What began as a day-trip to London turned into quite the adventure! I woke a few minutes before my alarm around 4:15, met H for our flight, and arrived in London before 8AM British-time. This gave us plenty of time to sightsee a bit before our 2PM meeting. I was super thankful that it barely rained despite the ominous forecast, especially since Andreas (staying with) jokingly pointed out I’d be gone for 1 of the 3 days that Zurich would have nice weather during my visit. I told him to send me a post card. :)
Anyhow, as you should well know, Thursday was the big Brexit vote of whether the UK would opt to leave or remain in the EU. We were intrigued and asked a couple of people their opinions of what they thought would happen. Both said it would be close, but they thought they would stay. Wanting to capture this historic moment, we took a campaigner's photo (with permission). Next thing we know, H is being interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, ha!
During our meeting with some Brits doing international ministry, I really enjoyed hearing some of the encouraging things that are happening in the UK: different outreaches and how people are growing in their faith in Christ. I also really enjoy the various responsibilities I’ve had and am feeling affirmed and confident with my upcoming and even actual role as assistant. Not to say that there aren’t challenges, but they are in the context of what I love and what I’m good at.
H and I were just discussing my role and thoughts at Heathrow Thursday evening when we heard over the loud speaker that our flight back to Zurich was canceled! Come to find out, it was one of 76 that were canceled that day! Needless to say, it was a bit chaotic as many passengers were lined up waiting to hear our fate. I was so thankful they gave us a hotel voucher, and at the Hilton no less! Even though we’d just eaten supper, we decided to take advantage of our free buffet meal where we ran into the passengers who we’d been chatting with in line as we waited! So, we ended our evening with good food, fun, and laughter with a very international crowd!
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| Represented is France, Germany, India, Poland, Switzerland, and USA. So fun! |
A bit refreshed after a good night’s sleep, I woke to the breaking news that not only had the UK voted to leave the EU, but also David Cameron will resign from his position as prime minister this October.
It was pretty surreal to be there on this day in history which is already showing signs of drastic changes both for the UK, Europe, and the rest of the world. That said, I’m really glad to be back in the Zurich area where I have less than a week left!
