is one minute and twenty-eight seconds set by the winner of 2001, which was Michael Schumacher. Before the race there were a lot of things to be seen: old cars, pre-races with special cars, partying Aussies, dress-up contests and a lot sponsoring theme-cars. The race started with a spectacular bang; Ralf Schumacher got launched via the back of Barrichello’s car. After that it was just loud and fast, so I put in the earplugs Marjolijn brought. We sat on the grass and watched the race, saw Michael Schumacher win again and Mark Webber, the debuting Australian driver, finishing fifth. After the race I tried to get my earplugs out, but I had put them in way to deep. With the help of Marjolijn I got them out and was finally able to go to the Post’s to have dinner with Marjolijn and Huub. It was that evening I learned to tim-tam-slam; sucking your coffee through a chocolate biscuit…a real breakthrough in my coffee drinking life. I finished that evening late arriving at my new host family Vin and Betty Conway in Noble Park.

Monday 4th March

The Rotary Club of Ferntree Gully is hosting today. We start of the day with a visit to the Knox Police Station. We are welcomed by a sergeant who shows us the interrogation rooms, the cellblocks, the arms room, a special section for interrogating children, the training centre, the squad car and we also get to hold a real gun. Especially the latter I thought was very impressing. It was the first time I held a Smith and Wesson point 38 calibre! We left but not before we had scones and Esther handed over a gift from the police force her dad is working for. After the police station we leave to the Fairhills high school, a medium sized public school where we meet the principal and some teaching personnel. We get a lot information about the schooling system in Australia and we discus the differences with the system in the Netherlands. One of the biggest differences I notice is the relatively poor facilitation the school has in respect to the Dutch schools. Furthermore the uniform the kids wear is really fun to see, every one of them tries to personalise the uniform in some way. After a tour around the premises we leave for the Knox city Council to have lunch with the mayor of Knox City. During the lunch we discuss the political structures in both Australia and the Netherlands. I find it very interesting to hear about the way such a large country is politically organised. After the lunch we visited the Horticultural Research Corporation. This company specialises mainly in research ways to develop natural pesticides to protect fruit and vegetables. Being mostly funded by the government they seem to have little hurry to make money out of all their research, which is a pity I think. The last visit today was a visit to the hosting club, and once again we were welcomed very breath taking. Too bad the projector stopped working that evening; so we turned our presentation into a question and answer session, which worked out ok!

Tuesday 5th March

The Rotary Club of Clayton is hosting today. It seems to be an interesting day, but right at the beginning we hear that eighty percent of the program has been cancelled. That’s a big disappointment for us, but we keep up the spirit by making numerous jokes in the bus. We drive around the area and visit a Chinese food market, which proves to be a real challenge for me as a vegetarian. Luckily I did not have a big breakfast, because the sight of brains, eyes, ears and a lot of organs makes me a bit sick. After the food market we drove around some more and had an early lunch near the beach. Springvale crematorium was the next stop; the supposed to be highlight of the day. I found it a bit morbid to watch all those graves, the burning of dead people in the ovens and the crushing of the remaining bones in a special machine.

In total contrast with the daily activities was the spontaneously organised BBQ at Esther her mum and dad for the week; Terry and Von. I had a wonderful time and enjoined the food, the drinks and the people that were present. Terry and Von did a splendid job to arrange a BBQ on that short notice for so many people. They even brought in a six-pack of Grolsch, my favourite Dutch beer!

Wednesday 6th March

Today was hosted by the Rotary Club of Clayton. The day started very early, well it felt very early, in fact it was a pretty normal time. We drove to the harbour of Chelsea and started putting on sun block as soon as we heard we were going to spend some time on the water. As white as ghosts Frank and I stepped onto the biggest speedboat where we were accompanied by a very nice American couple. After a rough but very cool boat trip on the sea we arrived at the Patterson River Complex. A beautiful housing complex surrounded by water. We had a good cup of coffee at one of the captains places. After Frank was thought a magical trick by the American guest we then cruised to a Rotarian house for lunch. There was a big welcoming team ready and we had a hot and steamy BBQ. We then hurried to the CSIRO, a private institute which does geophysical research ranging from analysis of air and ice, remote sensing to studies of reflection of sunlight. Although this day was being hosted by the Rotary Club of Clayton, the evening diner meeting was at the harbour of Chelsea together with the Rotary Club of Chelsea and I believe the Rotary Club of Doncaster was also present. Frank and I got a real Italian welcome, which made me feel right at home. Huub got fined several times for forgetting his shoes and having to wear his open sandals if not John had brought him his shoes. We did the presentation with our new district projector and, I felt, impressed our audience with the English we spoke. In short, again an evening to remember!

