What an Amazing Trip!

I saw off the last of our students at about 7:30pm yesterday at the airport. Jessica Kearns was still waiting for her dad, who was only five minutes away, when my wife came to pick me up. What can I say - God does work in mysterious ways. Rescheduling the trip four days later gave us tremendous weather for the duration of our stay in Helsinki. The vice principal of Sotunki Secondary School told me that the warm and sunny temperatures were somewhat of an anomaly but a welcomed one, especially when it had been raining, cold, and drabby the previous week.

Helsinki at dusk

What an amazing experience it was for all of us. As the instructor for this course, I would first of all like to personally thank Dr. Tom Schaefer for working with us on getting the trip scheduled again. I would also like to thank our students for being very cooperative and responsible throughout the trip. They displayed tremendous patience and maturity, and represented themselves well both as LRC students and American citizens abroad. I never had any problem with them abiding by the set rules, especially with the curfew that was imposed each night - Danielle became the unofficial notifier when the group walked past my room each night. Our group dynamics were also positive and strong, and we enjoyed each other's company very much throughout the whole travel. Kate was a blessing to have with me on the trip as she was extremely helpful especially in situations that required smooth coordination in managing flight check-ins, student safety and concerns, and travel planning. In order to fully follow our stay in Helsinki, please read our blog from the FIRST posting.

Several  junior students at Lauttasaaren Comprehensive School practicing for their farewell performance to their seniors who will be graduating in  a few weeks

This travel abroad was both a mix of a working tour and a cultural learning experience. We met and engaged in dialogues with education officials, Finnish schoolteachers, principals, and students. We also met and talked with ordinary people walking their dogs, in parks, on buses and trams,flea markets, and in bars and hotel.I think there were many people in Finland who learned and gained sufficient insight about us and our college as well. We certainly held the La Roche flag flying high wherever we went on our visit. I couldn' t have asked for a better group of people to go on our trip, and I hope that each of us will keep alive this memory of our travel to Finland and the experiences we acquired from it throughout our lives. To Rachel, Gene, Sheila, Jason, Laura, Jessica K., Jessica F., Putu, Christiana, Danielle, Rebecca and Kate, as the Finns say it "..kiitos!"