ROSA’S FINAL REPORT
Rosa left Australia for Zurich at 9.25pm on Wednesday 12th July 2017.
Rosa’s departure was a little dramatic. She didn’t want to go home as it meant the completion of a year’s holiday and she was returning home to two hard years of school and a big catch up.
We loaded the car with all of Rosa’s luggage at 5.30pm, having asked Rosa “Are you sure you weighed this”? “Yes” she says, “it’s exactly 30kg, excluding my hand luggage”.
Well guess what? As an A Grade maths student, Rosa cannot read our scales at home. At the airport check-in, her luggage weighed in at 39.5 kg. Her hand luggage 9.1kg, plus her blazer, pillow that wasn’t really a pillow, a cylinder with her waterskiing photo and of course her trumpet.
The lady checking Rosa in chose to ignore the extra hand luggage but said it was $100.00 for every kilogram over 30kg, plus GST.
Over to the airport scales we go to reduce and repack her bags. We finally arrived at 30kgs. It should be noted that Rosa flatly refused to remove her AFL football from her luggage.
Rosa is still convinced that the bags weighed in correctly. So if you have a weight problem, feel free to come over to Mepstead’s place and you will instantly lose 9.5kg.
Whilst sorting out Rosa’s gear and what to take and what to leave behind on the floor in the airport, she could not leave some things, so off she went wearing her brand new St Kilda pommy hat and scarf and wearing one jumper with two wrapped around her waist and more hand luggage than one person can carry.
Lots of tears and hugs all around and Rosa was on her way, having crammed more into 355 days than most people do in several years. In her last week since her presentation to Rotary, Rosa had an outing or an activity every day, including sleepover, dinner, museum, party, another sleepover, movies, lunch, farewells with friends, another party, then a farewell to Mepstead’s party, then a lunch and another goodbye to all her adopted family children.
When this goes to print, she will be home.
If you didn’t get to read Rosa’s write up in the Pakenham Gazette on 12 July 2017, do so. I am sure our Scribe editor will tag it on a Rotary Facebook or add it to the Scribe.
Rosa, see you in Zurich.
Tim and Bronwyn Mepstead