Regent Retreat

Two weeks into the new term, we headed down to Warm Beach Conference Centre, Washington, USA, for the annual Regent College Retreat - a bit like church camp. We had no problems crossing the border (those visas are starting to reap dividends) and had a very pleasant journey with our friend Amy. Some parts of the journey were like travelling through the pine-forested areas of NZ, though on wider roads. The retreat location was lovely, although not warm and more of an estuary than a beach!

Some new experiences included seeing a bald eagle (sorry, the camera wasn't at hand) and eating 'smores' (below). The centre holds a Christmas light display each year so they were just starting to put up strings of lights (also below). Another new experience, was having meals served to us at our tables, rather than the long queues usually associated with catering for 100+ people in this kind of setting!

The program was balanced between community, teaching and free time. It was a good chance to interact with faculty members and other students. A highlight was the talent show - the calibre of acts was high and the staff items were particularly entertaining. Our only criticism is that the retreat didn't really allow for study time so the last two weeks we have been frantically trying to catch up on reading, etc. So that's what Reading Week is for, we guess!