BonVoyage Gathering Follow-Up

From Kathy Litow,

First of all, Thank you to all who have already responded for the Bon Voyage party (you do not need to respond again). The deadline was yesterday and I still have not heard from 9 families (was 11 when I started writing this) . That's almost half of the group :-(. I need to know ASAP! Even if you plan on not eating with us, I need to be able to count you out. PLEASE let me know, you know who you are.

I picked up the T'shirts today. They look awesome! $10.40 each. So, your check to me should be $7 x the number of dinners ordered + $10.40 for the T

Thank You,
Kathy

Please let Kathy know if you are not going to be able to attend or are not going to eat there. Thank you.

BonVoyage Information

Per Kathy Litow:

My caterer just called me and is lowering the price per person! This was unsolicited, but very welcome news. The new price is $6.50/person + tax and out of town delivery charge = $7.00 per person. I did not mention before when payment is due. The answer is that day.

I will also have the T-shirts ready to give to you. Payment on those will be due then also.

You may pay cash or if you write a check, make it payable to Kathy Litow. One check for both your meal(s) and T-shirt will be fine.

Don't forget to RSVP!

Kathy's e-mail is: mamacoach@juno.com

Thanks.

Hotel Accommodations & Itinerary Information

I have put the Accommodations list and Itinerary list on goole sites. It is just better there. If anyone wants to make a hard copy they can print it from there. Hopefully as we get the FACEBOOK page set up each day will have the itinerary and also the accommodation for that day.

No Baggage Cost - First Bag

We have been attempting to come up with an answer to the possibility of a possible cost for baggage when we check in on June 11th but now have been assured that there will be none. Below is the answer from Ben Williams regarding this question.

"People to People pays the cost for 1 checked bag for every delegate. Any cost for additional baggage will be the responsibility of the family. American Airlines has a weight restriction of 50lbs/bag which is industry standard. Fees may apply for exceeding that weight as well."

We will have a scale at the airport that we will use to make sure we do not have anyone over weight, including Tracy and I. :)

Now that we know the airlines Tracy and I will go out and attempt to get an answer regarding bringing back two bags. At this time I would say it doesn't look good for that but we will go ask the question since we are close to the airport.

European Discovery Homestay Information

Home stays are once cornerstone of People to People programs. Home stays fulfill the People to People mission to bridge cultural an political borders through education and exchange, making the world a better place fr future generations. The home stay visit is arranged by a local school in Austria, Germany, or Switzerland with families of the students attending the school.

Students should be prepared for an occasional expense during the home stay for extracurricular activities with their home stay families.

Basics:

• Three-night home stay
• Leaders will predominantly be in home stays during this period (usually with teachers from the school)
• Families primarily speak German; English is a secondary language and may only be spoken by the European student(s) in the home.
• An on-site coordinator is available at all times to assist with any emergencies or challenges that may arise during the home stay.
• People to People students are not paired in home stays on this program, but stay in homes with European students of approximately the same age.
• The Legal drinking age in Europe is 16. European students over 16 may legally drink alcohol, but have been instructed not to offer or provide it to any People to People delegates.
• Families may smoke, but students with smoke allergies or asthma indicated on their health form will be placed in a non-smoking home.

Activities With Host Families

• Meals (three per day)
• Activities with the home stay family and the school.

Suggested Gifts for Home Stay Families (It is suggested, but not required, that delegates and leaders bring one of the following:

• Picture of yourself with your family, home, or school, at a sporting event, etc.
• Handwritten thank-you note
• Postcard from your hometown
• Something that represents your city or state
• Something that represents you
  

Posted 5.9.2011
New information on our home stay in Austria.

Safe Travel 2011

Below is a website that PTP sent out and since I am not sure if you all received it I thought I would put it out for everyone just in case. It has some good information in it regarding safe travel, food, etc. Please take a look. Be informed.

You will probably have to cut and paste it into your browser.

ptpsafety.blogspot.com

Polo Distribution

Just a point of reference: Tracy will be at Panara Bread West in Cedar Rapids on Thursday from 6:00 - 7:00. I believe this was shared on the Phone Tree. I am not sure how successful that was so thought that maybe I should post this in case it worked better for anyone to come to Cedar Rapids. Probably should have been posted earlier. :(

Apparel Guide Handout

There is a handout related to Apparel on the Google sites in case anyone is interested in taking a look at it. It just goes through some of the dress codes for Student Ambassadors while we travel. We have discussed all the information included in this handout but sometimes it doesn't hurt to make sure we have all of our ducks in a row, as they say. :)