We began our 30-hour day with a bus ride to the Manchester airport at 6 am. After a quick flight to London, we're now working to spend or exchange any remaining pounds we have. Our flight from London to Chicago takes off in less than an hour! It will be a nine-hour flight, and then those of us without rides in Chicago will spend the afternoon at the airport hanging out and working on our final paper until the bus departs for Decorah around 8 pm CT.

I wanted to share about how the group reflected on our J-Term. Yesterday as we sat and ate a delicious meal at an Indian restaurant, I gave the people around me the title prompt: Describe the trip with one word or phrase. Pretty soon, I had a whole list of responses from everyone in the group (minus Peter and the other three golfers who left for Scotland before dinner. They play St. Andrew's Old Course today!). It was a month we will never forget, and everyone experienced Europe differently. For example, some of the words/phrases are:

"Astonishing."

"Opportunities to increase awareness."

"Ohp!" (popular midwest sound made when about to bump into someone or something)

"Energiewendeerforschungsgespraechskreise." (We can thank Dr. Steding for this one! It means something along the lines of: "A conversation circle concerned with the probing and exploration of the energy transition.")

"Worthwhile."

We all shared plenty of great conversations about the trip last night. Over the last three weeks, we have become a really close group. This was a very cheerful bunch of students lead by two passionate and personable professors, and everyone was always positive and ready for the next adventure. I am thankful that we all chose to take this course. We are coming out of it with an increased understanding of the importance of energy policies, sustainable initiatives, and how crucial it is to stand up for what you believe in.

Here are the rest of the words and phrases:

Whirlwind of sustainability. POWER. Bob*. Experiential learning for the win. Great. Energetic. Enlightening. Bob rules! Inspiring. Scalable. Pretty neat. Delta. Memorable. Independence. Eye opening. Different. Wifi. What are the odds.

My phrase would be, "All of the above." There are an abundance of words that could be used to describe the trip, and I hope many of you readers are able to talk with others from this trip to hear about everything from their view. Whether you are a family member, friend, scroller on the Luther website, or anyone else, thank you for following our adventures from across the pond!

*Bob was a tour guide at the nuclear power plant