The activity started in the afternoon as we met students outside the dorms where they lived. We sat on picnic benches chatting and overlooking the nearby lake while waiting for everyone to arrive. On the first day, our group represented the countries of Romania and Turkey. We were even joined by a representative from one of our Thai partner agencies! On the second day, we had participants from Colombia, Macedonia, and Thailand.
At the start of both Capitol tours, we were lucky enough to meet with Ms. Luanne Kostelic, a staff member from the office of Congressman Mark Pocan. Luanne welcomed the group, gave a brief overview of U.S. government, answered questions, and listened to students speak about their cultural exchange experience.
One student from Romania commented that he was surprised how everyone walking on the streets here is always smiling. He said that is a big difference from his home country and that the hospitality of Americans has helped give him a more positive outlook on day-to-day life. We then toured the Capitol building, learned about its different functions, and took lots of photos.
After the Capitol tour, we went to the Madison Mallards baseball game. Included with their tickets, each participant received a Mallards hat, hotdog, chips, and a soda. One of our participants was celebrating a birthday and was lucky enough to win a drawing for a birthday cake! Mallards stadium staff and Maynard the mascot delivered him a cake in the stands and even featured him on the stadium video board!
Toward the end of the day, one participant mentioned that she turned down working an overtime shift so she could join the activity. She said that she was happy that she did because for the rest of her life, she would always remember her first baseball game. We had a great time with our participants, who even asked if we could all end the day with a group hug!
Be sure to check out our other photos below:
Comments are closed.