Serendipity

By: Mara Lowhorn

No matter how much you plan, something will go wrong.  That’s if you’re lucky.  Usually, many things go wrong. 

From getting lost, to being pickpocketed, to delayed flights and missing more trains than I ever thought possible, I have not had a single weekend of travel where everything ran smoothly.  It’s been stressful for sure—not to mention exhausting and expensive—to solve all the problems that have been thrown my way.  At times, it’s discouraging.  It has made planning my travels feel like a daunting and useless task. 

But as I sit here writing this, recovering from yet another weekend where nothing went according to plan, I’m reflecting on the moments of good fortune I’ve had this semester that have stemmed from these mishaps.

My friends and I got lost trying to find Abbey Road in London.  We ended up spending hours on the Tube trying to find our destination, and we almost gave up out of frustration.  However, we finally made it after a kind Underground worker pointed us in the right direction.  When we made it to Abbey Road, we met a fellow American man there who was traveling the world and making a documentary promoting world peace.  If things had gone right and we hadn’t gotten lost, we never would have experienced the kindness of that Tube worker or met that friendly American man.

 My phone got stolen in Barcelona.  After recovering from the initial shock of it, I texted my parents from my friend’s phone to tell them what happened, and I decided I would deal with the rest later.  I lost all my photos from the trip, and of course, the incident kept me and my friends on edge during the rest of our stay in Spain, but it could have been much worse.  I chose to simply be grateful that it wasn’t my wallet or passport and move on.  As bad of a situation as it was, I got to experience the rest of that trip without a phone in front of my face and without the pressure to capture every single moment on camera just for the sake of my Instagram feed.  I got to experience Barcelona as it truly was—a city with pickpockets, gorgeous architecture, and beautiful beaches.

My sister and I were kicked off our overnight train from Prague to Krakow.  After the Czech train conductor got mad at us for having the wrong papers, we were not allowed to board our train.  As we slunk back to the train station in the pouring rain and bitter wind, it sunk in just how terrible our fortune was.  Not only was it an overnight train, meaning that our inability to board meant that we didn’t have a place to sleep that night, but our flights back to London were from Poland.  If we wanted to get back to London without wasting hundreds more dollars, we had to get to Krakow somehow.  Reality setting in, we sucked it up, went to the ticket office, and bought train tickets for first thing the next morning.  After just a few hours’ sleep in a hotel my sister had miraculously booked on her phone, we boarded a train at six in the morning and eventually got to our hotel in Krakow by four in the afternoon.  We were too late to visit Auschwitz as we had originally planned, and we were too exhausted to do anything else.  It was a stressful, frightening, and discouraging trip to say the least.  It’s still a little difficult for me to find the silver lining from this trip after so many things had gone wrong, but I know my sister and I learned the skill of adaptability through it all.  We learned that even if it feels like the end of the world, we could handle what was thrown at us.

The same goes for all of my misadventure-filled trips.  Even if things don’t go as planned, they work out as they’re supposed to, whether that means meeting cool new people, gaining a new perspective, or simply lying on your hotel bed being thankful that things hadn’t gone worse. 

No matter how poorly each weekend goes, I have always ended up back at Harlaxton Manor safe and with an interesting story to tell.  Things might go wrong, but they always end up being okay.

Why Should You Study Abroad?

By: Nicole Carr

When I sat down to write this blog post, I had to decide how I wanted to format it.  Did I want to do a post about my decision-making process, did I want to make it funny, or did I want to go into a long essay? Really, there were a million thoughts about how to approach this. Then, I sat back and thought, what kind of post would I most like to read? Well, the answer to that is one that is short and to the point, but also informative. So, with that in mind, that is exactly what I am going to try and do! There are literally a MILLION reasons that you should study abroad, but to keep it short and sweet, I am simply going to list the top 4 of them for you…

1. You get to travel the world!!!!! I mean, seriously, what else do you need? When you choose to do a study abroad program, you are giving yourself the opportunity to go to countries that you normally might not have ever gotten to go to. Taking weekends to go to other countries and experience all new cultures. You are giving yourself an opportunity to learn so much about other places and to just grow and experience. 

2. You get to meet a TON of new and cool people. One of the best parts of a Study Abroad program is all the new friends that you will get to make. 

