In a fun twist on “Take Your Child to Work,” member Judy Huff describes the rewards of taking their daughter to two different Rotary International Conventions.
“These are the best strawberries EVER!” Maya grabs another handful of the delicious treats and we talk about why our favorite foods sometimes have a different flavor in other countries. “Mom, did you see the cool looking hat a man just gave me? He was a little hard to understand but I liked his accent.” Off she goes to meet more new friends all united in one location through Rotary.
The Rotary International Convention in Calgary is less than a year away and may just be a great vacation to take your children/grandchildren. When we decided to take our daughter, Maya, (eight at the time) to the Rotary International Convention in Toronto, Canada in 2018 and Hamburg, Germany in 2019, I knew I’d have to get creative. There aren’t a lot of children walking around the convention usually; but luckily our friends brought along their two children as well. Besides Rotarians love welcoming children.
Maya was able to attend the opening and closing ceremonies which are always entertaining. She observed individuals dressed in their native attire and had fun hanging out in the House of Friendship with people from all over the world. The registration fee for children is only $20 and provides a lot of experiences.
If you decide to travel with children/grandchildren to a convention I would highly recommend filling their days with adventures around the host city. Take the time to do some Internet searches for child friendly activities that will provide additional fun yet educational events.
Visiting a foreign country and observing it through the eyes of a child provides a whole different lens of awareness. The following are some random memories Maya and the other children still talk about today.
We were eating strawberries a couple days ago and Maya said, “Remember how good the strawberries were in Germany!” Enjoying favorite foods in different countries provided a great discussion on how the soil and other factors really do create a different taste in foods. While attending the convention in Brazil, I learned about the treat of wrapping a date around a strawberry, a delicious combination.
It was important to us to visit Sachsenhausen Memorial – former concentration camp; but we were concerned she was too young to understand. While I think you should carefully consider each child’s ability to process these horrific events; we were glad Maya attended the tour. On the train ride back to the hotel, she went on and on about what she learned.
“I think they would be frightened because they had to run to test out shoes for shoemakers and sometimes they got injured and when they went to the nurse she didn’t care. They also did experiments on people. Sometimes Hilter’s soldiers would take prisoners to Hitler’ s deadly room. They would kill them because he thought they were inferior and didn’t deserve to be alive. They would bury them in one big grave. Today there is a stone bench there to mark the grave…” Guess, she really listened even when she seemed to be staring into space and looking bored.
One of the most incredible interactive experiences I have ever had took place at the Dialoghaus – an awareness raising experience of what it is like to be blind. For 90 minutes we were in complete darkness going through the normal activities of an individual that was blind. We walked over different terrain, stepped onto a pretend bus, walked through the park, and bought snacks at the bar. The kids enjoyed the experience so much we went back the next day for the exhibit on learning about the deaf culture. We highly recommend this social business which also has experiences to learn about the aging process. Five years later the children are still talking about these unique events.
Around the corner from the Dialoghaus is Miniatur Wunderland. As many of you may know this exhibit is an amazing exhibit of miniature settings from an airport, to farms, to cities, etc. What I learned the most from this outing is not all children will enjoy the same activities. Some activities may take a lot longer than you expect and some may be a bust. Miniature Wunderland was both – depending on which child you ask. One wanted to stay for hours and look at every detail. The other two children went to the cafeteria and played cards after 15 minutes of looking around. That’s how it goes sometimes with all groups.
While traveling with children, one of the most important things to remember is not to overschedule and just allow for a fun day of playing. Ever have those vacations when all the children talk about is the pool at the hotel? I must admit the indoor wave pool was epic!
What makes traveling to the International Convention different from just foreign travel in general with children is the diversity. You literally expose children to individuals around the world all in one place with one common goal. Children of all ages can benefit from joining you on your next International Convention trip.
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