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, August
14 – The Wellington Pub
So, last class period this morning, wrapping up
Biblical Ethics with a great discussion of creation stewardship. It’s been a great month of class – I’m
looking forward to another go-around at this next summer. After lunch Vanessa and I did some
last-minute shopping for the kids at the Harry Potter store and a local cheap
souvenir shop.
Vanessa also tried to get arrested ... London doesn't want you feeding the park pigeons. Vanessa loves pigeons, and we had a bunch of packages of crackers left over at the hostel. Easy solution - Vanessa fed her beloved pigeons, who in turn flocked lovingly around her. Fun times!
We had a “last supper” as a full group tonight – at The
Wellington Pub. They were willing to
take all 19 of us at once. It was a
great dinner – I had the traditional Steak, Ale & Mushroom Pie, and a lemon
tart for dessert. Everyone had a
fantastic time, visiting and chatting and reminiscing.
When we got back to Pickwick, we had a group debrief
and sharing time. Everyone shared their
favorite experiences from our month in London, along with suggestions for next
year. We wrapped up the time with Chloe,
Rachel, Allison and Lauren reading a mock mystery they wrote: “The Innocent Adventures
of Brother Tawa: Pickwick Hostile.” They
used everybody’s quirks and personalities – had us down to a ‘t’!
Consensus of the team seems to match the
leadership. Windsor Castle wasn’t worth
the time and expense; Bath was a bit too long for free time; everything else
was awesome. I think we’ve got an
excellent skeleton to use for next year’s Study Abroad in London. It was tremendously rewarding to hear how
much everyone has enjoyed their time in England. We spent hundreds of hours putting together
an opportunity, trying to help students make the most of the weeks in
London. We tried to give them a ton of
outings to museums, castles, cathedrals, palaces, and pubs. Walks, tubes, trains – we tried to give them everything London has to offer. But we also tried to give them enough time on their own to explore London and have time to themselves. Many students commented that they would have liked more free time – but they also acknowledged that they participated in every optional outing (both weekends, Phantom, and Buckingham). Anyway, a great end to a great month abroad.
It was very late getting to bed, but we did manage to
get everything packed into our bags and ready to go.
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