Katie smiled pleasantly and shook his hand, before actually taking a step closer to the railing. So far, so good! And it looked sturdy. Probably no danger of falling. Check.
"Kate Ashby," she introduced. To her friends she was Katie, but in most cases, it tended to be a natural progression, rather than something she requested. The only exceptions were her patients. To their parents, it was Dr. Ashby, but to the children themselves, only Katie. She felt it made them feel more at ease and on level. Formality didn't help anything there.
"My first as well," she conversed. "Not at all where I expected to ring in the new year, but it's proving to be quite the experience." She didn't bat an eye at his accent, considering she dealt daily with several-generation Americans with far less consideration for the English language. Besides, Katie had always had a particular fondness for the Indian culture. Her family's vacation to India had been the last trip they'd taken together before she'd had to be either sedated or forcibly dragged on a plane (or both). She remembered it fondly, as the last true good experience of her childhood. Shame she'd only been four.