Merry Christmas from Bulgaria!

Greetings Friends -

Just want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas from the Bulgarian mountains! This holiday trip has been quite a rewarding experience, and I can't wait to share pictures and stories with all of you.

Take care and happy holidays!

Best wishes -

Reflecting on a Wonderful Semester

Greetings Friends and Family –

Overview
School is wrapped up for the year, and Christmas vacation is here! After several weeks of intense mid-term assignments, it’s great to take a moment to reflect. Leaving Kilgore back in September seems so long ago. Three months have flown by faster than I would have ever imagined. The idiosyncrasies of the Scottish culture are becoming less and less noticeable as I gradually begin to blend in with the people here. Living in Scotland so far has opened my eyes to a beautiful country and a wonderful culture. So many friendships have been built with Rotarians, classmates, professors, roommates, and more. Interacting with people from so many different backgrounds has also increasingly taught me how to build friendships based on common ground.

I truly can’t imagine a better experience. Visiting with and presenting to Rotarians has been both a pleasure and an honor. The Rotary Club of Aberdeen Deeside has been a wonderful host and has made me feel right at home. My host sponsor, Ian Reid, has been particularly helpful and has been a wonderful tie to local Rotary. Ian and his wife Janice even invited me into their home this past weekend for a wonderful dinner. As I prepare to spend this Christmas away from home, their hospitality was particularly heart warming. I’ll look forward to seeing Ian next year, and will begin a speaking tour in January that will ultimately lead me to seven Aberdeen Rotary clubs.

It's also been great this semester to become involved with the Aberdeen Rotaract Club, which consists of students from the University of Aberdeen and the rival school, Robert Gordon University. It was a great experience to help Rotaract out with their Christmas shoebox appeal for impoverished youngsters. Next semester I’ll take on a more active role by serving as the community project coordinator for the club. It should be a challenging and rewarding experience.

Christmas in Bulgaria
Tomorrow, I’ll be traveling to Bulgaria with my roommate, Nick. He’s a native Bulgarian, so hopefully he'll be an excellent tour guide. After flying into Sofia, the nation’s capital, we’ll spend Wednesday and Thursday skiing and snow boarding in the Bulgarian mountains. On Friday, we’ll drive to Nick’s parents’ house in Haskovo (Nick’s hometown). Nick’s mom has friends in Rotary, and she has arranged for me to visit the Haskovo Rotary Club on Friday evening. Nick will also come along to translate, as it’s unlikely that many of the Bulgarian Rotarians will speak English. Should be an interesting experience! Of course, I’ve packed a Kilgore Rotary banner and will present it to the Haskovo Rotary club on Friday night.

After celebrating Christmas with Nick and his family in Haskovo, we're planning to drive the family SUV 4x4 to their cottage in the mountains in Northwest Bulgaria. The cottage is apparently in the middle of the wilderness, and Nick tells me that we’ll have a great time off-roading, hiking, and drinking fresh mountain spring-water. After several days in the mountains, we’ll likely drive back to celebrate New Years in Haskovo. We’ll fly back into Aberdeen, Scotland on January 4^th. At the very least, the trip should provide some breathtaking scenery. I think it will truly be an amazing experience, and I will be sure to post pictures for you to see along the way!

Before departing on vacation tomorrow, I want to thank all of you Rotarians, family, and friends that have helped to get me here. Studying as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar in Scotland has truly been a life-changing experience, and I look forward to spending the next six months here after the holiday.

Merry Christmas to all of you, and God bless!

- Nick

Working Hard and Having Fun

Greetings Friends –

Hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday a few weeks ago. Celebrating Thanksgiving with friends here in Scotland was great, although I missed out on the turkey and dressing. The past few weeks have flown by and have been filled with Rotary presentations, school assignments, and the occasional Ceilidh (Scottish folk dance party).

