European Guides Learn to Square Dance

It’s suddenly quiet here at ETBD headquarters, as 80 European guides have packed up and returned home. Our annual tour guide summit and tour member alumni party are over, and it was a great week. Saturday was an exhilarating three-ring circus of talks and alum parties, as we pretty much took our town by storm — filling up the big venues, bars, and restaurants with our guides and well over a thousand 2011 tour alums. Each day of the last week was filled with meetings: tour itinerary brainstorming sessions, all-staff meetings, first aid and CPR training, and so on. To stockpile a few months’ worth of radio content, I managed to do 30 interviews with guides over the week. We even flew in a tax specialist so our guides could get the straight scoop on tax issues for European guides working for an American company. And each evening was social time — my favorite part of the week.

The ultimate highlight was our square dance evening. Our guides earn their living introducing American travelers to their local cultures. Now we turned the tables, encouraging the guides to dress as “Old West” as they could as we filled a school gym for a night of BBQ and learning the moves with a square dance club. The old-timers with big belt buckles, the pretty ladies in their music-box-doll crinoline dresses, and the fun of this classic bit of Americana were a hit for all. Rolinka from Holland found overalls, speckled her face with some big Texas-sized freckles, and put her long Dutch-girl blonde hair into a bouncy ponytail. She made like an old cowboy pulling his suspenders out and hollered at me, “Eeee-haw! Is this what-cha call a hootenanny?”

Now our guides want another night of square dancin’ at our next summit. Here’s a sample of the fun:

If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.

(P.S. Thanks for all the very kind wishes and condolences for my last post about losing my mother. It meant a lot.)

Comments

4 Replies to “European Guides Learn to Square Dance”

  1. Too funny!! Nice to see the GUIDES being told where to go and what to do for a change. Hope they got out of town before the snow and ice. Seattle in January reminds me why I’m glad to now live in the South.

  2. Because he has such a high profile, I became curious about Steves and researched his background. For a highly successful businessman and community-minded citizen he certainly provokes some people. His personal views probably resonate with millions but seem to aggravate many others and they really lash out at him in ways that seem unfair, even touching upon his life style. Perhaps it is those who feel marginalized who criticize him the most? If he is demanding, it’s because you have to be in order to be competitive in business. If his writing includes some cliche’s, it’s because he is trying to be entertaining, express himself and differentiate his company. If he’s no longer married, he is part of the 51 percent who experience that situation. I can’t get over the rancor in some of the comments and wonder what deep-seated needs are being fulfilled by the rants. The guy has a successful business, helps his own community plus those of others, has created a great team and seems widely respected. Is that precisely what spurs the sniping and pot shots? By the way, the square dancing was pretty good but I don’t think it will replace the Can Can in Paris.

  3. i’m sure everyone had a great time, but i cringe at the guides forming their opinion of barbecue from what they received in seattle.

  4. Funny b/c squaring dancing originated in Northern Europe and was brought over by British, Swiss and French immigrants. It’s not an American creation.

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