Thursday 7th March

Today I had my second vocational visit and hoped on a better one than the first. It came through alright. The evening I spend with Frank on the South Bank in Melbourne City. We had tea at a bistro and met a Belgian girl who worked as a waitress at the place. We talked for a while a she said she missed her family; we could easily relate to that. It was a beautiful evening and when Frank and I were walking along the boulevard next to the Yarra River and across to Spencer Street, I fell in love with Melbourne. It just felt so relaxed, so friendly but still as a real big city with its tall buildings and Flinder Street Station. At that moment I knew I would be back. This will also be, I guess, the view and feeling when I will hear some one speak about Melbourne in the future.

Friday 8th March

Today was hosted by the Rotary Club of Doncaster. We started the day with a visit to the Museum of Melbourne. A very interesting exposition about the history of the gold rush in Australia and the rise of Melbourne and surrounding cities like Ballarat and Bendigo. The essential cup of coffee was had at the Windsor Hotel which was impressive to see and obviously even more impressive to sleep at, one day. It was time for a tour around the Parliament House. The Parliament House is build with the money the Ballarat gold rush raised from 1851 on. We sat in the chairs the ministers sat which are an exact copy of the ones in the House of Lords in England. In the end we “stole” a few pieces of paper with the official letterhead of the Parliament of Victoria. We also visited the library, several rooms of councils and an exposition about the history of the legislative council. It was very impressive and the scenery was nice to give our presentation in front of the hosting club, a representative of the Victorian Parliament and the outgoing GSE team. After the Parliament House we left for a visit to Town Hall. This building was build in 1857 and is a beautiful neo-classical building. We got a real nice tour and eventually got to stand on the balcony, able to wave to the crowd at Swanston Street. Town Hall has the city arms above the entrance which pictures a bull, a ship and a wale pointing back to the original colonial businesses. Australia does have a history! I ended the day with a sleep-in at Esther’s because of the fact that we would leave early the next morning for the first big trip on our own to the Great Ocean Road. I was looking forward to that trip so much that I could hardly sleep. A lot of emails and cups of tea later I could eventually catch some sleep.

Saturday 9th March

The morning starts with Esther on the toilet; she has problems with her stomach so it seems, poor girl. Huub and Frank have picked up our car and at 7.30 we’re on our way to Sceens Creek, a small village somewhere halfway on the Great Ocean Road. Via the ferry on the Mornington Peninsula we drive alongside the coast. What a beautiful site this is; the rough coast on the left, the big trees on the right. We often pull the car to the side to try to take pictures as beautiful as the full view is. Around lunchtime we stop at Apollo Bay to stretch our legs and have something to eat. A few hours later we arrive at the house in Sceens Creek. We do some groceries. This will be a weekend full of treats which is reflected by the content of the basket! We lay in the garden, talk, read and enjoy beautiful Australian wines. In the evening I prepare the meal for the group, rice with vegetables and a steak for Huub. After the meal I put on the fire and we play pictionary in English, the girls against the boys with Huub as the referee. As always the girls win, they had the easier cards! I want to stay here for ever! (if my girlfriend would also come over…)

Week 3
by Marjolijn van Essenberg

Sunday 10th March

The second day at the Great Ocean Road. Huub and I woke up first. In the early morning sun we drank a cup of tea, while we were looking out over the ocean. I felt completely happy.

In the morning we went for a walk through Otway National Park. It was a beautiful walk. There were very large gum trees and ferns. It was very quiet in the forest. All you heard was the wind blowing. I thought it was a shame that we were back at the parking lot in half an hour. We decided to go for another walk through the dunes. It was very hot (> 30˚ C) and the others walked a little bit too fast for me. A few times when I had stopped to take a picture I really had to run to catch up with the rest! The walk ended at the beach. The ocean was really magnificent: big waves and deep blue water. Huub and Maarten couldn’t resist the charm of the ocean. They took off their clothes and went for a swim in their underwear. That was fun to watch.

Back in our little house, we didn’t do much, because we were all too tired. At night we watched the stars. I had never seen so many stars in my life. It really made me emotional.

Monday 11th March

After cleaning up the house and packing all our things, we left to see the Twelve Apostles. By the time we arrived at the Twelve Apostles the weather was really bad. It rained and it was very cold. So, at the parking lot I changed my short pants and sandals for trousers, walking boots and a raincoat. The twelve Apostles were very impressive, even with (or maybe because of) the grey weather. I would have liked it to walk on the beach and see the rocks from more nearby. But unfortunately that’s not possible.

After a lunch stop at Port Campbell we started our trip back to Melbourne. At Geelong there was a terrible traffic jam. It was not earlier than 7 pm that I was back at my host family, Kath and John Williams. Quickly I pack my suitcase. After 8 pm I arrive at my new host family, Karen Dean and Ted Sanderson. They saved my some delicious BBQ food. After diner I meet the two children: Laura (10) and James (7). I’ve tried to teach James to say “goedemorgen” (Dutch for “good morning”). He thinks it sounds like “Robin Hood”. When I ask him the next morning to say good morning to me in Dutch he says: ”Robin Hood!” It’s nice to be in a family with children for a change.

