Airplane stories

Hello readers!

We are happy to report that last night we landed in Bali around 2:30a… of course this was after the very short flight of 16 hours (from DC to Seoul) and then a 7 hour flight (from Seoul to Bali).

In our flight from DC to Seoul we were lucky to have a fairly empty plane and we got to spread out and conquer seats for beds. Unfortunately, on our next flight, we weren’t so lucky.

However, we did have a pleasant, or not so pleasant surprise. A man approached Bethany and asked her for her window seat. She replied that we would be moving around and that he couldn’t have the seat. He wasn’t mad but continued to ask other passengers on the plane. After a short period he was on the other side of the plane to ask Jo if she had a guide for Bali. We didn’t. But he continued to ask us where we were from, where we were staying, if we were an all girls group, and gave us words of wisdom… “You can find love in Bali”. The girls were significantly creeped out.

Chris and Jo were in a close race to see who could watch the most movies (and sleep the least…though not by choice). Chris won with a total of 7 movies!

As we were landing Bethany leaned over to us and mentioned that if would be quite warm once we got of the plane… Little did we know…

Once we got off the plane, purchased visas and went through customs we were greeted with drivers. As we walked out of the airport, we were also greeted with sweat dripping from every pore. We literally walked a few hundred feet and we possibly had lost a pound of weight in sweat. We never had been so happy for AC. Thank you to whoever invented that.

As we pulled up to the hotel we were tired and yet so excited that we were actually there! Once we got to our rooms and figured out when to wake up for breakfast and we thought that we were going to get some sleep a loud screech was heard. What was that and why was it up?! Again, a screech. Ah… a rooster. How lovely. Did we have the time right? Yes, it was 4am. Then why in the world was this rooster awake and telling us to wake up as well. It stopped for a little. Again we tried to sleep… screech! Followed by a different screeching rooster, followed by another! Now there were 3 and they wanted us to wake up. Well, either we drifted into a sleep with the soft cooing of the rooster or you tossed and turned wondering when it would shut its beak up.

Our alarms went off a little to soon for most.

Breakfast was a great surprise! Cantaloupe, eggs, chicken sausage, fish, rice, fresh veggies and toast… YUMMM. But, not only did they have yummy food, but also we were on the top floor of the hotel with gorgeous views and an infinity pool (for those of you that watch house hunters; it’s a great selling point).

Well, off to spend a few hours in Bali.

Hope everyone is doing well. We’re doing fine, don’t worry!

Love, the world travelers

Arrived safely!

Lots more to tell later, but for now, this is a quick message to let everyone know that we arrived safely in Indonesia. :)

In Seoul airport

View from the window over the area between Alaska and Russia.



Time for a quick break before dinner.

Trying the Korean cuisine. YUM!

After a 16 hour flight, we made it in to the Incheon airport of Seoul, South Korea.

Next up, the plane to Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia! Only a short 7 hours. :-)

At Dulles airport

Ready for our 15 hour flight to Seoul, South Korea!

Look at all our flight attendants!

Van ride.

Chris is already sleeping and we aren't on the plane yet!

Global Citizenship Project - background

For those of you who are new visitors and who may not be familiar with the Global Citizenship Project, here is an overview of the program.

The GCP was inspired by long-time friend and former trustee of Shenandoah University, Dr. Nancy Larrick Crosby, who charged the university to find a way to impact across the institution in some significant way and consistent with our mission. Dr. Crosby was a tireless advocate for literacy around the world. Her model for engaging communities in the global context set the stage for what inspires with our students and community today, the Global Citizenship Project.

GCP Key Components:

• GCP is an opportunity to travel abroad during spring break each year with an academic focus in a group-oriented and faculty-led experience.
• 5 destinations are selected each year along with 5 very experienced faculty or staff to lead each group.
• The university removes all barriers to participation except for one - passion! Expenses are paid apart from incidentals, logistics are handled by the institution, and anxiety is reduced with group-oriented, faculty-guided travel.
• Full-time members of the university community - students, faculty as well as staff - submit streamlined applications that seek to identify those whose passion for the opportunity to learn abroad can be heard in a short essay.
• Applicants do not know where they will be going each year and apply ready to be sent anywhere in the world (destinations not on the U.S. State Department warning list).
• Destinations are announced shortly after selection. Destination groups are formed with 11 participants each (including undergraduate and graduate students, staff members, and one faculty member plus the trip leader and occasionally a student from the destination country) representing the diversity of the institution on each trip.
• Participants prepare for their travel experience through a series of workshops focusing on cultural understanding, destination-specific information, logistics for global travel and a unique theme chosen each year on which each group will focus during the preparations, travel and in workshop debriefing sessions.
• The experiences themselves follow many models based on the conditions of the destination but are clearly designed with an academic focus and people-to-people connections.
• Upon return, an intentional effort is made to stimulate dissemination of the experiences and lessons learned back into our various communities - on campus (through presentations during Community Partnership Day), into the local community (through outreach programs into the schools as one example), and into student's home communities (through press release and media interviews).