My life, lately.
Well, this weekend was quite the adventure.
Remember those people who sent me to England last summer, the British American Business Council? Well, they had their annual fundraising luncheon on Friday, which is what helps to pay for the Summer Studies Program. They always try to have the previous year's students come to the luncheon and give a little presentation, which would have been simple -- except for the fact that I now live in Ohio. Oh crap, I thought, there's no way I can do this short of recording something via webcam, maybe. No problem, they said. Here, have a plane ticket and come give your presentation in person.
Um, yeah. Color me dazzled, too.
I don't think I've ever participated in such an intimidatingly formal affair. The luncheon was being held in a huge, fancy ballroom at a hotel downtown, and there were multiple meal courses and multiple sets of silverware on the table. My former traveling companion and I both gave three-minute speeches in front of almost 200 people, including the regional superintendant and Her Majesty's Consul General. Apparently I did well, though I cannot for the life of me remember what I actually said. *laughs* Everyone I met was really nice, though, and the food was great, and despite my hands shaking for five minutes straight after my speech, good times were had by all.
We were only in town for thirty-odd hours (the flights were ridiculous -- on the way home we had a five-hour layover in Newark, NJ that was the most desperately boring stretch of time I've everspent in an airport) but I stopped by my old school to say hi to my teachers, and managed to hang out briefly with almost all the people I wanted to see while I was there. I even got some sushi out of the deal. :D
...I love many things about plane rides. One thing I do not love, however, is that if a sick person is aboard, the airplane may very well become a little tin o' recirculating airborne germs. I caught something nasty on the way home on Saturday, so I am now taking a day off to lie on the sofa, read a borrowed copy of the SAS Survival Guide and chug a disgusting but effective tea-lemon-honey-cayenne mixture that's making my raw throat go numb. Ugh.
Anyways, enought of that. So, flist, tell me about your lives. Anything new and exciting? I'm slowly coming off this e-hiatus and I feel like I haven't talked to some of you guys in ages, which makes me very sad.