Sisters students return from Europe

Three Sisters students have returned from Europe, where they spent two weeks this summer as United States ambassadors for the People to People program.

Thirty-seven Central Oregon students and their chaperones visited four countries. They hit the ground running after a long flight from Portland to London which marked the start of their journey. Sisters Middle School teachers Midge Rose and Dave Glick were the Sisters chaperones for the trip.

"Every year the theme is different. This was a city tour," said Rose. It was her sixth year with the kids, Glick's seventh.

Sisters High School students Remington Bruce, Walker Martin, and Lauren White each had their favorite part of the trip. For Bruce it was about the people.

"On these trips none of us really know each other," said Bruce of his second People to People experience. "We become friends together after spending 12 hours a day together for two weeks. We become a big family. In the hotels two or three students share a room and it's rarely the same people. You become friends for life."

Because they were sporting their identifying lanyards, the students met people who were either familiar with the People to People program or had themselves been participants.

"Our last day we were at a Hard Rock Café and the waitress was from Virginia," Bruce said. "She was on a youth trip once and met two older women in the Eiffel Tower. The older women had met when they were part of People to People and had been friends ever since. They promised themselves they would relive their trip, and were finally going back to Paris together."

All the students were impressed to find a little bit of America along the Thames in merry olde England. The people of Britain gave an acre of soil to the USA for a memorial dedicated to our 35th President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Nearby is a memorial to honor the Magna Carta, erected by the American Bar Association and the Magna Carta Trust.

After seeing preparation for the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, which Martin described as bigger than he could ever imagine, the students visited Warwick Castle, visited a World War II museum and went for a whirl of a ride around the London Eye, once the world's largest ferris wheel at 443 feet high.

"It was one of our very first stops," Martin said. "The seats are like giant bubbles with air conditioning and doors. There were 20 people in ours. It's very comfortable."

White was moved by her experience of Omaha Beach in Normandy, France.

"That day at Normandy, on Omaha Beach, was a more real and intense area we went to," White said. "That and the Anne Frank house in the Netherlands where we got to walk around and see her actual diary."

Walker was equally impressed by Omaha Beach, where they also saw rows of graves commemorating America's fallen heroes.

"We were able to lay a wreath, and they played the American National Anthem," Walker said, "We walked around where there were craters and bomb areas."

Rose talked about their overall experience.

"We walked the kids around Brussels a bunch; there's a church in the city square that lights up at night and they play music. Our bus driver went with us and bought all the chocolate," Rose said. "They don't have a lot of air conditioning in Europe so they always eat al fresco, sit outside. You never get tired of people-watching."

Amsterdam was the last stop on their tour and a favorite spot for almost everyone.

"The people are thin and tall. They all ride bikes - thousands everywhere," Rose said. "Bikes have the right of way and the bike lanes are as wide as traffic lanes. The kids are raised on bicycles. You see old ladies and men riding bicycles. They are a very vibrant culture."

Some of the students have already been communicating with their travel companions and are looking forward to the possibility of next year's journey to the south of France, Italy, and Spain. They'll get to see Pisa, Florence, Cannes, Barcelona and Madrid.