Hi everyone,

While I’m sure people would much rather hear about my weekend escapades, I would like to provide more information about how my Japanese class is structured. When I thought about what I would have liked to know when researching programs, I thought I’d like to know a little more about how Japanese classes were conducted.

When we talk about culture shock, we talk a lot about food. And the more time I spend in Argentina, the more this makes sense to me. Food can be one of the main signifiers of a change to your environment—not just the type, but also the quantity and the timing of meals.

It is officially my last week in Milan, and I am reluctant to accept May 10th as a definitive conclusion to this amazing experience. Prior to leaving for Milan, I wasn’t sure of what to expect of my time abroad. My entire life I had grown up with the belief that someday, sometime, I would spend part of my college years in a different country, but I never thought of what that would concretely entail.

Ciao, belli! Come stai? Bene? Si, tutti bene. Sorry, I had my Italian final today and everything is still so fresh! I do hope that everyone is well. Now, I want to tell everyone why homestays are the way to go. I’ve had the best time at my homestay. Just because you are going abroad doesn’t mean you should be without a home. Granted, I know no one would be actually homeless on a study abroad program, but I believe homestays have so much to offer!

My departure date has officially arrived. As I write this second to last blog post in the airport, I am feeling a mixture of emotions. I am excited to see my family and friends after five months but sad that I will be leaving behind the place that I came to know and enjoy during these months. I will also miss my amazing group of friends that made my study abroad experience valuable.

One day over the winter, my mom sent me a text containing the information about IES Internships with an opportunity to live and work in Hong Kong for eight weeks. I was hesitant; did I really want to take on an unpaid internship? As I kept talking about it with my mother, who hails from Hong Kong, I got more excited about this incredible opportunity. A week later, I was accepted into the program and had paid my deposit.

As my last month in Amsterdam begins, I've become incredibly nostalgic; I think back on my first week here and can't believe it was just three months ago. But that nostalgia is also bringing in a new feeling: one rooted in a panic that I won't get to see and do all the things I have on my Amsterdam bucket list. The type of attraction most popular on my list is, of course, the plethora of museums that Amsterdam has to offer.

Judaism has this concept that the more time you stay in a place, the greater your responsibility to contribute to it. This makes a lot of sense, and in my mind it's an important way to avoid the fetishization trap of tourism, which drains the character of the local community and contributes to the economic dependance of a place on its tourists.

Rarely reflected in the blog is the normalcy of most of my days. Here's what daily life looks like here: I wake up at 9 or 10 a.m. when I don't have early classes. I make breakfast and lunch in my kitchen, which is unfortunately largely ill-equipped (no oven or freezer!) and has resulted in a lot of steamed vegetables and fried things. I bike places sometimes, to De Pijp or Museamplein. I blog. I study, a lot! The courses here are very rigorous and require a lot of effort!