Linn Benton History Class Jumps the Pond

Picture taken by Kyle Holland

Just a hop, skip and a jump to one of the most interesting adventures of all time. A possible once in a lifetime trip that many will never encounter. LBCC had a couple lucky students that got to spend 10 days in not one but two foreign countries.

Robert Harrison, LBCC history instructor, and a group of six students got to go on a spring break trip to Italy and Greece. They were originally scheduled a trip to Egypt, and see the Nile river and the Great Pyramids, but plans back fired when the turmoil and protests proceeded in that country. The school board thought that the trip would be too risky. It was too dangerous, and they wanted to be certain that everyone would be safe. Bummed out they were able to create a last minute trip to a place that is equally impressive that also was very interesting to the students.

Throughout the six days they spent in Italy these lucky students were able to see different sites and museums.

They were able to visit the Roman Colosseum, the Sistine chapel, the City of Pompeii, and also the Vatican museum. They were able to interact with the modern culture and see some of the historical art and culture that Italy is known for.



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Afterwards they got to hop in a plane and see parts of Greece for four days. They were able to see the Parthenon, also interact with some of the culture there too.

The two LBCC students that got to go this year were Kyle Holland and Amanda Wallace. They were accompanied by Kyle's wife Darleea, and OSU student, and also one of Harrison's Zumba members.

This group of people were taken by the LBCC instructor Robert Harrison. This was his second trip to both Italy and Greece. Many of the sites that they got to see this time he had seen a previous time before. He did learn some new information, and got to learn more in depth information of some of the places they went to.

One of the more difficult things about traveling to a different country is learning their language and interacting with the locals. Many of them made hand gestures to try and get their point across in conversation.

Harrison was able to talk a little bit with some of the people.

In a line for the Vatican museum he was able to understand some of what two women were speaking in front of him. He could tell that they were speak Italian, so he asked them if they knew some French, and found out that they were tourists too. These women were actually from up in the Northern part of Italy.

"The next time I travel to a foreign country I plan to learn more conversational phrases." says Harrison "I will probably spend more time learning about the language and making sure that I can communicate with the locals."

According to Harrison they had a terrific tour guide that showed them different sites that most would not know to look for on a trip to Italy or Greece.

At the Vatican museum they got to learn more information about the sites they were seeing. The students even got to see a pope that has been placed in a glass coffin. Also in the Vatican they were able to see some of history's finest art like Michelangelo's statue "David".

"Since we were not able to see any nude beaches, my favorite part of our trip would have to be Vatican City." says Holland

Harrison's favorite educational part of the trip was to see the Vesuvius crater, and learn more about the next time it may erupt and some more information on what happened.

There has been talk about the next big trip that will be taken by Harrison. He is planning on a two-week summer student trip to major Civil War battle sites along the Eastern part of the US.

The students that attend this trip will receive a school history credit towards school.

Some of the sites that would possibly be seen are Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, the Battle of Antietam site in Maryland, The Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee, and Ft. Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.

"I would like to make it a camping tour," says Harrison, "We would camp out, and cook out like they would in the Civil War, and sing songs like the soldiers would at that time. We don't need hotels."

So if you are interested in a educational trip across the country that could help go towards a history credit. See Robert Harrison at LBCC today.

At a Glance:

Who: Robert Harrison
What: Information about next trips, including the future Civil War battle sites.
How to contact. harrisonr@linnbenton.edu
Office: SSH 203
Phone: 541-971-4571