If I thought yesterday was 'full on' with people then I didn't think aout today when even more people rocked up on the doorstop of the LACC for the official opening of the convention.
The Nigerians were out in force and could be spotted from afar with their colourful gowns and headwear.
This morning I decided to attend the Interfaith Service mainly because I was curious how they wer going to cater for all the religions that are here. To their credit, it started with an African processional and then they had readings from Rotarians of those religions. They started with Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity and Buddhism and in between the Rotary Choir sang a Korean folk song, a Mexican folk song and the usual Ave Maria by soloist Heather McInally whose voice sent shivers up my spine. It was beautiful and everyone was stunned into silence just listening to her.
From there I followed the screams of Aya ya ya yaii, guitars and trumpets. Mexicans were nearby! They had gathered a crowd around them and were singing to their hearts content. One young boy in their group around 12 years old was singing Mexican songs and getting the crowd dancing. I watched them entertain the crowds for half an hour and the crowd loved them. Japanese and Koreans clickingtheir cameras and all jumping in while the Mexicans were still singing to get their photos taken. Trust the Mexicans to have boppy music to get everyone in a happy mood. The funny thing was that all the Spanish speaking people in the crowd were also singing along having a grand time.
From there I bounded up the stairs back to the Fellowship of Rotary Editors and Publishers to do my duty at the stand for a couple of hours. While there, I met Robert Stewart, a real character who had attended 37 conventions with over 50 years in Rotary. His home club was Chicago [or "Number 1 Club" as they call it here as the founding club]. He told me that he brought the idea of fellowships to the US many years ago and now he sees that the idea just took off with so many of them!
After a quick bite, the official opening began. They did the opening in two phases to cater for the large crowd. Luckily, I was in the first one. The quartet King N Trio warmed up the audience with their guitar, banjo, cello and mandolin playing. They played Waltzing Matilda - even though they aren't Australians. They too are Rotarians who have raised over $160 000 through their music for chairty.
We were told that back in 1962, when LA was host again, the MC back then was none other than Ronald Reagan. It now seems fitting that I will be going to the Reagan Library tomorrow night for the home hosting activity.
The opening included the symbolic flag ceremony where 200 countries were represented. Based on the cheers, whoops, and whistles, my rough estimate of numbers attending from those countries in order of whooping are:
Taiwan [they just went NUTS!]
United Kingdom [as expected]
USA [Obviously...]
Followed by:
Italians [they were LOUD - in the cafeteria even MORE SO! Let's just say I know how to say French Fries in Italian - their wives even louder]
Brazilians [big contingent here]
Japanese [they were polite - they clapped loudly]
Koreans [obviously as new incoming RI President is Korean]
Ghana [can't keep these people down]
Indians
Costa Ricans
Lebanon [as loud as the Italians]
Denmark [they went wild]
France [you couldn't hear yourself think with their hollering]
Canada [you could spot them as ALL Canadians got dressed in EXACTLY the same red vest with CANADA emblazoned in large letters on the back]
Mexico [extremely large contingent]
New Zealand
Nigeria [of course, we love them!]
Phillipines [huge applause and cheers from them]
Romania [what?yes, I thought that was a mistake but there was a lot of cheering coming from them].
South Africa
Spain [I was deafened at this point]
Sri Lanka
Sweden
Switzerland
Uganda
Ukraine [yes, I think there is a large contingent in particularly when one lady accosted me this afternoon..."you Australian yes? You live in Sydney no? I vant to go Sydney. I vant to see Australia. You tell me vere to go yes?" Ummm...my first thoughts were "please lady don't grip my arm to hard!" but let's get back to business...there was also
Venezuelans who cheered and by now you are thinking, what about the Australians?
Well we had some polite claps but no over exhuberant cheers even though there's heaps of us here. Alas - at least some American band played Waltzing Matilda on our behalf!
Last night before the Natalie Cole concert I hung around a Canadian family from Edmonton. The guy's name was Peter and he was telling me of the work he did to set up afterschool areas for 'latch key' kids whose parents neglect them. It's a safe haven for them to be with othes their own age and off the streets. He told me that he was the incoming District Governor of his District and looking forward to his new role. His family were genuinely nice and approachable so I chatted with them until the show started and we split up to our relevant seats.
This afternoon I saw him up on stage when RI President Wilf Wilkinson invited his family on the stage with him. So indeed, he was one of his sons. Obviously the son followed the father's footsteps into Rotary.
Wilf talked about the need for Rotary and community service is growing meanwhile member numbers are decreasing and this is a challenge for everyone. He also talked about how Bill and Melinda Gates had provided $100 million as a challenge grant for Polio eradication and just by thi act - a simple electronic bank transfer showed that they believed in Rotary.
"I've never seen $100million turn up in my bank account as I'm sure you haven't too!" he said.
When the speeches ended, we were entertained for an hour.
To be continued...
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