baldworth

Yes there is more to this story. It was a 23 day tour through Europe and we have only finished day 12. There is more idiotic behavior from BE, more nonsense from the drama queen, broken toes and broken beds, etc... I am only half way through. I even forgot about the night one of B's kids walked into an open window in the hotel in Venice/Lido and opened a gash that required several stitches. Our Td reacted immediatly and made the necessary calls and took him to the hospital quickly. This was the same kid who lost his wallet in Holland and was considered to be one of the more responsible kids on the tour.

For the answer to the other question yes, I would go again and take another group of kids. I will probably do my next tour in about three years when my youngest turns 17 and is ready for her senior year in high school. Even with all of the nonsense we had a great time and it was a growing experience for everyone including the group leaders. My room-mate B learned that he needs to get to know the kids a little better before he goes again and not to take anyone below 17. I would do it all over again tomorrow. This is the only way I can afford to see Western Europe on a teacher's salary and I'm not about to let a few unruly kids or odd occurences keep me from sharing the sense of personal growth and wonder that comes from seeing historical places and different cultures. Bring it on!

Baldworth

PS - more later.

crefloors

I understand...and for being a teacher, you get the gold star for sure!!!! I wouldn't and couldn't. Someone would end up dead and it wouldn't be me!!! LOL

baldworth

Day 13 -

We started on the road to Florence from Rome with the same morning routine, the earlybirds got out to the bus and stood at the door with bags in hand to get the seats in the front and middle with the air conditioning and ability to stretch out while those of us who were still having coffee or helping load bags or some other bit of necessary responsibility were doomed to the back and the heat. Today would be somewhat different though. Another group leader from California would be in the back for the second time and he, not being as tolerant as I, would complain when we stopped for a bathroom break. We had a lunchtime trip to Assissi planned and stopped just before arriving there to visit another store where they would offer truffles, wine, and various kinds of liqueurs. It took about 45 minutes and there was plenty to taste.

We went to Assissi afterwards for lunch and a trip to the cathedral. We had an assigned time and place to meet before and after going through the cathedral. When it was time to go through the cathedral, four of the girls were missing. When it was time to leave for the bus, four of the girls were missing. B walked back through the town, Jonny walked from the fron of the town to the back and a couple of the students even volunteered to help. The girls were found in the right place but an hour later than the assigned time. Another case of irresponsible behavior derived from talking and not listening when the instructions were given. We had come within a few minutes of calling the police to help in the search. Our drama queen was one of the four late girls.

We left late but got back on our way to Florence where the bus driver would again attempt to correct the air conditioning problem without much success. The hotel would prove to be exactly the right thing at the right time. It was a large hotel right next to the Arno River, ten minutes walk from the center of Florence, across the river from the Piazzale de Michealangelo, with very good air conditioning, and four other EF groups staying there! We weren't going to overwhelm anyone. We could stay in a nice hotel and just enjoy the city without worrying about being loud or keeping anyone up late. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief! I got the best night's sleep I'd had in two weeks aided by a little Limoncelllo and watched a WC game as most of the kids went to the disco, led by my daughter.

Oh, by the way, B had a very stern talk with the girls who had made us late in Assissi and everyone took it well, except for the drama queen who was in tears. And, B had missed part of dinner the night before trying to get the drama queen money from Western Union because she ahd spent everthing she had and momma was sending her more. Momma had called him and kept him on the phone as we were trying to leave the restuarant the first night in Rome as she was going on about how her daughter was not being treated well. You get the picture. The plot was building again.

crefloors

So, what a mystery why some of the kids are irresponsible and don't behave or have respect. Was someone able to set Mama straight? I doubt it.

LoveItaly

I do get the picture baldworth, the same kind of parents that we have here in my city and consquently why we have "it is all about me" kids.

katya_NY

I had a student who was placed with a lovely, accomodating family in St.Petersburg. Everyday we came together at school, and the student would complain about the previous night's activities. It actually got to the point of me finding her host at school to talk, and found out that this girl- T- had been going to movies, cafes, etc- basically experiencing life as a St.P teen.

Unfortunately, this girl wanted nothing to do with the socializing, and wanted to sit home and watch the DVDs she had brought (along with the mini DVD player mom bought her for the trip). Finally we told her host that as long as she wasn't home alone, she could just stay home!

Before the trip, I really enjoyed this child, and I still do- but now I have a different perspective.

<i>On the bus ride home from the airport, she put in her order with mom for Red Robin to be picked up for her (she didn't like the food, either).</i>

As they say, there is one in every group!

I am enjoying your story Baldworth! Thanks for sharing- I think I would still consider taking an EF tour with a group.

baldworth

Our drama queen had a portable dvd player which didn't come into play until later, at least I didn't run into it until later. There must have been 30 ipods and these were shared, one plug for each, quite often with music and tv shows. It actually was a quiet way for them to entertain themselves but they missed a lot of things outside the bus and too often had them on when information was being given, either on the bus or with a city guide. It is a shame. I don't have time for a day report right now but hopefully will later. I have to take my younger two (14 and 16) shopping for basic school supplies and finish their clothes shopping my wife began earlier in the week.

It occured to me that I didn't explain something very well. While we were lost in Rome is when the toilet broke. The room was inhabited by four guys, BE, N, and two of the California guys one 14 and the other our comic relief for the tour G, who is probably the one who broke it in the first place. When my room-mate B approached BE and his group leader to let them know that Jonny our TD had gotten the amount for the toilet and that it had to be paid by those in the room per EF policy, that is when BE went off on him and refused any responsibility. He took the situation back to the couch in Holland and the bus in Munich and refused to do anything about the toilet denying responsibility over and over again. His group leader, who by the way the California kids were now referring to as &quot;Captain Douchbag&quot;, was defending him, telling B that he had been on him the whole trip and hadn't really given him any way out when he had fussed at him. There was some pre-existing situation between these two that no one else ever really could fathom and at times the GL followed BE around either drinking with him, taking pictures with him, or maybe trying to keep him from doing anything else stupid. Either he was related to him, or a friend of the family, or whatever but there was something going on for him to cover this kid's mistakes the way he did. There is still more to this saga with BE and it actually comes to a head in Switzerland. Stay tuned.

Baldworth

BTilke

My word, this is one of the most interesting trip reports I've read in a while and lord knows, I would not want in your vacation shoes!

This saga reminds me of that scene in Defending Your Life where Rip Torn discusses the afterlife with Albert Brooks. Children were automatically moved to a &quot;higher plane&quot;; adults had to face a trial about their lives. But teen-agers? Nobody wanted to deal with them. They were sent elsewhere. Too disruptive, even for the afterworld ;-)

kerouac

For those of you wondering how Baldworth can put up with all of this, I don't know either. But my best friend Ali (already a problem name in a lot of places) has been doing this sort of thing for years -- groups of juvenile semi-delinquents to Estonia and Senegal. I have listened to him rant and rave over the years about how he just can't stand it any more, but this year he passed the French civil service test that he wanted and will be a high school principal starting in September. He had a variety of places from which to choose in the Paris suburbs -- and he chose a boarding school for problem cases when he could have chosen a totally normal place. My heartfelt congratulations go out to people like Balworth and my friend for putting up with all of these shenanigans and keeping a positive attitude about it.

Scarlett

I am impressed, and admire you greatly, balworth, you didn't smack one of those kids upside the head once! lol
This is an enjoyable read, thank you for taking the time to post it. Scarlett

Mollie

Very interesting. Keep it coming!

baldworth

Did I mention that I have taught Elementary Special Education for 14 years? Maybe I have been preparing for this all those years. More later.

Baldworth

LoveItaly

Ah baldworth, now I understand your patience with some of these teens. You must be a very special person.

MarkvonKramer

I just started reading this this afternoon. All I can say is &quot;Baldworth, you are a saint&quot;!

I hve no tolerance for this type of behaviour and coupled with less patience that a bad Doctor (really bad pun), I'd have had some of those kids arrested or deported to the middle east.

That said, I am really enjoying this trip report and can't wait for follow-on posts. Great story!

MvK

baldworth

Day 14 -

Ah. Isn't it great what a good night's sleep will do for you! First of all, I don't do discos. My daughter has had a great time going in both Florence and Venice with the TD in all previous cases. She was ready to go on her own. She knew where it was and what to do to gt everyone there and back. This one in Florence had a system where each person from EF got a ticket at the door and this allowed them one drink and admission. If they drank more they paid more. They had fun, drank with Italians, and danced the night away. When it was time to come back to the hotel guess who lost their ticket? None other than our drama queen. My daughter, being the good mother figure that she can be, took our dq to the front and in her college Italian explained the situation to the manager and got dq out without paying any extra. Did she get any thanks for it? Not a word! She then made sure that everyone got home alright and to their rooms. She wants to be a TD when she finishes college and is studying International Business and Italian. She has also been in this position before as two years ago she had to keep a group of eight together on the way back from the Eiffel Tower when they wanted to argue about the best way home to the hotel. She has experience.

Now for the next day, day 14. We got up and had an excellent breakfast. That is some of us did. We were allowed to come to breakfast between 8:00 and 10:00 because we weren't meeting our city guide until 10:30. B and I were downstairs at 8:30 and there were even eggs to go with Italian coffee and the rest. A few filtered down around 9:15 and some more at 9:30 and the bulk at 9:45 with some skipping breakfast altogether. They had been out late the night before at the disco. We walked into the city and met our guide at Piazza Della Signoria in the center of Florence. Our tour was balnd and firly uneventful except for the fact that I had seen enough of kids with ipods sitting down and not listening, or at least being respectful of our guides and not talking during the tours. I made several stand up, including my own N, and at least be quiet when the City Guide was talking. This didn't sit well at first but they got the message and we didn't have that problem again. You have to realize that overall this wasn't a bad group of kids. A little self-absorbed at times but not bad. There were a few bad apples but that is to be expected of any group of 40 or more kids. Most just wanted to have a good time and see some sights. They just needed a little direction at the right times to keep them from getting out of hand. Direction delivered.

We finished the tour with a trip to the Da Vinci Leather Factory, another EF must that helps pay for the trip, and actually purchased several things. I found a belt on a half-price rack and got it engraved with my initials for free. They showed us how to tell real leather from fake and released us to go on our own. This was the day for the side trip to Pisa and several were slated to go. The rest of us had the afternoon free to wander Florence, shop for leather, take a nap, or whatever. Two of my party were not dealing with the heat very well and wanted to sleep. Two more wanted to nap but not all of the afternoon. One more took every opportunity to catch a few zzzs. I had purchased another bottle of my favorite Italian drink in Assissi, Limoncello, and proceeded to paas the next hour with a couple of iced refreshers. My daughter got up about 45 minutes later and we shopped across the street at a craft fair and street vendor combination. R joined us about an hour later and we went into the city to shop for souvenirs, leather, and whatever. I managed another Limoncello or two along the way and enjoyed shopping more than I usually do. At 5:30 we met the others in front of the Duomo and walked to dinner. At dinner we continued our wine lesson that had started in Germany and shared a bottle with the meal. The plan for the evening was to collect wine and other things and gather at Piazzale Michelangelo (there I finally got the spelling right) to watch the sun set and enjoy the atmosphere of Florence at night. We ended up being all of my party (they were still attached at my hip except when they anted to sleep), two group leaders from California and a chaperone, the TD, and a few of the California kids who wanted to see the city at night. We shared three bottles of wine, some Grappa (I abstained, and even some Heineken. It was a very relaxing night filled with adult conversation and no drama or foul-mouthed students. We left the Piazzale about 12:00 and stumbled back to the hotel. I got another great night's sleep without worrying about who was doing what to whom in a great hotel where it didn't matter if someone made a little noise or walked in the halls after midnight. Oh and about 12:45 we got a visit from two of the NC kids who just wanted to shoot the shit with group leaders they respected. WE talked football for about an hour before B was nodding off and they left. A nice end to a very comfortable and relaxing day with no drama.

Next up, the trek into the Alps to Lucerne, Switzerland and a real switch with the seating arrangements. Goodnight.

Baldworth

Mollie

Where did you stay in Florence? This is a great read and I'm waiting for more!

baldworth

Day 15 -

Geoff the bus driver from Belgium had spent the day attempting to correct the problems with the air conditioning system while we were having a good time wandering around in Florence. He had found that the place to have the bus serviced would be our next stop in Lucerne, Switzerland which is also where EF's international headquarters is locatedAfter breakfast I had followed Geoff to the bus and commandeered the first two seats on either side of the bus and the ones behind those on one side for my group who had sat in the back and sweated without complaining (well most of hadn't complained) for almost two weeks. Not only that but the group leader from NC had taken it upon himself to enforce our practically defunct bus rotation system and kept those early birds from getting on and claiming the best seats. Two days before there had been a squabble when one of my party who was having some back problems and not dealing with the heat very well had managed to get seats for her and her room-mate in the front. Again, front and center was the dq making a big deal out of the fact that she and her posse had to sit in the hot back, after they had sat in the front almost every other long bus day and she even managed to stand next to some of her followers in the front when she didn't have a seat and babble back and forth in Spanish.

** Special note here so everyone understands. I have nothing at all against anyone speaking another language. I wish I could speak twelve languages fluently. This group on the other hand had a regular habit of speaking Spanish to each other as a way of forming a clique and excluding all others around them. It was separating when we were supposed to be trying to get to know everyone and branch out.

This group of girls even bought the same t-shirt in the same color in Florence to separate themselves even further and all wore them the next day. DQ was controlling them and they were yet to realize it. As for the trip from Florence it was wonderful. We went through a long tunnel and emerged in the Alps with rain falling. We had already passed through Lake Como and Lake Lugano both of which were beautiful areas combining mountains and lakes with stunning scenery. We even stopped for lunch in Lugano and enjoyed the area for an hour or so. Sitting in the front allowed me to take pictures of the Alps that I wouldn't have been able to see much less snap a picture of. The weather even cooled off when we emerged from the tunnel.

Another side note. One of the girls from Californis had been bitten by a bug of some sort in Rome and her foot was swelling up. Jonny our TD had to take her to the hospital along with her group leader to see if the doctor could do anything for her. They gave her some cream to apply and it seemed to help as she was also instructed to stay off of it as much as possible. Now one of the younger boys, only 14, was developing a similar type swelling in his hand from a similar type bite. Off to the hospital they went for the same treatment.

When we arrived in Engleberg, Switzerland where our hotel was located outside of Lucerne, we were greeted with signs that stated &quot;10 things not to do while you stay here&quot;. YThere was a sign posted in the lobby and a handout for each room with things such as, Do not make any noise whatsoever after 10:00 at night. There was an aura of We're watching you and we know that you are going to misbehave so don't even try it, before we even checked in. My group had stayed at the same hotel two years prior and we had had an incident where one of the students went through the wrong door and walked into the manager's apt. instead of a suite of rooms where we were gathered to watch the European Championships and party. They had made some of the students come back in from the bus and clean out trash cans and other silly vindictive things like that before they would &quot;allow&quot; us to leave. It was ridiculous and somewhat humiliating. Here we were in the same hotel and starting out with an attitude. All we could do was to hope that it was only a warning due to some recent group's behavior and nothing more.

We checked in and my room-mate B placed a requested phone call to the mother of dq. He asked me to stay in the room and listen to as much of the conservation as possible so that I could get an idea of what he was dealing with and witness the situation. I heard fifteen to twenty minutes of the biggest load of bulls**t I have ever heard in my life. She was going on and on about how well her children were raised and specifically said that her daughter was no &quot;drama queen&quot; but was concerned that she was being singled out for behavior that wasn't anything unusual, etc, etc... What we didn't know at the time was that while we were in Europe she was burning up the phone lines saying that we were doing all sorts of things in Europe and acting irresponsibly while her angelic daughter was martyring herself and holding everything together. She had decided that one of the other students had stolen her daughter's passport in the San Fran Cisco Airport and many other bizarre ideas that she was also sharing with the school principal. But, we didn't know any of that then. He informed me of this after we got back. We went for a walk to search for a bar and forget about the fact that we were now hip deep in s**t. With some great surrounding vistas, Engleberg is a very pastoral town with great Alpine views, we wandered and took pictures with some of the more calm and relaxed students. When we stopped at a bar with an outside porch we noticed several students going by in groups of three or four headed for a field just outside of town where they would play &quot;football&quot;.

About an hour later some of them came looking for the TD because one of the kids, dq's little brother, who wasn't really a bad kid but you could tell was a least a little spoiled by the fact that he seemed to have something new and expensive from each town we visited, had kicked the wrong thing and injured his toe. Another trip for the TD to the local hospital. The toe was broken and would require a special boot and crutches. Another injury/bite for this group, amazing! Most of us went back to the hotel before it got too late but some didn't as there were a few other bars and clubs around and I noticed BE wandering around the outskirts of town followed closely by his group leader. I couldn't tell if he was trying to keep up with him or make peace with him. More food for thought. We had found another bar to watch Germany and Italy play the next night and were looking forward to the next day in Lucerne. One last note; the hotel (The Hotel Crystal by the way) had a laundry service and we were running out of clean clothes and were tired of washing things in the sink and waiting two days for them to dry so we decided to let them wash a load of clothes each (my daughter and I). Results tomorrow and the next episode of BE loses his cool.

Baldworth

crefloors

I'm curious how the payment to the hospital was taken care of, or was payment required. Also, were the kids required to have a medical insurance policy for Europe? I know my niece was required to have a medical insurance policy while going to school in Copenhagen last year. Loving the stories.

baldworth

Sorry it took me so long to get back. My wife is out of town and two teenage girls need school supplies, have band booster meetings to attend, etc...

The insurance was I'm sure taken care of by the cover-all EF insurance that is optional before you travel. It obviously was well worth whatever was paid for it on this trip.

It must be:

Day 16 -

Our full day in Switzerland. We got up and took the bus into Lucerne after breakfast for a tour of the city. There are many different things to see in this city including the Lion Memorial to the troops who died defending Marie Antoinette in France. Switzerland was founded by rich mercenaries who used their money to establish places in the mountains that could not easily be attacked or taken over and this was one of the earliest Cantons. This was the home of William Tell and the city has many stories to tell. The covered bridge is quite unique and it is a real shame that much of it was damaged by fire only about 15 to 20 years ago. You can still see some of the frescos that originally filled each panel as you walk from one end of the bridge to the other across the river. The smaller bridge also has pictures depicting the then obsession with death and dying as each picture has a skeleton in it somewhere. The facades of many buildings are decorated with fable-like scenes andf we happened to hit market day again. We bought three different kinds of cheese, three different kinds of bread, cherries and strwberries, and had a picnic next to the lake. When ST went to Mount Pilatus on the optional excursion the rest of us climbed the steps to the city wall and one of its towers still left north of the city. The views from there are very nice. My daughter even met a couple from Ohio the woman of whom was just as obsessed with &quot;The Sound of Music&quot; as she was and they shared stories of spinning in Alpine meadows.

We climbed down when the German pre-teens showed up 40 strong and noised up the serenity. It was a good day in the city and the Pilatus folks had a lot of fun as well. When we went back to the hotel I got my laundry back to discover that what had once been a small ink spot on one pair of shorts was now ink stains on three different shorts as they didn't pay any attention to the spot and through it all in together. They also mixed up several different parts of some peoples laundry and we spent days getting it straightened out. At least I did have some clean clothes but they were all wrinkled and thrown together in a bag. Not exactly worth 10 euro. We decided to find our pub for the evening to watch Germany play Italy for the next spot in the WC and headed that way after supper. When they were leaving, some of B's California girls were treated to a verbal tirade, completely unsolicited by the way, from our old friend BE who had already been drinking. As usual the language was more than colorful and when B found out about it about thirty minutes later he went through the roof. He found the TD and wanted to have BE thrown off the tour. Another fun evening of extracurricular activities for the TD and some of the Group Leaders. After listening to the dq's mom rant and rave about treatment B was not in a position to just let it go and was not in the mood for it since he had been the object of BE's other verbal outbursts. Our TD got in touch with EF and got back to us about an hour or so later. They were not going to eject BE yet but he was now on complete zero tolerance and any further incident would mean he would be on a plane home that day. He and his group leader, remember Captain Douchebag, assured the TD that BE would not drink anymore and therefore would not abuse anyone else, verbally or otherwise. When the game was over and Germany had lost we gathered up most of the kids and went back to the hotel. Somewhere during the night before one of the beds had been peed all over intentionally and that too had all indicators pointing to BE. It was time to call it a night.

I need to begin day 16 because it is a continuation of our experience with the Hotel Crystal. Two years previously we had been delayed for 45 minutes as students were required to empty trash baskets and other ridiculous things. This time, there were towels that didn't appear to be in the correct rooms (dq hadn't slept in her assigned room and had woken up those whose room she had crashed in, and some of the drinking receptacles were out of place or unaccounted for. It appears that at least some of these were plastic cups. Again they held us up for thirty minutes while they counted towels and plastic cups. When the TD came back tp the bus after finally satisfying whatever silly request the hotel had made I finally lost it.

I told the TD that we had history with this hotel and related to him the events of the previous experience. I told him, and everyone else on the bus by that point, that someone with EF must have an illicit relationship with someone connected to this hotel because there was no other obvious reason why EF would use this hotel. I then reminded everyone that at the end of the trip they had an evaluation to fill out and they needed to blast the Hotel Crystal so that they would never be used by EF again. We began our trip from Switzerland north to the Alsace region of France. Italy was in the finals of the WC and France would play for the opportunity to meet them that night. I had vented my frustration over two separate incidences of poor treatment by the Hotel Crystal and I was beginning to feel better. BE was being muzzled for the time being and we were headed toward Paris, my favorite city.

Baldworth

LCBoniti

Good job, Baldworth! How will EF ever feel motivated to make a change unless everyone complains? Hopefully they follow through because that hotel's attitude stinks. I'm sure it's not easy to deal with so many teenage groups, but that is what they signed on for.

Anyway, I'm sure your name will be submitted for sainthood after this trip is ended. I personally feel all teachers are saints anyway.