People to People Student Ambassadors / First Time Abroad Stories?

Hi Milo,

I wish this program was still running because it was excellent! I’m not sure when it stopped; I recognized a group carrying the P2P tote bags when my husband & I were in Paris sometime in the last 20 years & chatted with them.

The group I was in was linked with 4H. We (18-20 year olds) stayed in locals’ homes in several countries or small quirky hotels & spent focused time learning from each other vs. “tourist activities”, although there was some of that, too. We visited 11 countries in 40 days, including Russia & Hungary, in 1975.

Our group, along with others, began with a 3-day orientation in Washington, DC. The expectations were high that we were to behave & dress as ambassador representatives of the US. We couldn’t wear jeans or tennis shoes. We could only bring a small suitcase, plus the P2P tote that didn’t hold much. We were not to show anything off-putting of wealth, such as making a long distance phone call home or bringing expensive jewelry, etc. (Yep, the 70’s!)

I kept in touch with some of the families for awhile, but one family from a small town in eastern Netherlands has been a consistent connection. Their daughter who is slightly younger than I am has come to stay with us twice. One time was to attend our oldest daughter’s wedding. My husband’s first time in Europe was celebrating our 25th anniversary & we stayed with them for 5 days and then did the RS GAS tour. We rode bikes on a tree-lined lane in the Gelderland part of the Netherlands a few miles over to her parent’s home. They smiled to us that nothing in the home/attached barn had changed since I stayed there with them!

A few years later, Gerda and her husband were in a traditional Dutch singing & accordian group. She convinced their group to travel to Vancouver, BC to come to Lynden, Washington (a Dutch town - very tidy & clean!) for a Dutch festival! We met them at the airport & were also able to be with their group at the event - lots of fun!

The People-to-People program was such an excellent, growing experience! It definitely continues to influence how I travel so many years later. My mom was the person who encouraged me to apply for it, and I think she would be happy that I have continued the legacy & “paid it forward” by taking my two daughters to Europe with me - both for fun but also to learn, be curious, and to be very respectful to the people we meet.

I hope this post hasn’t been too lengthy. I just wanted to give you the feel for how much it influenced my thoughts of travel and a few examples of being used as a bridge between people.

The People-to-People Program was established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on September 11, 1956 to enhance international understanding and friendship through educational, cultural and humanitarian activities involving the exchange of ideas and experiences directly among peoples of different countries and diverse cultures. President Eisenhower felt that creating understanding between people was essential to building the road to enduring peace.

“If we are going to take advantage of the assumption that all people want peace, then the problem is for people to get together and to leap governments -- if necessary to evade governments -- to work out not one method but thousands of methods by which people can gradually learn a little bit more of each other." - President Eisenhower's remarks at the People-to-People Conference, September 11, 1956

How fun to re-live a past memory!

I went on a People to People Student Ambassador trip to New Zealand and Fiji during the summer between 7th and 8th grade in 1995. I was still 12 years old and this was my first overseas trip, only second time on a plane, and my first extended trip away from my family. I had zero apprehension and this adventure was definitely the start of my life long love of travel. I think the trip was about 16 days long, spending around 12 days circling the North island of New Zealand and around 4 days in Fiji. We flew direct from LAX to Auckland and the flight was something like 18 hrs. While some kids were scared and apprehensive about the long flight and leaving their parents, I remember being enthralled by being able to watch so many movies on the plane (these were overhead cabin tv screens in those days) and getting to eat airplane food, haha. I think our trip group was around 26 kids and 5 adults, and we came from 5 different areas of the county. I think all the kids were 12-13 years old. We only had one host family stay for 2 nights, and the rest of the time we were in hotels (mostly 1 night stays, but a couple 2 night stays) as we traveled around to all the different cities in a big bus. I think we would usually have 3 kids to a room each night, and they would rotate us so we were always bunking with new people each night. Being in the countries we visited, a lot of our itinerary focused on natural wonders, wildlife, preservation, and cultural history and understanding. I remember going to a sheep dog farm, planting trees in a regrown forest, hiking to a waterfall, visiting a wildlife preservation reserve, exploring a thermal geyser park, and staying in native villages in both countries to experience and learn all the local traditions, craft skills, ceremonial dances, and food. There were also plenty of “fun” non-learning activities like riding a speed boat down a river, going to a theater show, snorkeling on a deserted island, beach time, and water parks. We were required to keep a journal and were given certain prompts each day to build from. I think my parents gave me around $300-$400 in travelers checks for spending money to last the trip, and I remember using my last dollars to buy snacks at the airport for the last flight home. I remember some kids running out of money mid-trip and having to get a wire transfer for more funds. My memorable souvenirs included several carved bone necklaces from the Māori village we went to, a stuffed kiwi bird, a bean bag gecko that even travelled to college with me, and several tshirts that I wore for the next school year. I loved all the experiences and sight seeing, but I think the hardest part of the trip for me was the food (I was a very picky eater) and learning how to make new friends.

We had learned about PtP from an add in the local paper, went to an info session one night, and then I sought out a teacher recommendation letter so I could apply for acceptance. There was an interview process and then a final selection of who the 5 kids would be from our general region. In the months leading up the trip I think our local group of kids met up a couple times to hang out so we could get to know one another better. I’m not sure what the trip actually cost, but my parents were not wealthy so I had to raise money to help pay for most of it. I went door to door selling Sees candy and setting up stands outside the grocery store, collected personal and corporate donations, and received a sponsorship from the local Rotary club in exchange to come do a presentation on my experience once I returned. I was able to claim high school credits for world cultures based on the completion of the PtP program that summer. I loved the PtP experience so much that I was planning to go on another trip the next summer to Italy and had even started fundraising for it, but I ended up choosing to cancel to focus on training for swimming junior Olympics instead.

I went on a People to People trip to Europe in 1974 while a junior in High School. After 2 days in Washington DC off we went! We had homestays with families in Germany, Austria and England - if memory serves, they were all 5 days and gave us all a first hand view of their lives. It was always fascinating to get back on the bus with our other classmates and compare notes on our experiences.

Nine countries in 39 days (Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, France, England, Italy, Hungary & Yugoslavia), the experience changed my view of the world and certainly had a significant impact on my life. The world is so much different than the bubble that we all live in - the customs, food, culture etc.

We were so very fortunate to have had the many experiences that the trip provided us. It is really unfortunate that it no longer exists!

I ran across a P to P Student Ambassadors group on a short cruise in Greece. I knew about P to P from my father who did several People to People Golf trips. He got to meet many interesting people. In South Africa he played with a man who was an owner of a gold mine. So on the day they didn’t play golf, he and mom got a personalized tour of the mine. Seeing the basic education of the workers from all over southern Africa learning the common language of the mine, going down thousands of feet to where the gold was being extracted, to the refining room to see the 2 gold bars that the mine produced every day.

On two other trips they met with my sister’s pen pal - once in Kuala Lumpur and once in Singapore. A German man he met on one trip organized a group of German golfers trip to the U.S. Dad organized several friends at his golf club to have the Germans play as their guests , a grass roots P to P.