The TV news anchor was predicting snow. I braced myself for the roadside shots: piled up dirty snow, bumper to bumper traffic, and reports of accidents and closings.
Instead the camera focused on a beautiful gothic building dusted in snow on a quiet, serene street. The newswoman was gushing. “Isn’t it lovely!!!”
It was a cross cultural moment; it was January in England.
On January 1, I skipped my traditional pork and sauerkraut and accompanied a group of 19 Messiah students and 12 other BCA participants to Cheltenham, England where they would be studying for the semester at the University of Gloucestershire.
It was a wonderful 5 days. I could talk about the cold I got the minute the wheels left that tarmac at Dulles or my luggage that was lost until the day before I returned, but all of that was secondary to having a wonderful week with a great group of students.
Denise and Sandy the BCA directors enthusiastically greeted the students when they arrived in London. What a team; they almost finished each others’ sentences. They loaded the students on a bus and headed for Cheltenham. The first week went something like this: A bit of orientation, settling students into classes and their dorms. A bit more orientation, but not before the directors marched students to the computer labs to e-mail their parents: “I arrived safely in England!”
Students learned how to navigate the buses and where to purchase supplies and had a celebratory welcome dinner at ASK.
The airline finally found my luggage. I hugged it. I didn’t realize I was that attached to my hairspray.
The week ended with an excursion to Bath where we sampled the famous Sally Lunn’s buns with clotted cream and jam, toured the Roman Baths, and visited the Jane Austen Centre.
I waived goodbye to the students and headed back to Central PA. I landed in Harrisburg six days after I took off for the UK. As always, it is good to be home and back at Messiah.
P.S. The airline lost my luggage on the way home too 