I ran up the familiar stairs to the main reception area.  Although it's been 30 years this spring since I graduated, the layout of the administration building of my old Bible College is exactly the same!  But this time, I was free to walk straight past the front desk and help myself to coffee in the staff room, just like it was no big deal.  That sure felt strange.
Carrying the two cups of steaming java back down to the classroom, I found Walter settling himself on a stool in front of the students.  He was engaged in a chat, getting acquainted with the students sitting in the row directly facing him.  At exactly 8:25 am, a bell rang and the class was to start.
As Walter unpacked some cross-cultural principles, it was very apparent we were not at home anymore with the college culture.  The precise time schedule, the rows of tables and chairs, students taking notes - we felt old and oh, so different from the people we were when we attended the school!
But it was so wonderful to be part of the process of discovery and examination of the life and habits of people.  The first morning was slow going; by the second day, many students were talking with us, sitting with us at lunch in the dining hall and beginning to open up more and more.  By the final morning in the classroom, they were much more willing to answer questions and contribute to the subject at hand.  They would be leaving directly after that final bell, heading to the destinations they would be doing their practicum in First Nations ministry.  There was a definite buzz in the air!
As we said our good-byes to the students and then to the staff who wandered by, we jumped into our Toyota Corolla and drove back into town.  Our suitcases were still at the Matthews and we wanted to say farewell to them before we left for home.
The blue barely showed through the overcast sky as we covered the kilometres south and then west and then south again...we chatted, debriefing on the past days.  We stopped at Tim Horton's in Melfort to grab lunch to go and then I took the wheel.  Walter had expended energy teaching and visiting afterwards.  And getting up so early and following a strict schedule was certainly not our normal!
We have one night at home.  The laundry is in the dryer as I type.  Tomorrow we drive south and west to Millar College of the Bible.  So we will repack our suitcases and bedding for the trip that will take us away for a week.
We'll be in touch!  Have a great week!