Tuesday 12th March

Today was Frank’s birthday. He is not very pleased with the fact that he has turned 30. One reason for him to go to Australia was to be as far away as possible from his friends. And lucky for him we didn’t have enough time to plan some jokes.

This day the Rotary Club of Hampton hosted us. We started the day with a short walk on the beach of Brighton. On the beach are standing bathing boxes. These are very colourful boxes with an age of 100 years. Unfortunately these boxes will not be replaced if any disappears. Geoff Tickner, one of our hosts, gives us all a picture of the beach with the boxes and the skyline of Melbourne on it. He dares us to make the same picture, but I think no one has managed to do so.

Our next stop is at Ackland Street. Here we have an hour time to do some shopping. We have our morning tea at one of the many cake shops. I have this magnificent chocolate cake!

Then we went to the Open Range Zoo at Werribee. We had a guided tour in a safari bus. On 200 hectares of grassy plains we saw animals from Africa, Australia and North America like giraffes, zebras, antelopes, hippos, etc. During our trip in Australia I’ve been the one that took the most pictures. But at Werribee I didn’t take one picture. Although I really liked the zoo and the way it was built, I was a little bit disappointed. I thought: “I’m in Australia to see kangaroos and koalas, not giraffes and zebras!”

Thereafter we got a guided tour at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). It was interesting to hear about the history of cricket, although I still don’t understand the rules! There are long waiting lists to become a member of the MCG. Geoff told me that he put his son at the waiting list at his birth. When he turned 19 he could become a member. Amazing!

At night we had an unofficial programme. We started with a sailing tour of Port Philip Bay. This is an annual trip of the Rotary Club. And especially for us they planned it on the day that they hosted us. I enjoyed it very much although I had very cold feet. I had to take off my shoes because of my black soles. After the tour we had another BBQ. It was a great evening. They had baked a chocolate cake for Frank, really nice. We don’t have to do our presentation this time.

Wednesday 13th March

The day started very early. At 7 am we had to be present at the Rotary Club of Bentleigh-Moorabbin Central for a breakfast meeting. Esther is still not feeling very well. She has been sick since Saturday. I admire her how she gives the presentation like there is nothing wrong. But after the presentation Jenny Fox, Esther’s host, did take Esther to a doctor. It appeared that Esther was hosting a virus or a parasite. The doctor strongly recommended her to rest for a day. So, I had to spend the day with six men!

We went to Ballarat, 180 km west of Melbourne. At first we stopped at the Eureka museum. In 1850 there was a “civil war” in Eureka. The goldmine workers didn’t agree any longer with the fee they had to pay to search for gold. The war lasted for one day and 22 people were killed. It’s funny to see that there is a whole museum just for such a “small” incident.

Then we went to Sovereign Hill. In the early days this was the place were gold was found. It is a very nice museum. It just looks like you’re back in 1850. The buildings look old and the museum-staff is dressed up as people from that time. We had a tour through one of the mines to get an idea how it must have been to be a mineworker.

After a short visit at a gold museum we drove back to Melbourne. We had diner in a hotel. At the beginning I missed Esther. In the hotel was a big TV screen with a sport game on it. The six men all watch the screen, something I’m not really interested in. But later on we had some nice conversations.

Thursday 14th March

The Rotary Club of Sandringham is our host for this day. I’m glad to see Esther at the meeting point. She is still sick but she is feeling much better after a day rest. In the morning we visited a factory named “Sticky Labels”. At this factory they made all kind of labels. They showed us the different machineries. After the tour they gave us the opportunity to collect some labels. As real Dutch people we took a lot of those labels!

The rest of the day is reserved for a boat trip to the Docklands and the Maribyrnong River. One of the two motorboats isn’t working. So, we went with 8 people on a motorboat. The first part of the trip was going very fast. We bumped at the waves; now and then the boat even came loose of the water. A little bit too much for me! We stopped at Herring Island where we had a self-made lunch. At the way back I was definitely standing at the wrong side of the boat. Several times I got a lot of water over me. I was completely wet.

After some rest at our host families, we had a Rotary meeting at night. I thought our presentation went very well that evening. That was probably because everyone in the audience looked very amused. I also liked it that we received some different questions than normally. Especially the questions about euthanasia and our policy of giving drugs to addicts I liked to answer.

Friday 15th March

During the day we had our vocational visits. At night everybody (the team and the host families) came together at Jenny Fox’s house. There we had a perfect night. We ate delicious lasagne, we played tennis and we danced on Abba. We had a lot of fun.

Saturday 16th March

This was a free day, which every one of us spent differently. I have celebrated the birthday of James. We went bowling with 18 children. What a noise 18 children can make! After that I stepped by at Esther’s place. We had a quiet afternoon by laying at the swimming pool. At night I had a diner party at my host family. I had a real good time and I really loved the trifle!

