The following is the written transcript from the teleconference, which took place in April 2006. For Webcast text with sound (RealPlayer file), go to the National Youth Leadership Network website to download it at: http://metadot.nyln.org/index.pl?id=6466&isa=Category&op=show. If you have RealPlayer and speakers you can open this file and listen to the teleconference or read the words as they move across the screen of your computer. 

Presenters:  Lisa McMahon, J. Paul Chase, Alice Ho, Emily Holmes, Melissa Mitchell, Kara Sheridan, Todd Couture and Shanickey Kirkwood.

   
 OPERATOR:  Thank you very much for your patience in holding today.  Be aware each of your lines is in a listen-only mode.  The conclusion of the presentation we will e be opening the floor for questions and we'll give instructions at that time for procedures to follow if you'd like to ask a question.  I'll turn the conference over to Mr. Todd Couture.  

 TODD:  Thank you very much.  Hi, and welcome to tonight's teleconference entitled International Travel:  A journey to a new beginning.  My name is Todd Couture and I'm a member of the National Youth Leadership Network membership committee.  I'll be your moderator tonight. I would like to take a brief moment to tell you a little bit about the call.  The National Youth Leadership Network is conducting this teleconference for support for the Independent Living Research Utilization or ILRU. This will be one hour and 30 minutes long teleconference.

During the first hour, the speakers will answer questions that were randomly picked concerning international travel and opportunities.  The last 30 minutes of the teleconference will be for you to tell us a little bit about your experience.  This question is for Emily Holmes, J. Paul Chase, Alice Ho and Kara Sheridan and Melissa Mitchell.  At this time I would like to inform you -- sorry -- at this time Emily, could you introduce yourself.    

 OPERATOR:  Mr. Couture, it seems Ms. Holmes has disconnected at the moment and she would be back in to the call in just a moment.    

 TODD:  We also have J. Paul Chase.  J. Paul, are you there?     
 PAUL:  Yes.     
 TODD:  Alice Ho.     
 ALICE:  Do you want me to introduce myself?     
 TODD:  I guess not.  Melissa Mitchell.     
 MELISSA:  Hello.     
 TODD:  and Kara Sheridan.     
 KARA:  Hello.     
 EMILY:  I'm back.  Sorry.  

 TODD:  and that was Emily Holmes.  The last 30 minutes of the conference will be for participants to ask the speakers questions.  When the speakers have answered all the randomly picked questions, the telephone lines will be opened, giving you a chance to ask the speakers questions. For those of you joining on the web, you can send your questions to Lisa McMahon at mcmahonl@pdx.edu.  If at any time during the call you have technical problems, please call Elizabeth Guerro at (503)725-9614. At the end of the speaker session, you will be given instructions by an ILRU operator on what buttons to press on your telephone to voice your questions.

Today we are joined, as I said before, by Melissa Mitchell of Mobility International, Emily Holmes, also a participant with Mobility International, Kara Sheridan from the Paralympics and J. Paul Chase an NYLN governing board member as your fabulous guest speakers. This is the point in which you will -- I would like to take a moment to thank you all for coming tonight.  Please remember that you will not be able to ask questions until the end of the speaker's session.  So please try to remember your questions.  We are now ready to begin asking the speaker's the randomly chosen questions.  Each speaker will have up to three minutes to discuss his or her answers to the questions.  Can you tell us a little bit about Mobility International, Melissa?    

 MELISSA:  Yes, I can.  I'm Melissa Mitchell.  I work for Mobility International USA and the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange.  Mobility International is a 25-year-old nonprofit that has been working since its inception to make sure that people with  disabilities are included in international exchange opportunities and other international arenas where people with disabilities are often left out such as international development.   Most of our staff are people with disabilities, and all of our staff have international experiences on their record.      

 TODD:  Okay, thank you very much.  Why do you feel that international exchange is important?  This question is for Emily.     

 EMILY:  I'm here.  Sorry.  I feel that international exchange is important because young adults need to go and visit other places with different cultures and ideas.  You know, we've all learned about, and read about many places and things out there, but to actually experience them is the best type of learning tool.  It also gives an appreciation for the culture and allows us to reflect on our own country and its culture and ideas.  I know that when I was in Japan this last summer for two and a half weeks, it really made me see things about the U.S. that I really hadn't noticed before after being in Japan.  Also seeing a picture of a place is one thing and actually seeing it with your own eyes is another or learning a bunch of facts about a culture is one thing, but actually living that culture is another and it's like the best kind of teacher that there is. And it just -- there is nothing else like it and it's one of the most incredible things ever and you just -- the best way to understand it is to experience it.     

 TODD:  Okay, thank you, Emily.  Kara. 

 KARA:  Hi, my name is Kara Sheridan.  I thought I'd introduce myself really fast.  I'm 26 from Miami, Florida.  My disability is osteogenesis and perfecta.  So I use a wheelchair.  Right now I'm a Ph.D. student so my travel is limited to school breaks, but most of my travel is unique because it has centered around competitive swimming.  I went to the Paralympics in Athens and that was my first major international trip.  So that's how mine is a little bit different, but I completely agree with Emily that it's a unique learning experience. 

And I really enjoy learning about the differences and the similarities across the disability culture when I travel. So I think it also provides me challenges that I just can't find in the United States and might not necessarily choose, but the challenges give me a chance to learn about myself and grow in different ways and I've also made friends and that's definitely a positive. My trips have been unique because I usually travel with anywhere from ten to over 400 other people with disabilities.  So it creates a unique situations.  I know when we landed in Greece there were over 150 wheelchairs to unload from the plane, put the wheels on, figure out whose wheels were whose, luckily they had planned ahead because in previous trips they forgot to lable the wheels one year and that was a nightmare.  You learn as those planning organizers learn the next trip they labeled the wheels and it still takes a really long time to put together 150 wheelchairs though.  So from international exchange everyone learns to be patient and problem solve, think ahead and work together.  So I think it's definitely a learning experience that everybody should try to take advantage of.  

 TODD:  Great, thanks, Kara.  Alice.     

 ALICE:  I just think -- well, let me introduce myself a little bit.  My name is Alice Ho, I'm 25.  A live in Arizona and I just recently graduated from Arizona State University.  And I've been on a lot of different international exchange or travel experiences and I think they are so valuable.  You really get to discover who you are by finding out who you are not and I think just going to a different culture and living it and just breathing it and taking it all in, it really kind of influences who you are.  I think every travel experience has influenced who I am today and I would greatly encourage anybody to go and try it.     

 TODD:  Great.  Thank you.  This next question is for Melissa.  What types of opportunities are there for international experiences?     