3. It looks AMAZING on a resume. Studying abroad while in college allows you to put on your resumne that you are adaptable, have experienced cultures, and know how to interact with all different kinds of people! It can give you an edge over people when you are trying to get a job.

4. And last but not least, it is a life-changing experience. Study Abroad programs force you out of your comfort zone and make you get out there and do things that you normally might not do. They allow you to grow as a person and to learn more about yourself and everyone else around you. It is a time for personal growth and learning. 

Participating in Study Abroad is a chance to expand your knowledge of other cultures and to learn more about yourself at the same time. If you ask me, I think that everyone should be able to participate in this program. 

And not that I’m biased or anything, but I think if you’re going to do one, it needs to be Harlaxton, but I’m just saying…

Well, to keep this short and sweet as I promised, I’m going to wrap this post up by saying one last thing: GO ON A STUDY ABROAD!!! I can personally promise you that you will never regret it!

Anxiety Abroad

By Drew Chittick

Even when it goes right, travelling can be stressful. 

So many moving pieces and interlocking plans that, even if you’ve gone through and organised it well in advance, it can be difficult to keep track of.

But it tends to go wrong at least once a trip. Of course, they’re measures you can take, giving yourself plenty of time between legs of the journey, having back-up plans, not going alone, and carrying more cash than you think you need are all helpful. But some problems are out of your control. Flight or train delays are the most common. But losing touch with your group (if you have one) or getting lost (especially if you don’t speak the language) can be incredibly stressful, especially if you haven’t planned. So how to handle them?


Generally, a good first step is to panic. Not for long, but it’s good to be angry and let some of the stress off. Better to spend a few minutes stomping around than be trying to solve your problems angry.

Next, priorities. I find it helpful to break the stress into actionable chunks, rather than just the general overwhelming feeling. And crucially, the fewer chunks, the better. For example, if you’re worried that you’ll miss a flight or train, a taxi is usually better than a bus. It’s more expensive, but it’s also easier, and you’re less likely to make a mistake in the rush.

And while it depends somewhat on the problem, finding help, especially for directions, can be crucial. I get lost constantly, and when I don’t have access to wifi or if my map is kind of confusing, asking for help from random store clerks is about the only reason I make it to my hostel at night or to the concert I bought tickets for. If you don’t speak the language, it can be a pain, but I’ve gotten far on patience and Google translate alone.

There’s a lot to be anxious over when you’re abroad, even completely aside from things that cause anxiety back at the manor. Preparation is far better than improvisation, but you can make it through a lot of disasters by focusing on what you can do, and how simply you can do it.

Chester

By: Paul Bone

We were on our way to ruins, 

more sunken stones,

with an hour or less before

the bus would take us

into Wales, where sometimes

we would not know the words,

or search the harder for them,

such as hastening to relics.

So down the narrow sidewalk

we strode long-legged.

Too busy in the head naming

this feeling, I did not see

the man until he’d passed,

his falling no more a sound

a coat upon a stick 

might make, a hand-sized mailer

flung out in front and what 

he gathered to him before

he tried to rise. Stay here,

on your knees, I said.

Let’s see if you’re all right

(with dignity, if you can,

I wanted to add, just one more

feeling impossible to tell).

The blood from his hooked nose

poured in a bright runnel,

such garish display given 

his grey overcoat, 

almost suedish skin, the downy note

of his “Oh dear.” The nurse

who happened on us

brushed his white hair back.

We let our tissues darken

and drop like sickly fruits

as the bleeding slowed,

then led him to the bench

where, in that busy square,

a Welsh busker sang Dylan

and this man, Alan, waited 

among strangers, more strangers

coming with the ambulance

which, rushing properly,

arrived and parted the crowd

with whoops and lime-green authority.

We let him go, our charge,

and he allowed himself

again to be ushered,

black uniform to each arm.

How could it be, I thought,

the envelope just fitting

his coat pocket, manila stripe

just showing, the splatter concealed?

Surely he held the word

for that day, whether to read

or pass it on elsewhere

none of us could really say

----------------------------------------------------------

Paul Bone

Harlaxton Visiting Faculty Spring 2019

Associate Professor University of Evansville

pb28@evansville.edu