Fall Adventures

Have you ever asked yourself why someone with a stove and microwave would ever want to brave the cold of autumn to cook their food outside… even over an open fire? How about tractors and trucks pulling wagons loaded with, not hay, but people! What of the act of picking an item from the household garden and giving it two eyes, a nose, and a mouth and involving it in the home decor? These questions are of common seasonal activities in America; however, for those crossing over from other cultures, these activities may be far from normal.

As coordinator of the field trips, I have gotten to enjoy some pretty awesome activities with a wonderful bunch of ESL students this past fall. This fall we were privileged with 36 students to take around and to help discover what the world of American Culture looks like up close and personal.

Our itinerary for the year started off with an afternoon visit to an ESL instructor’s home near Elgin, IA. Here, students enjoyed a sunny and pleasant afternoon playing yard games, eating home-cooked food, and just having a great time of fellowship; meeting and getting acquainted with the families, instructors, and staff of ESL.

On September 10^th, ESL travelled to the Carriage Classic at the Villa Louis Historic Site in Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin. Here, there was a wide array of horse drawn carriage competitions as well as guided tours of the 19^th century Victorian style mansion located on the grounds. Afterwards, a meal was served at Pikes Peak overlooking the Mississippi River and town of Prairie Du Chien. Not only was the meal good, but the view stole the show! One Japanese student said of the place: “I had never seen such a beautiful nature.”

Later on in the month of September, before the weather got too cold, students were taken out to the countryside to enjoy a more traditional/seasonal trip consisting of a hayride, bonfire, and pumpkin carving activity. Many students had only heard of these things and some had only ever seen them on American movies.

In October, students were taken to Elkader, Iowa to visit and learn of the American Civil War from the Co. A, 49^th Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry. This trip will probably not soon be forgotten as students got to see and interactively discover what life would have been like during the civil war. Students learned how to load and set off a cannon as well as how to perform a civil war artillery drill and infantry drill. Probably the most captivating activity was learning how to dance the Virginia Reel. This was a country dance popular in the U.S. from about 1830-1890. Students also got to see and hold authentic and reproduced artifacts of the civil war.

These are just some of the trips I have chosen to expound on that the ESL institute has provided for its students this fall, however, there are many more trips that will be opened up to ESL students in the coming months. Special thanks must be given to those families around Fayette who continually and joyfully give of their time and resources to help show each student all the good and wonderful things that go on in our little corner of Iowa. Because of these families, many ESL students have gotten to ride a horse, milk a cow, make apple cider and ice-cream, try buffalo stew, and much, much more! I think I can say that we are all looking forward to the times ahead of us!