 MELISSA:  Well, the types of international experiences that exist are many and very diverse, as diverse as the types of people who tend to go on international exchange.  The most common type of opportunity that our listeners are familiar with is the traditional study abroad where while you're in high school or college you go on a trip in order to further your studies in say, a foreign language or the arts or another subject like that and most people are familiar with that. Another type would be international volunteerism where you go and travel abroad to participate in some sort of community service or other volunteer type activity, things that would fall into this nature would be service learning projects, volunteer projects where you work with a community and maybe help build a school or things like that.     

Another opportunity that exists would be international work opportunities where you actually go to another country and you work and have a paying job and another really common opportunity that people undertake is international internships.  So they are in high school or college and they need an internship in whatever subject they happen to be majoring but they decide, because they have an internship, they'll make it a little more interesting and do it in another country.  Those are the most common ones.  There are many other ones, some for international visiting and some for international research for people who are involved in the sciences, some for teaching abroad such as teaching English or other subjects and also professional programs whereby you participate in the exchange with professionals in your same field in another country.     

 TODD:  Right.  Thank you very much.  To the next  question:  To those of you who have had international experiences, can you tell us a little bit about your experience. First, Emily.  

 EMILY:  Hi.  First I'd like to introduce myself.  I didn't do that at the beginning.  My name is Emily Holmes.  I'm 24 years old and I am a student at Western Oregon University and I'm in my sixth year and majoring in history.  And let's see here, my international experience -- I went to Tokyo, Japan for two and a half weeks with Mobility International this last summer and my physical disability is Turrets Syndrome, and when I got to Japan, I learned that no one had ever heard of my disability before, none of the Japanese people, none of the other delegates that I was going with and it was kind of tough at first because all the other delegates had someone that they could relate to somehow with their disability and I didn't.  But after awhile I decided to take advantage of the situation and educate everyone on my disability, so that was a very interesting situation, but I ended up actually being kind of glad that it happened.    

 Interestingly -- let's see here -- the Japanese people that Mobility International USA was with, even though they didn't understand my disability, especially in the beginning, they wanted to learn about it and understand it because they wanted me to have the best time that I could.  Also with my hidden disabilities, I just let everyone know that they might have to repeat what they said or explain things in detail if I didn't understand, and one interesting thing about Japanese -- the Japanese people -- one interesting thing about how they reacted to me was if we were, let's say, riding on the subway and I made a noise, the Japanese people will just completely ignore it or look up, glance up and then go back to whatever they were doing, usually reading, was very different from being here in the U.S. where many people turn around and stair and ask out loud where is that noise, what is it?  And the Japanese people just pretty much ignored it.     

And finally, an interesting thing about Japan and disability is that the Japanese people are very helpful and they want to be very helpful and this includes helping people with disabilities, even helping a person in a wheelchair on the subway.  The problem is like Americans with disabilities, many Japanese people with disabilities don't want help, yet in Japan if you try and help someone and that person says no thank you, that is considered to be insulting in Japan and so it's a very -- kind of a problem where Japanese people don't know when to help, if they should help, and whatnot because, you know, they don't want someone to say, 'no, thank you' to them.  So thank you.   

 TODD:  Okay.  Great, thanks, Emily.  Before we have J. Paul Chase answer this question, I would like to take a moment to let him introduce himself.  J. Paul...    

 PAUL:  Hello.  I'm J. Paul Chase.  My physical disability is autism.     
 TODD:  Okay, great.  Can you tell us a little bit about  your experience in international travel?     
 PAUL:  Well, lately I've been going to the UK, including England, Ireland and Scotland.  And I say it really helps you find out who you are.   

 TODD:  Okay, great.  Thanks, J. Paul.  Alice...

 ALICE:  Yeah, I actually went on an England exchange program in 2003.  I think the most incredible things happened, you know, Mobility International selected 17 individuals for my UK trip and it was kind of awkward because I was going away to a foreign country with 17 other people that I did not know, that did not know my disability and I did not know their disability.  And at first it was, you know, very uncomfortable and there was just -- you know, I was concerned about how I was going to deal with my disability in a different country, but also having to figure out how I could help and learn about other disabilities.     

So, you know, when I got there, there was just a lot of opportunities to learn about other people's disabilities and really realize how we can help each other as well as, you know, how different countries look at disabilities and, you know, in the overall sense I just met so many good friends and that was one of the best experiences of my life.  Thank you.  

 TODD:  Wonderful.  And Melissa. 

 MELISSA:  This is Melissa.  As I said before, I work for Mobility International, but before I started working for Mobility International I went on two different international experiences.  The first one being a traditional study abroad experience where I went with my university and a group of students from my university to France for 30 days to study the French language and live with host families and experience France firsthand.  And I would have to say that when I went on my international experience, I was 21 years old and I'm 27 now, so it's about six years ago, and I learned a lot about myself and what I was truly capable of when I had to be and when there was no one around me who necessarily knew me or knew my disability and what it meant as far as what I was and wasn't capable of.  

And so it presented me with a unique opportunity to put some of my skills to the test, both my ability to communicate in French, but also my ability to explain my disability to another person of another culture with a different language and my ability to cope with problems such as my wheelchair getting extremely damaged on the flight over and I don't think that there would have been another environment that would have allowed me to learn all of those things at the same time with the same amount of clarity as was involved when I was traveling because either I figured it out or something else didn't happen.  In other words, either I figured out what to do with my chair or I went home. Either I figured out how to communicate with the person or I just didn't get what I needed.  So I thought it was very valuable in that sense.  It's so valuable that I went on another exchange the next year.     

 TODD:  Great.  Thank you, Melissa.  And finally, Kara.     
 KARA:  Okay, well, again, on my international travels have been related to swimming, so I've had limited time outside kind of freely to explore the places I've been.  But I like that better in a way because I also had chances that other people who had to plan their own itinerary haven't had.  I guess you have to figure out your own needs and wants though before you travel because if were you the type of person that really wanted to do a lot of sight-seeing, you definitely wouldn't be happy traveling internationally with a competitive team.  So basically to go on the trips that I have, you have to make a certain time or a certain place in my case in swimming in the world and then you're selected for a team for a particular meet.  So each team is selected.  The last team I was selected for we went to Manchester, England.  So I got to spend about half a day out in the area that we were just wherever we could walk from the hotel and that's interesting because, again, it's not like I could get out my book of England and pick my favorite sight-seeing but I got to make the most of just what was there and I think in some ways that's the best way to actually see what a country is truly like rather than seeing all the tourist places.     