Speaking at the Laurencekirk Rotary Club went really well. Laurencekirk is a small farming town located approximately 30 minutes south of Aberdeen, and the Rotary club has about 22 members. As you can see in the picture below, Laurencekirk has quite a friendly group:


School has been intense lately, and Friday golf lessons always provide a nice scenic break from the city:

The school has put a Christmas tree up in front of King’s College where my lectures are held. The chapel, which was built around the year 1495, is pictured in the background:

A friend invited me to go to another Ceilidh this past Friday night. I always enjoy the chance to dance, so of course I accepted the invitation. The band was excellent, and the bagpipe made the dancing even livelier:

Learning the folk dances was loads of fun, and the band wrapped up the night with a really fast, fun group dance that went on for 10-15 minutes:

With things staying busy, the last two weeks of the semester should fly by. Although there aren’t any Rotary visits this week, the Aberdeen Rotaract meeting on Tuesday should be fun. We’ve been collecting shoe boxes full of Christmas toys for kids, and tomorrow is the final collection day. Hopefully there will be a huge turnout! :)

That’s everything for now, friends. Thanks for checking in and have a wonderful week back in Texas!

Best wishes -

Rotary Visits and Loch Ness Trip (Part 1)

Greetings Family and Friends –

Hope things are going well for all of you back in Texas! It’s been a while since I’ve posted lately, with classes and Rotary activities ramping up quite a bit. Things are going great, and two months have now passed since I left East Texas. The time has truly flown by, and I’m adjusting more every day to the Scottish way of life.

Here are several fascinating things that I’ve been up to lately:

Rotary Ceilidh
Attending Aberdeen Deeside’s Charity Ceilidh was so much fun! The band played Scottish folk music all night long, and learning the Scottish dances was a great laugh. Two of the Rotarian ladies even showed me some impressive moves on the dance floor!

Rotary Club Visits
Last week, the Aberdeen Balgownie Rotary Club invited me to speak at their meeting on Thursday night. The Balgownie Rotarians were a friendly group, and the presentation went well. After presenting and exchanging banners with the club, they kindly extended an open invitation for me to visit their meetings in the future.

This week I’ll also be traveling down to visit and speak at the Laurencekirk Rotary Club, which is located about 30 miles south of Aberdeen. It’s been great to meet so many friendly Rotarians here in Scotland, and I look forward to meeting even more during future club visits. Here are the Scottish Rotary Club banners that I’ve collected so far to bring back home:

Golf Lessons
My colleagues and I had our third golf lesson on Friday, and I’m really getting hooked on it. My flatmate and I have been putting in some extra time at the driving range, so hopefully we’ll be hitting the full course soon!

Trip to Loch Ness
On Saturday, my roommate (Nick), his friend (Sylvia), and I went for a highlands day trip to visit Loch Ness. Waking up early, we packed sack lunches and hit the road. Castle ruins were all along the road we took, and we visited one along the way called Glenbuchat.

Here’s a view of the castle:

The towers were quite intimidating:

Nice view from the castle window:

Steep spiral staircases!

Loch Ness Visit (Part 2)

After visiting Glenbuchat Castle, we drove up and down the steep hills. Here’s what the view looked like from a look-out point (another castle is visible towards the left of the valley):

As we traveled further Northwest, the rainy weather started moving in. Here’s a view of the clouds moving in with mountains in the background:

After four hours of driving we arrived in Inverness, a northern coastal city located about 15 minutes from Loch Ness. Loch Ness is famous for Nessie, the notorious sea monster who is said to inhabit the ancient body of water. We could tell we were getting close when we saw this Nessie statue outside of a gas station:

Loch Ness is one of many bodies of water created by the glaciers during the ice age. The word loch is essentially another word for a lake. However, I was quickly corrected by a Scottish friend when I accidentally called one a lake. Thus the name – Loch Ness. As we arrived at Loch Ness, a rainy haze was settling over the water:

I wanted to jump in so that I could say I’ve been swimming with Nessie, but the water was really cold:

Loch Ness Visit (Part 3)

After visiting Loch Ness and picking up a few souvenirs, we headed east and visited Culloden Battlefield. At this site, the Battle of Culloden took place in 1746 as a final clash between the Scottish Highland Jacobites and the Hanoverian British Army. Blue and red flags across the battlefield mark the positions taken by the opposing forces:

Next to the battlefield was a really old house with the thatch roof still intact. Apparently, this house is all that remains of a peaceful farming settlement that was all but wiped out during the battle:

