Student Weekend Away

Well, our fabulous 5-day weekend away has been in the planning for months and months  ...  it felt a bit like Christmas, sooooooo much preparation and anticipation, then it was sadly over with all too quickly! 
Many internationals, when they think of seeing more of the UK would tend to consider going to one of the other cities, to see London or Manchester or Edinburgh; but very few would consider going to rural England.  This was part of my desire for our weekend away.

Let me warn you, this will no doubt be the longest blog entry I've done to date as, between them, I estimate that the students took almost 3,500 photographs!  DON'T PANIC though, I have managed to whittle the number down to 220 :-)  ... however, I still advise you to make a large cuppa, get comfortable and then continue reading ...

Here we are ready to leave:
Vino, Me, Anu, Basel,
Cai, Saka, Joyce, Pauline, Sweety, Aiste
and Ilya

DAY 1: Thursday, July 10th
We left Gillingham just after 11am to make the three hour drive to Tewkesbury, stopping on route for a much needed coffee.  We were being hosted by Tewkesbury Baptist Church, who gave us the use of their facilities for the weekend and my Dad was there to greet us on our arrival. 
Whilst I went off to conquer some food shopping, everyone else explored Tewkesbury; walking along the River Avon, to the Abbey and back through town ...

It's posing-time!!

It's jumping-time!!

It's sleeping-time!

Today was also Saka's birthday and he was pleased to receive a cake in celebration ...

Oh Saka, please don't cry!

   

I too was blessed with a gift - a beautiful hand-painted silk scarf made by Aiste ...

"Thank you soooo much, Aiste"

After dinner our main task was to get everyone settled in their accommodation for the weekend.
This map shows our different locations:
1.  Tewkesbury Baptist Church
2.  My Dad's place where Basel & Ilya stayed.
3.  Pete & Anita's home where Pauline, Sweety, Aiste, Anu and Vino stayed.
4.  Jon & Chris' place where Saka & Cai stayed.
5.  Sara's place where Joyce stayed.

I was hosted by my brother and sister-in-law, Tony & Sarah, in the village of Eckington which is 15 minutes off the edge of this map.
Here are a few photos students took over the weekend with or at their host families ...

It's selfie time!!

It's breakfast time!!

DAY 2: Friday, July 11th
We breakfasted together at the church before setting off for a one hour drive to Stratford-upon-Avon (birthplace of William Shakespeare). Our visit began with a pleasant and peaceful 40-minute boat trip along the River Avon.

If my memory serves me well, I believe this is the property
Anu & Vino promised to buy me when they make their first million
(preferably in pounds sterling or even dollars but not rupees!).
In return I promise to rent out the wee red hut
on the waters edge to visiting students :-)

 

My brother - Tony

My Sis-in-Law - Sarah

 

After some information from
our resident all-things-Shakespearean expert, Pauline, there was free-time to explore all that this historic and beautiful town had to offer.

Thus sayeth the King,
"You shall enjoy your day in Stratford!!"

Birthplace of William Shakespeare

The man himself ...
William Shakespeare

 

Vino discovers his own shop :-)

Who are those strange ladies??!!

It's dressing-up time!!

It's going home time!!

In the evening we had the blessing of being invited to a BBQ hosted by Alan & Fran Baldwin in their beautiful home - well, in their stunning garden actually - in the village of Twyning.

 

Ilya with Bill & Pam O'Leary

It's eating time!!

 

Our BBQ hosts, Alan & Fran, are seated in the centre
"Thank you sooooooo much!!!!!"

DAY 3: Saturday, July 12th
One of the main purposes in planning our weekend away around these dates was in order to attend the Tewkesbury Medieval Festival and battle re-enactment.  

The Battle of Tewkesbury took place on 4th May 1471.
It was one of the decisive battles of the War of the Roses.
The forces loyal to the House of Lancaster were completely defeated by those faithful to the House of York, under their monarch, King Edward IV

 

 

Personally, I didn't stay until the battle started at 4pm, but Vino gave me a running commentary via text :-)  It was an extremely hot day until a serious downpour during the battle.

The fighting is taken very seriously and I later
learned that one of the Kings, who had decided
not to wear his chain-mail because it was
soooooo hot, needed 17 stitches in his arm :-(
OUCH!!