The trip before that, that I went to, the major one was Athens, Greece for the 2004 Paralympics and I lived there for about a month.  We were housed in the Olympic village and that was a lifetime experience.  Not only did I get to experience a  little bit of Greece in the two half days that I got to explore, but I also got to learn about so many other athletes from all over the world because we lived together.  We ate together.  We traveled together on the bus and we talked in the laundry tent, so it was just pretty much intensive for a month of just all different people.     

So most competitions in Paralympic sports either start later or end earlier so that allows for the athletes to have a few days in the country without competition to travel, but swimming is very long, so we actually had two half days.  But again, like I said, I got opportunities that even some of the people who had the chance to go explore more on their own in Athens didn't have the chance to do just because our team was so large.  Even the bus rides like to the pool, the scenery is not anything like -- I think Emily stated -- it's not like anything like looking at pictures.  In fact, a lot of the preconceptions that you think a place is going to be like before you go seems like they almost all turn out differently.  So my international experiences have been a lot alike because it's all centered around swimming but I don't think any of the places I've been have been similar in a lot of ways.  So I've learned from each of them.      

TODD: Wonderful.  Next, at this time, I would like to inform you that it is getting close to the time for you, the participants, to ask your questions.  So if you are joining by phone, please have your questions ready and for those who are joining on the web, please E-mail your questions.  E-mail your questions to Lisa McMahon.  Again, her E-mail address is mcmahonl@pdx.edu. Can each of you speak about a few resources that are available to assist someone in planning an international experience that will further progress someone's goals.  First, this question is directed towards Emily.   

 EMILY:  Hi.  There are a variety of different resources that are available.  First off, if you go to college, your study abroad office at your university and that is the first place to definitely check out.  Also you should, you know, read about different places in books that you're interested in going to.  That will definitely tell you if you really want to go there.  Also, I'd recommend reading about how the seasons are in those different places because, you know, if you have the choice, there are certain countries you don't want to go to in the summertime or the wintertime because it's incredibly hot or cold. If you know someone from the country you're interested in going to, talk with them.  If you know someone who has been to the country you're interested in going to, talk with them.  And also I would recommend contacting the disability organization that your disability is with, like I have Turrets Syndrome so I would contact the national association and ask if they know of anyone who has traveled internationally that has Turrets who I could talk to.  Thanks.

 TODD:  Great.  Thank you.  Next is J. Paul.  I'm sorry, Kara.  I made a mistake on that.    

 KARA:  Well, for me, I definitely wouldn't suggest going with just the goal of international trips because it would take a really long time to qualify for those and it's a lot of work.  You might not pay for the trip monetarily, but you definitely put in a lot of hard work to pay for it, but if it's something that you're already interested in, meaning the competitive aspects in addition to the travel, then it's definitely an experience that's worthwhile and for me it was a great goal to work towards in addition to getting better in my sport.  It was something to look forward to if I could qualify for these teams, I could also get to go out of the country.     

There are several organizations, if you're under 21, the (Inaudible) sports foundation is an excellent place to get training and also they help athletes work their way up to the Paralympic level.  Organizations that I've personally been involved with are Challenge Athletes Foundation and the U.S. Paralympics, and I've included both of these links if you go to the teleconference discussion page.  I think it was with your registration information.  The links are available there.     

I learned a lot, both from these organizations, working with them, but I learned a great deal from blogs.  I check on them regularly.  I included a few of those, too, in my recommended links, but there are several out there that are maintained and updated regularly by travelers with disabilities.  So it's really a nice way to check out a place. Some blogs are focused on an entire destination, say the accessibility in one country.  Others are focused on just individual issues that you might need to think about related to more disability specific.  So I would learn from those and of course when you can, it's always best to learn from people that you can actually interact with.  A lot of the helpful tips that I learned in a lot of ways I think can make or break your trip or a part of your trip by just talking to other people. In my case, I had veterans Paralympic centers that talked to me about everything like managing the bathroom in a 14 hour flight or how to overcome jetlag.  So there is a lot of interesting things you might not find in a traditional book that are really important for your trip planning.  So I would say to get out there and talk to people before you go and after to share your experiences with other people planning to go.   

 TODD:  Okay, great.  Thank you.  Next, Melissa.  

 MELISSA:  Hi, this is Melissa.  We have -- meaning Mobility International and the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange -- loads of resources for people who are thinking about going on any type of international exchange program. If you go on the discussion page for this teleconference, you will find that I have posted a PowerPoint on international exchange and the benefits of international exchange for youth with disabilities.  So you will find a lot of resources there and some free downloads, including a book entitled:  Pathways to International Careers, a Guide for People with Disabilities, which is free and downloadable.  And another book which unfortunately is not free, is 'Survival Strategies for Going Abroad, a Guide for People with Disabilities'.  We all know that there are lots of guide books out there and how-to travel books, but there just weren't any good ones out there that talked specifically about people with disabilities and international exchange.  So we here at Mobility International got together with about 20 writers and international travelers with disabilities and pulled together a book detailing how to do it, how to find the right program, how to choose the right program, how to decide where you want to go, what to expect when you get there, what some of the common problems people face, and some disability-specific resources are in there as well, such as traveling with medication, traveling with wheelchairs, voltage power converter issues, all of these kind of things that affect people with disabilities when they travel.     

So I would recommend that.  I would recommend a website which is also on the PowerPoint, but I will give it for those of you who do not have access.  It's miusa.org, and on that website you will find an online searchable database of exchange programs and a separate database of worldwide organizations for people with different disabilities.  So thinking about going to a country and you are blind or deaf or whatever your disability is, and you want to get in touch with people who have your disability in that country, you can look and see who would be the best people for you to talk to and make your decisions that way.     

Last, but not least, we host a peer-to-peer network of over 300 individuals with disabilities who have been to numerous countries and those of you who are interested can contact that network via our website and request to be matched with a peer based on destination, disability, destination and built, and you can talk to a person who has your same disability who has been where you want to go and ask all of those questions that are running around in your head. So those are my main resources that I would recommend.    

 TODD:  Okay, great.  Thank you very much.  Now on to our final question.  Can each of you tell us how having an international experience on your resume helped you to achieve your goals.  For example, helped you with career opportunities and so on.  First we will start with Emily.

 EMILY:  Let's see here, I put my international experience on my resume for sure and it -- so far I haven't really used my resume since I got back from Japan, but I am definitely putting it on there and I would like to just briefly address the reasons as to why it is important to put something like that on your resume.  And that is that many employers are impressed and drawn to those who have international experience on their resume.  It shows that -- me putting this on my resume shows I've experienced a different culture with different ideas.  Also I have participated in international experiences has made me more open-minded about the country I visited but also about where I live and I have learned to be more flexible, patient, understanding, keeping a good sense of humor, willing to adapt, continue to be willing to ask for help and employers know these are the kinds of things that happen to people when they have an international experience.     

