by Tammy Taylor
Staff Writer
Two downtown workers are looking forward to gaining new perspectives on their professions as participants in the Rotary Club of Jacksonville’s cultural exchange program.
Lara Diettrich of the City’s Planning Department, and Hugh Palmer, a curator at the Museum of Science and History, will be spending a month in Germany. The two, along with three other Florida professionals, will live with Rotarian host families and work along side German professionals in their fields.
Their team leader, Deland attorney Astrid De Parry, will spend a month traveling with them through Germany. Noelle Schlegel, a physical therapist from St. Augustine, and Steven Crump, a farmer from Deland, round out the group.
“It is quite an interesting spread of people,” said Palmer.
Diettrich added, “We joke around saying it’s a ‘Survivor’ group, and even though our personalities are all different, the common denominator is our sense of humor.”
The trip begins April 13, when the group lands in Frankfurt. From there, they will travel to Siegen, Aachen (the birthplace of Charlemagne), Trier (a 2,000 year-old Roman city), Koblenz, Erkrath, Koln and Bonn.
While traveling in the country, the exchange participants will present Power Point presentations to German Rotary members.
“We will talk about what we do as professionals and who we are as individuals,” said Diettrich, who has been given the task of coordinating the presentations.
Both Palmer and Diettrich were introduced to the exchange program through local Rotary members.
Palmer was informed of the program by his director at MOSH, while Diettrich was told by a professor at the University of North Florida, where she is getting her master’s degree in public administration.
The two travelers are enthusiastic about staying with locals while abroad.
Diettrich, who has previously lived abroad, was an exchange student in France when she was 15 years old. She knows the experience of learning a culture through its locals.
“Any opportunity to live amongst a place’s people is the best way to travel. I don’t want to be a tourist,” she said.
Palmer, who has lived in Japan, Italy and Greece and has traveled to Turkey, Jamaica, Thailand and Hong Kong, also knows the importance of getting a local’s point of view.
“Hopefully, they’ll take us to their best restaurants, vistas and museums,” said Palmer.
Diettrich and Palmer are keeping an open mind to learning how other people approach their jobs.
“I want to learn new lighting techniques and how they catalog their items,” said Palmer. I am also hoping to observe their museum culture and how they educate their public.”
“I know how much of an impact being an exchange student made on me,” said Diettrich. “Having the same experience in an adult and professional light will make a larger impact.”
The Rotary professional exchange program is open to non-Rotary members who are fairly new to their fields and interested in studying their professions abroad.
The group is scheduled to return May 12 and will report on their experiences at the next Rotary meeting following their arrival home.