Sunday, February 23, 2014

Word Thinking Day Adventure

First off, I forgot my camera!  So all the pictures in the post are from my oldest daughter, Jade.  She took them with her tablet and was nice enough to share them with me for my blog. 

We got everything loaded into my Bronco and headed out.  We stop to get gas about five minutes from home, and a lady pulls in behind us.  She gets out of her car and knocks on my window.  So I open the door (because the window doesn't work right) and she tells me that the back tire is wobbling like crazy on the Bronco.  *sigh* 

In a most amazing twist of fate, at that same moment I realize I have a text message from a fellow Girl Scout leader, Gretchen, asking if I need a ride.  It's kind of sad that I need a rid often enough that she asks me regularly.  Again, *sigh*.  At any rate, I quickly call her and explain my situation and she sends someone to rescue us and take us to her house where we all finish getting ready. 

We still don't know what is wrong with the Bronco, as there hasn't been time to look at it.  Rob's car is broken as well and he has been working on that all day today. 

So back to World Thinking Day.  At Gretchen's house we get to chatting and lose track of time.  It's suddenly noon and the event is 30 minutes away.  So we load up as quick as we can and hit the road.  We get there with 15 minutes to spare.  *Whew!*

There were six countries represented at the event.  I have pictures from each one except for Ireland.  I'm not sure how that one got missed.  I think maybe it was because their presentation was so interactive that it Jade took fewer pictures.

At any rate, here are some pictures.  Other than Germany, I can't tell you much about the demonstrations.  I was far too busy to have a chance to see.  I do know that in Ireland the girls got to learn a bit of Irish dance.

 Germany was my country for the day.  It was a lot of fun as I was able to tell the girls a little about my trip there a few years ago. 

I started with greeting them in German:
"Willkommen in Deutschland. Ich bin Frau Ebels."  That got the girls quiet really fast and seemed to be a good ice breaker. 

Beyond that I taught the girls a few numbers and colors in German.  I also taught them to say snowman (schneemann) and Girl Scout (Pfadfinderin).

I also talked about the food, tourist attractions, industry, etc.  Then I told the girls that Gummy bears were invented in Germany and gave them each a small packet of Haribo Gold Bears. 

A huge thank you to Biz, one of my volunteer parents who showed up to assist me and ended up running her tail off.  If it weren't for her I would never have appeared as organized as I did.

Here is the display board from Italy.  I really do not know what was talked about much.  I do know that she told the girls some cool facts about Girl Scouts in Italy like their Promise and when Girl Scouts first started in Germany.  She also gave the girls some Italian cookies that I heard were delicious.  My girls didn't save me any.
 The leader who did Japan had the most beautiful display of the day.  She has been doing this for a number of years, and you can really see the love that she has poured into this.

Her craft for the girls was to make zen gardens.  My youngest daughter, Megan, has already spent hours playing with hers. 

Each girl also received a beautiful paper crane at the end of the demonstration.
 Here my Megan is getting ready to decorate her Swedish Dala Horse.

Since Gretchen and her daughter were the leaders presenting Sweden, I did get to hear a bit of what their plan was. 

Did you know that Swedes are such good recyclers that they import trash from Norway to meet their demand for recyclable trash? 
Russia was actually in the same room I was.  You would think that would mean that I got to hear their presentation.  Not really since I had a group of girls at the same time!

She did have some great nesting dolls to show the girls and they were able to talk about the Olympics.  I'm sure there were a lot of other things discussed as well, I just wasn't able to hear.

The girls seems to leave the demonstration very excited, so whatever they talked about it must have been fun!

All-in-all it was a great time and was wonderful to see the excitement in all the girls faces.

In case you don't know, World Thinking Day is a special Girl Scout day set aside for the girls to learn about and especially think about, global issues.  One way to bring awareness of things to the girls of things happening around the world is to teach them a bit about different countries and cultures around the world.  Events like the one our Service Unit put on help the girls earn their World Thinking Day badge in a fun way with a day filled full of things that spark their minds. 

I am already looking forward to next year.




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