On the way to our next stop, we stumbled upon this amazing bridge. Although we were at a poor angle for taking a picture, I’m relatively sure that this is the bridge that appears in the Harry Potter movies:

Next we visited the Clava Cairn, a pre-historic human burial chamber dated around 1,000 B.C. There were several single-chamber circular burial structures with an entrance oriented south west towards midwinter sunset. It was absolutely fascinating to visit this pre-historic site. Vertical stones like the one in this picture were positioned around the structure in a specific pattern:

After that, we drove to the northern coast to explore Fort George. Unfortunately, visiting hours were already over so we decided to start heading back to Aberdeen. The drive went quickly, and along the way we listened to an important football (soccer) match between Scotland and Italy. Scotland seemed to play well, but unfortunately Italy pulled ahead and won 2 - 1. The day-trip proved to be a great vacation from everyday life in the city.

That’s all for now friends, but thanks for checking in and have a great week! Best wishes -

Golf Lessons and Scottish Holiday Celebrations

Greetings Friends –

Things have been going quite well here in Aberdeen, and I hope that life is good for all of you back in Texas. Here are a few things that have been happening on this end:

Golf Lessons

Last Friday, three classmates and I attended our first golf lesson at the Murcar Links Golf Club. It’s quite a beautiful course located along the coastline on the Northeast edge of the city. My colleagues and I are part of a pilot program sponsored by the graduate arts school at the University of Aberdeen.

Here's a view of the Murcar Links Course (notice the North Sea in the background):

Essentially, they’re sponsoring us to take weekly golf lessons from the club pro, and in January we’ll receive a free one-year membership to the club. Talk about being in the right place at the right time! :) The club pro, Gary, is an excellent instructor, and I’m so excited to learn to play in the country that invented golf. Amazing fun!

Guy Fawkes Night (a.k.a. Bonfire Night)

On Tuesday night, my flatmates and I went down to the beach to watch the fireworks in celebration of Guy Fawkes Night. Guy Fawkes Night (more commonly known as Bonfire Night) is an annual celebration on the evening of the 5th of November. It celebrates the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot of the 5th of November 1605 in which a number of conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament.

Surprisingly, the event is a big celebration in Scotland and England. Fraser, my Scottish roommate, shared his view that the Scottish celebrate because the plot nearly succeeded in destroying parliament. When we asked him why the British celebrate the holiday, he shared his view that they celebrate the fact that they stopped the attempt to blow up parliament.

Here are some of the fireworks:

And here’s a picture of my roommate and I trying figure out how to stay warm (yes, that's a scarf wrapped around my face):

If you’re interested in learning more about Guy Fawkes and the notorious plot to blow up the English Parliament, here’s a link with additional information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes

Upcoming Charity Ceilidh Event:

This Friday I’ll be attending the Aberdeen Deeside Rotary Club’s annual Charity Ceilidh. As mentioned in a previous blog entry, a Céilidh (pronounced "kay-lee") is a social event with Scottish highlands music and dancing.

The word céilidh is Irish and Scottish Gaelic for 'visit'.’ The traditional Scottish highlands music is provided by an assortment of fiddle, flute, tin whistle, accordion, and drums. In addition to raising money for local charities, dancing and celebrating at the event with local Rotarians should be great fun. I’ll keep you updated on how it goes.

That’s everything for now, friends. Please have a great week and stay in touch!

Aberdeen Deeside Club Visit

Hello Friends -

Hope all of you had a safe and fun Halloween yesterday. Similar to Halloween in America, children could be seen last night running up and down the streets in costumes as they trick-or-treated. Good fun!

Last night I visited my host club, the Aberdeen Deeside Rotary Club, for the second time. It was fun to visit and chat with many of the Rotarians that I met while volunteering at the children's disco. The guest speaker was quite interesting, and he spoke about a photography project on Scottish scenery that he spent six years producing. The pictures he showed during the presentation were breathtaking!

During the meeting, I proudly presented the Aberdeen Deeside club with a Kilgore Rotary banner and several City of Kilgore pins. They were happy to receive the banner and have given me an Aberdeen Deeside banner to give to the Kilgore Rotary Club. Here is a picture of me with the club president on the left (Quentin Tweedie) and my host sponsor on the right (Ian Reid):


The Deeside Rotarians have been incredibly kind, and I look forward to building a relationship with their club over the next 8 months.

