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Drew Wieland
The
Following Comes from a Rotex Site Updated 3/17/2004:
I am very willing to share my experience with anyone who is interested in listening. I cannot even begin to describe how this experience has changed my life, and I would seize any opportunity I could have to go back and do it all over again. The highlights I would focus on are the fact that I learned Dutch fluently, made a ton of very close friends that I still keep in touch with, involved myself in the history and culture of the Netherlands, and proudly shared my unique culture with them. Traveling and trying new and different things are now a part of everything I do, thanks to this experience. And to think it all started with a suggestion from my father, and at first I as too scared to accept. I seek out anyone Dutch who would like to build a friendship, I teach my children Dutch and feed them Dutch meals on occasions, and I still celebrate Dutch holidays. I encourage anyone who has the chance to go to just do it. And I hope to find all of my old friends.
E-mail 9/20/2004:
Holy shit! You gotta be fucking kidding me. This has got to be the coolest
surprise in the whole world. Guess what I was doing three nights ago...I
was sitting in my living room on the floor flipping through my 1,200 pictures
from Holland wishing I could finally get in touch with everyone again.
For 
about a year now, I've been exhausting my resources searching through
names and not being very successful.
So here I am, not surprised once again that Eric the Great came through
with an answer...
How the hell are you man?! It sounds like you, Mark and Kris have been busy over the years putting things together to keep the group tight. No thanks to Rotex, their site only revealed people who went during Woodstock or who were in diapers while we were there. I'm glad as hell that you've done this, though, because I've been dying to find out how you all have been doing...especially the small tight-knit group that we had.
I'd love to give you a call sometime and catch up over the phone, but in the meantime, let me fill you in on a couple things in my life. I'm quite different from when you last saw me. Major changes include my wife, Alisha, of over 6 years, my two sons: Alec (6) and Logan (3), and heaps of moves.
My return from Holland granted me 2 tortursome years back in El Paso
at college, then I got accepted to UT Austin. Went for a semester, loved
it, my wife was pregnant so I moved back to EP for a couple years, and
then went back to finish up with my degree in 
advertising. December 2001,
graduation, proved to be the worst possible time to graduate, especially
in advertising, so I worked odd shit for a couple years there while looking.
Got sick of that, tried my hand at commercial real estate brokerage...unfortunately
had to move back to EP for that, and it ended up a huge flop. So now,
I'm following my heart and dreams of being Mr. Golden Lion advertising
copywriter and living in Denver...I've always wanted to be in Colorado.
No job yet, but I've only been here for a month.
That's it in a nutshell. I've got my Dutch host parents coming to visit in the beginning of October, and I still speak Dutch fluently, so that'll help.
I've got all your information in my Outlook, and I can't wait to hear your voice. Give me a synopsis of your life so it doesn't feel like...oh...8 years since we've spoken when we're on the phone. I've attached a picture for you to laugh at. Now, I'm gonna go hop on your site and browse. All the information you might need is listed below, so go ahead and slap me on your site.
Again, awesome to hear form you bud...I can't wait to hear more. This is the beginning of a beautiful thing.
Til soon...
Drew Wieland
:-dcw-:
Key Stats
Country of Origin:
USA (not Pakistan) (Texas could be considered its own country)
Education/Next Steps post-Holland:
UTEP for 2 years, UT Austin for a semester (back to El Paso for a couple years), then finished up a BS in Advertising from UT Austin in December 2001
Birthday:
March 10, 1976
Current Address:
9508 Pinebrook St. Highlands Ranch, CO 80130
Current Phone Number:
home: intl() 720-348-0624
cell: intl() 303-547-0160
Preferred E-mail Address:
Current Profession or LifeGig:
Freelance Copywriter, looking for full-time
Favorite expression in Dutch:
"In de hemel is er geen bier, daarom drinken wij het hier."
Vote for a 2005 Rotary Exchange Holland Reunion (REHR):
depends on when it is because I'm poor right now. Anywhere in the states or even Canada. But if I strike the lottery before then, I'm flying all of us down to Oz.
Rotary club in Holland:
Veldhoven
Hosting Rotary club in home country:
El Paso, TX
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Eric J. Reid
