When five inches of snow fell in various areas of Europe on Dec. 18, Dartmouth students on the history foreign study program in London celebrated the winter weather with a carefree snowball fight, history professor and program adviser Annelise Orleck said in an interview with The Dartmouth. Students' plans to spend a majority of the holiday season back in the United States with their families, however, was delayed along with most flights departing from Heathrow Airport.
The students on the history FSP were scheduled to depart on Dec. 19, but only one of the 15 students on the program was able to leave that day, Orleck said.
"I had about half the students in my apartment, and I was able to convince the housing agency that was working with us to let another group of students stay another night in the apartment they had been staying in," Orleck said.
After the first night, Orleck used funds from the College's off-campus program budget to book several rooms for the remaining students in a nearby hostel, Jihan Ryu '12, a student on the history FSP, wrote in an e-mail to The Dartmouth.
"It wasn't too bad the next few days, because I was able to find ways to occupy time by doing Christmas shopping and going to the library to continue working on my research," Ryu said. "But watching the breaking news on British TV all the time about the fiasco at Heathrow Airport really gave me stress."
Ryu's rescheduled flight left London on Dec. 24, so he was able to spend Christmas Eve with his mother, he said.
Orleck said that students were "really good" about helping each other find alternative flights and that despite the apartments becoming crowded, students remained in high spirits.
"We had a nice time when we were all together made stew, watched movies," she said.
Alyssa Penick '12, a student on the history FSP, said that by the end of the trip, she and her fellow students were ready to return to the United States.
"Not being able to leave made me really, really excited to get home," she said.
The day after the snow first fell, many students took buses to nearby airports that were still dispatching flights, Penick said. Penick spent the night in a hotel at Gatwick Airport, she said.
Kyle Boyd '12, who was studying abroad on an exchange program with Queen Mary, University of London, said he celebrated Christmas Eve in London with other American students whose flights were rescheduled.
"I was supposed to leave Dec. 18," Boyd said. "We got a call early that morning from the car service that we had gotten that they had a snow predicament that we needed to get to the airport earlier. As they predicted, it was the worst snow that they had in years."
Boyd's flight was delayed repeatedly throughout the day, he said.
"Up until 4 [p.m.] we were still very hopeful," Boyd said. "Then it was a mad rush down to baggage claim."
Many of the airport hotels were already full, so Boyd shared a "tiny hotel room" with seven other American students, he said.
Boyd said that once his flight was initially delayed, he was not worried about getting home in time for Christmas since it was still a week away. Delta Airlines rescheduled the students on a new flight for Dec. 21, he said.
Although the airline awarded Boyd with a $250 flight voucher, it did not offer food or hotel vouchers to help alleviate the costs associated with long-term flight delays, he said.
"We definitely couldn't afford to stay in hotels the whole time," Boyd said. Queen Mary, University of London reopened its dormitories for American students whose flights were canceled.
The distance from the center of the city of London to Heathrow also posed a challenge for students attempting to get last-minute flights, Boyd said.
"Getting from London to Heathrow is a hassle," Boyd said. "It was definitely not easy getting back. It's also tough traveling with that much luggage you have some serious luggage."
Boyd's rescheduled flight was canceled on Dec. 20, which prevented him from leaving London until Dec. 25, although he was still able to spend Christmas dinner with his family, he said.
"We ended up celebrating on Christmas Eve, we had Christmas Eve dinner," Boyd said. "That's kind of how we got through it."