Another good week had passed. Time really flies when you’re having fun!

Week 4
by Frank Roedig

Sunday 17th March

Sunday the 17th was a free day. In the morning it was planned by the host families that we would all enjoy the so-called Breakfast on the Tan, a breakfast happening as part of Melbourne's Food and Wine Festival. We hadn’t participated in any activity of the festival so far, but because of all the hospitality we had encountered over the last weeks our stomachs didn’t protest at all. Anyway, it appeared that all tickets were gone so we decided to have a joint breakfast at some other place in the Royal Botanical Gardens. After lunch we walked the gardens and were attacked by the hundreds of bats that inhabit the gardens. There is fierce dispute going on between environmentalists and people who prefer to walk in the gardens without been hit by …. (you guess) on what to do with the bats. Maarten and I fantasized about some Asian country, offering the bats a final destination. In the afternoon the group split up and everybody did their own thing. The evening was used to change families, for the fourth time.

Monday 18th March

The next day was organized by the RC Glen Waverley. It turned out to be a busy day, covering several industrial areas. We subsequently paid a visit to:

·	the Country Fire Authority, responsible for all fires in Victoria except those in National Parks and in the city of Melbourne;

·	McVan Instruments that make i.e. wind speed meters, rainfall rate meters and liquid cloudiness meters;

·	PPG, a US-owned paint company;

·	Dandenong Letters Centre, which handles a third of all post in Victoria.

It was an interesting but tiring day, also for the drivers who had to speed to get to our destinations in time. One driver got lost and Maarten had to spend an hour more in the car.

In the evening there was a dinner (or as Australians tend to say: tea) meeting of the Glen Waverley club at which we did our presentation.

Tuesday 19th March

Tuesday was a vocational day (on which I brought a visit to the HR department of Amcor Australasia, a global packaging company).

Wednesday 20th March

Wednesday the 20th was a free day, on which some of the team members had organized by their selves an additional vocational day.

Thursday 21st March

On the next day, all team members traveled with their host families to the Conference, which was held in Shepparton. In Australia district conferences are done slightly different compared to The Netherlands. It runs 4 days long and has something to offer to everybody. First, there was a pre-conference golf tournament. Then the district governor (or ‘DG’ as Aussies try to shorten every single word) welcomed a group of Rotarians who had been raising money by cycling to Shepparton over several days! The conference itself opened with a ceremony which included the national anthem, a parade with the flags of almost all countries in the world, an opening by the mayor of Shepparton and an address by RIPPR (Rotary International President’s Personal Representative) David M. Michaux III (the third). During the opening entertainment was offered by a high school band, an a cappella women’s choir and high school dancers. It was all organized in a very professional manner which was worthwhile because there were almost 1000 attendants!

Friday 22nd March

The conference continued the next morning with musical performance by a PP (for non-Aussies: this means Past President). Then one of the highlights of this conference was programmed. Kim Phuc, who became famous when a journalist took a picture of her after she was hit as a 9-year old girl by napalm in Vietnam, was one of the guest speakers. She told a very moving and inspiring story about pain, despair, resilience, love and strength. She is now a Canadian citizen and was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for Peace for UNESCO in 1997. The day continued with several other guest speakers, among other Sally Cockburn, also known as Dr Feelgood, who has been hosting for 6 years a top rating national radio talk back sex and relationships program, called “Pillow talk”. I knew about this program 6 years ago when I was traveling with a friend through Australia by car and heard Dr Cockburn on the radio. Every time my friend and I give advice to one another we sign with “Dr Feelgood”. At night, we had dinner with the outgoing GSE team, which consisted of 5 women and a male team leader Peter Enlund. This team was excited to go to The Netherlands and was prepared for that with a fair bit of Dutch humor.

Saturday 23rd March

Saturday was the day. Our presentation was scheduled in the morning program. We were all very excited, a little nervous because of the size of the audience but still very confident. After all, we had been practicing for the last 4 weeks! I had to go up first, carrying the Dutch flag. Lesley Bell of the GSE committee introduced us. Huub started in his unparalleled style, followed by Esther, Frank, Marjolijn and Maarten. The presentation went very well. All jokes about Ian Thorpe and the Australian hockey team were well received and we had fun. After the presentation, we felt we could really relax now. Due to the nice weather we decided to spend the rest of the day in the sun. We didn’t realize at the time, but this was well timed with an eye on the evening program. A Ho Down party was organized and nobody was able to stop us. The whole team was dancing till closing time, stimulated by the sounds of the Bushdrovers Bush Band. The food was good and the wine was perfect. This had turned out to be one of the best nights of the GSE

Week 5
by Huub Kolen

Sunday 24th March

The last day of the Conference. Some of us felt a little ‘miserable’ after the Ho Down party yesterday evening. There were some more speakers and the nicest part was the performance of all the exchange students. For a lot of them a farewell and tears and sad faces everywhere!

