This was the big day! We presented a workshop on the importance and value of student employment. Rick likened it to having a big test later in the day and just wanting to take it now. I kind of agree with that. I seemed to be more relaxed than Rick or Paula, but then again my part was just talking about what I do and what it does for me which is pretty easy! We went through the presentation and it went fantastic! Later on Stuart, Luke, and Paul shared emails of skeptics that were now converted to the idea of student employment!
Mary, Paula, and Rick are leaving in a couple of days and I’m a little nervous but I know that everything will work out great! I’m amazed at the sense of confidence I am building while I am here. Already I feel that my public speaking and presentation skills are improving. At the end of the day, we had a meeting to discuss how to take the partnership between BCU and Northwest in the future. It was exciting to listen about the possibilities of continuing partnership! It was a little sad because there was still a sense of finality to the meeting!
There was even discussion of me returning to Birmingham which perhaps got me too excited! That night we celebrated by eating at an Italian restaurant. It was really good, but it definitely felt the most American of all the things that I had been eating up to that point!
Day 6
This was the last day for Paula, Mary, and Rick. We all had the day off to explore and enjoy sights. We went to Stratford-Upon-Avon which for those of you that don’t know was Shakespeare’s birthplace. We took a train out to Stratford with Luke and Paul as our guides! I made one Harry Potter reference about Platform 9 ¾ and no one got it…so much for the Harry Potter jokes! It was fantastic to see the English countryside but to be honest it didn’t look that much different than what you would get in Missouri. The town was smaller (Still larger than Maryville!) but it was quaint. There were a lot of tourist shops and older buildings. We looked upon Shakespeare’s birthplace and then went to an inn to have a drink. The inn was really old. Some of the beams holding the ceiling up looked like they were tree branches. We then went down the street and saw where Luke used to live and went into a chapel that had been built in the 1200s. It is really crazy how something like that can be still standing that is that old. That was by far the oldest building I had ever been in! We then went and took a gander at the Avon and ate at the Dirty duck…which had delicious food! However, as we were sitting in this old English pub looking over the Avon, Taylor Swift came over the radio and ruined the whole scene!
It was this day when I literally looked around and thought, “Holy crap, I’m in another country!” I still can’t really believe I went. I suppose someday I might!
We took the train back and Paul helped some American tourists with the train and told them to check out the German Market. It was really interesting to meet other Americans and it happened so randomly on the station platform! We also went to the German market to say good bye to Mary, Rick, and Paula. The German market is an annual thing in Birmingham when the Germans “invade” the city center and set up shops where you can get food trinkets, and play games. It had a really fantastic atmosphere even though it was packed. That had sausages there made fresh and they were delicious. I also had this butter cake with cherries that was absolutely incredible! We all talked and met up with Beccy who visited Northwest last summer. It was a great atmosphere and it was kind of sad realizing it was the last night for Paula, Rick, and Mary!
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| Paul, Paula, Rick, Me, Stuart, and Mary at the German Market |
I think the whole experience has been good for us as a group. We have really reflected on our processes and developed new and fresh ideas for our university.
