J - Term

During January Holden hosts a group or two of college students, usually from a private Lutheran University in the US. Pacific Lutheran, Saint Olaf and others. These schools are on a semester system and January is typically a time for a more in depth class or field experience. This January is called J - Term.

This year we have a group of about 30 student from Saint Olaf in Minnesota. They began their adventure travelling via Amtrak to Wenatchee ( the train was only 8 hours late), spent the night in Chelan and then caught the boat up to the village. None of them had been here before mixed with 3 long days of travel, gave us some very wide eyed kids getting off the bus that day. We had heard that they had visions of Holden as a hippie place where people played drums a lot; so that is how we greeted them.

They have been here two weeks now and I must say that we may not let them go home. We just love them. After our initial joke and their initial shock, they have fit in here perfectly. They have brought swing dancing and yoga to the village and they have learned how to do dish team, garbo and stoking our huge multi-building wood furnace called "Dante".

It is so much fun to have this young life in the village. We can attend their classes if we wish and we always have very lively discussions in the library and at dinnner. Thanks Saint Olaf students, we love you!