It was a special meeting, using the power of Zoom to have Daniel Camps, all the way from the Netherlands, who was an Rotary Exchange student from the Netherlands to Carmichael some 12 years ago.

Daniel gave an informative timeline of his life in a slide and told us about going to one year of high school in America and staying in the homes of 3 host families, one of which was our own members, Jay and Vicky Boatwright.

Above you can see the schematic of Daniel's life, showing 2007-8 being a student at El Camino High School, the earning of his Bachelor's and Master's degrees, and when he married his beautiful wife, Hana, also his beautiful three daughters, Misa, Sara, Vivienne and the "Question mark" is for one that is due in January (WHO I understand is already named Valerie!) Included is the photo of their first home that his family live in. The 2nd home on the time line is one that he is purchasing for his growing family. He has also created his own software company. I think it is safe to say that Daniel has done well.

Daniel critiqued (in a nice way) each of the three families he stayed with: The Boatwrights, Herricks, and the Ruffners. He said that the Boatwrights were "organized and practical, friendly, quickly I (he) felt like he was part of the family, and that they really helped (him), a 17 year old boy get settled on a different continent." Oh and he turned 18 and so they brought him to an Indian Casino, and allowed him to fly a airplane. Daniel said that the long term "take-aways" that he got from his experiences was that he developed an "American" accent in English that has helped him with communications in business; he loved the American people's way of open mindedness and he got to know people (many that had a different perspective on things) that helped him to grow as a person. He said that he made friends that he still communicates with on Facebook and has had a few visitors who have stayed with him in the Netherlands. He ended with saying about his Rotary Exchange experience: 

 

Daniel also reported about the Covid-19 experience in the Netherlands. Saying they faced similar challenges as the U.S., but less dire. The pandemic caused a similar response, stay 1.5 meters apart, wash hands with soap regularly, limited use of face mask, work remotely when possible and with a "smart lockdown" gradually becoming less restrictive, follow the science, and with a high level of care and concern for the elderly. He showed statistics that population wise, his country had somewhat less number of deaths proportionately (based on population) than the U.S. Also that they had some protests like we have had but much less....