You’ve decided to study abroad. You are going to have an absolutely amazing time and, as you’ve probably heard, this experience will be life changing. However, there is a lot to get done before this wonderful time can begin.

I’ve been in Freiburg for a little over a week now, and it still hasn’t fully settled in that this is the place that I’m going to call home for the next four months. Maybe it’s the fact that, between the hustle and bustle of orientation and classes, I’ve only just fully unpacked my suitcases; either that, or it’s the fact that I still occasionally get lost wandering around the city and can’t find my way to the nearest tram station without wandering around a little bit more.

“I’ve been here before” I thought to myself as I hugged my friend goodbye on her porch, seeing each other for the last time before yet another semester apart. I rolled my bag away to the same bus station that would take me from my college town of Austin, Texas to my beloved Houston. I knew I would get home and yet again have the same debate I had with myself last year about the practicality of bringing a certain sequined sweater in my closet to Spain.

This is a comic about the three warring voices as I prepare to leave tomorrow. It's a rollercoaster to say the least. For now I'm just focusing on surviving the Day of Eternal Airports. Maybe I'll run into someone else headed to my program!

I am an international student from South Korea, studying abroad in the United States. In just a few hours, I leave for Vienna and will start studying abroad from my study abroad. As I write this post, I will try to explain to you (and to myself) why I decided to take on this Inception-esque journey that would probably not help me professionally at all (I’m a math-music major, but mostly math). 

I have been in Japan for about a week now. Wow. While I have been struggling with jetlag, it hasn’t been too terrible. I’ve managed to still enjoy myself! On 1/11/19, we began orientation for Nanzan University.

During our early weeks here in Milan, IES Abroad arranged a trip for us to go to Sestriere to ski! I have never been skiing before in my entire life, but what better place to learn than in the Alps? It was also a really exciting trip because it was the first time that a lot of us IES Abroad students were going to be spending time together. As excited I was to go skiing, I was equally not as excited to be in the cold.

I have wanted to write a blog for the longest time, but now that I actually have the opportunity to do so, I feel like I have nothing to share. Funny how that works.

I won’t bore you with personal introductions (for that, allow me to direct you to my blogger profile). Instead, let us begin with a cringeworthy study abroad haiku:

A Cringeworthy Study Abroad Haiku

by Audrey Steiner