Yulia. Travel. Jewels.

Adopted from a speech given in 2011 at my home club

What’s so precious about travel that we don’t mind spending lots of money, hauling heavy bags, getting hassled at airports, sleeping in strange beds?  In 2010, I was to travel to the UK for work the week after Thanksgiving.   Continue reading “Yulia. Travel. Jewels.”

Connections

An Icebreaker speech for Panorama Toastmasters

People around us shape our lives more than we are willing to admit.  This talk is about just three of the many who affected mine.

When I was little, I would spend summers with my grandma, in Vyborg, north of St. Petersburg, Russia.  She would take me for long berry or mushroom foraging Continue reading “Connections”