Employers may ask questions about my international experience to learn more about me because I learned more about myself when I was in Japan.  People usually do learn about themselves when they are in another country and, finally, employers may be impressed that I grabbed an opportunity, especially at a young age, to get out of the U.S. and travel because there are many people who never leave this country and also that I've traveled internationally with a disability.  And I just remembered one thing that a goal -- that this has sort of directed me in -- and that is that I am -- I haven't achieved yet, but I am getting there, and that is I have always been an advocate for people with disabilities in general, but I've never really been an advocate for people with Turrets, and so this experience, being that I had to educate so many people in Japan about Turrets has got me motivated to become more of an advocate tore people with Turrets in the U.S. and that is my goal and I'm getting close to achieving its and having this international experience has helped me realize this and work towards it.  Thank you.    

 TODD:  Thank you, Emily.  Alice.     

 ALICE:  Yeah, well, as I graduate in December, I've been doing a lot of job hunting and interviewing and I find a lot of employers are, you know, really looking upon that.  I majored in business, so you know, business is a dynamic industry and, you know, business is really going global.  So having cultural skills, having experiences, knowing, you know, a different country and just having experiences is a huge asset, especially for me.  So I think that just, you know, having this on your resume kind of gives you the opportunity to draw different experiences that you might have when employers ask you a lot of behavioral questions.  You know, international travel really allows you to draw a lot of experiences from those who answer those questions to show your character, to show, you know, the initiative that you took and just really, wanting to learn.  So I think it's phenomenal when it comes to your resume and finding a job.  Thank you.  

 TODD:  Okay, great.  J. Paul.         
 PAUL:  Yes.     
 TODD:  Yes, can you talk a little bit about your experience and what it was like having that on your resume?     
 PAUL:  Well, can you please repeat?  I'm sorry, I have a bad signal.  

 TODD:  Yes, the question was can you tell us about how having an international experience on your resume helped you achieve your goal as a career opportunity or so far and also share a little bit more about your experience. 

 PAUL:  Well, it helped -- well, for one instance it definitely helped my resume and being asked to speak more and more and more further abroad.  (Inaudible).  And when I went to the UK, the people there were just unconditional, you know, open-minded.  They didn't even care.  They just accepted me.  That's all.     

 TODD:  I'm sorry, J. Paul.  We didn't hear you too well on that.  Could you say that one more time.   

 PAUL:  Okay.  Well, I was saying the people -- when I went to the UK, the people there were just so unconditional.  And then they didn't even regard -- let's say, they didn't regard disabilities, they simply regarded you for you.  With regard to some of your orientation or origin and it definitely helped my resume.  I've been asked to speak further -- asked to speak in other places also.     

 TODD:  Okay.  Great, thank you, J. Paul.  Now, Kara.    

 KARA:  Well, for me, I'm working on my Ph.D. so I'm not yet in the full swing of job hunting, but I definitely am looking for jobs while I'm finishing school.  I think it's been a great ice-breaker or conversation-starter, which is something important during networking especially when people might be more awkward in job settings around me because I do have a disability.  So this is a great thing that everyone can relate to, whether or not they've been out of the country, it's something that most people have some interest in talking about.  Whether they want to share where they'd like to go or where they've been or traveling stories.  So I think that while it seems small, an interesting tool like this to use during networking can really be an important thing while you're looking for a job.     

Also for me it seems to get the message across that I tried both in my personal life and during advocacy that I try to show to society that there are strengths and assets that I definitely see in my life that I have gained because I'm a person with a disability.  I think sometimes society mostly focuses on our challenges and obstacles and for some reason sharing about my Paralympics experience seems to get through to people since this is something I couldn't have done if I didn't have a disability. So for me the traveling has directly helped me achieve my goals. I've had to develop planning skills and you've left something at home and it's different when you're out of the country.  I've had to come out of my shell and speak up.  I learned that sometimes I  need to be assertive and at times loud on certain matters, especially related to my disability.  My bones break easier than most, so at certain times when people were trying to help me, especially if there was a language barrier in place, sometimes I needed to be very assertive and loud if they were about to do something that could injure me.     

So that's been skills that I've gained that I've applied to my search for a job and professional development, but it's also really helped me in my advocacy and the support of legislation and developing relationships with legislators.  And this is kind of unique to my experiences, but there are traditions that before the Paralympians meet with their legislators and are wished good luck and that has helped me establish relationships both on my local, state and national legislators that I got to chance to meet and if I had already met these people to talk with them on a different basis more personal.  Their guards were more down. They knew I wasn't coming in for an appointment that day to get my point across on a bill or lobby or to oppose something.  It was just the chance to relate to them in a different way and for me it's helped build relationships that I'm able now to communicate with those legislators about issues of advocacy.  I think it's better because we've built that relationship and the same can be true because I think that international travel is so unique for people with disabilities.  So I'm sure that legislators and people in government positions would be interested in hearing about those things.  So it's a good way to gateway into the relationships you're establishing for advocacy.    

 TODD:  Great, thanks, Kara.  And Melissa. 

 MELISSA:  Again, this is Melissa, and I would say that my international experiences, both my study abroad and my teach abroad, have been absolutely one of the most valuable things on my resume, and that being said, I'm a person who has finished college and has two degrees and has a government internship.  But even with all that stuff, before I put my international experiences on my resume, I just wasn't getting my foot in the door very well.  Or if I was, when I showed up in a wheelchair as a person with a journalism degree, they sit there and go, uh-huh, yeah, you're going to be a reporter.  Right.  That's possible. We think not.  Bye.  And so I ended up going back and putting the experiences on my resume and really trying to be very specific about what the experiences taught me as far as what they call verbal skills which are skills that all employers want and need and are looking for and they set the people that read resumes to look for these types of skills such as flexibility, such as good time management, such as budgeting skills, the ability to communicate cross culturally and interculturally.  The ability to problem solve.  The ability to adjust and adapt and my international experiences, more than anything else on my resume, showed people that despite the fact that I'm in a wheelchair, that I'm very good at these things and I can do these things in an environment where I don't necessarily speak the language that everyone else speaks and they don't necessarily understand me or my disability, but I managed to go not once but twice and also teach my native language to people while I was there and deal with problems and all of those things.  And it's allowed me to find more opportunities. 

