Easter Holiday!

Before I could fully enjoy my Easter holiday, I had to first complete a major assignment for my degree program. I had to research and then present to a faculty board how the core cultural values and beliefs of a community are manifested in the communication behaviors of the individual. My specific focus was on Italian non-verbal communication specifically when using gesture. Although I spent many late nights working hard to complete this project, my work paid off and I received the mark of distinction! So once that project was out of the way I took a bit of time to travel some of the various parts of Europe. I began my trip by traveling with my best friend from the USA to Paris, Nice and Cannes. We had a wonderful time and I think I took a million photos of the Eiffel Tower. (One of which is pictured above.) We then stopped over in Monaco before spending some time in London. After my friend went back to the USA, I met up with my parents in London where I continued my travels. We saw so many wonderful things including Grenich (pictured above is me standing on the Prime Meridian...very cool, one foot is on the east and one on the west!) Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court, Stone Henge, and Bath (just to name a few). We also took in a few musicals and had an absolute fabulous time. When the three of us returned to Newcastle, my parents attended my host Rotary Club and my dad was the guest speaker of the evening. (We are all pictured above with President Celia) My parents were very excited to meet the members of the club who have been so kind towards me during my stay here in Newcastle. During the meeting the president of the club,Celia, invited everyone to her house the following Friday for a further get together with my parents. It was a wonderful night and her cheese and wine party turned into a full feast! She has such a kind heart! Following the wonderful Friday night festivities, my parents and I got on a plane and flew to Ireland where we spent the remaining 8 days of my holiday. We traveled all over the country with our rental car and I admire my dad for driving on the most narrow streets I have ever seen! But Ireland is so beautiful. (pictured above is a section on the Dingle Peninsula) I had a wonderful time!

Rotary Games Night and St. Patty's Spectacular

I sadly do not have any pictures of the Rotary Inter-club Game Night. I accidentally left my camera in my room. But it was a great night. I had only played one of the games before, which was darts, and it was the first time I ever shot a riffle. (And you would all be so proud, I managed to make the bullseye every time...in fact I have my bullseye sheet hanging on my wall in my room.) I can't say that my great teammate, Barbara, and I had the best winning record, but we sure did have a wonderful time. Our opponents were members of the Rotary Club of Washington and they have invited me to speak in May. They also happen to meet in the ancestral home of George Washington, so I am very excited to visit! Following the games night I decided that with my Irish heritage, there was no better place to celebrate the feast of St. Patrick's Day then in Ireland. I spent a few days in Dublin and had a wonderful time. I saw the St. Patrick's Day parade which had more American school marching bands than anything else, but it was still a fun time. (St. Patrick himself, shown in the picture, actually participated in the parade as well!)

1030 District Conference

In February, I was invited to participate and speak at the district 1030 Rotary Conference in Leeds. It was a wonderful opportunity and it wouldn't have been made possible if Phil Hopps (District 1030 Rotary Foundation Committee Ambassadorial Scholar Coordinator) had not so graciously volunteered to drive Misa (ambassadorial scholar from Japan) and myself down to the conference and likewise look after us all weekend. The conference was very well organized and we heard from an amazing speaker during the Saturday afternoon session. Misa and I also presented during the Saturday session, but luckily we had already finished before he began his speech, so we were no longer nervous and could really enjoy it. I think everyone wanted to buy his book when he was finished. Everything about the conference was great. The food was delicious and I think Misa and I tried every desert that was offered. :-) The city hall which held the conference was beautiful and we were also able to meet the traveling GSE team from Idaho! I was very honored to be invited to participate in the conference and Misa and I enjoyed ourselves and were able to meet many wonderful Rotarians. (We even danced with several at the Saturday night dinner dance) Thank you district 1030! (For reference to the photos in this post, the first picture is of Misa and myself with 1030 District Governor George Craig and his lovely wife. The second is of RIBI President Peter Offer and the third of Phil Hopps, our wonderful host for the weekend!)