Thanks to all of you for tuning in, and have a great week -

Rotaract Activities and Rotary Children's Disco

Greetings Everyone –

Hope things are going well back in Texas! Today is daylight savings time here in the UK, so for a few weeks the UK is only 5 hours ahead of East Texas time. Isn't it funny that we roll back the clocks on different dates?

A friend mentioned last week that they would like to hear more about the Rotary activities I’m doing here in Scotland. It was great to receive the feedback, and I’ll be sure to post more about Rotary activities in Scotland from now on. Please let me know about other things I can continue to improve on! :)

Over the past several weeks, I’ve been meeting with the Aberdeen Rotaract Club. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Rotaract, it’s essentially Rotary for college students. Rotaract clubs typically focus on charity activities, professional development, and social interaction.

Often, Rotaract clubs help out with activities that the local Rotary Clubs are sponsoring. Aberdeen Rotaract is particularly unique because it’s made up of students from the two rival universities in Aberdeen - Robert Gordon University and the University of Aberdeen. Even with the friendly rivalry, the Rotaract club seems to have a great time putting events together.

Aberdeen Rotaract Ceilidh Fundraiser

We’ve got several charity events on the calendar for the next few months, and I joined the planning committee for the winter charity Ceilidh (pronounced “caylee”).

The Ceilidh is a traditional Scottish highlands dance party where a “Ceilidh band” plays Scottish highland folk music. For each song, a performer calls the dances and provides instructions to people who don’t know the Scottish dance steps. Ceilidhs are quite popular this time of year, so we’re hoping to attract a good crowd to raise money for a local children’s charity.

The University of Aberdeen’s clubhouse venue has agreed to host the charity event free of charge, and we found a printer to donate tickets and fliers for the event. Now our big concern is finding a Ceilidh band to perform at the event on November 23. My sponsoring Rotary club, Aberdeen Deeside, is also putting on a charity Ceilidh on November 9, so I’ll get to learn the Scottish highland dances before we host our own event. Fun stuff!

Aberdeen Deeside’s Children’s Halloween Disco

Yesterday, the Aberdeen Deeside Rotary Club held their semi-annual Children’s Disco to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund. I went to help out with the event and had a blast!

The event was held for kids in Primary 5 – 7, which is the Scottish equivalent of grades 4 – 6 in US school systems. Most of the kids were 10 or 11 years-old. I helped run the coat-check room for most of the afternoon, which provided me with quite an entertaining view of the dance floor.

It was absolutely hilarious to watch the group of little boys gallivanting around, with the group of little girls always one step ahead of them. The DJ was great at entertaining and involving the kids, and they all seemed to have a blast. Here are some pictures of the kids having fun on the dance floor:

The Deeside Rotarians are really nice and were great to work with. Many of them worked quite hard to put on the event, and it was neat to learn the details on how the event was put together. It was also great to get to know several new Rotarians over the course of the afternoon.

Towards the end of the event, some of the Rotarian ladies even hit the dance floor to show the kids how dancing is really done. And man, they could dance! The kids had a great time at the event, and the Rotarians and I had a fun time raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund.

This Wednesday I'll visit the Aberdeen Deeside meeting again and will present them with a Kilgore Rotary Club banner and City of Kilgore oil derrick pins. I'll keep you all updated on how the visit goes.

That's all for now, but take care and have a great week!

Weekend Roadtrip to Manchester (Part 1)

Greetings Friends –

Hope things have been going well for all of you back in East Texas! Everything is going great here in Scotland. Classes have been exciting and I’m getting to know more fellow students each week.

This past weekend I traveled to Manchester, England with my roommate (who’s name is also Nick) to pick up a car that he bought online. As soon as classes were finished on Friday, we caught a Ryanair flight from Aberdeen to Liverpool, England. Ryanair is a discount airline that offers cheap, direct flights all over Europe (similar to Southwest Airlines, but much more stripped down).

