I am first and foremost sorry for the delay in my updates. I went back to the USA for Christmas, and although I thought I would have tons of time, it went way too quickly!! The picture to the right is of two of my cousins and me after we pulled open our British Christmas Crackers. We also had some Christmas pudding and some spiced mead courtesy of my host Rotarians at Monkseaton Centenary. I returned for New Year's Eve in London...which was absolutely spectacular! I was able to get a spot in the front row on the Victoria Embankment directly across from the London Eye.
It was one of the coolest fireworks displays I have ever seen. They even had fireworks going off speedboats in the water...very fun and really cool to watch. The London Eye also turned about every color in the rainbow! I returned to Newcastle on January 3. I spent most of the month working incredibly fast on my final exam assignments. I had four major papers due every Friday of the month, and although my ambition was to work on them over Christmas, the reality was spending the entire month of January locked in my room to get everything finished on time! I did get out a little, however. I spoke at three different Rotary Clubs here in district 1030, and also spent some time at my host club, Monkseaton Centenary. I really enjoyed my time at the clubs and I got to see 
a lot of the area around each location. Now that it is February, I will not only be able to update my blog more often, but I also will be doing some pretty neat things. Next week I will be going to a Rotary sponsored Casino Night and a few weeks after that I will be speaking at the 1030 District Conference. I am also trying to plan a short trip to Sweden. (But we will see) I hope everything with you guys is going well and that the New Year has started wonderfully!
