Feel The Heat (in Berkeley!)

This year's Bay Area PDO was a great success on several levels: volunteers were amazingly on point and gave positive energy, great student turn-out, great parent turn-out, and it seemed like everyone had a good time and learned something.

The weather was another story!! It was 95 degrees outside at that park site in Tilden! And there wasn't too much shade! Oh dear me, it was hot. Everyone who managed to stay awake and alert and positive gets an EXTRA kudos for that. Phew.

We started out with a Culture session, discussing those famous yellow and blue sunglasses. We moved on to lunch and a happy break when Americans and international students could mingle and chat. After lunch, we talked about making Realistic Expectations and understanding Family Living and the Adjustment Process. American students learned what it is to Meet The Critic, where we discuss tough questions that might be asked of them about the U.S. After another deserved break, the parents arrived for their session. The students discussed YFU's communication structure and rules, as well as learning what the Learning Potential of their experience could be. At the end of the day, we played a culture/communication Game.

It was a lot of fun and I think the students got a lot out of it. Some sessions were less inspired than others and I know my time on the Volunteer Leadership Council for the Pre-Departure Orientation Task Force will bring these topics and issues to light. The orientation materials do need an upgrade!

Much happened during that hot hot day, but the little things I remember:

• Kelly, who makes baby cranes from tiny origami paper (one sheet of 8 1/2 by 11 gets cut into 64 pieces! - that's tiny).

• Laura's adorable little niece, who at 3 (?) years old is a fantastic story-teller!

• Debi brought her seeing-eye-dog-in-training Lily, the most lovable 5-mos-old black Lab.

• Kathryn and her amazingly loud "teacher voice". The table she was leading was two steps ahead of my table - it soon became a competition of who could end their session first! At least in my mind...

• Jimmy's tale of bike-commuting all the way from the city and up the hills of Berkeley into Tilden park - he's a rock star! So athletic!

• Having the game at the end of the day be a big success with both the American students and the international students... "what's a mup? I don't get it..."

I really realized that YFU is a big family. Yes, it's blazing and my arms got burned. Yes, the sessions could be improved upon. Yes, the students are so intelligent and mature. Yes, I want to keep doing this again and again. Yes, I literally can't wait for them to all have a phenomenal experience on their programs abroad.

And here are some of the photos that I love the most: