 The canals were very interesting while in Amsterdam because it was part of their main transportation at one time to think that people traveled down canals on boats to get from one place in other words it's fabulous. In the Smithsonian Institute we saw the plane in which Charles Lindbergh flew over to Europe. I think he was a sort of an adventurer and he liked the daring of the flying. Not only touring England but you're also meeting people of other countries and learning the things that they do in their countries. It makes it real interesting you know you can exchange views. We all crowded around the space so we all thought it was on a dummy and then one of the girls was asked if she'd like to touch the love of this dummy and of course it came to life and we were all rather surprised at this it was all rather amusing. You talk about building relationships with other countries I found that with my German friend who stayed with me for five days with my host family I would say he is my best friend that I've made on this trip together and I've invited him to my house if he is in the Chicago area and he in turn has invited me to his house if I shall return to Germany again. They were kidding. Cadets came from all over the world criss-crossing oceans and continents not just for pleasure but on a mission of good will. Participating nations are naturally pretty choosy about who represents them overseas. For example only top civil air patrol cadets are selected based on their character academic achievements leadership ability and good citizenship but what brought us all together in the first place was our common interest in aerospace some of us in our civil air patrol program had already had some training in aeronautics and space science but this tour well I don't know it kind of brought it all together air force jets prop jobs a missile launch pad at vandenberg some got to go inside a space capsule well I missed out on that you know when you talk about aviation there's a little more to it than just flying airplanes haven't you ever wondered how they keep them from running into each other over the big city airports well we saw how that's done too at an air travel control center really interesting a few lucky cadets got to visit the air force academy at colorado springs what a place red carpet treatment all the way and to top it off a cook on in the woods near the academy but sooner or later it all gets back to this people-to-people thing again just natural I guess I think international air cadet exchange the value to me has been the opportunity to see a foreign country to see people to get to meet them to know them to actually see what other people do and see how similar people are all over the world having gotten to meet british canadiens swedish germans plus the dutch people we've gotten a chance to know more people around the world this to me has been just an opportunity which i'll treasure for my whole life the international air cadet exchange's purpose is to create friendship between different countries and in our tour I believe that we've really mastered exactly what it was set up for because as this family we just spoke together and acted politely to each other and just as one of the best things you can think of that a family should be well we have everything prepared we have our transportation it's always there and wherever we go we'll have our meals all prepared and everything and it's it's really fantastic and everything's just coming out great one of the greatest things which I know my lads are getting out of this visit to your country is the ability to converse with the the average american listen to their points of view discuss their problems and more than anything else I think this tour has achieved the aim of understanding between two different nations I can envisage a difficulty with parties from the malaysian Singapore and chinese groups who would have a language difficulty but nevertheless as far as my lads are concerned the number one thing which has come out of our visit is getting to know the american person in their own home and they have said to me on many occasions so these people are exactly the same as us there's only one difference they've got an accent oh yeah the language problems this can be quite a problem for just a porto rican who finds himself in germany for three weeks when I travel through the country and everything here in germany I think of my parents and how I'd like to see them see what I've seen and usually it's the other way around they want you to see what they've seen but europe's one thing I'd really like them to see it's really fabulous I still can't believe I'm here I look up at the sky and I say it's the same sky that you see in the united states but it's a long way away well I think one thing which I hoped I showed in the way I acted the way I behaved the way my outward appearance to people in the Netherlands was to show them what not really a typical american is but what a typical american who really wants to learn about them is I changed a few ideas I know of because they would ask me questions about life in the united states and I gave them the honest answers as honest as I could from my own experience it made me think a lot about what america meant to me because I had to tell them what america was it was very interesting to note their reactions I definitely see a lot of promotion of goodwill between the united states and other countries and between other countries in the united states where well kids from belgium will ask well uh you know do you really have free press we showed them a picture of something that said something about the war and he was shocked because they said something about the war he said I can't believe that you know you have free press and uh you find out more about different other countries than you would in a book you know the kids can tell you more about what they are I enjoyed my ship around new york's greatly especially the boat trip around manhattan island I think this was the only way we could get any idea of the great size of the buildings we have skyscrapers in england especially in london but nowhere on the scale of new york they were really terrific never seen anything like that before when it was my second time up in gliders the other times were in illinois there's just one you really can't describe it until you feel it and then you still have difficult describing it but it's a it's a feeling that you will get doing anything else it's a thing of where you and mother nature come together and face each other face to face I think I think the most inspiring part of uh r.e.f. spittlegates was standing there behind the glider as it was being towed up and just watching the glider climb into the clouds and watching I think just climb like no other bird or any other glider you've ever seen climb before when I first walked into the uh smithsonian institute I first saw the the plane the right brothers flew in in 1903 what startled me most was that the right brothers plane uh it was almost like a mosquito uh it's so you know open and behind stood stood the spirit of saint louis and it was covered with metal and I and all at once I saw the difference was was really you know astounding but but what was more astounding was the behind that the lunar module oh the the difference there you you could not measure and not only in know-how and technological advancement but also in the mentality of man to reach so much further beyond uh almost imagination I was a bit skeptical when I realized I'd be coming to the united states for my international economic exchange this year but uh this trip has really extended my knowledge quite a lot I don't think there was any problem between the all the cadets and uh getting together mainly because we're all teenagers or around that area and uh I think all teenagers all over the world have just about the same ideas especially in organizations as our own the uh teenagers just you know sort of this blend in together with each other everyone is interested in everyone else uh as human beings go I feel and it is up to the cadet I believe to use his tactfulness and explaining his country's way of life and the way his people are if you don't tell it to him right they're going to get a war view of an American I wish we could stay in England longer with the group of people that we are with now because uh I don't think we'll ever stop learning about uh the different ways and things uh that uh most of us do I met not only the Dutch people but also Germans Swedish Canadians British a chance which I haven't really had before the chance to meet people get to know them and in turn form ideas about the countries but in meeting the people I've grown it's become more or less a personal relationship so that the country means something to me because I now have a friend there and friends around the world are very important to everyone the first time I saw the United Nation building was from the boat when we circled around the old Manhattan and uh it really impressed me I found the United Nations architecture I thought it was absolutely brilliant it was a beautiful building and inside of course uh the way they designed the interior allowing each country to participate I thought this was wonderful I really enjoyed having a Dutch guide there one of our country and she uh could make clear in Dutch what might have been not clear in English or American I should prefer wouldn't impress me most about German people was the friendliness not only towards each other but towards foreigners just about every place we went we were given a actually a vip treatment and people went out of their way to be kind and courteous and help us in every way possible when you live with your private hose you leave this this feeling of real binding friendship that you've met somebody who understands you and you understand you have a mutual understanding between each other and you can see this you know happening and you can feel where your diplomacy has come over and grasps them and theirs has grasped you in their own land and when you leave you kind of hate to leave them you know because you've just met these people you've got new friends you know and they're really nice and you really like they like you you can feel it as the United States is such a large country you can even find contrasts in different states and this I noticed particularly between New York and Toronto where New York is closely packed and rather hectic Florida is open and more relaxed and naturally enough I prefer the Florida atmosphere while in Florida we visited Cape Kennedy where they launched the moon rockets watching the Apollo launch was quite something on the countdown we were all anticipating the launch not knowing exactly what to expect then there was a bright orange flame being three miles away we could feel the blast and then a couple of seconds later we heard this great roar they've watched other Apollo launches on television at home before and they were quite exciting America has the resources to be able to do this and I think it's a it's a good idea in a way that she should use these resources to try and find out as much as possible about the world we live in when this is the lunar roving vehicle which was used on the moon by the Apollo 15 astronauts this vehicle weighs 462 pounds and is capable of carrying 1000 pounds the astronauts used it to travel about 30 miles all total on the lunar surface they had the capability of traveling for 56 miles or 73 hours while staying in the world office story in New York we were attended a military ball this was the first ball I'd ever attended in formal dress and I think it was the same for some of the other British girls by the end of the evening we'd all had a very very nice time very jolly time more knowledge from talking to the other cadets I could probably ever learn in school books these cadets can discuss freely their problems and the issues of their nation when discussing with these cadets it's really unique to find out that their country has about the same problems as their country and the youth feel about the same way about national problems and international problems as the US cadets do I think civil air patrol has given me the opportunity to meet people to meet people in a different situation I found out a lot about myself and about others and I think that's what CAP is aimed at for everyone to learn well personally I felt that it was just a fantastic tour I've learned a lot learned how other people have lived and it has changed me quite a bit but when I go back home I feel that I'll still be me probably a more knowledgeable me that knows more about somebody else in the world I think the biggest quality that was established during our little crusade through the country is friendship and to me friendship is an awfully important quality in people and through this trip we were able to establish that people can get along with each other and I think this is a quality that more people should experience they call ISE person-to-person diplomacy and I really can't in my mind think of any other better diplomacy in the world there should be more of it