Early Days

Wednesday and Thursday were orientation days. Tom and Jo Burkhart both run the Daniel House throughout the year. Jo is in charge of all the academic elements. She finds instructors for the Biblical Foundation and Arts in Society course. She also handles finding all the students in internship. This is a huge undertaking, but she is amazing at her job. Tom manages the house and all the physical logistics as well as teaches a British Heritage and Culture class. Jo and I will co-teach a course on vocation. The other real member of the team is Larry, who is Tom’s wonderful, friendly, and very attentive dog.

Tom and Jo both did a couple sessions on life around the Daniel House, London and all the academic responsibilities students will be taking on. Each session was good, and the students really picked up a great deal. In between sessions students headed out to find places to eat and do a little shopping and exploring. So proud of the students to just jump in and explore. Becky sat in on some of the sessions and other times she also went exploring.

On Wednesday night Tom led our group to Flight Club in Victoria. This is a pub that has dart playing, much like Top Golf in the US. We broke into two groups and for about 90 minutes we all had a great time. We all got to know each other a bit better, and we really got to find out who had the hidden talent of throwing darts. No surprise I was not one of those with that hidden talent. After throwing darts students headed out on their own for dinner and exploring.

Each day ended fairly early as everyone still seemed to be dealing with jetlag and many headed to bed early. Almost every student said that the first night we all were here was the best night of sleep they had ever had.

The one thing everyone is having to get used to is that we do not see the sun. It stays overcast all the time. We have had mist and sprinkles, but no real rain yet. It is only in the 40’s during the day and at night in the upper 30’s, but with no sun even the 40’s are a bit nippy.