Official London Tour

This morning we headed off to Church. It is always such an adventure to get there and this morning some of the Underground lines were not running. Jacqueline knew her way around and we arrived in about an hour. The members were very welcoming and we really felt like we were back home. Afterwards we went to ASDA (the UKs version of WalMart) and ate lunch and picked up some additional food supplies.

At 1400 (2:00 pm for most of us) we met our coach driver, Tony and the tour guide for our planned tour of London. Suze Bower, an old friend from several years ago, gave us her usual great tour. It was so good to see her. They had not told her that we were back and she really was excited to see Ian again. She and Tony both spoke very highly of Harding faculty and students. That is always good. BTW, if anyone ever wants THE BEST TOUR GUIDE IN LONDON, you can get her number from me!

I made a list of places for us to go and to take Sara and Reagan when they come. Things are looking up as we get more rested. We even had all the students up to our flat tonight for a birthday party. We had the living room packed and students were sitting on the beds in both bedrooms. It went well. I really think that this getting together with the faculty is what makes this program work. I really don't think that a "group dinner" out at some restaurant does anything for that, but as the saying goes, "I just work here."

I teach tomorrow and have a rough day ahead of me. I also need to squeeze time in to call my bank and figure out why my ATM card does not work. We are getting very, very, VERY short of funds.

At a run....

We are trying our best to get settled in and establish a routine for us and for the students. They are really tired and emotional at the moment. When I lived in Canada I discovered that "culture shock" was just as severe in a English speaking culture because you don't expect there to be difficulties. Once they get a rest, I think everything will settle down.

We have adjusted to the hike to the flat and have reached a solution for how to have all the students for a dinner. There is no way to adjust for the forced separation between the faculty and the students. We will do our best but my recommendation is to always assure that the faculty are near the students. The distance will certainly have an impact on the overall interaction this semester.

Friday we settled in, conducted orientation meetings and familiarized ourselves with the local environment. Yesterday was our first day of class. All classes met for orientation and to set up procedure and times. In the afternoon we walked to Parliament for a tour. The security has certainly changed since 2003 but we really had a good tour. It happened to be the last tour of the year so we booked it early in our trip. As we were leaving, one of the "Bobbies" offered Ian has hat and I rapidly took a picture. I'm afraid its not quite in focus (the history of my life).

We are off to Church this morning with a bus/guided tour of London this afternoon. Our guide is Suze Bower, an old friend from our last visit and we are so glad to be seeing her again.

The next four days are classes but we hope to get away in the afternoons and evenings to take in some of the sites

London (at last)

We have finally arrived in London. We have had an absolutely wonderful trip but we are so tired and were glad to pull into London this evening. We are moved into our flats on Great Russell Street and have made a quick trip to Sainsbury's for food.

Unfortunately, the flat is not at all what we expected. It is on the fourth (or fifth, I lost count) floor of a different building (102) than we have used before. That makes it difficult to get to but between 5:00 pm and 9:00 am we cannot use the front door but must go to the ground floor and walk through 101, 100, 99 and 98, then go to the basement of 98 before backtracking to 99 then upstairs and out the door. Can you believe it? Patricia Cox Keri, Ian and I must make this trek to exit and enter our flats between 5:00 pm and 9:00 am. The interesting thing is that the students are in 101 and we can't access them at all without all of the above movement and then walking down the street and entering their building from outside. I hope that are trustworthy because the faculty will certainly never see them, except during classes. That makes me very sad!!!!

We had also planned to have the students in our flat for dinner frequently but can't possible get them in a very small space. (Visitor's can certainly be accommodated, but not 24 students.) Their flats are all large enough but Keri can't carry all of her stuff to their flats because of where we are placed. Oh well, we will make the best of it, but one of the things we do well is to establish a relationship with our students and spend a lot of time interacting. This arrangement will prohibit that.

The internet is working in my flat so I will update frequently. We will head out tomorrow as we attempt to make our flat livable.

Ian found a kilt and all the related items for his stuffed lion, Leo. I'm sure that Leo is now the only bagpipe playing stuffed lion in the world. Ian is so excited to be back in London. He spent hours organizing his room tonight. He already has a list of all the places he wants to go back to while we are here, so I'm sure he will be very busy.

I had planned to link my pictures with my Harding website but seem to be unable to make it work tonight. I may need to get a Flicker account or something. Will keep you posted!

Ireland - Wales - English Lake Dist. - Edinburgh

We have been on the road for just one week and I feel that we left Searcy months ago. We landed in Dublin last Wednesday and I led the students on a tour of the city in the pouring rain. I finally just called it off and let them explore on their own. I'm sure they enjoyed that more anyway. Thursday, we toured the Waterford factory (with Ian actually helping detach a valuable pitcher form the blower) and Glendalough, an ancient Irish monastic community. Friday we took the ferry to Wales and toured Carnarfon (of course misspelled) Castle before heading for the Lake District. A Roman fort and wall in Northern England, a ruined Abbey in Scotland and yesterday and today the wonderful city of Edinburgh, Scotland. Tomorrow we head to York and then on to London on Thursday. We will have a pernanant address, consistent internet access, and SLEEP so I should be able to begin posting regularly.

The Hostels have been great. They are so clean and well managed. Keri and I are deciding that Hostels are the only way to go. The group is GREAT! Interesting personalities all, but a fun group. I think I will treat them all to a Ghost tour in York.

Countdown to Departure!

Three days (including today) until departure. I LOVE going on these trips. I love forming the close relationship with the students and I really love the opportunity to live in other countries. The problem is, I am getting too old to "get ready". I really think it's the mind. I can't remember everything that needs to be done until I'm on the way to the airport. Fortunately, technology allows email contacts, online bill pay and other things that I may forget. Once I'm on the plane, the tension lessens and I'm ready.

I'm going to my Mom's today to get her ready for my absence. It will be a hard day but it will make Mom feel more comfortable. Actually, I couldn't sleep and if I move around too much I will wake Keri up so I decided to try a posting on my MAC. Tammie and Beckie, you're right about the new version being much better for the MAC.

London Bound!

The Tulli are almost packed (I can't believe I'm lying right on a blog) and getting ready to head to Ireland and the United Kingdom for our semester with Harding University in England. We leave the States next Tuesday and the adventure begins. Since our lives have been in survival mode for these past several months, I have been blogless, but with adventure comes stories so I will do my best to keep everyone updated.

The photo of Keri was taken at a departure "tea" hosted by a dear friend. Keri decided to wear a hat and she certainly looked "British" for the event. It was fun and I now believe the Fortnum and Mason's has the second best "tea", the first being right here in Searcy.

I have discovered that my PC allows me to do more with my posts than my MAC. Since I am taking my MAC, we will see what I end up with. Beckie, I need some help.