Going into college, I frequently heard college graduates say that they regret not studying abroad. This makes sense when you think about the opportunities that are present when studying abroad. You have an entire semester/3-4 months of your life where you can indulge in a new culture, travel around countries, learn a new language, make international friends, learn in a different educational style, increase your career opportunities, become truly independent, and gain life experience.

I never had much experience with public transportation before London, but I’ve now mastered turning a six-minute walk to the tube into a three-minute walk just to catch the next train. Here is a breakdown of the major types of transportation, a guide to using them, and any suggestions I have. I wish I had something like this before I came to London!

Billy Pilgrim became unstuck in time several times. 

My experience of October 20th-24th was limited to two rectangles: the T.V. and the window to the right of my bed. 

Finals have started at the University of Auckland! I’ve found that here, it is a much more intense period than it is in the US. All finals here are about 50% of the course, some being up to 75% – which I find to be an insane amount of pressure on a two-hour exam. That means while many students might have taken days off to travel during the semester or slacked off a little, things get serious around exam time. 

While the leaves are beginning to change color and brisk temperatures emerge at my home university, it has started to get warmer and rainier in San Cristóbal. Luckily, a week-long Fall Break arrived alongside the warmer temperatures and provided a wonderful opportunity to experience the other three human-inhabited islands in the Galápagos.

Life in Rome is completely different from what I was expecting, both in good and bad ways. To be honest, I think it’s easy to conjure this fantasy image of Rome based off of pretty Instagram photos and movies; it certainly is a beautiful place to live, filled to the brim with history and culture, but it’s not a flawless Utopia with nothing but postcard-like beauty (though, again, there is quite a lot of that too.) Like any city, it has it’s broken and ugly things.

When most people think of a homestay in Berlin, they think of a standard small apartment in the city with maybe one person, a couple, or a small family. They have a roommate-type relationship with the host family that requires limited interaction. I am having the opposite of a typical homestay experience.

I live with eleven people. You read that right: ELEVEN.

Hola amigos!

Now that it is November, I have been in Italy for over 2 months! The time has gone by so fast and I have gotten to see and experience some incredible things. I thought I'd share my experience on what it's like to live in a foreign country for what I believe to be a significant amount of time. Italy is incredibly beautiful, the food is amazing, the culture is vibrant, and the people are fun. Spending this much time in Italy has given me a chance to form opinions about the lifestyle here.

Right now, I’m attempting to neatly pack six days, six busses, four nights spent in hostels, three countries, a million steps, a few too many euros, 810 phone photos, and 1,279 camera photos into a several-hundred word post to release to the internet about one of the craziest weeks of my life. It’s not going to be easy, but hey, neither was the trip itself.