In other words, expand the type of employment opportunities I was looking at because I've traveled and because I've had a chance to talk to people and see what their interests are and explain my own interests and get a deeper understanding of what interests that I have as far as work and why those things interest me.  It helped me to better target my job searches to be more open, to opportunities as they came along.  I only got the job here at MIUSA completely by accident. Someone sent me the job announcement.  They said this is perfect for you.  You should apply for this.  They should write your name across the top of the paper and mail it to you directly.  Because I had my international experience in my background and because I have a background of doing disability advocacy, when I looked at Mobility International's website in the job description, I decided that that person was absolutely correct and I took the risk and applied for the job and less than a month later I had picked up and moved my whole life and started a new job that now allows me to have full benefits and be off of the Social Security system and all of the other support systems that I needed to use to get through school.         

So, for me, having that on my resume has allowed me to do things that I would have never thought I could, but also allowed me to achieve my goals of living independently of being able to support myself, of having proper medical care and I wouldn't trade it for the world.     

 TODD:  Great, thank you, Melissa.   

 MELISSA:  You're welcome.  

 TODD:  and thank you all.  Well, this ends the speaker's session of the call.  Now we will begin our participant's session in which the speakers answer the questions asked by the participants.  I will now turn this call over the Shanickey Kirkwood who will be your moderator for the session.    

 SHANICKEY:  Thank you, Todd.  Ladies and gentlemen, the phone lines are now open to the participants.  Before asking the question, please state your name and if you have a certain speaker that you would like to answer your question, please say their name at the beginning of your question.  Again, the speaker's for tonight are Melissa Mitchell, Kara Sheridan, J. Paul Chase, Emily Holmes, and Alice Ho.  I will now turn the call over to an ILRU operator who will tell you what buttons to use on your telephone to ask your questions.  

 OPERATOR:  Thank you, Ms. Kirkwood.  If you'd like to ask a question, you may do so by dialing star followed by 1 on your touch tone phone.  So if you'd like to ask a question, star then 1 on your touch tone phone to do so.  And we'll take your     questions in the order in which we receive them and if someone has already answered your question before you have the chance to ask it, you can dial star 2 to take yourself off the questioning queue.  But star one if you have a question and we do have a question at this time.  Our first question is from Ben Bloomgren.    

 CALLER:  Yes, this is Ben.  I don't necessarily have a speaker in particular, but how about obtaining money for international opportunities that might not be out in the college environment.  Because the way it's looking right now, if I go abroad, I'm going to have to do it after I graduate.  How do I go about getting money that way?  Thank you.     

 MELISSA:  Ben, if you don't mind.  This is Melissa Mitchell with Mobility International.  I'll try and answer your question.  There are a lot of different ways to fund your international experience.  There is the traditional fund-raising route where we know people who have done letter writing campaigns, who have had car washes, who have had garage sales, all those kind of things, and there are also groups such as Rotary International and Sister Cities and different groups that have funds for people to go abroad, and last but not least, there are specific opportunities for people with particular disabilities to access funds and grant moneys for international experiences.     

And if you're planning to go after college, I would highly recommend looking at the internship route or the international  work route where you may actually get paid to go over there.  So that would be my suggestion and once again look at our website which is miusa.org and there is a very long download on funding and, I don't know, it's about 50 pages now of funding opportunities.  (whistle).     

 CALLER:Thank you.  

 MELISSA:  There is no lack of money.  It will just take you time to find the right place to fund your experience.      
 SHANICKEY:  Would anybody else like to answer?  If not, we'll take another telephone question.     
 OPERATOR:  Our next question comes from Michael (Inaudible). 

 CALLER:  My question is along the same lines as the previous question, but I'm in college at the University of North Dakota and I'm trying to work through vocational rehabilitation and Social Security and my question is how do I basically work them to get them to understand the fact that I would like to go to Australia and some of the educational opportunities that are available in Australia you just cannot get here such as studying in a rain forest, things of that nature.     

 MELISSA:  Well, once again, Mobility International had an initiative a couple of years back in an effort to educate the powers that be of Social Security and voc rehab about international experiences and their repercussions as far as increasing employability goes and there is a brochure that's  downloadable on our website on that very topic.  And for anyone who is considering (Inaudible) programs and for those of you not is your what that is, it's the plan for achieving self-support through Social Security. 

In other words, your plan to get off Social Security and have a job, and vocational rehabilitation. Those two program goals are pretty much one and the same.  They care about anything that will increase your likelihood of being able to become gainfully employed and off of their systems.  So when you go to voc rehab and speak to your counselor, you need to look for international experiences that, one, are not available in the U.S; two, will increase your employability and directly relate to the field that you're going into; and argue on those points and be prepared -- know a lot of information -- and number three, make sure that you will get accepted into the program.  In other words, if you go to Social Security or voc rehab and you ask them for money for an international program, and then you don't get accepted in that program, what do you do? 

So make sure that you've started the application process into the program you want to go on and you feel pretty good about your chances to get accepted.  So that is a step that a lot of people forget.  They start looking at accessibility in countries and looking for money and they haven't even applied to the program they want to go on. So that would be my advice on that particular question.     

 SHANICKEY:  Okay.  Next we will take a web question.     
 LISA:  This question is from Michael.  Can you hear me     all right?     
 SHANICKEY:  Yes.    

 LISA:  the question is what is your favorite memory in whatever country you were in and what made you feel like that your disability was not an issue?  Did that make sense?    

 ALICE:  Yes.  This is Alice.  I'd like to answer that. When I was in England, we had to walk to a lot of places and my favorite memory when we were walking to a performance studio in Portsmouth it started rainning and then pouring.  And I just had so much fun frolicking in the rain with so many people I didn't know and we were stuck in an awkward position and I just remember that as, you know what, we're all travelers, all in the same shoes and that was just one of my best memories.     

 KARA:  I have one, too.  Actually mine have been in England, too, because I was only there for about three days, but we also had to walk a lot of places when we were there if it wasn't related directly to our swim meet.  So a lot of the girls on my team had gotten excited about going shopping in England and so we got all ready and we were there last May, but it was still pretty cold there.  So we got all ready and dressed in our coats and we found this place we had heard was great shopping and the people in the hotel lobby had told us we would really like it and we got ready and we walked and it ended up being much farther than we thought it would be.  It was like a TREK through -- like over railroad tracks and luckily, our team is very diverse.  So we have some people who can walk and can lift the chairs over and so we made it there after a very long walk and we knew the stores were going to close, but by the time we got there, the people -- I don't think the people in the lobby had realized what we were wanting to shop for.  So basically we made the whole TREK for a Wal-Mart and I can't remember what the name of it was, but they have a different name for Wal-Mart in England, but it was exactly the same thing as Wal-Mart.  You couldn't even find like a post card from England or there was no signs that we were not in an American Wal-Mart.  But still it was a good memory because of the walk over there and the friends and I mean it was funny and we survived the trip back.  But sometimes I think the best memories come when you don't expect them.  They are definitely not necessarily planned.  So that was mine. 

