Hey everyone!

I needed to take a break from studying for my last two finals so I decided to share some money-saving tips with you all. If you are planning to come abroad on a budget, fear nothing. You can still have so much fun even if you're balling on a budget.

It’s hard to believe that my Shanghai abroad program is more than halfway over. I feel like I just arrived in Shanghai, but at the same time it feels like I’ve been living here forever; time really does fly by when you’re having fun. Looking back on all that I’ve been able to see so far, I wanted to share my experiences during weekends I’ve traveled outside Shanghai.

Like most students studying abroad, my friends and I take every weekend as an opportunity to travel around New Zealand.  This weekend, we chose to spend a day in Kaikoura, a town north of Christchurch. When planning the trip, our group decided to split up once we arrived, since we only had one day.  A couple of my friends wanted to explore the town and walk along the peninsula, while a couple others wanted to do a day hike in the mountains, further inland.

Well, this is it. Four months in Paris have come and gone in a flash. I'm filled with so many emotions (and croissants) I don't think I'll be able to fully digest them until after I get home. All of these feelings also made it really difficult to decide what I should write my second to last blog post about. I have so much left to say! How can I condense four months of life abroad into a few blog posts?

Heimat ist für mich Lieben und Lernen und Leben und Leute…

To me, home is love and learning and life and people…

Home is a mutual acceptance of how things work, not an understanding, not a place of comfort, but a place where things make some sort of sense.

Welcome to Naomi’s censored, semi-stream of conscious rant.

Home is where I don’t agree with everyone but have a place to disagree with them, where I don’t have to hide who I am, but don’t feel the need to prove who I am.

Disclaimer: This is by no means an extensive or official guide on immigration regulations for F1 student visa holders in the US who choose to study abroad outside of the U.S. As an international student with no permanent home in the U.S and no family members to help, I’m writing this article merely to share my experience.

I’ve spent a large portion of this semester being reminded that no matter how many plane tickets I purchase, this semester isn’t a vacation. Sure, my family and friends may assume I spend my days leisurely weaving through a labyrinth of canals. But in reality, I spend a large portion of my time nestled inside, my eyes frantically scanning through the roughly 100 pages of reading and various essays I have to complete each week.

With only a week left until I take my last exam and my mom comes to spend ten days here in Spain before taking me back to the U.S., I can’t help but be a little excited to see my mom and go to the States.