Rotary Meetings

I've attended two Rotary meetings, my orientation, and a Rotary event with the Piena Degli Albanesi club, so I thought I would reflect on my experiences so far. I'm always terrified I will have to give some sort of speech, and that I will promptly forget all my Italian and just say where I'm from. Luckily no one really seems to care that I don't say all that much, so I will just have to impress them later on when I'm a bit more comfortable with my Italian. The problem I have frequently with the Rotary meetings here is that I struggle to do the right things at the right time, so usually when they call us up to the front, I'm so focussed on making sure there aren't any sesame seeds in my teeth, or that my pants haven't disappeared between sitting down and being called to the front, that I forget to bring something important, like my flag from my Rotary club at home. Of the three times I'm exchanged flags, I've forgotten it twice and had to run back to my seat.

Aside for the usual language problems/timing issues/social awkwardness, there are two main reasons I get really nervous when going to Rotary meetings:

1. They are really formal*. Last night's was apparently relatively informal. Which meant suits with ties, or nice sweaters for the men, and dresses, or jackets with skirts or pants for women. I don't really do formal all that well. In fact I don't think I even own clothes formal enough for these events. Plus my hair is even more of a shaggy mess right now, so it does not do formal. At all.

2. I have to wear my Rotary blazer. I don't really mind my Rotary blazer. It's just that the colour is just a bit too bright, and it doesn't fit all that nicely, it was just the best I could find. But, an ill-fitting, too bright blazer does not say elegant, and well, see problem one. Also, the only jacket I have that fits over my Rotary blazer is my rain coat (again see problem one), so to w

ear my nicer jacket, I have to take off my blazer and carry it. Which looks awkward.

Last night's Rotary meeting was also a beer tasting, which was pretty interesting. Each of the four courses came with a certain beer, and the announcer went into great detail about each one. First course was an egg dish with ham, second was risotto, third was meat and lentils, and fourth was a beer gelatin, with deep fried fruit. I wasn't a huge fan of the beer gelatin and could not figure out why you'd take wonderful, delicious, fresh fruit, and fry it.

Here is a photo from Orientation. Note the lovely blazer. And how I'm at least a foot taller than the other exchange students.

My flags. Going clockwise from top: Piena Degli Albanesi, Siclian flag (note the awesome three legs coming off of a head with red snakes for hair, and green wings. wicked), Palermo East, and Palermo. My Rossland one is in the middle. The Rossland one is a lot smaller, and less elaborate than the others, but I still really like it. I feel like it reflects Rossland nicely.

*Yes, I'm aware that I sound like a bit of a small town hick. That's because I pretty much am a small town hick. The last big city I lived in was Tucson when I was four.