 EMILY:  This is Emily, and I have a lot, but one of them -- when we were in Japan, there were 12 delegates through MIUSA and there were a ton of Japanese volunteers that were with us and the ratio was very funny.  There was usually one delegate for at times seven or eight Japanese people.  And the Japanese people were so happy and so excited for us to be there and they wanted to show us everything.  And so it would be very funny because you'd have like groups of Japanese people each with one person with a disability or maybe two and just going -- just everywhere.  I mean, we hardly had time if we passed another group, we hardly had time to stop and say hello and it kind of reminded me like in the cartoons where you see the characters sort of zooming by each other going through doors and stuff and it just made everybody laugh at how excited and happy they were and also how they wanted to show us everything and how there were so many of them for one of us and that was one memory. 

And another one is there was a girl there named Natalie who was blind.  And I led her a lot.  She was a delegate, and we got to know each other really well, but the Japanese people, like I said, really like to be helpful and to a point they didn't like my leading Natalie.  They felt because we were in their country, they should lead her.  So they oftentimes took her away from me but she didn't necessarily realize it and they sort of passed her amongst themselves and she didn't always know who she was with and she would call for me.  Emily, where are you?  And it was a very funny time and I laughed and we were all -- I was flexible and Natalie was flexible and everybody was flexible and laughed and I was just -- it really introduced me to their culture and how they do things and it was a lot of fun.  

 SHANICKEY:  Okay.     

 MELISSA:  This is Melissa.  And everybody's stories -- you know, when you go on an international exchange, you never really remember the horrible stuff.  You always remember the great stuff.  And one of my favorite memories comes on my first exchange and I went with my host mother to Lourdes, which is a -- in the Catholic religion, it's a place for religious Pilgrimages and where people are said to have been healed and things like that and my host mother was a fairly religious person and Lourdes is fairly famous throughout the world.  So we went on a day trip to this place and I really wasn't sure I wanted to go at first because I wasn't into the religion thing and I wasn't sure about how I felt about going to place where people go to get healed, but it was just me and my host mother who was a French woman in her 60's.  She was kind of grandma age, and we drove through the mountains and we saw sheep hearing dogs and we saw all these things and I got a chance to really talk to her and understand why she had -- she and her husband had chosen to be my host family and we went through and we saw all the Temples and she had to save me from nearly getting sucked into six different masses for healing and then when we were done going through the place and touching the walls and lighting the candles and all of the things that you do there that you're supposed to do, she decided that, you know, it was just way too far for us to like both walk back and get the car and that I should just stay where I was at the top of the hill, which by the way it was basically religion meets consumerism down in this little basin.  It was all about religion and all about the spiritual aspect and you went up the hill and it was like everything religion for sale. 

So it was very interesting to me from that standpoint as a communications major, but while I was sitting there in my chair waiting for my host mother to come back and hoping that if I had to communicate with somebody, I would be capable.  And this little old man comes up to me and she says Hi, how are you?  And he asked me what I was doing there?  And I kind of explained that I was waiting for my host mother as best I could and explained that I was an American student and we had this little conversation and I was so proud of myself because it was the first conversation I had had with an actual French person that wasn't my teacher or my host family and he actually understood me.  And then when he left me, he gave me a little prayer card and another little card to keep and he said, here, these are yours.  You can have these.  And so I really treasure that memory and realizing that day that I did have the ability to communicate with someone in another language and that someone would just come up out of the blue and be interested in me and why I was there and what I was doing there and have a genuine interest in those things.    

 SHANICKEY:  Okay.  Thank you all.  Now we'll accept another question from the web.     

 LISA:  Okay, this question is what was the most important item that you brought with you on your travel?  oh, let's see.  The most important item -- oh, gosh, I would say my most important item for my first trip was my journal that I kept that summer because I look back at it now and remember things and think about things that even though I talk about my experience a lot, it's in limited context so I don't always remember what happened when or where or who I met and so I     think that was the most important item that I brought and used. There are all kinds of things that I brought that I shouldn't have brought.     

I think for me -- well, the camera is always very important for me, but also an interesting thing is that within competitive -- within these meets internationally, this is kind of a tradition and it's really huge in the Paralympics but I think it would be fun to do.  Anyway, in whatever way that you travel internationally, before I went, you go and get pins from usually your state capitol.  You can either write for them and they are usually like a few pennies each or they sent me a big bag of them free.  And I'm from Kentucky and so I had about 150 Kentucky pins and I got a lot of USA pins.  And it's really a small gift, but it's so small that people usually don't feel bad or obligated to take it even if they don't have anything that they give to you, but it's an interesting way to like show your gratitude if someone helps you communicate or get in somewhere and also a lot of other people did that in the Paralympics and so I collected -- I probably came back with over 100 pins from all different countries and some people have little flags or little dolls, but it was an interesting way to meet people.  It gives you a reason to walk up to somebody. 

At first it's awkward, but, you know, it's a nice gateway in the conversation.  So I would say the most important things were the pins from the Kentucky and the USA.  The USA ones were more popular because people didn't know outside of the country Kentucky is only known for horses. So my pins didn't have horses on them which apparently was a disappointment, but I'm glad I brought them anyway.     

 SHANICKEY:  Anybody else?     

 EMILY:  This is Emily, and let me see.  There were -- I have a list of really important things to bring and I can't find it at the moment, but I'll have to put it on the chat board; but I'd say something that I brought first off, I brought a digital camera and I brought something for recharging the batteries.  I think that is very important. I also brought an alarm clock and just because, you know, we didn't know if we were going to -- if we were going to be able to understand how certain kind of alarm clocks -- if it worked, how it worked in Japan or what if there were three people this a room and two people wanted to get up at one time and another at another time and also like I take medication really early in the morning, and so I set my alarm clock for early in the morning and it would go off so I would know when to take my medication because the alarm clock that came with the room was set for everybody else to get up.  So I'd say bring a real small alarm clock with you.  That's definitely something helpful to me and when I find my list, I will put it on the chat board.  Thank you.   

