Memories of Alnwick
Michele (Kot) Buttweiler '83, St. Cloud, London 1978-79
British Studies Program
Our story is before Alnwick Castle. We were students
on the 1978-1979 London program, which had us living right
in the heart of London. Our St. Cloud professor was Dr.
Charles Boltuck, who was our fearless leader. We were taught
by English professors under the guidance of Dr. James Henderson. Our
stay was a full college year, spanning eight to nine months.
Looking back, both John and I are convinced it was the
highlight of our lives. In fact, it pretty much is where
we began, because we met there. That was 28 years ago.
Here we are today, excited to be returning to England in
the fall of 2006 when our daughter, Brittney, will attend
Alnwick.
We’ve always wanted to go back, but have
been reluctant. We were young, starving, and reckless then.
Now, we are older, set in our ways, and not sure we’ll
see it all through the same eyes! We saw Europe as
a young student does. We walked for miles, we slept on
boats, we stood for hours on trains through Yugoslavia,
we bought a car and saw Wales and Scotland. I’m afraid
now that we’ll want to stay at the Holiday Inn versus the B&B’s,
the hostels, or just hitchhiking and seeing where we landed.
We have so many memories,
it is hard to share just one. Probably, the one that has
left the most lasting memory for the both of us is when
a bunch of us headed to the Isle of Wight one weekend.
My three roommates and I, and John and three of his roommates
hitchhiked to Portsmouth, and then took a ferry to the
Isle of Wight. Once on the Isle, we were hitching a ride
into the town to look for a place to stay. We split us
in pairs of a guy and a girl, as that was the easiest way
to get a ride. John and I paired up and were picked up
by an elderly gentleman. He ended up taking us to their
private club on the Island for food and darts that evening
and then took us home to their 100+ year old thatch cottage
for the night. We chatted with him into all hours of the
night in his little cigar and brandy room. He shared bitter
memories of the loss of his eldest son in the war between
Britain and Northern Ireland. He talked at length about
the seemingly senseless reasons for the endless war between
the two religions. He begged for us to tell him about our
lives in America. We were then about the same age as his
lost son. In the morning, his wife woke us up with tea
by our bedsides and had eggs and bacon waiting for us. He then drove us into the heart of the
Island where we spent the rest of the weekend together. We were just friends
that weekend; as we explained to this very kind couple. We always have wondered
what they thought when they received our wedding invitation two years later! (They
never came, as they were quite on in years!)
We saw so much during our stay in
England. We both traveled England, Scotland,
Wales, Italy, Germany, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, Belgium, and Holland. John
also went to Ireland, Switzerland, Denmark, Russia, and worked on a kibbutz in
Israel. I spent Christmas in Spain. I worked for three months there
as an evening maid for a 5 star Four Seasons hotel called Inn on The Park, where
I learned many interesting things from my co-workers who were from many different
cultures.
When we married two years after our travels in Europe,
we were convinced that if we never got to travel again,
we would never feel cheated. We had seen and experienced
so much at the young ages of 21(me) and 24 (John). We were
ready for new journey together. We always hoped that someday
we would return and do it all again. We can’t tell
you how excited we are to be returning!
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