Fun-lovin' The fun-lovin' Filipino Rotary GSE team experienced the first of many photo ops after their welcome luncheon at The Russell House on Wednesday, April 30. (Photo Lisa Kristoff)

Since they touched down at Portland International Jetport on April 4, the six-member Group Study Exchange (GSE) team from Quezon City, Philippines, had very little down time.

The best of which is, of course, Boothbay! The team members stayed at the homes of Harbor Rotary Club members Elaine Halligan, Frank and Marty Helman, Skip and Sue Kreahling, and Chip and Denise Griffin.

A full day's activities were planned for Thursday, May 1 that included hauling lobster traps aboard David Norton's vessel, touring the Boothbay Region Refuse Disposal District, a trip to Lisa Andrew's first grade class at BRES and a visit to the Footbridge and the downtown area.

They had spent five days in Exeter, New Hampshire and were in Boston, Massachusetts on April 19 where they attended a Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park, went on the Freedom Trail and toured the city.

"We were singing away," Joe said.

The baseball game was a real highlight - and they did it up with hot dogs, Cracker Jack, cotton candy - pretty much all the typical fare associated with America's favorite past time.

In the Philippines, advised Edel, basketball is the number one sport.

Other Maine locations the group had experienced were Rumford, Bethel, Bath, Portland, Topsham, Newcastle, Augusta and Damariscotta.

At Sunday River, during their first skiing and snowshoeing adventure, it snowed - two firsts experienced simultaneously.

The GSE group spent vocation days visiting American businesses that corresponded with their livelihood in the Philippines.

Edel, a dietitian and diabetes educator visited Maine Medical Center, Mercy Hospital and Miles Memorial Hospital's assisted living. She met with a dietitian at Maine Medical Center learning about the education system already in place there.

Edel is planning to broaden the awareness of diabetic patients in the Philippines; of the importance of diet, exercise, and quality of life.

Her efforts will be concentrated on Quezon City, Pasig City and Makat to address the recent increase in diabetes cases.

She would like to see a "Guiding Stars" program in the supermarkets to direct the people to healthy food choices. There will be, in her vision, a place within the stores to teach the children about good nutrition while their parents shop.

Joanne, a pre-school teacher earning her doctorate in developmental psychology, toured River View, the psychiatric wing at Southern Maine Medical Center and a classroom at an Exeter, New Hampshire high school.

She was particularly impressed with the small classrooms, 12 compared to the 40 to 50 students per class back home; and the school's library. In the Philippines, only a university would have a library or a gymnasium.

Tet, the political affairs officer II of Congressman Del de Guzman of Marikina City, toured the State House in Augusta. Both Representatives Linda Valentino and John McCain acted as her tour guides.

"Senator McCain made sure we were treated like VIPs - even at the State Museum," said Joe.

She also had opportunity to meet with a legal staffer while on a Session Hall tour.

"What struck me about the representatives and senators here is that they all have other jobs," said Tet. "In the Philippines it is a full time job."

"No congressman in the Philippines would run if the salary offered was the same," Joe said.

Mich, is the issues manager at the Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Oil Corporation. Her job includes the responsibility of crafting the corporation's message on issues for the public.

One of Mich's vocation days was spent at the Maine Public Broadcasting offices in Lewiston, and advertising agency in Newburyport, Mass.,

"K" has been a lawyer for three years and has a passion for scuba diving. Her vocation days included shadowing a lawyer in Exeter, and the Portland courts.

She fell in love with the architecture and was impressed by the magistrate system. The role of the magistrate to counsel and mediate is something that Filipino courts do not have.

Joe and his wife, Anne have owned and operated Sunny Hill since 1981, a private school for children of pre-school age through high school.

Vocation day for Joe was a visit to a social studies class where they happened to be studying Asian history.

"I was asked about 40 or 50 questions - everything from what I did I have for breakfast (ham and eggs) to the environment.

"I said to the student, do you see those trees out there? In my country, you would not see those tomorrow - they would be cut down," said Joe.

He noted that here there are many restrictions regulating how people can develop their property.

"We do not have conservation in that manner - people can just put up a house anywhere."

Just as our GSE team had to give presentations at local Rotary Clubs, so, too, did this group from the Philippines.

To learn more about the travelers and the trip, and their visit to our local Rotary Club, read Frank Helman's Rotary Club column in this week's paper.

The Group Study Exchange (GSE) program provides travel grants for professional men and women aged 25 to 40 to broaden cultural perspectives, create new understanding of other countries and encourage the exchange of ideas.