July 16 – August
14, 2018 – “The London 15” – OBU Student Abroad in London, England
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| Reykjavik airport |
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!
Wednesday,
August 15 – HOME!
Up early this morning to get ready. We had an adventure getting to Heathrow. We took the Tube to Heathrow Terminal 4 (an
hour-long ride), where we had to outwait a fire alarm. Then we found out we were at the wrong
terminal – that Icelandair flies out of Terminal 2. It took ½ and hour to catch an airport
shuttle and walk to the right terminal and go through security. We made it, with not much time to spare. And then found out that our flight was
delayed by ½ an hour! So we had time to
grab lunch before heading to our gate.
I finished journaling in the air, winging our way
toward Reykjavik. Our plane sat on the
tarmac in London for an additional 30 minutes before take-off, so our
connection in Iceland will be a bit tighter than I’d like.
But I’m looking forward to being home. Seeing the kids especially. Between Cochrane, the Grand Canyon, and
London, I’ve been gone and away from the kids a LOT (7 weeks) this summer. I can never get that time with the kids back,
but I’m looking forward to being back.
The fall semester starts very soon, and I’m not even remotely ready, so
the next few days are going to be hectic trying to get ready to go.
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| Reykjavik |
We made our connection in Iceland just fine, and our
flight to Dallas arrived on time at 8:45PM.
From there, we had to get our two rentals to head back to Shawnee –
dropping off Sierra and Chloe along the way.
Unfortunately, Chloe tried to bring some seeds back into the States from
London – a major immigration No-No. So
she was detained at customs for over an hour, while the rest of us waited (and
got more tired). We didn’t start the
drive home until 10:30. I followed Vanessa,
and emphasized to the 4 in my car how essential it was for all of them to stay
awake all the way home. Sadly, they
couldn’t do it – they all fell asleep within half an hour. Unfortunately, I then also dozed off, and was
startled awake by the rumble strips; I over-corrected, almost flipping our
car. Nasty shock, and a very scary end
to our long travel day. Needless to say,
after that point, we all stayed awake!
Rolled back into Shawnee about 2:00AM, with our “day” having started 26
hours earlier leaving Pickwick Hall.
What a trip!
Lord, I’m grateful for all the opportunities you lay
before me this summer. What a joy it has
been to meet new people, see new places, and guide a unique and wonderful group
of students for a month. I don’t deserve
the grace that God gives. And I am so
thankful that Vanessa got to share the London experience – this would not have
been a healthy or happy experience without her here.
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