Upcoming Return to Texas

Greetings Everyone –

Hope you’ve all been doing well back in District 5830! From the TriState newsletter, it seems that many of you have been quite busy with activities throughout East Texas. Life is excellent here in Scotland, and the final leg of this experience is underway.

Following final exams, I’ll wrap up this ambassadorial scholarship and will return home on Friday, May 30. During June, I'll look forward to visiting and presenting to any interested Rotary clubs. If any of you would like me to speak at to your club, please e-mail me at Nick.a.holda@gmail.com.

I’m excited about returning to Texas in six more weeks, but I know that I’ll miss this place that’s been ‘home’ for the past seven months. Surprisingly, most of the cultural idiosyncrasies that initally baffled me have become somewhat natural. So many Scottish Rotarians have kindly welcomed me into their community here, and I look forward to serving as a permanent link between our District 5830 and District 1010 in Northern Scotland. You all have provided such a wonderful experience through this scholarship, and I look forward to seeing you soon!

Take care and best wishes to you all -

Nick

Rotaract Pub Quiz Charity Fundraiser

Earlier this week, our Aberdeen Rotaract club hosted a ‘Pub Quiz’ charity fundraiser to raise money for an organization called WaterAid. This unique charity works with poor individuals and families in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific region to help them set up and operate sanitary water systems. If you’re interested, more information on the WaterAid initiative is available at www.wateraid.org. With over 45 people attending the Pub Quiz, we raised over $300 to contribute to the charity. Of course, we also managed to have quite a fun time at the event! Several pictures are attached below.

Our wonderful ‘Quiz Master’ – James Packham:

My team wasn’t familiar with British trivia (as our nationalities were Dutch, Korean, and American), so we decided to choose a team name that reflected our chance of winning the charity competition – ‘Team Low-Bar’:

It was fun to get to know YoungMin, a recently arrived ambassadorial scholar from South Korea:

Having a fun time with Rotaract members from Italy, Turkey, Amsterdam, and Ghana:

Happy Easter to all of you back in Texas!

Greetings Friends –

Hope you’ve all have had a wonderful Easter weekend! It’s snowy and beautiful here in Aberdeen, and it was great to celebrate this special day at St. Mary’s Cathedral downtown. The past several weeks have been packed with Rotary activities, visitors from Texas, and of course, classes at the university. After presenting at several more Aberdeen Rotary clubs, much of the past two weeks has been spent hosting visitors from Texas.

A friend from UT Austin flew in a few weeks ago during his vacation, and it was great nice to spend a week traveling and sightseeing around Scotland. This past week, my parents and two little sisters flew over for a brief visit during their spring break vacation. It was great to see and spend time with family! After sightseeing around Scotland for six days, we flew down to England and spent a final day touring the city of London. Wrapping up the adventure, I wished them a safe flight back to Texas and returned to Aberdeen for Easter. After several weeks of nonstop activities, it’s nice to enjoy a day of reflection and relaxation back at my flat near the university.

The journey in Scotland continues for another 10 weeks as I prepare to return to Texas in June. There are so many great stories and pictures that I look forward to sharing with all of you back home. In the meantime, hope you all enjoy the pictures of recent activities posted below.

Wish all of you the best, and have a wonderful week!

- Nick

Recent Rotary Activities

Exchanging banners with the St. Machar Rotary Club in Aberdeen during a recent visit:

Giving a presentation at the Rotary Club of Aberdeen Deeside:

Enjoying a meal with my Scottish Rotary counselor (Ian), his wife (Jan), and my family during their visit from Texas:

Touring the Glenfiddich Scotch Whisky Distillery

Glenfiddich (meaning Valley of the Dear) is one of the most well-known single malt Scotch whiskies. Touring the Glenfiddich distillery was a neat opportunity to learn why the Scottish are so proud of their Scotch:

Learning what makes Scotch Whisky so unique:

Learning how the whisky is stored and matured:

Trip to the William Wallace Monument

View of the countryside surrounding Stirling, Scotland:

The William Wallace Monument built in memory the Scottish national hero:

William Wallace statue – a.k.a. “Braveheart”:

Close-up of the tower and its 246-step spiral staircase:

Standing next to William Wallace’s sword:

Family Trip to Edinburgh, Scotland (Part 1):

View of Balmoral Hotel:

Old fashioned tour bus:

Walking through the city:

Looking up at enormous columns:

Enjoying bagpipe music on the street: