The fall term at the University of Nottingham ends this week. As is traditional for Luther's Nottingham Program (and yes, this program is in its 39th year, so it really has been around long enough to have traditions), we are kicking the students out and locking them out of the flat during the winter break. This is to force them to use the time to travel and explore more of Britain and/or Europe on their own.
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| Planned destinations range from Wales to the Czech Republic, Finland to Spain. |
Several students are connecting to volunteer sites through the Help Exchange, helpx.net. This site matches students with businesses or individuals who are willing to exchange room and board in return for labor. Farms, B&Bs, resorts, people needing a dog-sitter or some basic painting and repair will provide lodging for students. This isn't always legal for tourists, but our students all have visas that allow part-time work. It's a very inexpensive way for them to experience life in this part of the world.
We plan to do some traveling as well during the University break, so blog posts may be more or less frequent over the next weeks. Meanwhile, happy holidays to all!
2 comments:
My winter holiday in 1997 included a free taxi ride through Wales (in the middle of the night) after a train delay caused us to miss a connection to Holyhead, followed by a whirlwind tour of Ireland (Dublin, Limerick, Doolin, Galway (via the Christmas Miracle bus)), then a week in London around Christmas, and finally Scotland around New Year's (Fort William, Oban and Edinburgh).
As I rode the train back to Nottingham, I realized that the warm feeling in my chest signified that Nottingham had made it on the short list of places I consider to be "home."
Nottingham is feeling a lot like "home" to us now, too, Ryan. Especially since our house in Iowa is now sold (we'll relocate to Decorah on return and end the long commute, which is exciting in itself). But the fact that we have no other home at the moment makes this "it" for now. Happy new year!
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