After that the conference was officially closed with reference to our poem about ‘smile’.    

In the afternoon most of us returned to Melbourne with their new host families. Only Marjolijn went on a short trip with Stuart and Beth Vize in which she became the only one of us to visit another State in Australia. I joined Peter and Matilda Enlund to Burwood East. On the way to Melbourne I saw the only kangaroo in the wild during my stay in Victoria. He/she was lying dead on the side of the road! Not a very unusual view I was told. A lot of kangaroos die in traffic accidents. The rest of the day we spent in getting to know each other better and discussing the specific sides of being GSE team leader. Peter is the GSE team leader coming over to the Netherlands in May next so there was a lot to talk about!

Monday 25th March 

Today a free day according to the programme! Some of the team members however had organized an extra vocational day. I spent the morning sending a lot of e-mails and reading the digital Dutch newspaper ‘De Volkskrant’. After that I went on the tram to Melbourne city centre (45 minutes) and visit the shopping arcades. I ran into Lesley Bell (GSE chair) and had a cup of coffee with her. In the evening I invited Peter and Matilda for a Chinese dining experience.

A very relaxed day.

Thuesday 26th March

Today the last vocational day for the team members; for me an extra day of free time. I went to Melbourne again to visit the Melbourne Museum with special interest for the ‘indigenous’ people. Over 400 different tribes with hundreds of languages existed in Australia before the Europeans came! Millions died because of new unknown diseases or were oppressed or killed by the intruders. It is an understatement to say that this is not a nice part of Australian history.

I also visited the Koorie Heritage Trust, established to protect and promote Koorie culture from South eastern Australia.

In the evening all the team members met for dinner in an Italian restaurant followed by a visit to the musical ‘Mama Mia’ based on the music from ABBA. Fantastic, what a joy!

Wednesday 27th March 

The last day of the official programme. At 07.00 hours we were guests of RC Monach for a breakfast meeting. After our presentation we visited the Victoria Police Training Academy.

The academy is beautifully based in a former monastery and seminary with high ceilings and long corridors on the highest hill of Melbourne. After that, coffee in shopping centre ‘Glen’ and lunch (BBQ) in Jells Park organised by the RC of Monash. During the afternoon we prepared ourselves for the farewell dinner hosted by RC Bentleigh Moorabbin Central in the Bentleigh Club.

The farewell dinner was attended by over 100 people. Almost all our host families were present as well as a lot of other people we met during our stay. It was a fantastic, sometimes emotional, but unforgettable evening! Excellent food and a lot of speeches from Governor Brian Foley, GSE chair Lesley Bell and others. We were considered an excellent GSE team with a professional attitude. Nice words to hear of course.

All our team members prepared a goodbye speech too and finally I said thank you to all the ones involved in our stay followed by a spontaneous ‘for they are jolly good fellows’ sung for our team by all the people present!

This time the Dutch team organized the ‘raffle’ and we raised almost $ 500 for the ‘Polio’ programme of Rotary. We turned our suitcases upside down and put in our last presents as prices for the winning tickets.

We were fairly knocked up when we left after this long and emotional day but we went to bed with a smile on our faces and happy memories.

Thursday 28th March

After a light breakfast Peter brought us to Melbourne city to pick up a car for a trip to Phillip Island. This is about a 150 k drive and at two o’clock we arrived in Cowes, the biggest village on the island. The hotel Continental was a little disappointing for the 4 stars claimed but OK.

The rest of the afternoon we spent walking and relaxing and the ‘girls’ quickly found the squash court. By six o’clock we left for our main reason to visit the island, Penguins!!!

On the island live about 60.000 of these little animals and we went to a place where they come out of the sea to walk to their nests in the dunes. Very tourist though but amusing to see these creatures sometimes even falling forward in front of us from tiredness. We ended up the day by drinking some beers in my room and watching Australian football on the TV. 

Friday 29th March

What a lousy weather! Cold, wind and rain. This was not ordered for! We planned a big walk today but I deserted due to the weather conditions. The ‘young ones’ persisted and we agreed that I should pick them up after 3 hours. Within 5 minutes they were back in the car, soaking wet! Marjolijn and Maarten however were dying to swim in the sea and they did! After this wet experience we decided to return to Melbourne City to visit the sea aquarium. Very interesting but expensive ($21). We had dinner on Southbank and from there I dropped Frank at Flinders station and brought the others to their home families. Finishing off with a drink together with Peter and Matilda after a day completely different than planned but after all not too bad.

