Fall has arrived

Just got back from a brisk and breezy 6 mile jog around Primrose Hill and Regent's Park.  Wonderful color and scenery, great people as well.  Today marks the one month point for me in Londontown!  

I attended the Rotary District Conference Last week in Eastbourne.  Loved feeling the sea air and getting to see a bit of another side of England.  This was the first time that all of the Rotary scholars were able to gather as well.  I was surprised to see that there are 18 of us!  I was able to meet many Rotarians from around the greater london area and hear about all of the different work that Rotary is doing in the community.  It was great to get an overall picture of what is going on in the District.  Hopefully some of the Rotary clubs liked me as well, and I can come speak to their groups.  Although 18 scholars makes for a lot of presentations to the local clubs!

I have been busy with my readings and coursework, however I have made time to get out in the community with my husband and daughter as well!  We have visited several churches, local markets, parks, and neighborhoods.  Loving every minute!  Elle and I are also loving the SureStart program in London which has enabled us to meet so so many moms and babes from around the world.  We are learning so much culturally from these experiences as well.

Right now I am working on researching refugee women and the ways they overcome and use their experiences to form new identities in their communities of displacement and exile.  It is proving to be very interesting.  I am interested to see the specific efforts the UK is making in working specifically with refugee women.

We have our first "Flat Gathering" tonight for the international families living in our building.  So we are very excited to participate in that and this weekend we are headed out to Harrow for their annual firework celebration!  More to come soon!

Getting into the swing of things!

We have officially been in London (greater London anyways) a month now.  Time has flown for sure.  I am getting into the rhythm of balancing baby, school, and rotary a bit more.  We are getting connected with the community here in Central London meeting other moms and babies from across the globe.  It is so great to hear different perspectives, ideas, and share experiences with others.  In our baby and me classes we have met moms from Russia, Italy, Germany, Spain, India, China, Vietnam, Senegal, and Sudan to name a few.  This is such a wonderful opportunity to share together and Elle is loving making new friends. 

I have been trying to schedule rotary presentations for this year.  So if you would like me to come speak to your group please do feel free to email me and I would love to come.  My husband and Elle would even make an appearance if you are interested.  We love meeting new people and sharing life. 

I am headed to Eastbourne this weekend for the Rotary District Conference.  I will be taking the train on Saturday morning for the festivities.  It should be an adventure.  

School is continuing to be very invigorating and challenging.  I am learning more about the UK immigration policy and getting more comfortable with migration theories and terminology.  My first paper will be due November 3rd.  So I will be very busy once I get back from conference!  

Family Love

I realized today that I had not properly introduced my family on the Blog here.  I am accompanied by my husband, Wade, and daughter, Ellery Grace, as I pursue my studies and ambassadorial ambitions this year.  I am so blessed to have a supportive family unit on this journey with me.  Many of you know that adding to the Splinter family was not originally on my agenda when I started the ambassadorial scholarship process.  While Ellery was not part of my original master plan, we are so incredibly thankful for the gift of life she is.  We are gracious to our family for their support in our voyage over here (poor grandparents as I have taken the first grandchild overseas), as well as the support of rotary in allowing me to take on the responsibilities of academics and rotary extracurriculars with my added commitments of family.  I will say that it is not entirely easy to balance my schedule or have any sort of routine or normality with a 6 month old, but I am fully confident we will be successful.  

On a whole my work and life experiences have well prepared me to take on this role.  I am hopeful that our experiences this year will make us stronger individuals and a closer knit family unit.  I hope to share with other rotary ambassadorial scholars insight and encouragement being a few years down the road into life's journey post undergrad.   I also hope to bring fresh perspective and vibrance to the each and every rotary club and rotarian that I come across this year.