In two weeks, I will be flying out from Orlando, Florida to Santiago, Chile to study under the IES Abroad Politics, Human Rights, and Social Justice Program. Just yesterday, I received my housing assignment and the list of other participants for the program. To my excitement, I found out that I would be staying in a 2-bedroom apartment right next to a park with a room of my own, near walking distance of grocery stores and coffee shops.

Before my IES Abroad program began in January, I had the pleasure of traveling to Spain with my family for the holidays. In a sense, the Spanish family vacation was a form of “traveling with training wheels,” in which I could acclimate myself to Spain while not being forced to bear the entire weight of any stresses. Having lived in Spain for four months during the summer, I was thrilled to share the country I so fondly fell in love with some of the people closest to me.

Being the carefully organized and intensely overprepared person I am, planning an international four-month trip has been both a blessing and a curse. I am not afraid to admit that I find pure enjoyment from making lists of things I need to buy and do before any future event. Although thinking ahead is something I excel at, my forward thinking has sometimes caused me to miss the moment I am in. In order to make the most out of my winter break in California, I promised myself to not let my future travels overshadow my time spent at home.

I want to begin my post by telling you how wonderful my Italian peers, teachers, locals and mentors have been to me. I recently came down with the flu, so as I sit in my room, unable to attend classes for the next three days, I keep thinking about how caring every single person I have met here has been. Yesterday, a living assistant walked me and another student over to a local university clinic. She was all smiles and engaged both of us in conversation. I was scared that I was going to get her sick and her response was "Don't worry, I'm strong".

I am just wrapping up my third week in Barcelona and it has set an extremely high standard for any city I live in the future. Since I have been here, I have visited multiple museums, watched the sunset on the beach, eaten some of the best seafood and gelato, seen multiple historic monuments, and traveled to two cities. The opportunities are overwhelmingly endless.

Greetings—Hi, my name is Hehe Shen and I am a junior studying Government at Harvard University. I lived in Shanghai, China for 18 years and New York City for a year before going to college in Cambridge, Massachusetts. One fun fact--many people thought I was joking when I told them my name is "Hehe" (it is correctly pronounced as Huh-Huh in Mandarin and stands for grandeur). In English-speaking environments, I usually go by Hannah to make everyone’s life easier. In my spare time, I enjoy making latte art, wine tasting, cycling and traveling.

While I am adjusting quickly to life in Vienna, I have barely been here two weeks and my greatest fear has become reality: I am a tourist. My superiority complex about being from New York City is a double-edged sword. Relieved to use public transportation and have access to endless museums, cafes, stores and music venues, I am constantly reminded that comparisons are safe and differentiation [is a rate of change in mathematics but also] is more beneficial to my experiences.

You guys have all seen that movie, right? The one where the young American girl goes to [insert romantic European city here] for the summer. She meets the man of her dreams, usually through some embarrassing encounter [ie. tripping in front of a famous monument and him swooping in to help her up]. They become inseparable, engaging in a montage of gelato dates, moped rides, and watching the sunset along the river. Summer ends and she returns home.

It had been six days since I arrived in London when I traveled to the IES Abroad Centre from my building in Camden on my own for the very first time.  I was completely over my jetlag and had made it through orientation.  I had finally finished unpacking and settled into my room.  I had already met many interesting and fun new people.  I had even traveled via tube and bus several times without getting lost.  I felt adjusted.  I felt ready.  I felt as if I were on top of the world.