Saterday 30th March

Early in the morning Peter and I dropped the car and I started packing for the trip home. After that I went to Melbourne city to visit St. Patric’s Cathedral. I lighted some candles for the ones I love and at five o’clock we had agreed to meet each other in the home of Libby and ken Rice for so called ‘finger food’. From there we left with a large group of people for a match of ‘foottie’, Australian football. It was a game in the Melbourne Cricket Ground between Essendon (part of Melbourne) and Geelong.  Essendon was no match for Geelong but the atmosphere was excellent and there were fights nor arguments between the two groups of fans.   

Sunday 31st March

Time to go home. Up to the airport. Before we left I received a chocolate Bunny from Matilda because today it is Easter Sunday. A lot of people were present at the airport to say goodbye to us. The guy at the gate must have liked me a lot because he accepted 41 kilo of luggage.

A last cup of coffee and than adieu, touching but inevitability.

First part was 9,5 hours to Hong Kong and after a three hours stay at Hong Kong airport we finally checked in for the last part of our trip, a 12 hours flight to Amsterdam. When we arrived I had finished the book ‘the century of my father’ by Geert Mak and it was Monday morning april 1st .

At Schiphol airport my daughter and my girlfriend were waiting AND ALL WAS WELL!  

Vocational visits

Esther Doodeman

I’m working as a Commercial Manager for Fortis Bank in Amsterdam. In this job I’m supporting the local office managers in the region around Amsterdam in all aspects of sales. For example I set up local marketing actions, organize seminars, decide about local sponsoring give guidance to product introductions and train the bankers.

Banks in the Netherlands and in Australia tend to close more and more of their local (cash) offices and concentrate on bigger advice centers. I was very curious how the Australian banks dealt with their customers in the meantime.

During my vocational visits I visited three of the biggest banks in Australia, the National Bank, ANZ Bank and the Bank of Melbourne. Next to that I visited a small emerging bank, the bank of Bendigo and in my last week I went to the RMIT, School of Marketing & Banking. During my visit at the RMIT they were all so enthusiastic that they had a guest from the Netherlands, the teachers asked me to tell the students something about the Euro and the Dutch banking system. So I was a real Dutch teacher for one day in my life. Although I didn’t learn something for myself (except teaching three times to a class of 35 students) it was very nice to experience.

At the National Bank I visited the business department in the morning. It started in a very ‘American’ way because one of the bankers got the monthly award for outstanding performance.

Then they showed me their tracking systems for the business clients. I was very interested in that because in the Netherlands we also want to know as much as possible from our clients to offer them good products with a high selling chance. The bankers have access to systems with all possible data of their clients. They also have a strict system for registration of the bankers’ activities. Their managers can exactly follow each day how many clients the bankers have spoken to, how many proposals they offered and what they earn on their clients. They gave me some examples that I can introduce back in the Netherlands.

In the afternoon I visited the marketing headquarters. That’s a different perspective from my job because I’m specialized in local marketing but nevertheless I could learn a lot.

They told me about sponsoring (countrywide), research and client satisfaction. Because of the closing of offices the satisfaction of private clients was not that high, the satisfaction of business clients on the other hand was very high. When I asked them what they wanted to do about the satisfaction rate of private clients they had no adequate answer. The last person I spoke told me something about prospecting and lead generation. That gave me also some very new and usable insights.

At ANZ bank I started my day with a talk to the manager of the marketing department (also in the headquarters of the bank). He showed me some figures about their client satisfaction. I was really surprised that he showed me the figures because only 37% of the private clients were satisfied about the service ANZ offered. More than half of their clients were not satisfied. Reasons here were also the closing of the offices in the countryside so that people sometimes had to travel more than 30k to reach to closest office. It didn’t seem to worry him because he says they earn their money on the business clients. When I told him we prepare the closing of an office about half a year before, offer a lot of alternative possibilities to do your banking stuff and about our client satisfaction programs he was surprised that we took so many effort in informing the clients. I realized that I could not learn something there about that perspective so in the afternoon I talked with a lot of people from ANZ about branding, direct marketing and an internal motivation program called Break Out. Again very interesting

My day at Bank of Melbourne was also quit the same as at the other banks. I was dealing with the headquarters and they could tell me a lot about their national sponsoring programs but not so much about the way they approached the local market. I followed a marketing team meeting and they showed me their call center.

The last bank I visited was a very special one, the Bank of Bendigo. The Bank of Bendigo is set up as a franchise organization and is a ‘last-years-generation’ bank. They emerge where all the other banks are closing their offices.

The local businesses (retailers) find it very awful when all the big ‘first generation’ banks disappear because they think they need a local banking office in their center to make it more attractive for customers to come. That’s why they raise money together (about A$ 500.000) and deliver the personnel staff.

The bank of Bendigo on the other hand, does research about the possibilities to have a bank there, trains the personal staff and delivers the products and back office. So it is a joint combination of the local businesses and the bank. They are both responsible and profit is divided between the bank and the local retailers. It’s a proven concept now in Australia because the Bank of Bendigo exists several years now, is profitable and has satisfied customers. Because we don’t know that concept in the Netherlands it was also very useful to me to see that side of banking.

