Texas Tech University

Day 14: Return Home

Bentley Chung

May 30, 2019

Today is the end of our two week long study abroad excursion!

Today is the end of our two week long study abroad excursion!

After an amazing farewell dinner, where we reminisced over our newfound shared experiences, all of us started preparing for the long flights that would take place the next day. At night, in the hotel, everyone packed their luggage with new souvenirs, tidied their hotel rooms, and quickly decided whether or not to sleep during the night or on the plane (in preparation for the looming jet lag that will overcome us all).

Most of us are g oing back to Lubbock, while a few other are continuing their adventures in different European countries. For the students traveling back to Lubbock, the check out time at the hotel in Budapest was 4:30 a.m.. And since I was one of these students, I can boldly claim that the early morning check out time was very difficult.

The hotel in Budapest was kind enough to provide us each with a packed breakfast. Knowing our busy flight schedule for the day, we were all very pleased with the generous gesture.

Once everyone woke up and made it down to the lobby at 4:30 a.m., we met with Gergo, our Hungarian tour guide, and traveled by bus to the airport. Looking out the windows of the bus, the sun still had not risen over the Budapest skyline. Upon arriving at the airport, we waited in line to check in our luggage for the flight. We would not be seeing our bags, again, until we reach the United States. After checking in our luggage, before going through security, we all said farewell to our tour guide and promised to come back and visit someday.

After making it through security in Budapest, we waited for our flight in the airport. Our first flight departed at 7:25 a.m. to Heathrow Airport in London. It was a short flight that only lasted two hours and forty minutes. After arriving in London at 9:10 a.m., we went through security again and waited for our next flight. This flight is from London to Dallas, and it is the longest flight we had today. The flight was ten hours long! The plane in London soon departed at 11:00 a.m., we all sat back, grabbed blankets and pillows, and got ready to relax during the ten hour flight. Each of us found different ways to entertain ourselves during the flight. Some of us played games, some watched movies, and some even slept a little. During the flight we were provided with different beverage choices, lunch, and a snack! Overall, the ten hour flight went really well!

Towards the end of our long flight to Dallas, we received news that our flight from Dallas to Lubbock got cancelled. Truthfully, we were all a little worried with this news. But relief soon hit us, once we all got an email informing us that we were confirmed on another flight to Lubbock at 10:35 p.m..

Everyone safely arrived to their final destinations tonight. Although we arrived much later than originally planned, we were happy that everything fell into place!

The Rawls Business Leadership Program 2019 trip has officially come to a close. The time we spent in Prague and Budapest together will never be forgotten! This trip has been filled with great learning experiences, happy memories, unforgettable friendships, and countless moments that all of us will cherish and remember for the rest of our lives.  We are so happy and blessed to have been able to be apart of this trip, and we are very thankful to everyone who made this experience possible.

Thank you :)

Ciao!