One chilly, grey Saturday morning 20+ IES Abroad students lined up in the dark at 7:30 am outside of the IES Abroad Center for a day-trip. As I stood with them, anticipation ran through me, not only to experience the unique marine cities of Saint-Malo and Mont-Saint Michel but also to finally see the ocean once again.

Rewind to one year ago, before I studied abroad: If there was one constant whenever I asked someone about studying abroad, it’s that somehow every single person had the perfect experience. If asking a peer, it is likely that you’ve heard stories with some choice phrases such as ‘best semester of my life’ or ‘a life-changing experience.’ I am not to say that those statements are false, but I do feel that there is neglected conversation around the challenges that accompany a study abroad experience.

Over the Thanksgiving Holiday, my friends and I traveled to Madrid to eat our way through the city and explore the plethora of museums, plazas, restaurants, stores, and parks. We paid 40 euros (can you believe it? Ryanair.com has the best flights) for a two-way ticket from Rabat, and booked an Airbnb in the Sol neighborhood for 71 dollars per person for three nights.

“I am experienced enough to do this. I am knowledgeable enough to do this. I am prepared enough to do this. I am mature enough to do this. I am brave enough to do this.” - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Knock Down The House. 

One small paper rectangle, faded - a blurry, worn image of myself looks back up at me from my palm through a plastic covering that has been tinged with brown. Next to this is another smaller plastic-covered paper - crinkled, bent, and fraying at the edges. While once connected through the plastic slips, these two slips are now split apart under the stress of being shoved into every wallet compartment. Despite their rugged appearance, they are actually integral tickets into an accessible, welcoming, and expansive visit in Nantes.

Studying abroad feels extra abroad because of all the traveling that happens when people go abroad I feel. For example, when students go to Italy for a semester, they book their weekends to be in other countries such as Germany, France, Spain etc because Europe is all so close together and it is easy to travel around it when in the area. In Australia where I am studying, people book breaks or long weekends to go up the gold coast, New Zealand, or even parts of Asia like Bali.

In a blink of an eye, December is already around the corner. November has been a strange month: it feels like August, like the dog days of summer. It’s when the cold finally hits and it seems like overnight Shanghai went from pleasant autumn to frigid winter (not quite frigid in the New England sense, but alas). I spent most of November not realizing how fast time was passing. Besides going to Taiwan, which will eventually get its own blog update, this month was rather uneventful.

This semester, I wanted to really expand my horizons and try some new things outside of my comfort zone. I’m not a film major, but as an elective, I decided to take a class offered by IES Abroad that allows students to create a short film: Lights, Camera, Action! To me, this was an extremely exciting opportunity because I had always been interested in film-making. What better time to give it a try than while studying in ROME, especially considering the fact that we had the opportunity to learn under an experienced professional?

There’s nothing unique about the Molukkenstraat transit stop. Buses and trams continuously collect commuters from its four shelters, one of which hosts a map of the nearby streets. Such maps appear at every transit stop in Amsterdam, but some of the names on this particular map decidedly do not sound Dutch. Balistraat, Sumatrastraat, Tidorestraat. Ceramplein, Javaplein, Timorplein. Ambonstraat, Borneostraat, Halmaheirastraat. And of course, Molukkenstraat itself, located at the centre of the Indische Buurt neighbourhood in Amsterdam-Oost. 

A half-moon brought paper to the poets of the world. 

I scrawl these lines on blank pages with my right hand (the left is occupied with a broom). I haven’t found nearly enough time for writing since being abroad, but there are occasions like these when the UBahn isn’t so full that I have to wait for the next train. During these moments, I sit at the window and watch the U4 twist in its tunnel, following a route similar to my thoughts: on a straight track, then switching abruptly. In darkness, then drenched in light.