It completed my view of banking in Australia.

Altogether I went home with a lot of useful notes, a lot of useful examples and a good feeling about the Dutch banking system. After all we are not that bad for our customers.

Marjolijn van Essenberg

I’m working as a pharmacist at the Vrije Universiteit Medical Centre in Amsterdam. Hospital pharmacy is rapidly changing in the Netherlands. There is a shift from the more traditional tasks like production of drugs and distribution to new tasks like pharmaceutical counseling. Our professional organization has introduced the term “pharmaceutical patient care”. All pharmacists should spend a great amount of their time on this item, without exactly knowing what it is about yet. During my vocational visits I discovered that Australian pharmacists do a lot on pharmaceutical patient care.

I have visited five hospital pharmacies (Alfred Hospital; Caulfield General Medical Centre; Cabrini Hospital; Monash Medical Centre; Box Hill Hospital) and one retail pharmacy (Guardian Pharmacy at Boronia). Because the work at the retail pharmacy didn’t match very well with my own work I will not include that visit in my report. The hospitals I visit were different in size and in the fact if it was a private or public hospital, but the things I saw were pretty much the same. So, I will summarize all my visits. You will not find an exact report of the things I’ve done. I’ve tried to give an impression of what the vocational visits meant to me.

An Australian pharmacist is most of the time at the wards and very little in the pharmacy. This was very interesting to see. The motto of our professional organization is “out of the pharmacy, into the clinic!” So, I thought, here I can learn what we Dutch pharmacists should do in the clinic.

At the wards pharmacists look through the medical status of the patient to see if all the drugs are given right. They also inform patient how to take their drugs, supply them with drugs when they’re discharged and go along with the doctors on the ward rounds.

I really liked the involvement of the pharmacist with the patients, but at the same time I was very disappointed on what I saw. I will give a few examples. I visited the emergency department with one of the pharmacists. There was just brought in a patient with an intoxication of alcohol and probably some antidepressants. In the Netherlands we would find such patients very interesting: examination of the blood at the laboratory of the pharmacy and advising the doctor on the treatment. Here we did nothing, because we weren’t able to speak to the patients. Australian pharmacists find patients on the emergency department interesting because they often forgot to bring their medicines with them. The pharmacist interviews the patient to make clear what kind of medicines they’re using at home. Another example: I went with a pharmacist on a ward visit at the cardiology department. One patient didn’t react on standard therapy. The counselor suggests trying a new medicine. In those situations you can be very helpful as a pharmacist: is it the right choice? What is known about the medicine? The Australian pharmacist just thinks: “Oh, I have to order that.”

The ward visits were very interesting but not directly useful for Dutch pharmacists. To explain this a little bit better I should say something about the number of pharmacists. In an average size hospital (400 beds) in Australia there will be working 30-40 pharmacists, in the Netherlands this would be 2-3 pharmacists! I think this explains the different way of work and the impossibility of copying the Australian way of work to the Dutch situation.

Another thing is the production of drugs. In the Netherlands we have to comply with very high standards before we’re allowed to produce our own drugs. I was shocked by what I saw in Australia: no or very little hygiene rules, no protocols for preparing the drugs, no double checks on weighing the components of the drug to be made.

Important lessons on my vocational visits are: pharmacy in the Netherlands follows high standards. And they way Australian pharmacists gave meaning to the term “pharmaceutical patient care” is not the way I would like to do it.

So maybe I didn’t learn a lot about pharmacy, I did learn a lot about myself during GSE. And that will also make me a better pharmacist!

Maarten Arjen Klein

During my stay in Australia I have been able to visit a number of companies which are related to my personal profession. I will start with a short introduction about the field I am active in and then continue with a short wrap up about my experiences down under. I will finish up with a description of an activity I started up when I returned in The Netherlands, this as a result of my visit and the contacts I established.

Before my trip I worked as a store-manager at an Albert Heijn supermarket in my hometown Alkmaar. Albert Heijn is a nation wide retailer and the biggest in The Netherlands in terms of gross revenues. Albert Heijn is part of Royal Ahold NV, one of the leading international food-providing companies, which serves customers on four continents.

As a store-manager I was responsible for hiring, developing and managing staff members, meeting targets in terms of sales, productivity and cost of labour and meeting quality standards for the fresh and tenable goods. This experience has allowed me to acquire a sound understanding of the operational processes at Albert Heijn and to experience what it is like to managing large groups of people.

During my short career I have experienced numerous differences with respect to retailing in general and specific business cultures. These experiences have boosted my interest in foreign countries and cultures even more; thus being able to get a good understanding of the specifics of retail in Australia was another dream came true.

