On November 1, a warm, sunny day, our group of 21 ambassadors arrived in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Some came directly there and others stopped in Hong Kong for a short visit. We enjoyed visiting with our host families and their extended families; walking through their neighborhoods, cheering for the home team at a member’s week-end baseball game and experiencing Taiwan through our host’s eyes. We...

Journey Coordinator Marian Wetjen and eight Club members participated in a one-night Journey to the Quad Cities Club on Sept. 29 and 30. This was a reciprocal visit from a journey to Cedar Rapids in 2015. We toured Shady Knoll Farm (pumpkins, flowers, met the owner, animals, picture taking opportunity), Hampton Heritage Center to see the world’s largest Ginkgo tree carving, Campbell War of...

The Kosovo Open world delegation was exciting and filled with curious, knowledgeable young people. We learned of a close association between Kosovo and Iowa. There are two Kosovo Consulates in the US, one in New York and one in Des Moines, plus the Embassy in DC. The delegates learned a great deal about language development and immigration in Iowa. West Liberty was an eye-opener...

 Lower Columbia Washington journey to Cedar Rapids-Iowa City     Eleven members of the Lower Columbia, Wash., Friendship Force Club started their journey to Cedar Rapids-Iowa City with a welcome party on Sept. 5 at George and Stephanie Schulte’s home.     On Wednesday, the group toured Cedar Rapids with Sandy Fowler, assistant city manager, followed by a tour of Turner Alley and the Grant Wood exhibit...

Our Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Journey   FFI has introduced some changes. Did you know we no longer have Exchanges?   A Journey is the word for our adventures now But we can still reach out and make new friends anyhow.   We all arrived in wind and rain, But a warm Welcome Dinner soon eased our pain.   In Kalona we were well fed...

The Crazy for Quilting journey was a great success!  Here’s a day by day description of the fun. Friday, Sept. 30 The Friendship Force of Cedar Rapids/Iowa City welcomed 18 Ambassadors at Wickiup Hill Nature Center!  Our club has prepared a Best of Iowa dinner, featuring roast pork loin and side dish pot luck.  In the spirit of Friendship Force, 5 Ukrainian educators and...

In September, 2016, 17 ambassadors made a visit to the Friendship Force club of Lansing, Michigan. The journey to Lansing in September offered warm hospitality, comfortable weather, lots of interesting activities, renewal of friendship made when they visited us and created many new friendships. This was an opportunity to reconnect with club members who visited Cedar Rapids in June 2015. With our Lansing hosts,...

As we continue to build intra-state relationships, ten club members enjoyed overnight hospitality from our friends in the Central Iowa club (Ames) on July 16, 2016. It started with a tour of Reiman Gardens with hosts, then a walking tour of several art installations on the Iowa State University campus led by Ames club member, Dennis Dake. We learned about the artists and their...

Eleven ambassadors gathered at a B&B in central London a couple of days before our Wessex journey was to begin and we did some touring on our own. On Sunday June 5, we all took a two-hour train ride to southern England to meet our Wessex hosts and begin our week long adventure with our new friends. Even though their club is small, they...