We started off our seminar in Perham, Minnesota, a place that no other MARL class has ever been. 
We started the day off by talking about our future board positions and upcoming elections as a class, everyone seemed very excited and anxious to pick someone who will represent our class. Eriks Dunens, MARL Program Leader, lead our first lesson on Building Intercultural Competence with a card game. We were split into teams and given a set of rules to follow, the trick was no one could talk. The winners and losers from each round had to move to a different table, where little did we know had different rules. Some caught on earlier than others and some just simple stood their ground. Fun was had by all, but we really got a taste of what it will be like having some language barriers and cultural differences when we are in Croatia.
Seminar management team member Mark Enninga introduced our own classmate Paul Wright, who serves on the McLeod County Budget Committee. Paul gave the next presentation on Tax Base. Some of us were starting from scratch and others had some prior knowledge. I think it’s safe to say we all learned something and he made something as complicated as property taxes much more user friendly.
Colonel Matthew Vatter, MN National Guard J5 Strategic Plans and Policy Director, was our special guest that day. He talked about the special partnership between MN National Guard and Croatia, and his experiences in this country. His presentation created a better understanding of the strategic geography of Croatia. It was a privilege to have Colonel Vatter as our guest.
We had supper at The Cactus and finished our night with the last of our individual Croatia presentations. I think these presentations made us all even more excited and educated about our upcoming international seminar!
Submitted by Sierra Kanten
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