 SHANICKEY:  J. Paul?     
 OPERATOR:  I'm sorry, J. Paul seems to have disconnected at this time.  He's not on with us at this time.         
 SHANICKEY:  We'll take a question from the telephone.     
 OPERATOR:  the next question comes from Rod (Inaudible). 

 CALLER:  My question probably is a different component and I would be interested in as many people would entertain my question.  When you were making -- conducting your search, how long would you say would be a good time to set aside as far as amount?  Do you think it's possible for me to find any opportunities over the summer for international experience and as well as a fully funded one?  I'm currently out of college about a year with a sociology degree and I'm blind and will be going to law school.  So with those things under my belt, do you think it's too late for me to possibly lend any opportunity? 

 MELISSA:  This is Melissa from Mobility International. No, I don't think it's too late.  I do think you should get started as soon as possible for a summer opportunity, especially if you want it to be this summer and especially if you are operating under the assumption that you will need a lot of funding in order to do it. There are some things that people, when they are thinking about taking into international experiences need to take into account.  They need to consider how long of an experience do they want. 

In other words, there are experiences from a week long to three years long.  So consider what time duration are you looking at. Number two, consider what is your availability for funding. What kind of income do you have or don't you have?  What kind of skills do you have?  Are you looking to gain any skills?  In other words, gain any skills towards employment or gain any particular type of experience?  Also where do you want to go?  Do you want to go somewhere where it's warm?  Somewhere where it's not so warm?  Do you want to go somewhere that speaks English or a language other than English?  You know, these are questions that people need to consider when looking for programs because not all programs go everywhere.  So where you want to go will dictate what kinds of programs there are available to you.     

Also what you want to do there.  If you want to do an internship, if you want to do a volunteer project, if you want to do something specifically in social services, if you want to do something specifically for those who are prelaw.  You have to take into account -- and I would encourage you to make an information and referral request through miusa on our web page and our national clearinghouse on disability exchange and the staff here can help you research opportunities as well as send you some resources regarding funding.   

 CALLER:  Is there E-mail is where available on the website?  

 MELISSA:  Yes, you would go to our website which is miusa.org and click on the national clearinghouse for disability exchange and then there will be an E-mail.  It's called clearinghouse@miusa.org.  And you can send your request to that E-mail and one of our staff will be assigned to assist you in your search.  

 EMILY:  This is Emily.  And I definitely agree with what Melissa is saying.  Definitely -- definitely do that.  You know, get on top of it right away and whatnot, but also for in the future, keep your ears open for international opportunities of different kinds.  I mean, since you're going do law school. Well, who knows, while you're in your second year you may suddenly hear about, you know, the law school is sending five second year students to a convention in Spain, and you suddenly go, hey, I'd be really interested in that.  And you go and you apply.  Or you may find that you -- you find out about a job and they need lawyers, you know, in Costa Rica or something like that.  So also keep your ears open for stuff like that.  If you ever are looking into getting a masters degree, once in awhile there are international programs for people who are in masters programs.  I know that one of the things I regret is not doing an international experience sooner. 

 I've known about Mobility International since I was 17 years old, yet I've just procrastinated and put off and put off going and I'm not going to be able to do an exchange in college.  So I'm looking into a possible masters exchange so just get on top of it.  Do what you need inform do.  Know that if you can't find something with lots of funding, there are lots of -- go to the miusa website and     there are lots of scholarships out there.  Stay positive and keep an open mind.  Try not to get discouraged and you will be successful.     

 KARA:  This is Kara.  I just wanted to add one more thing.  I know through my university the graduate law program includes a dual certification program where they -- I might be messing up some of the language here because I'm psychology oriented -- but I know that it's advertised heavily down here because one of the benefits is the growing -- (Inaudible) so they can practice internationally and within the United States.  So from what I understand of the program, you basically spend half of your time in -- I know Italy is one of the places they do it and you spend half your time here and when you graduate from the program you're certified or able to work licensed in both.  So I know that if there is one program like that down here I'm sure there are in other places.  So maybe you could accomplish both of your goals in that way, and I just wanted to add, too, if you want any more information about that or anything that you've heard the speakers talk about, each of our E-mails are on the teleconference web page.  So you can contact us individually that way.     

 CALLER:  Thank you.     
 OPERATOR:  Our next question comes from grant (Inaudible).   

 CALLER:  Can you hear me?  Okay, this is grant.  I was just wondering if maybe you could talk about some of your biggest obstacles or barriers that you faced when you went over there and I guess ultimately the gamut of emotions you went through but as you worked stuff out as a team, maybe the empowerment.  If you could talk about that.     

KARA:  Well, this is Kara.  A lot of our biggest obstacles came in the fact that we were such a large number of people with so many various needs.  And we also had the additional challenge that we had some very young athletes on our team we had as young as a 14-year-old.  So we not only had the challenge of diverse abilities and disabilities, but we had to consider that we weren't all able to even fend for ourselves.  So we always had to watch -- make sure we weren't losing anyone, but that was our biggest obstacle because helping one person up a curb is different than helping 20. 

So we just really had to plan ahead and I mean I guess the positive of it though is that we had to wait the extra time to find the accessible bus or whatever we needed, but once we got it, it was fine.  So that was our major obstacle and we definitely worked together.  I know that Emily mentioned -- I often led one of my team mates who was blind and she could help me up a curb if I told her how to push or when to push.  So I think you work off of each other's strengths and that's a learning experience, too.

 SHANICKEY:  Anybody else?   

 EMILY:  This is Emily.  And one of the challenges I think also is just not to get overwhelmed or even, you know, just take a deep breath and, you know, think twice before you do or say something and, you know, it's -- because I know that when I was in Japan, there were times where I got almost overwhelmed and I just -- and especially with my disabilities, it's not a good thing.  And I was even in another country and I just -- it was almost just like I need to be by myself.  Leave me alone.  And I found that if I just took a deep breath and relaxed and just went off for five minutes and just came back, things were better.  And I just needed to do that, you know, instead of panicking or freaking out or whatnot.     

Another thing is, you know, if you go on an exchange and you're with other people, you know, not only do you have to understand the country and the culture that you're in, but if you're with people that you've never met before, there may be things about each other that you have to learn about, things you may not like about the person, things that you don't understand. You know, people might say things that are offensive to you and make you uncomfortable and the people who are going on the trip with you, not just the people in the country that you went to. So just be open minded about that and learn how to talk to people.  Even if you're really uncomfortable or scared to talk to them, do it any way and if they give you a really hard time about it, then go to a person for help.  But definitely try and handle the situation yourself before just going for help.  