We had our main meal back at the church and several church friends and family members joined us for a social evening.  Anu and Vino gave me a score of 7.5 for my Bombay Potatoes and Chicken Curry in a Hurry ... I feel rather proud of that :-)

It was lovely too to see my beautiful niece, Heather, and my nephew, James, and his lovely wife, Lydia.

Meeting my great-nephew,
Jonah Eli, for the first time :-)

Heather (my niece) and I

DAY 4: Sunday, July 13th
Our group not only came from seven different nationalities (Jordan, China, Lithuania, Russia, Nigeria, India and Sri Lanka) but were also multi-faith.  It was therefore a great blessing that they all chose to join us for the morning service on Sunday.  
I so wish we'd had a video camera at the ready as each of the students told the church what they thought of TABLEtalk, our World Cafe and the Sunday Lunch Scheme.  It was quite marvellous for me personally to be the recipient of many encouraging comments!!
Following the service our plan had been a picnic but the weather was not quite in our favour.  So, we picnicked in the church hall instead ...

My brother Tony allowed us to invade his workshop to see his re-built C-type Jaguar.  I think many of the students were impressed by all the work he has done to transform the car from a heap of rust to something both elegant and road-worthy.
There was much posing as each person took their turn sitting in the driver's seat ...

 

Our afternoon was rounded off with a very typical English tea and scones back at Tony & Sarah's cottage; followed by a walk around the village ...

 

After returning students to Tewkesbury I was able to have a quiet evening in whilst others watched the World Cup final.

DAY 5: Monday, July 14th

Our last day started with breakfast out at Wetherspoons, in the Royal Hop Pole Hotel :-)  

Saying goodbye to Pastor Bill

Then we headed off for a few hours in Oxford before journeying the rest of the way back to the Medway towns ...

 

BIG THANK YOUs go to ...
** Pastor Bill and everyone at Tewkesbury Baptist Church for their warm welcome and their willingness to host us.
** Fran and members of my family, who did so much in assisting with all the preparation.
** all our hosts: Jon & Chris Glyde, Sara Napper, my Dad, Tony & Sarah, and especially to Pete & Anita for trusting us with their beautiful home whilst they were away.
** all those who provided some marvellous home-baking for us.
** Alan & Fran for the scrumptious BBQ on Friday evening.
** Tony & Sarah who helped with driving to Stratford-upon-Avon.
** Tony for allowing us to invade his workshop and have a photo shoot with the C-type Jaguar.
** Sarah for the wonderfully English afternoon tea and freshly made scones on Sunday afternoon.
** to Pauline and Joyce for generously driving students from A to B and back again.
** to all the students for being willing to 'muck in' with sandwich making and washing up, etc, etc.

What students said ...

Aiste (Lithuania):  "Thank you sooooo much for amazing weekend!!! I didn`t expected that we will visit so many different places :)  All of them were just gorgeous! The people in Tewkesbury were incredibly friendly and generous. It was so nice to meet so many local people and I saw that they were also excited seeing us. I was surprised and shocked (in a nice way :) ) how trusting people are. The family let us, unknown, crazy, international people (from countries they probably don`t even know a lot) come and stay in their house while they are away. I am very grateful for them.

Lynne, you have amazing organising skills! Everything was planned to the details. It is obvious that you spent plenty of time for us, so thank you for this a lot!!! These five days finished very fast.  Luckily we have hundreds of pictures proving that we really were there. Thank you again and hope we will have a chance to experience something like this again :)"

Ilya (Russia):  "The trip to Tewkesbury  was an amazing opportunity for international students to see a different part of the UK. All the students stayed at night in host families. That’s the best way for students to see how British people live. During the day, there was always something  to do. The first day we were free to visit Tewkesbury and its surroundings, the second day we went to Stratford upon Avon, on the third day there was a Medieval Festival organised in Tewkesbury (for those who like wars, there was a Tewkesbury Battle to see). On the fourth day, we had an indoor picnic in the church due to bad weather, but it was still nice. The last day was in Oxford, we spent a few hours there. Usually in the morning and in the evening, we all had breakfast or dinner altogether in the church. Then after we could play some games, socialise with some local people who were really nice with everyone.
Overall this trip was a success because firstly we were really lucky with the weather, on the contrary to Kent where the weather was bad over those days; and secondly the area is so lovely that you don’t really want to come back to Medway. I think if I had the opportunity to go to Tewkesbury again, I would certainly go."      

