Expand I celand was not a common travel destination and had never been included in the study abroad programs, but due to changes to the England program, 15 students experienced the beauty and wonder that Iceland offered fall2012. Students saw sweeping landscapes of snow-covered mountains, waterfalls, glaciers, lagoons, volcanoes, hot springs and beaches. "At the highest point we drove to, our tour guides said the winds were about 34 miles per hour," sophomore Megan Lehmann said. "It was also very cold outside, so they decided to turn around. We stopped by one small lake in the mountains where it was not so windy, and in the stillness of the blankets of snow, the scenery seemed all the more breathtaking to me." The magnificence of the Icelandic landscape and the richness of the students' experience was a memory treasured by the HUE students. Though the other places they visited during their semester were each beautiful in their own way, none was as stunning as Iceland. ''The landscape is so wild and so dramatic," sophomore Jenna Light said. ''The Northern Lights are so much more beautiful than I even imagined. Also, I loved our guide, Haakon. He taught us a lot about the history, geology, culture and folklore of his beautiful country." The trip to Iceland showed the HUE group that the semester would be filled with beautiful and strange things the students never expected to experience. The group lived in London and traveled to Ireland and Scotland at the end of the semester. The program predominantly focused on the historical sites in London and in surrounding cities, such as Stonehenge, the Tower of London, the British Museum, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Riding on the open plains of Iceland, the group enjoys the landscape from horseback. HUE students visited landmark historical and literary sites throughout the semester, such as Dublin, Cambridge, Bath, Edinburgh, the Lake District, Paris, Stratford-upon-Avon and Stonehenge. Courtesy of Jenna Light HUE adds new destinations to program Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. The group also enjoyed the modern culture and entertainment in modern London. "London is such a fun city to live in," Light said. "For one thing, all that iconic London stuff, like the red buses, phone booths, Big Ben and tea drinking, is all really here. I definitely recommend this program to anyone who is interested in literature, theater, music, art or history. There is so much this city has to offer. You just have to learn to use the Tube without looking like an idiot, and you've got the entire city in the palm of your hand." With a smaller number of students than other overseas programs, HUE offered a more intimate setting. Each student remembered their experiences overseas differently and had a favorite moment from the trip. "This past Sunday, t~e group was able to choose where we wanted to go to church .in London," Lehmann said. "There are many options available, such as St. Paul's Cathedral, Hillsong Church, an American church, the Tower of London service, or Wembley Church of Christ where we attend as a group. I chose to go to the Anglican service at the Tower of London, and it was a beautiful service. It was very neat to experience the music, the readings, the history and the people who call that place their church home." The HUE program allowed an intimate group of students to immerse themselves in one of the cultural, artistic and academic hubs of the world with easy access to the wonders of the entire British Isles. The addition of a visit to Iceland enhanced the unusual offerings of the trip and gained the HUE program more attention as a viable study abroad option. Payton Hurst HUE Fall '12: Row 1: J. Jordan, J. Light, A. Dudney, R. Talaber, V. Hargrove, M. Adkins, K. Fell, D. Dillion. Row 2: M. Lehmann, C. Maxwell, K. Dillion, C. Petty, L. Bennett, T. Robinson, J. Bowling, J. Bowling. HUE Est. 1994 141
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