After arriving in Liverpool, we found a cab and negotiated a fare for the 30 minute drive to the car dealership in Manchester. The cab dropped us off at the dealership, and then we picked up Nick’s 2001 Volvo.

Driving around Manchester was absolutely hilarious! Because cars drive on the left side of the road in the UK, the steering wheel and driver’s seat is on the right side of the car. Neither one of us had ever driven like this before, and Nick was determined to learn. So, for the first 30 minutes of Nick driving, both of us were laughing/freaking out trying to keep the car on the correct side of the road while navigating traffic. It sounds random, but we couldn’t stop laughing because it was so strange driving on the left side of the road. We finally found a Travel Inn to stay at, so we dropped off our bags and headed downtown.

Maps showing local attractions were all over the place:


First, we walked around a park and found a statue of Queen Victoria:

Downtown Manchester was really amazing! The city center was alive with people, and there were lots of neat shops and attractions. Here’s a picture of some of the local shops (notice how different cabs look in England compared to the US:

After walking around downtown, we found the reconstructed remains of an ancient Roman fort.

Manchester apparently began as the original Roman fort that was built in 79 A.D.

After visiting the fort, we walked back to the car and headed back to the hotel. After taking a few wrong turns, we found our way back and headed in for a good night’s rest. The next morning, we woke up and headed out onto the highway towards Aberdeen.

To attach more pictures, I’ve continued in a second entry below.

- Have a great week!

Weekend Roadtrip to Manchester (Part 2)

Hello Again!

Continuing on the entry above, we woke up on Saturday morning and headed onto the highway. The road systems here are quite different from US highways, and major intersections and highway exits are often poorly labeled (if there’s even a sign). Highways that start with an “M ##” are similar to interstate highways in the US. Highways that start with an “A ###” are similar to our state highways in the US (US 259 for example).

We started out heading north on M90 from Manchester through Lancaster. As we started getting further north, the landscape started getting hillier and hillier. Here’s a picture of our view as we continued on M90 just north of Lancaster:


Sheep covered the fields and hills all across the countryside, and in many cases we would see them scattered up and down extremely steep hillsides. After passing through Carlisle, we drove by this field of windmills. I thought these were really cool:

Soon after this, we crossed into Scotland and took the exit for A7 to head northeast. A7 winds through the is known as the “tourist route to Edinburgh.” We weren’t in a hurry, so we decided to take the tourist route so that we could really experience the Scottish countryside. Here’s a picture of my flat-mate, Nick, driving with the Scottish lowlands in the background:

This windy road took us all around the gorgeous countryside, and we passed through several little towns that were in the middle of nowhere:

As we approached Edinburgh, we saw a random sign that said “Chrichton Castle.” We decided to venture off road, and eventually we found the remains of the 500 year-old Chrichton Castle. Here’s a picture of me with the castle and countryside in the background:

Heading back to the main road, we drove for half an hour and reached Edinburgh, Scotland. Edinburgh is a gorgeous and busy city, and we got turned around a few times before finding a place to park near the city center.

After walking around the city for a while, we finally reached Edinburgh Castle. This castle is absolutely enormous! The south side of the castle is built on top of a 50 ft rock face, and the north side overlooks the waterfront. This castle was exceptionally fascinating because it is still maintained and houses events.

Because we reached the castle after closing time, we weren’t able to explore inside. The guard at the gate told us that the castle is so large that it can house four large weddings simultaneously without any problems.

My camera battery died as we entered Edinburgh, so I wasn’t able to take any pictures of Edinburgh Castle. Nick and I plan on returning to Edinburgh to spend an entire day touring the castle, so I’ll make sure to take some neat pictures then.

Taking to the road again, we crossed the two mile long Forth Road Bridge and headed north along the coastline. Reaching Aberdeen two hours later, Nick and I congratulated each other on a safe and exciting road trip.

I’m not sure where our next road trip will lead, but I’m looking forward to it. Until then, it’s time to hit the school books and study hard.

Once again, I hope things are going great for everyone back in East Texas!

- Stay in touch and best wishes to all of you

My First Month in Scotland

Greetings All –

Hope things are going well back in Texas! Today marks one month that I’ve spent in Aberdeen, and it has truly been an eye-opening experience so far. The past month has gone by so fast, and yet my arrival in Scotland seems like a distant memory from long ago. I’ve already had so many enlightening encounters and have made so many great friends here in the UK.

