Preparing for Departure: T-90 Days

Less than 90 days until District 7610 GSE Team is South Korea bound!  It is hard to believe how time is flying by as we prepare to leave.

This past weekend the team traveled to Greensboro, NC for our first training.  It was an intense 2 days filled with cross-cultural training, learning about Rotary, and of course networking (the food was pretty good too). 

Thanks to our fearless leader (who also happens to be fiercely organized) we already had our casual team outfits and were ready to start pinning our many new pins to our vests this weekend.

L-R: Colleen, Brandon, Nate, Crystal, Candace

Aside from the normal things, like discussing presentations, gifts, and planning our vocational visits, there is much to do behind the scenes before we leave.  I found that out today first hand. 

Today was filled with calls to insurance companies to insure that I had the right coverage for medical, life, and repatriation of remains should something happen abroad.  The next stop was www.state.gov for some research on passport and visa requirements.  Lucky me…I have to do a renewal since my name has changed since my last passport issue.  Double lucky for me, my striking good looks haven’t changed much in eight years.  And yes, one must have a sense of humor about these sort of things.

New pictures for the Passport.

 After the passport requirements were shipped out it was onto the doctor to find out what vaccinations I needed.  It turns out that this is not as simple as it seems.  We knew that Hepatitis A, Tetanus, and Typhoid were necessary for me.  The mystery came when we needed to check on boosters for Polio, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Hepatitis B.  A lot of these are common immunizations in the U.S. as a child, but as we get older and look at international travel it is a good idea to have antibody levels tested and get whatever booster shots you may need.  I’ll be waiting for some blood-work results before getting any more shots (whew).

Trying to put on a brave face (but OUCH that hurt)!

 In addition to the typical shots, I was issued prescriptions for Ciprro (for any GI issues abroad) and a Z-Pak (for any respiratory infections).  And while we may have all joked about getting a sleeping aid to manage the jet-lag from the 12 hour time difference, I was actually brave enough to ask my doctor for something to help in this arena, and she was happy to oblige.

Activity for all of us is ramping up and is sure to continue as we get closer.  We hope you will stay tuned to the blog to follow us in our travels.  And again….THANK YOU…to all of the wonderful Rotarians who are making this trip possible for all of us, and to our employers who are letting us have the time to go.