We have been writing about how three of our students—Kasper, Liisbet, and Annika—have been a part of the 150-year-old Southwestern Advantage program and are spending their summer in America. Liisbet led the largest summer organisation in the European Division of the Southwestern Advantage program. The program has come to an end, and here’s what we came to know of last week when we interacted with Liisbet and her team.
The summer’s done! For some of us the past week passed more quickly than others. It was extremely windy, hot, stormy, and thunderous. This entire week’s weather was more unpredictable than the entire summer put together, making it a challenging week.
On Friday, our last working day, the managers surprised the FYs (first-year students) by flying a ship filled with champagne between the houses. The following evening, we reassembled at Liisbet’s house, where we spent a chilly night and relished the fact that our work was finally finished.
On Saturday morning, we had no idea where we were flying to when we sat in our cars and made our way to the San Antonio airport. Our end of summer plans were only known to a small number of team members.
At the airport, we found out our destination: Las Vegas!
We rented cars in Las Vegas and went out for lunch, after which we hurried to our accommodation. The house booked on Airbnb was enormous. We made a home-cooked dinner when we arrived there and then got ready to enjoy the Las Vegas nightlife. We saw the fountain performance that evening and also got some pictures. However, because the majority of us had slept poorly the previous night, we decided to cut the evening short.
The next morning, Tõnis, who came along with us for the end of summer vacation, made us a delicious omelette with bacon. And after we had eaten, we made the decision to get some sun on the beaches. After that, most of us headed to do a little shopping and pick some outfits for an evening out. Before joining others for shopping, four of our team members decided to see the Hoover Dam
We returned to our accommodation after our shopping trip to cook, eat dinner, enjoy each other’s company, and get ready for the evening. We went to watch the Magic Mike Show in the evening, and it was amazing! We returned to the house after that, continued to have a good time, and didn’t fall asleep until 1 o’clock.
We had to get up at four in the morning the following day to begin the lengthy four-hour drive to the Grand Canyon. We had our breakfast while driving and napped a little while in the car. When we arrived, we had to double-check to believe how truly breathtaking the scenery was and that no filters were necessary for the images. Over three hours of hiking later, we had some incredible photos. We wholeheartedly urge everyone to go whenever they have the chance! You get a great physical workout while hiking there and enjoy the magnificent view!
Afterwards, we decided to return to our accommodation. We had pizza when we arrived and then prepared to leave once more. We attended the Mad Apple circus act that evening. The performers, who included excellent dancers, singers, and acrobats, put on a very brilliant show. After that, we returned to our accommodation to finish packing before our early-morning trip from Las Vegas to Chicago to New York.
We had a smooth journey from Las Vegas to Chicago, and since it was a lengthy flight, we also managed to get some sleep. However, when we reached Chicago and got ready to board the next flight that was meant to take us to New York, we learned that our flight had been cancelled. We began to explore our options. Although it was quite untrue, we were told that our flight had been cancelled because of poor weather in New York. We were also informed that our tickets had been altered to a flight departing on September 2nd and that there were no other flights available to New York before that. However, as our flight to Stockholm was scheduled to depart on August 31, this was not a feasible option for us. Although we considered changing that flight, we finally decided to rent a car and drive from Chicago to New York, even though it was going to take us more than 13 hours. We spent more than seven hours at the airport since the arrangement of it all took a while, and we didn’t start our drive to New York until the evening. But our skilled drivers drove all night.
As soon as we arrived in New York, we went to Times Square to spend some time in the city before taking off. After a brief stroll through New York, it was time to depart for the airport.
We were fortunate to get some rest on the lengthy journey to Stockholm. Everyone barely made it to the Stockholm-Tallinn flight because there was only one hour between the two flights, but fortunately no one was left behind. The others who arrived on a later flight also made it safely to their native countries, where all of their family members were already there to greet us with loving arms. Thank you to our wonderful family and friends who met us at the airport!
We have returned to our home country with our adventures. The summer was wonderful! And to top it all off, our vacation time in Las Vegas at the end of the summer was equally exciting. An incomparable and a very unforgettable end to a super-cool summer with the best team!