Meeting update

Thanks to all the students who came to the meeting today. Here's a top ten run-down of what was discussed:

1) Each member of the group will be getting a trip t-shirt. The shirt will be a ringer-t: white, with blue bands on sleeves and collar, with a small red logo. I need you to e-mail me and tell me what size you need. (please be aware that when you respond to these e-mails, the whole group gets the message. Try clicking on "reply to sender" or just send a separate message to me at jvanhof@gmail.com.) My wife, Jill, and I will pick up the tab for your shirts and will deliver them to your house once the school year ends.

2) I told the group that our flights and hotels are not officially confirmed, but we do have some general notes, all of which are subject to change. At least one of the hotels will have a pool - so you might want to pack a suit. All the hotels are air conditioned. Some hotels will be located on the outskirts of our destination cities, some will be centrally located. Usually, accommodations get better (and hotels get newer) as you move away from the city center. We will be flying out of Grand Rapids to Detroit on Northwest. All remaining flights will be on Lufthansa. We'll probably have layovers in Detroit and Frankfurt. We'll be meeting at the Grand Rapids airport at 3 p.m. on Friday July 11. There is a chance that we'll be split into two groups for one or more legs of the flight. If that's the case, each group will have 2 chaperons and neither group will leave the airport without the other.

3) On tour, we'll be traveling with another group. It's a group of 10 students and adults from Kansas. I am not sure yet where we'll meet up with them or who they are. This is proof that at least 10 people actually live in Kansas.

4) I talked for a long time about having the right attitude on tour. Please remember that there's a good chance that you'll never see the stuff we'll be seeing again. Make the most of the trip, and try to make as many positive memories as possible. When we have to wait for a train or a dinner reservation, use the time to take photos, journal, or talk to locals. Try each day to maintain a positive attitude and to smile twice as much as you do at home.

5) I advise women to not take purses - think about taking a backpack or day bag as your carry-on. That can then double as a purse once we're on tour. These bags are bigger and will allow you to carry more - a useful feature when you're gone from the hotel all day. Also, the deeper pockets are a deterrent to pick-pockets.

6) I reiterated that flip-flops are a bad idea.

7) Mark your luggage both with a name tag (with address) and with a clearly visible identifying mark - a ribbon, a sticker - something that makes it stand out from the 100 other bags on the luggage conveyor.

8) Get a watch. On tour if you are late, 44 other people suffer, some of whom are from Kansas (and who knows what they'll do when they're mad). Get a watch, and wear it every day, all the time. (Remember, you won't have a cell phone to use as a time piece.) If we agree to meet at a central location at a given time, arrive 5 minutes early. Early is on time, on time is late, late is unacceptable.

9) Use Google earth to check out our destination cities. The program has photos of all the things we'll be seeing.

10) There are several travelers that still need to get one or more of the following to me:
A) Tip Money ($75 - cash or checks payable to Jeremy Van Hof)
B) Passport photo copy
C) Insurance card photo copy
D) ID photo copy
E) shirt sizes

Please get these things to me ASAP - You will not get your airline tickets until I have all 5.

You can mail them to me at 5400 Blue Haven Dr. East Lansing, 48823 (e-mail for t-shirt sizes is fine).