Optional London Activity: War Horse!

I'm excited to annouce a super-cool opportunity D-Day travelers can take advantage of while in London! The theatre holds a prominent place in London culture, so why not sample some while we're there? Our tour director, Tom Quinn, has contacted me about the possibility of ordering tickets for War Horse, smash hit production that has sold out all of its shows since it opened two seasons ago.

The tale is quite appropriate for our military-history-themed tour, as it is the saga of Joey, a plow horse sold into the British army during WWI. It is an adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's novel of the same title. Most impressive about the show is the use of life-sized puppets to depict the horses and other animals in the story. See the trailer below for a sample!

The cost of the show is 30 British Pounds (about $48) and you will have to let me know no later than our May 31 meeting if you wish to attend. You will have to pay the tour director for your ticket while we're in London, so be sure to budget that cost. Since tickets have to be ordered in advance, if you sign up ahead of time YOU MUST GO (or at least pay for your ticket, because they're non-refundable). Note: we need at least 12 people to sign up in order to qualify for the group rate, otherwise the cost may be somewhat higher.

I hope we get some members of our group to sign up, because I am really excited to see this!!!

Packing Tips from Rick Steves

For D-Day Travelers anticipating a quickly approaching departure date, packing is now at the forefront of your travel thoughts. We'll discuss packing in-depth at our Final Pre-Departure Meeting on Sunday, but there are some helpful guides that you can check out in advance if you like.

One that was passed on to me by savvy traveler Karen Green is Rick Steves' Travel Tips. Some of you may recognize Rick from his popular travel shows, which often air on PBS. He is an expert traveler and specializes in European destinations. Among the guides I found most helpful:

• Packing Light and Right
• Rick's Packing List
• Women's Packing List and Packing Tips for Women

It is important to remember that no packing list will fit the needs of all travelers. You need to be aware of your own needs (medical, etc.), preferences, and the nature of the trip (e.g. no bathing suits needed for our trip). However, since this is a group tour, we'll all need to abide by the Packing Rules for our tour. So, feel free to alter the packing list to meet your needs, as long as it all fits in the space you have available (1 carry-on + 1 personal item).

Rick's site also has a number of other guides that you might find useful as you plan your trip:

• Mobile Phones in Europe
• Telephone Tips
• Making Change in Euroland - for those feeling confused about currency
• Tipping Tips from Europeans - tells how much tipping is appropriate in each country
• Outsmarting Theives
• Finding a Toilet - a bigger issue that you would expect!
• Connecting with Europe - how to make the most of your trip & not look like an "ugly American"

Thanks! More Papa Murphy's Cards Available Now!

Thanks to those of you who turned in your extras, I now have some more cards available for students who would like to sell more. Just stop by room 136 to pick up what you need.

Remember, any unsold cards and money you collect must be returned to me before you leave for summer break! (June 5th)

Help! Return extra Papa Murphy's Cards!

Italy travelers, if you have any extra Papa Murphy's cards that you do not plan on selling, could you please consider returning them to me ASAP (rather than waiting until the end of next week)? I'm out of cards and still have more travelers who would like to sell...and it may be a couple of days before I can get more.

Meet Our Tour Director: Tom Quinn

I am pleased to introduce you, D-Day travelers, to our EF Tour Director, Tom Quinn. Tom will be accompanying us through all of our travels and sharing with us his knowledge and expertise on the history of Europe!

Tom contacted me via email today, and in introducing himself, he writes:
"My name is Tom Quinn. I am Irish in Dublin, where I am married, without kids! I am rushing headlong into my middle years and after a very protean career I have been tour directing with EF since the start of this decade. I began working as a high-season tour director but since 2005 have been working full-season, from January to October. I do about 12 tours a year with high school students, college students, and adults.

Before becoming an EF td, I had a very varied background (including spells living in France and Spain) which involved lecturing at University level here in Ireland (Dublin City University and Queen's Belfast), research on a literary subject with a World War One context, and some freelance translating and interpreting, translation (French and Spanish) being my primary degree.

As for my research, in 2005 it led to the publication of a book which you can read about by following this link: http://www.mellenpress.com/mellenpress.cfm?bookid=6410&pc=9

Teaching, research, writing, and translating have all, I am afraid, gone by the wayside as EF has taken over my life. Once I started working as a td I found I loved the work, the travel, the meeting people. I particularly like the enthusiasm of the younger travellers and their excitement as they discover new worlds.

While my work with EF is very varied (I cover Ireland of course, the UK, France, Spain, Italy and Germany) I have been making an effort with EF to specialise in military history tours. Last year for example I travelled 5 times to Normandy and this year I have already been twice to Normandy. I am leaving on my 3rd Normandy trip this coming Friday. You will be number 4!

