Los Angeles District 5280 Conference

Recently attended the Los Angeles Rotary District Conference. Here is my personal "Top 10" List from the District Conference:

1. Having the chance to officially announce my new & approved study location assignment: EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, during President Elect Mark Leeka's excellent International Service section.

2. Catching up with my wonderful inbound and outbound scholar friends, including my "roomie" Karis Eklund, LA-5's scholar from last year. She has been a great source of information for all of my logistical questions about the upcoming year abroad.

3. Blowing away a group of Rotarians with my Hoola-hooping stamina on Saturday.

4. Managing to get unsuspecting Rotarians to pay for our overpriced glasses of nice wine after the sock-hop, in the hotel lounge. We quizzed them on our study locations, and they guessed wrong. There are penalties for these things! What can I tell you, after a year working in the non-profit sector, you've gotta think creatively if you want to drink the good stuff!

5. Joining David Bland and his wife for dinner during the sock-hop, and poking at his "old age" by assuming he would have been old enough to have seen the Beatles in concert. Sorry David, but come on, gray hair is gray hair.

6. That un-Rotarily sassy video clip advertising the Rotary Convention in Birmingham. Unfortunately, I won't be in the United Kingdom early enough to attend.

7. Making plans for "The best korean BBQ in LA" with the inbound scholars from Korea.

8. Having the chance to network with other Rotary Clubs. Over breakfast and lunch conversations, I secured 2 of my last needed pre-departure presentations. I have since presented at two great clubs: Historic Filipinotown and LA Cedars, a mostly Lebanese group.

9. Brainstorming with my mentors from my sponsor club, LA-5, about further fundraising and contacts for my year abroad.

10. Mostly, having the chance to be among this family that Rotary has created for me over the past year. Most of you know that my family is far from California, in a quiet town in Connecticut. Rotary has been an extremely important support system this year!