Far From Home, Students React to the Attack on America

Ashley Whitfield, a junior English major from Kitty Hawk, is studying in London. Catherine Jones, a junior history major from Palatine, Ill., is studying in Sevilla, Spain.

DTH: How did you first hear about the attacks?

Whitfield: I'd just gotten back to our flat when my roommate told me that she'd heard on the London Underground that a plane had flown into one of the twin towers.

It was already afternoon here, since we're five hours ahead, and we watched the second tower fall live on TV. It was so strange to be sitting in a flat in London, while something was happening so far away and yet hitting so close to home. Really, it was the strangest thing I think I've ever experienced.

Jones: My roommate and I were sleeping (2 p.m. to 5 p.m. is siesta in Spain), and another student in our program called us. He had been watching TV and saw it on the news.

DTH: Have you contacted home?

Whitfield: Just as everything was happening most of us started trying to call home. The phone lines were jammed, and it was impossible to get through. Only about two or three of the 25 of us were able to reach home.

After a couple of hours of watching TV we went to the pub down the street from our flats because we couldn't sit inside anymore, feeling so helpless. A man in the pub let some of us use his cell phone to call our parents, and we were finally able to get through.

It was so nice of him to do that, because otherwise it would have been hours before we were able to talk to anyone. It's amazing how nice everyone in London has been.

I think I speak for all of us when I say that we definitely have a country full of allies here. They feel it as much as anyone can, when it hasn't happened directly to them.

Jones: As soon as we were told, my roommate and I both went out to the plaza to call our parents on pay phones. We didn't have any trouble then, but I know that a lot of the other people tried to call their parents on their cell phones but couldn't get a line out for the first couple of hours.

DTH: Has anyone from UNC contacted you since the attacks?

Whitfield: Donald Oehler, the professor in charge of our program, has been wonderful at making sure we're doing all right and keeping us informed about what's going on.

The first night, we had a big group meeting to make sure that everyone was doing OK and to decide as a group whether to continue on with classes, which we did. Friday there was a service at St. Paul's Cathedral for the American community living in Britain. Professor Oehler and his wife, Alice Bordsen, attended and encouraged the whole group to do the same.

Jones: Our program is a direct exchange, so the director of the program talked to us in class and asked if we were all okay and made sure we had all talked to our families.

DTH: Is it strange to be away from home at a time like this, when the nation is at risk and bonding together?

Whitfield: It's the strangest thing that's ever happened to me. We've not even been here a week -- but there's something about being in a foreign country that automatically makes you keenly aware of the fact that you're American. And now -- no matter where we go, it's as if we're already so much closer to every American we meet. In addition to a heightened sense of connection with Americans, I think it's also made us feel a lot closer to citizens of the United Kingdom.

We've come in contact with so many people, the professors teaching our classes, people in restaurants, in pubs and on the streets, who are concerned for us and our nation and the impact these events will have on the world. I feel that it's not only our nation that is bonding together at a time like this, but everyone who believes in the ideals that America represents.

DTH: Have you encountered a lot of sympathy or any other emotions as an American from residents of the country you're living in?

Whitfield: When we left our flat and went to the pub at the end of our street, everything was still going on. The second tower had just collapsed, and breaking reports were still coming over the television.

I know we were in shock so I'm sure it must have shown, and the bartender knew we were Americans because we had been in a few days before. He looked at us when we walked in the door, and then glanced at the television over the bar -- the look in his eyes, it was something I can't even explain -- it was the saddest, most compassionate look I've ever seen on another human beings face. It is something that I will never, ever forget.

Jones: The first day was tough.

We've all gotten to be friends here, but it's just not the same as being with your family. Also, it's hard for it to be real to us here. We've seen all the video clips, but it's hard to really understand that when we get back, things are going to be different.

Catherine Jones can be reached at cjjones@email.unc.edu. Ashley Whitfield can be reached at sonnet130@hotmail.com.