Tom and I will be in communication over the next few weeks as we continue to finalize the last-minute details of our tour! During our meeting on Sunday, I'll share with you some tips he has given us for packing and currency exchange issues.

In closing, Tom writes:
I am an experienced tour director with a strong and positive record with EF and I am looking forwards to doing my best to make this tour a successful and memorable one for you and your students. I will not be happy unless everyone who comes on this tour returns home having had the most exciting and unforgettable time.

Please communicate my very best wishes and regards to all of your students and those adults who will accompany you on tour. I am looking forwards to getting to meet and to know everyone.

We look forward to meeting you, too, Tom!

Reminder: Final MANDATORY Meeting for D-Day Travelers

I hope everyone had a relaxing Memorial Day weekend. With only two weeks to go in the school year, things are wrapping up fast! Personally, I have more to accomplish than time to do it, so it's going to be a rough couple of weeks. Eeeek.

ONE of the things I am preparing for is our final pre-departure meeting for the D-Day travelers, which will be Sunday, May 31 at 6:00 PM in the Chi-Hi cafeteria. We have a lot of lose ends to tie up, including:

• Final departure information & itinerary
• Packing rules and tips
• Money/Currency
• Emergency contact protocol
• Collecting any remaining contributions to the general fund

This meeting is required for all travelers (and, if applicable, a parent), due to the importance of the information being shared.

May 20th Lunch & Learn Meeting (for Italy Travelers) Cancelled

Italy Travelers:

I'm attending a conference on Tuesday and Wednesday this week (May 19-20), and will be unable to meet with you during lunch on Wednesday. Seeing as how we just met as a group last night, I'm assuming not too many questions will have come up by Wednesday anyhow.

If you need to see me, feel free to stop in during lunch on Thursday or Friday. Otherwise, I will post any new information about summer fundraising here on the blog.

Mrs. Welle

Italy Trip Fundraiser - Papa Murphy's Coupon Cards

Italy travelers, our last fundraiser of the school year is in the works! The Papa Murphy's Take & Bake Pizza franchise here in Chippewa Falls helps out community organizations by allowing us to sell coupon cards with special promotions on them. We sell the cards for $5, and (since they cost us $1) you earn $4 on each card sold.

I'll be picking up the cards tomorrow (Wednesday) after school, so you can feel free to stop by my room to pick them up beginning on Thursday. You will also have the opportunity to pick them up at Sunday's meeting. The D-Day travelers had success with this last spring, so I'm hoping the same will be true this time around.

The deadline to turn in any money collected from this sale (or to return any unsold cards) is June 5th (our last day of school!).

TSA Website has Helpful Packing & Planning Tips

Today during our lunch & learn meeting I introduced D-Day travelers to a helpful site for travel planning. The Transportation Security Administration - the government body that overseas security checks at airports and other locations - has a helpful website for air travelers. Included in the website are tips on:

• how to get through security lines faster (through packing and appropriate dress)
• packing liquids for carry-on
• what items are prohibited on flights
• instructions for transporting gifts
• how to pack electronic equipment

Italy Travelers: Earn $50 for Your Trip!

Italy travelers have the chance to earn $50 by working for a day at Nickelodeon Universe (formerly Camp Snoopy) in the Mall of America this summer.

The theme park has a charity program where they pay community organizations for sending volunteers to work at the park. We would need 6-10 group members in order to reserve a date to work. I just received the calendar for the summer months, and currently ANY SATURDAY OR SUNDAY in June, July, and August are open.

However, dates are filled by organizations on a first-come, first-served basis, so if you have a date in mind, please let me know ASAP and I can book it for us.

A couple of rules:

1. Volunteers must be 16+ in order to work. Adults are welcome to work in place of student travelers.
2. You must commit to a full shift (11:00 AM to 7:00 PM).
3. We'll have to arrange our own transport there (carpooling seems a good option).

Let me know what you think! Please email if you are interested: wellevk@chipfalls.k12.wi.us

Final Invoices - D-Day Trip

Those of you enrolled on the D-Day Trip likely have received (or will shortly) your final invoice from EF. This would reflect any balance that remains to be paid on your account. For example, several travelers have yet to pay for the optional excursions that were added in April.

If you are signed up for AutoPay, the statement you received is simply a notifcation of your last payment. You do not need to take any action, as the amount will be automatically charged to the credit or debit card you have registered with EF.

If you are not on AutoPay, you'll want to pay the remaining balance ASAP. As usual, you may use the remittance stub included with the invoice to send a check payment, or you may log in to your account and make the final payment via credit card.

We cannot receive our final packet (with airline tickets, hotel information, etc.) until all balances are paid, so please handle any remaining payments at your earliest convenience to expedite the process. As always, please feel free to email me with questions.