Here are a few things that have become a part of everyday life now, even though they shocked me when I first arrived:

- Sinks have separate faucets for hot and cold water
- Cars drive on the left side of the road
- Roundabouts (the European term for circle intersection) replace typical intersections
- Many grocery stores expect you to bring your own bag, and they charge you if you use their plastic bags
- It’s the norm here to make coffee and/or tea by heating water in a self-contained heating pot that plugs into the wall
- Shopping centers and stores typically close around 4-5 pm
- Even on extremely sunny days, the high temperature is around 50-60 degrees Farenheit

On a different note, I moved into a new flat that’s much closer to campus over the weekend. I’m now only 5 minutes away from school, so no more walking 15-20 minutes each way to class each day. Four of us live in the flat, and my roommates are from Scotland, Luxembourgh, and Bulgaria. My new bedroom is pictured below:


It’s been particularly interesting to get to know Frazier, the Scottish roommate, since he was born and raised in Scotland. In addition to teaching us several phrases in the Gaelic dialect, he’s told us several of the best places to visit in Scotland. My other roommate Nick is buying a car this weekend, so we’re going to start taking road trips around the country as soon as possible.

I’m off now to study for classes, but I’ll stay in touch and keep all of you updated. Best wishes and have a great week!

Recap of Last Week: Visit to Aberdeen Deeside Club

Greetings All -

This past week has been relatively slow, and it's been good to have a chance to settle in and figure out a routine. Classes are going well so far, and I'm still meeting new people at school and making friends easily.

Last Tuesday I made it to the Aberdeen Rotaract club's first meeting of the semester. Everyone seems pretty cool, and I'll look forward to helping out with Rotaract charity and social events over the next two semesters.

On Wednesday, my sponsoring Rotarian, Ian Reid, picked me up and drove me to the Cults hotel to visit the Aberdeen Deeside Club for the first time. Ian is a retired educator who grew up in Edinburgh. After chatting for a while, we made our way upstairs for the meeting. Quentin Tweedie, the club president, introduced me along with the guest speaker (a member of parliament representing the Aberdeen area).

Dinner was excellent, and the speaker was interesting. The visit was a great opportunity to meet local Rotarians, and Quentin mentioned that they'll want me to come back to make a presentation in the next couple of months. The club gave me a banner to bring back to the Kilgore Rotary Club, and I have a Kilgore banner to give them when I return to speak.

Over the weekend I attended church in the King's Chapel, which is attached to King's College. The church is ancient and beautiful, and some of the stained glass windows have been in place for over 500 years. I also discovered that there's a youth dinner (with free food!) every Sunday night after church. :) The youth dinner was a fun opportunity to chat with other students while enjoying homemade chicken noodle soup (amazing since it was 40 degrees outside).

On a different note, a package arrived containing East Texas t-shirts that were collected by Rotarians from District 5830! Thank you to my parents for going to the trouble of shipping them over. I've already handed several t-shirts out to my roommates (from India, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria). They seem really excited to have Texas gear to wear! I'm going to try to take some t-shirts to the Rotaract meeting tomorrow evening to hand out to members.

That's all for now, but hope things are going great back in Texas. Cheers!

Rotary Scholars Conference in England

Hello All -

The past week has been busy and enriching. Lectures started last week, and it looks like this semester’s classes will be intense. On the bright side, the professors are excellent and the material is interesting.

This weekend, I attended the Rotary in Britain and Ireland (RIBI) Link weekend in Bournemouth, England. The conference was held to bring together all of the ambassadorial scholars studying in England, Ireland, and Scotland. On Friday, I flew down to Southampton, England and took the train to Bournemouth. I didn’t know what exactly to expect, but the weekend turned out to be an absolutely amazing experience.

Several of the scholars posing right before eating an amazing English breakfast:
A sample of the scenery during our ferry tour of Poole Harbor:
Rotarians and scholars eating dinner at the "Western Ho-Down." The Swanage club president is pictured at the far right, and Sue and Maggie (two of our host Rotarians) are pictured front and center:
Some fellow scholars from Jamaica, Namibia, and Malta. The caption on the banner in the background is so appropriate!
We just didn't want to leave each other when the conference was over!