The total of five vocational visits that were planned by the committee and three visits I arranged myself, has given me a sound understanding about what both food and non-food retailing is about in Australia. I have seen a wide variety of stores, focusing on food and/or non-food, high-end as well as low-end, big stores and small stores, specialty stores as well as generic-format stores. These visits gave me the opportunity to gain a lot of knowledge and above all a change to meet peers.  Furthermore I have visited a distribution centre and the headquarters of the second largest retailer of Australia The ColesMeyer Group. During these visits I have met a lot of people and was able to exchange a few best practices and much knowledge.

The most concrete result form my stay in Australia seen from a vocational perspective is that I have started up an international learning program within my company. With a group of thirty management trainees from all over Europe we started an exchange of knowledge and best practices about hot issues in retail. Since the start-up in April this year, already a few operating companies of Royal Ahold have implemented best practices from others. As head of the steering committee I also communicate with two Australian companies that are not part of Royal Ahold but are also participating in the program; two companies that I have visited during my GSE-trip!

Frank Roedig

The program the GSE committee had set out for my vocational days was well thought over.  My professional career has been in Human Resources (HR) and I am currently working as a HR Manager at an international Dutch bank. I was offered the broadest HR experience possible.

I was able to visit:

·	a support organization for employees working at financial institutions, the Finance Sector Union;

·	a support organization for employers, the Victorian Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI);

·	an organization for HR professionals, the Australian Human Resource Institute;

·	the HR department at National Australia Bank;

·	the HR department at a global packaging company, Amcor Australasia.

It was a perfect program, because I got a good overview on the HR field in Australia through the different perspectives. Not all visits were well prepared, but due to the flexibility of both myself and the people I met things worked out very well. I arranged myself a visit to the HR department at Australia New Zealand bank in addition.

Before I left for Australia I thought that one of the most interesting aspects to the Group Study Exchange would be the opportunity to meet with peers working in the same professional field but in a different cultural environment. Especially in my area of expertise such differences are crucial. Employees work within a specific organizational structure, culture and strategy. But at a higher state of aggregation these factors tend to be dominated by national cultural influences. Though I was able to identify some national cultural differences between Australians and Dutch people, I couldn’t find any influences from this in the workplace. Actually, it seems things are completely the same in Australia as in The Netherlands. There were some differences in the law for laying off people, but that’s all. So, either my visits were too short to detect any influences or the western world really is becoming a global working place/village.

Further, I hoped to come across innovative practices. Every organization has its own policies and procedures in the way it deals with its human resources. By meeting with peers I hoped to learn from them practices that I subsequently could use in my own work. On this matter, I was able to find a difference. I learned that with respect to eHRM, or dealing with HR data without interference of people, Australia was ahead of The Netherlands. Much better HR systems than I had ever come across in The Netherlands, for instance at ANZ bank. Maybe this has to do with the fact that Australia is closer aligned to the United States, also because of their common language.

I value an organizational culture in which it is possible to give and receive open and honest feedback. Feedback enables you to get an understanding of the impression you make on others and to develop the competences that are weak. Therefore, I had planned to ask peers I would spend time with to give me feedback from their (cultural) point of view. Unfortunately, it turned out that the set-up of my vocational visits was not as such that this was possible. My visits were to short in general and during almost every visit I spoke not to one person in particular but to several people for a short time.

In general, I was very happy with my vocational days. I was able to learn from it and broaden my perspective. Though not everything went as I had expected, all worked out very well.

Conclusion

We stayed for 5 weeks in Victoria and experienced the life and culture, guided by what became in many cases friends. We all stayed with a personal mission realising that the GSE team member is not a tourist. We were receptive students who appreciated what we encountered in Australia. Our stay was a rich and rewarding experience. It gave us not the best or the worst or the surface gloss of Victoria but its totality. It also gave us a way of seeing ourselves.

Rotary gave us this opportunity and we thank her for that!

But Rotary its self is just a name. It is the people in Rotary, Rotarians and Rotary families that make the difference. We owe a lot of thanks to these people with a ‘Rotary heart’ who made our stay possible. A thanks to everyone involved, from the coordinators to the ones who made our lunch boxes, from the drivers of the cars and busses to the people involved in our vocational days, from the host families to Governor Foley and GSE chair Lesley Bell.

We left Victoria with our hearts full of good memories and friends more than worthwhile to visit again or to receive as guests in our own houses in the Netherlands.

We remember the friends from Victoria as ‘laid back people’ with a sense of humour, serious at times and with an overwhelming hospitality.

We conclude our report with the poem we did recite after all our presentations.

Smiling is infectious; you catch it like the flu,

When someone smiled at me today, I started smiling too.

I passed around the corner and someone saw my grin.

When he smiled I realized I’d passed it on to him.

I thought about that smile and then I realized its worth,

A single smile just like mine could travel round the earth.

So, if you feel a smile begin, don’t leave it undetected.

Let’s start an epidemic quick, and get the world infected!

GSE TEAM GUEST SPEAKERS  (and other RC’s present)

Appendix