The GRSP Class of 1986/87
newsletter: The GRSP Class of 1986/87
newsletter:
(This letter was sent to everyone in the GRSP class of 1986/87.)
It is quite a while since we were the class of 1986/87 of the Georgia Rotary Student Program. This great program brought us together and we had an interesting, exciting and wonderful year together. This year is the 10th anniversary since we left for Georgia. And, ever since Georgia has been on my mind.
This newsletter is a result of an international collaboration project. The idea was born when I received the letter about the Georgia Rotary Student Program Home Stay '96, as it said "If you reply, please let us know what you are currently doing and also what impact your GRSP experience has on your life". Well, I was wondering, what are all the people doing ? I knew what most of the Norwegians were doing - but what about the rest of you ? The next week Lillian suddenly called me, she told me that she and Florian (yes, they are married - the only real GRSP marriage from the class of 1986/87), was visiting Norway and wanted to have a small reunion in Oslo. As you, can see on the picture in the newsletter, we where 8 GRSP students that met at Jankens place on a very short notice. After this reunion I decided to try to collect as many letters as possible from our GRSP class and I would like to say thank you to all the collectors that took care of the collections from their country. I would also say thank you to all the contributors - without you it would have been a small newsletter... Anyway, it has been a very fun project to do, good feedback and contact with quite a few of you during the collection. From the first letter I received to the last letter it took almost 6 months, but that was actually what I expected. Some people reply fast, some doesn't... . I have also received letters from a total of more than 40 people which is far more than I expected. And as you will see all the answers are from Europen countries, not because we didn't write to everybody, but in Europe it was possible to reach most of the "class". So close to 80 % of the Europeans have answered - and if you take into account that some people have been impossible to reach, it is a very god reply rate. I was also glad to hear that the writing of this book reestablished some old friendships as the, among others, French girls met in Paris. Hopefully, some of you will meet after these updated adresses.
The "home swapping program" does not have sufficient number of participants to be possible, but as you also see in the newsletters, most would like to take visitors for a night or two. That is a good way to share old memories.
As this newsletter also is sent to Georgia I will say thank you from all of the students from the class of 1986/87 to the Georgia Rotary Student Program, their contributors, the Rotary clubs, both the clubs that sent us, our host clubs and the host families. This program has been a very important part of the lives of all of us - Georgia will always be on our minds. We do also wish you all the best for the Olympics and the home stay program - I am sure it will be great. To the GRSP students that plan to go there; this book gives you the answer on which one of us who are going to be there !
Last, but
not least :
10 years is quite a while, and I think we all are more or less the same, at least inside.. It is my personal experience that you should be careful loosing hear, because if you do, you gain weight ! I'm glad that we can invite all of you to a reunion in Oslo this summer. It will hopefully be a great weekend for many of us, so why not plan a summer trip to Norway this year ? This will surely be a very special occasion, once in a lifetime. We really hope to see as many as possible of you there. And, as the accommodation is inexpensive and the weekend will be great, there is hopefully no excuse not to show up !
Kongsberg 31/4 1996
Lars Henrik Lund
Result of the newsletter collection:
As you can see in the background info, most people replied and people enjoyed reding it as well. The letters from those that replied are not digitised, but can be obtained as a paper copy from Lars. It is interesting reading, but probably just for those of us involved. Go back to homepage.
