December 2019
To our family and friends,
We hope this letter finds you and your family happy, healthy and enjoying the holiday season! Continuing the Neader tradition, here is the 2019 Year in Review.
It was another busy “international” year for the Neaders, spanning six continents. We hosted students from Spain and Ecuador during the first part of the year, and hosted another student from Austria for a month during the summer. Plus, everyone in the family traveled internationally during the year… but not together. For a little summary about what each of us has been up to, including those travels, read on…
Cameron is 22 and a Senior at UW-La Crosse. He will graduate this spring with a major in Communications and minors in both International Business and Economics. After graduation, he will be moving to Madrid, Spain, to attend EAE Business School, to obtain his Master’s Degree in International Business. Cameron is still working at a local grocery store, Festival Foods, as a Customer Service Representative and is also working as an intern, managing social media for 4 Sisters, a business with three local bar/restaurant locations. This summer, Cameron spent a month in Australia and New Zealand, then a week in Alaska, visiting friends he met while on his previous student exchanges. In his free time, he still enjoys playing piano, composing songs and singing.
We welcomed Ashlyn home in June, after her year-long student exchange in Surat, Gujarat, India. It was a wonderful experience that changed her in many ways. Ashlyn is 19 years old and currently a Freshman at UW-La Crosse, getting her general ed classes in, while deciding on a major. She is working part-time at the People’s Food Co-op in La Crosse and has also started making and selling custom jewelry — look for her store called “AshlynsLittleIndia” on Etsy.com.
Macy is 16 years old and in August began a year-long student exchange in Taipei, Taiwan, through the Rotary Youth Exchange program. She is loving her time in Taiwan and working hard to learn the language (Mandarin Chinese), which she is finding quite challenging.
With Macy in Taiwan for the school year, and Cameron and Ashlyn going to college (but still living at home to help take care of the house and the cats), it was an ideal time for Scott and Laurie to do some travelling. The first trip was 5.5 week journey during Oct & Nov that took them to Portugal (Porto, Douro Valley, Coimbra, Évora, Lisbon), Spain (Madrid, Segovia, Toledo, Granada, Seville, Barcelona) and Morocco (Marrakech, Fes, Chefchaouen, Essaouira). While many of the top tourist attractions were seen, there was also a focus to get off the beaten path — stays on a cork tree farm, and at a port wine vineyard, in-home dinners with local families, seeking out non-tourist restaurants without English menus, using Airbnb to stay in apartments, etc. It was a fabulous vacation and Scott and Laurie can’t wait to do more of this type of travel. In fact, another trip is being planned for the spring of ‘20 to Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England.
Well, that’s the 2019 year-in-review. Until next year… Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love,
Scott, Laurie, Cameron, Ashlyn & Macy Neader
Click photos to enlarge
