With only a few weeks left in our program, Ireland is beginning to feel like a second home. While I often try to volunteer - even in small ways - in my local communities at home and at school, I hadn’t really had an opportunity to give back to my temporary home. Our IES Abroad Community Council offered an incredible opportunity: visiting Wicklow for a community beach clean up and seal release.

So my daily Chinese class here in Shanghai has been one of the best class experiences I’ve ever had. The main reason for this is because my teacher always made class so exciting and engaging. Even though the class was Monday-Thursday at 8:30 a.m. I was always excited to wake up in the mornings. Sometimes I would even wake up earlier to bike a few miles to school. After about four weeks of the best classes I’ve had in my life, our teacher had to resign because she was unfortunately too busy with other projects.

While it was snowing nearly eight inches back home in Wisconsin, I was lucky enough to spend my Easter weekend in sunny, beautiful Rome. I was there for four days, and got to spend them with one of my best friends from high school who is currently studying abroad there. I was a bit worried about the city being busy to the point of insanity during Easter, but I can honestly say that it wasn’t that bad. With a bit of planning and a bit of patience, Easter in Rome was a breeze.

Last weekend was a long one with Easter and another national holiday combined and of course my friends and I had to plan a trip. Looking up different places to go, we finally decided on Mendoza.

Mendoza is on the west side of Argentina, very close to Santiago, Chile and it is famous with its wineries and its production of Malbec. You get a view of the Andes wherever you go and there is so much natural beauty around the town. 

As many of you may know, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Google, and other American sites are blocked in China. Before starting my semester abroad in Shanghai I was worried about not being able to communicate with friends via conventional social media sites, however, now that I’m here I have truly embraced Chinese methods of communication and media. Although I have a VPN (Virtual Private Network) in order to access typical American sites, I have to say Chinese apps are a must have!

Self introductions are a big thing here in Japan, so here I go:

Hi! I’m Marlow Freeman, Mar for short. I’m a mechanical engineering and computer science major from Tufts in Boston, MA. I like to cook and make music, though I’m more interested in improving my skills than the end result. I’m 21, I don’t speak Japanese, and I’m currently living in Japan.

It's hard living away from your family and friends during important life transitions.

I'm not new to long-distance dating. I'd already done it for three semesters, attending school in Connecticut while my love stayed in Florida. We see each other quite often, once every month normally, and live together over breaks from school. By this time, I figured we'd nailed it and a semester abroad in Chile would be a piece of cake.

Growing up, I was always so excited for my birthday - a whole new year, eating my favorite cake with my loved ones but only after the tradition popularly celebrated in Mexico, la mordida, the bite, where they would push the birthday person’s face into the cake.