 ALICE:  This is Alice.  I would say the most common emotion I feel every time I travel internationally is feeling home sick and I think this occurs a lot when you, you know, got to a different culture and everything is different and, you know, you don't have the answers to everything.  And you know, I really -- it was really hard for me to overcome this and I usually -- it takes me about like a couple of days, maybe four or five days to overcome this, but one strategy to do so successfully is just kind of sit yourself down and say, you know, this is such a great opportunity and, you know, things will get better and just kind of give everything a chance and kind of open your mind up to everything.  And, you know, once I sat myself down and told myself that, it just becomes a really good experience and I just absorb everything.  That's my advice.     

 SHANICKEY:  Okay, did J. Paul get back on the call?  

 OPERATOR:  Let me double-check real quick.  It doesn't seem -- no, I don't see J. Paul has rejoined the call just yet.     
 SHANICKEY: We'll take a question from the web.  

 LISA:  This one is kind of fun.  The question is what was the strangest food that you had to eat on your travels?     

 EMILY:  Okay this is Emily.  And I'm getting excited. I'm going to answer this one.  First off, I'm a person who loves food and I am not pick I at all.  So I just loved everything that we ate in Japan, but I -- that's one of the things that I miss the most is the food over there and the Japanese people who I go  to school with here are so surprised because they say most people don't like Japanese food but I just loved it. 

But I got to eat raw seaweed for the first time and it was fantastic.  I had always heard horror stories about it and it was absolutely wonderful.  And I got to eat -- I got to eat -- there is a vegetable that they have in Japan that I guess it's really good for you and it's like a cucumber with bumps on it.  It's incredibly bitter, and it was just really fun to see how they cook their food and they like to eat a lot of tofu and they'll put ginger on it and different flavors unde spices and things and I never had tofu before and I tried it and it was -- I really enjoyed it.  And so I got to eat just, you know -- the way they cook some of their fish.  We get the fish and the head is still attached and the tail is still attached and you eat the fish. You obviously don't eat the hand the tail, but you get the fish like that and you look at it and kind of go, okay, how am I going to eat this?  And so you figure it out and I would also like to say that before I went I was good with chop sticks and when I came back, I had mastered the art of using chop sticks, but there was one other thing that we got to eat.  One night we had -- it was sort of a sauce and it was seaweed with sliced sea cucumber and I was so good and I would say that if you do go abroad, be open minded about the food.  Just try it.  You know, don't -- if you don't like one thing, don't say, hey, where is McDonald's and where is this?  You're in another country. 

Be willing to try their food.  If you're not going to be willing to try their food, don't go to that country.  So do research on the food, but be open minded about it.  Be willing to try it because you never know if you're going to like it or not and I miss Japanese food so much right now so I'm actually learning how to make sushi because I loved it so much when I was in Japan.  Thank you.    

 MELISSA:  Hi, this is Melissa and I'm going to start off with this warning.  Remember, you asked the question. First off, I have a personal rule about other cultures and food -- I never asked what it is because I might not want to know.  And I might ruin a dish that I really like if I actually know what it is. The weirdest thing that I ate while I was in France was -- and like I said, remember you asked the question -- cow brains. And unfortunately I ended up not liking it and I think that was my professor's fault because I had just kind of randomly order something in the cafeteria because I really couldn't hear the guy behind the counter and so I looked through the window and picked something that I thought looked good and I sat down and started eating it and my professor sat down next to me and she says to me, do you know what that is?  And I said, no, why?  You know, I'm sitting there and she goes that's cow brains.  Ruined my whole lunch for me right there and I would have been just fine if hadn't told me because the sauce was great.   

 KARA:  This is Kara.  When we ate in the village, we -- it's really interesting because it's a huge tent and there are thousands of athletes and coaches that have to eat there when you live on the village so it's like a big circus tent but from the movies a circuit tent.  And it's divided.  There is huge signs it's divided by region of where to eat.  So under American sign there is like eastern food and there is different -- it's divided kind of where you live and we were strongly encouraged by our coaches to only eat on the American side while the competitions were going on, just not do take the chance of upsetting our stomachs or doing anything out of the norm.  So the American side had pasta, pizza and salads all day, every day.  So hopefully that's not what the rest of the world that was there thinks that we eat all day every day, but so definitely by the I'm our competition was over, we were all anxious to eat anything or when we got out in Athens. 

So when my family came to pick me up the day I was allowed to site see and they were there, we were allowed to leave at seven o'clock in the morning and I made lie family come like at 6:30 to wait so I could make the most of my day and my brother, being the brotherly type was really excited to show me this one area of town and he enjoys like grossing me out and I he really wanted to show me the meat market because they just do it differently because they have the meat or like the carcass hanging outside.  But it really wasn't gross, but just different than anywhere here and we picked a great place for an early lunch/breakfast and I guess I had lamb and it was really     great and I had some egg plant, too, and I can't think of the name of it, but there is a Greek dish that's like fried cheese of some kind.  So I definitely ate a lot because also my meet was over so I didn't have to worry about eating healthy.  And I didn't have anything as crazy as cow brains.     

My experience in England was almost totally opposite. The food was something I did not look forward to.  I think the English are known to -- known for not having the greatest food and I found that I've never had so much tea before in my life and I think there was a slice of butter in everything.  I think you'd get a sandwich and it would be a ham sandwich a r and a couple of slices of butter.  And I lost a lot of weight walking around trying to Dodge butter sandwiches and I've been to a lot of other countries like Malaysia and in Japan and I have to agree with Emily that the Japanese food is awesome.  Almost every other country I've been to the food is one of the main things I miss, but that isn't the truth for England for me.  

 EMILY:  This is Emily and just real quick, I'd like to add I now remember the strangest thing and that is when we were at the international work camp, there were people from other countries there and Rob the guy from the United Kingdom made the dish.  Anyway, someone made a dish with eel in it.  Maybe it was the Japanese people, I don't remember, but I had never had eel. I don't think I'm going to have it again.  That was one thing I didn't care for and it was just because it was so strong but I got to eat eel for the first time. 

 SHANICKEY:  Okay.  Unfortunately, we are coming to the conclusion of our call this evening.  For those of you who still have questions or comments and want to continue to discussion about traveling abroad, please visit the teleconference web page at www.nyln.org and which there will be a discussion board and resource available that each speaker has made available for you to view.  You will be receiving an E-mail that will give you directions to the discussion board.  On behalf of the National Youth Leadership Network, Todd and myself would like to thank the participants and speakers for taking time out of your busy schedules and joining us today.  We also want to thank ILRU for their support, but also mark your calendars for the next teleconference on July 11th, 2006.  We truly appreciate all of your support.  Thank you all and good night.