Having arrived Saturday afternoon, Sunday was our
first full day in London, and a full day it was! We gathered “early” for breakfast and our
morning meeting where we’ve been collecting new words/phrases and quotes to
post on the blog, reviewing the previous day’s activities and experiences, and learning
from our daily topic experts about the day ahead of us. Sunday was a very full day involving towers,
buses, debaters, afternoon tea, worship, and dinner. It started with a 45 minute tube ride to the …
Tower of London which is one of the historic royal palaces.
This particular one is famous for housing the crown jewels and many notorious
criminals of the state over the centuries and is located in the center of
London along the river. The yeoman warders who give the guided tours
always do a great job. There were also a few re-enactors that brougt history to life. After grabbing a
quick lunch at neighboring restaurants, we then got on a …
Hop on/hop off bus
by which we saw some of the city and learned a bit about it. I was not real impressed with this particular
pre-recorded tour, but if nothing else, it did transport us to the …
Speaker’s corner at HydePark which is an amazing place and event that happens every Sunday. One of the students described it as an
internet chat room in real life. You
walk down a road in the park, and are bombarded with speakers on both side of
you yelling their thoughts at whoever will listen, and a few others as
well. They seem to draw an audience who
are intent on taking the opposite view.
I believe some of these people simply enjoy arguing and will take an
opposing view point simply so they can have an argument. The topics can be anything. After spending a few minutes here, we took a city
bus to … 
Afternoon tea at Harrod’s, which wasn't everyone’s cup of tea, but all
seemed to tolerate it, and most enjoyed the traditional English tradition. All seven of us were seated at a large round
table where we ordered and consumed a pot of tea and five small desserts. Tasty!
After looking around Harrod’s for a bit, some of the group went back to
the hostel for a while. Lois, a couple
of students, and I took the tube to …
Evening service at Westminster Abbey. This was a wonderful experience. The message included a discussion of
community and supporting each other. To
be inside the huge space that is Westminster Abbey and worship with a few
hundred others is a bit awe-inspiring, especially when you realize this has
been happening for hundreds of years in this building. Afterwards, the others rejoined us for…Dinner with another group of Ball State University field study students and their professor. This group included my daughter, so Lois and I were able to spend time visiting with her, while the students shared their experiences of the field studies thus far.
Over all, I’m proud of my field study group. Over the last week we have become closer as individuals and we’ve all learned more about who each other is. We’ve learned about some of each other’s strengths, as well as some of their weaknesses. We’re starting to look out for each other and support one another, just like some of us heard about at the abbey. There is one person I must publically thank on this day, for without her help and tireless efforts, this trip would be but a shadow of what it is. When we first arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland a week ago, Lois commented she felt like a mother duck with a bunch of ducklings following her. We presented her a hand-drawn card with ducks on the outside, signed by the entire group. Inside it read “Happy mother (duck) day!” Thank you Lois.
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