July 16 – August
14, 2018 – “The London 15” – OBU Student Abroad in London, England
This summer, I had the privilege of spending a month
in England with a group of 15 students from Oklahoma Baptist University. Dr. Lindsey Panxhi (an English faculty
colleague) and myself, along with our respective spouses, conducted a
faculty-led Study Abroad that spent four weeks on the ground in London teaching OBU courses to OBU students while being immersed in the culture and history of Great Britain. These are our stories!
 |
| Front facade of the Palace of Westminster |
Tuesday, July 31
– Parliament!
Class this morning.
I was able to sleep in a bit.
With the weather turning nicer (about 25 today), sleeping at night comes
easier. BUT, when we leave our windows
open, we are besieged by cigarette smoke throughout the night. Our room faces the front (Bedford Place), and
sucks in the smoke from the street level.
Employees at the hotel next door are constantly smoking on their steps
during breaks. We have been unpleasantly
surprised by how many people smoke in London (and in the UK in general). And we pay the price. My allergies have been suffering.
But, today our fans came – so we’ll be able to have
airflow and cooler air without leaving our windows open. Yay!
This afternoon we walked to Parliament (The Palace of
Westminster) for a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament. Our guide was a very knowledgeable and
well-spoken lady, Pauline. Starting in
the House of Lords, we saw the Royal Procession Rooms, the debating and voting
chambers of both Houses, and then the Great Hall at he entrance. The tour of Parliament included a lot of
fascinating history about the development of English democracy. Re-ignited my love for politics (and history –
this whole trip has made me want to study more history!).
 |
| View to the London Eye from Parliament, across the Thames |
After the tour, most of the group headed back to
Pickwick, while I stayed and explored the area around Parliament. I chatted with a guard for a while, and
learned some nice paths to see Parliament from different angles. I followed his directions, and went around
the side of the Palace – there is a pretty public garden there with some
monuments (of course!), and then a bridge across the Thames. On the other side, I walked along the Victoria
Embankment for about three-quarters of a mile and enjoyed outstanding views of
Parliament
– the kind of view that ends up on postcards!
The English do build impressive and beautiful
structures, that’s for sure.
I finally
wended my way home in time for supper.
After supper was Colloquium, but first I checked my
email quickly, and had a phone message on my OBU office phone. I was able to listen to it – it was the
father of one of our students, asking that I call – he said that they had
important family news for our student, and wanted us (Vanessa and I) to be
present when she received the news. It
was time for class, but I called him quickly and arranged to call right after
class. He was at the hospital – our student’s
youngest sister had attempted suicide by pill-taking, and had been rushed to
emergency in the middle of the night. I
got that news briefly and had to sit on it through class.
The family worked hard to ensure they got hold of us
in London. They had called Joy Turner,
who called our house and texted me, and texted the Panxhi’s as well. Alethea handled the phone calls brilliantly
and maturely.
After class the student came down to our room to call
home and receive the news. As expected,
she was totally devastated, and cried a great deal. It was good that Vanessa was there for
physical comfort, and we were able to talk and pray with her after. She called her fiancé in our room to share
with him – we went up to the kitchen for a few minutes to give her
privacy. At the end, about 90 minutes
later, I made sure she
understood that she did NOT have to take part in
tomorrow’s day trip to Oxford if she wasn’t feeling emotionally or physically
up to it.
Vanessa and I were pretty
distraught ourselves – her sister is about the same age as Keilani, and like
our itty-bitty, has two amazing older siblings who set the bar pretty
high.
Lord, I pray that our kids would
always understand how precious they are, in Your eyes and in our eyes – that they
would never be looking to peers or culture for their worth or value, but always
to You.
July 16 – August
14, 2018 – “The London 15” – OBU Student Abroad in London, England
This summer, I had the privilege of spending a month
in England with a group of 15 students from Oklahoma Baptist University. Dr. Lindsey Panxhi (an English faculty
colleague) and myself, along with our respective spouses, conducted a
faculty-led Study Abroad that spent four weeks on the ground in London teaching OBU courses to OBU students while being immersed in the culture and history of Great Britain. These are our stories!
Tuesday, July 31
– Parliament! 
Class this morning.
I was able to sleep in a bit.
With the weather turning nicer (about 25 today), sleeping at night comes
easier. BUT, when we leave our windows
open, we are besieged by cigarette smoke throughout the night. Our room faces the front (Bedford Place), and
sucks in the smoke from the street level.
Employees at the hotel next door are constantly smoking on their steps
during breaks. We have been unpleasantly
surprised by how many people smoke in London (and in the UK in general). And we pay the price. My allergies have been suffering. 
But, today our fans came – so we’ll be able to have
airflow and cooler air without leaving our windows open. Yay!
This afternoon we walked to Parliament (The Palace of
Westminster) for a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament. Our guide was a very knowledgeable and
well-spoken lady, Pauline. Starting in
the House of Lords, we saw the Royal Procession Rooms, the debating and voting
chambers of both Houses, and then the Great Hall at he entrance. The tour of Parliament included a lot of
fascinating history about the development of English democracy. Re-ignited my love for politics (and history –
this whole trip has made me want to study more history!).
After the tour, most of the group headed back to
Pickwick, while I stayed and explored the area around Parliament. I chatted with a guard for a while, and
learned some nice paths to see Parliament from different angles. I followed his directions, and went around
the side of the Palace – there is a pretty public garden there with some
monuments (of course!), and then a bridge across the Thames. On the other side, I walked along the Victoria
Embankment for about three-quarters of a mile and enjoyed outstanding views of
Parliament 
After supper was Colloquium, but first I checked my
email quickly, and had a phone message on my OBU office phone. I was able to listen to it – it was the
father of one of our students, asking that I call – he said that they had
important family news for our student, and wanted us (Vanessa and I) to be
present when she received the news. It
was time for class, but I called him quickly and arranged to call right after
class. He was at the hospital – our student’s
youngest sister had attempted suicide by pill-taking, and had been rushed to
emergency in the middle of the night. I
got that news briefly and had to sit on it through class. 
After class the student came down to our room to call
home and receive the news. As expected,
she was totally devastated, and cried a great deal. It was good that Vanessa was there for
physical comfort, and we were able to talk and pray with her after. She called her fiancé in our room to share
with him – we went up to the kitchen for a few minutes to give her
privacy. At the end, about 90 minutes
later, I made sure she 
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