In addition to meeting 100+ ambassador scholars from over 20 countries, we were housed and fed in smaller groups by our host families. After meeting my host family on Friday, we travelled to Swanage (the neighboring down) where the host Rotarian, Sue Whitton, lived.

After settling in and meeting the other three scholars at the house, we went to the house of another Swanage Rotarian for an English barbeque! The food was excellent, and the company was even better. In addition to meeting several Swanage Rotarians, about 10 scholars were at the house party. Our dinner hosts, Henry and Rosemary Clark, truly made us feel at home.

The next morning, Sue and Maggie (another Rotarian), cooked us all a traditional English breakfast! It was absolutely delicious. After eating the Rotarians drove us around the coast for a brief tour before taking us to the meeting center in Poole. After a brief presentation, we all boarded a ferry that took us on a tour of the gorgeous Poole Harbor.

After the tour, we changed and went to a “Western Ho-Down” back at the conference center. A live band played folk-type music as many of us square and line danced. Of course, I had to jump in and show them how well Texans dance. ;)

The next morning we woke early and attended several seminars designed to enrich our experience as ambassadorial scholars. Wrapping up the convention, we said goodbyes and headed back to our universities across the UK. I took the bus, then train, then plane and finally arrived back in Aberdeen late last night.

Meeting so many Rotarians and scholars at the convention was a great experience, and I look forward to keeping in touch with them. Several of us have already made plans to visit each other in different cities. Huge thanks to our hosts in England and all of the Rotarians who worked to make this convention such a positive experience.

Saturday visit to Dunnottar Castle (Continuation of Previous Post)

Greetings again -
Below are more pictures from visiting the castle:

Dunnottar Castle was a nearly impregnable fortress originally build over 700 years ago. William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots, and the future King Charles II all graced the castle with their presence over the years. Several hundred years ago, a small garrison held out against a British army for eight months and saved the Scottish Crown Jewels.

Here's the keep, the most intact part of the ruined castle:
The remaining walls of the ruined city with the North Sea in the background:
Simply amazing coastal scenery:
Hay fields cover the countryside 1/2 mile inside the coast:

Saturday visit to Dunnottar Castle

Hello Everyone –

Hope you’re all having a wonderful Sunday afternoon. It’s been an eventful weekend here in Scotland.

First of all, I want to say thank you to all of the kind encouragement and good wishes several of you have posted in comments over the past week. I apologize for taking a while to respond to some of your comments, and I’ll try to respond quicker in the future.

My sister Patricia posted a question a few days ago asking about “pound coins.” The currency here is quite different from the US – money is based on the “Pound” instead of the dollar. One pound is worth about two U.S. dollars. For instance, a loaf of bread that would cost $2 in the US costs about 1 pound here. People carry around lots of coins here, particularly the “1 Pound coin.” It’s just a gold-colored coin worth 1 pound. Paper bills are used for increments of 5 pounds, 10 pounds, 20 pounds, etc. I’ll try to post a few pictures soon of the different types of money here.

Yesterday I went with some new friends to visit the Dunnottar Castle ruins in Stonehaven, Scotland. With classes starting this week and Rotary club visits nearing, this weekend made for a perfect opportunity to see the countryside before things get busy. It’s only about 15 miles from the city, so we took the bus to Stonehaven and then walked several miles to the castle. The coastal highlands scenery was absolutely breathtaking! I truly see now why they call this area the “Highlands.” My new friends and I were from different cultures around the world, but the breathtaking scenery seemed to unite us as we stood in awe of nature’s astounding beauty. Pictures and captions are attached below and in the next post.

The Crew (left to right): Kersti from Norway, Sylvia and Nick from Bulgaria, Bharet from India, and Marat from Kazakhstan.



The view overlooking the town of Stonhaven:

The coastal highlands on the way to the castle:
Nick, Sylvia, and me relaxing next to the coast:
The scenery left me awestruck:
Only five pictures can be attached to each post, so I'll attach additional pictures in another post above.

Thanks!