Vino (India):  "I am happy to comment on the trip, though I said everything in the church. I couldn't find any drawbacks. About my accommodation, it was more worth the total amount I paid for the whole trip. To be honest, I don't like some of the food, but I wanted to try the English food, so enjoyed that too. Many thanks to Joyce and Pauline. And a special thanks to you, Lynne, for arranging the trip." 

Cai (China:  "The moment we arrived in Tewkesbury we visited the lovely small town, the river and the abbey especially! I liked the peaceful river and clean streets. Later that day I met the family who were providing accommodation for me and Saka! There are five members in the family, including a couple, two sons and a friendly dog! This is my first time to live with a family! Chris provided us water for overnight and the dog, Bailey, licked my ear every morning:-)  I really liked them, and appreciated all the things they did for us. The day we went back to Kent, both kids didn't want to leave us, one of them cried a lot. And the words on the card they sent to me were heart moving. Actually all the things that happened made me want to cry, because I also miss them. 

Other days  we visited many famous sites and many things impressed me a lot. In Stratford the view of river side was so lovely, and the attractive environment must be one of the reasons for Shakespeare's success in literature. At the Medieval Festival there was a battle; many actors performed as medieval soldiers while a professional history researcher explained how the historical events happened. It was really a good way to tell the people about history. On Sunday, I made a little speech in front of around 50 people in the Church. Although I had thought about what to say the day before I couldn't express my feelings freely  and precisely because of  nerves and language problems. Thanks to the people who attended that day their kind smiles gave me a lot of courage!"

Anu (Sri Lanka):  "I really felt that I was blessed by God because I like to travel all-around the world. This trip gave me a good opportunity to get to know about English culture, life style and their history. I have to thank the host family who provide us excellent accommodation facilities. It was like a five star hotel and I really like their indoor decoration and their taste. I enjoyed the breakfasts, food, BBQ party and  picnic (indoor) so I have to thank the Church for arranging all the facilities to us and many thanks to those who played basketball and billiards with us because they made our days more joyful. 

We can't forget Joyce and Pauline who provided us not only transport but also were very friendly and took care us. Special thanks to Lynne and her family members for co-ordinating and arranging this trip. Last but not least I still remember the sentence which was said in Church on Sunday that "The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page".

Basel (Jordan):   "Thank you very much for the chance to see places I would probably never visit by myself. I found Tewkesbury a very nice, quiet and historical place. People were very friendly, willing to communicate. It was obvious that they were waiting for us a lot. The Medieval Festival gave us a chance to know more about the history, see how everything was in the past and battle was like an educational performance, because the history about it was commentated. I very much enjoyed visiting Stratford upon Avon, where Shakespeare lived. One of the most exciting moments that day was boating, because we were very lucky with the weather and environment was just amazing. Time in Oxford was full of adventures even though we had just a few hours there. Thank you for organising this trip, for the time spent together and I hope that this is not the last adventure we will experience as a big family.

Sweety (Nigeria):  "I want to say a huge thank you to everybody that made this trip possible. It was a really good trip. Lynne for the most efficient planning this side of the planet. Lol. The Ireland's for trusting us enough to not make a mess of their house while we were away, Lynne's dad, Bill for sparing his time and energy. Pauline and Joyce for the wonderful drive down and the great company. And to everyone else at the beautiful town of Tewkesbury. For the food, barbeque, time and lovely conversation. God bless you all and cause his face to shine on you. The memories will last a life time."

Saka (Nigeria):  "Our 4 days getaway trip was one of the best ever for me because the planning and organisation were absolutely great.  The hospitality we received at Tewkesbury  was amazing and most especially the way my host family (Jon, Chris, Dylan, Noah & Bailey - the dog) welcomed and care for me and Cai, they treated us like family and their kind gesture will remain deep in my heart for a very long time, I miss them so much ever since I came back but thanks to telecommunication medium. 
Everyday of the trip was awesome from the fascinating view of Tewkesbury (especially the abbey)  to the iconic town of Stratford-upon-Avon and the tour around Oxford.  So also the 1471 re-enactment battle show was breath-taking. All this excitement made possible by Lynne in collaboration with Tewkesbury Baptist Church. I really really appreciated everything and my gratitude goes out to the whole family of Tewkesbury Baptist Church for this wonderful opportunity of a life time. Ésee ooooo means thank you in my language (Yoruba). 
If such an opportunity ever comes up again while am around, I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world. Thank you Lynne for all your support towards international students, may Almighty God reward you a million folds and bless you abundantly. Thank you again and again and again.