Well not really "yesterday" since I've been back in the States for three weeks now, but I really do miss my time in London. This last blog post is some of my favorite photos I took that I did not already publish. I've enjoyed telling all my fun stories to my friends and family. Sadly I am still not able to fake a British accent of any kind, but I do believe my love for tea has grown (or at least that's what my friends have said). I very much miss my bus, "73 to Stoke Newington", or all the yummy food markets.

Since getting home from my junior fall semester at Tufts University last week, I have slowly been moving various objects of clothing through different bags in my room. One, which I will take to Nantes in less than a week, is usually placed on my bed every morning and moved back to the floor every night so I can navigate the cluttered mess that is my bedroom. This is full of all sorts of things I have been told I will 'need' in France, and well as a few I definitely won't need but am determined to fit anyway.

I am a terrible packer. Well, I guess that's not entirely true. I can pack well enough, I just always pack too much. I tried not to overpack for my semester abroad, but I still ended up with excess clothing and items that I really didn't need. If I could do it all over again, I would leave more things out and make sure I actually had space left for the items I would acquire during my travels. The good thing is that I made it back to Texas.

For many, the beginning of 2018 is a time of resolutions and new beginnings. For me, 2018 means the dream of studying abroad in Japan for an entire semester is quickly approaching. The crazy thing is, my bags are all packed, and I’ll be leaving in a few days but I haven’t completely wrapped my head around this-- it still feels like a dream. So to try and grasp the reality of it all my pre-departure prep has been a bit more in-depth than packing my bags and brushing up on my Japanese. I’ve been researching, reflecting, and goal making as well.

As the new year begins and I prepare to return to UNC, I hope to hold on to the memories, emotions, and growth that 2017 brought. As the saying goes... new year, new me... or I maybe just - new year, same me but with a new mindset?

It's really happening... The moment I havent stopped talking about for the past three months is finally here. Tomorrow I will be heading to Quito, Ecuador where I will begin my semester abroad. I will be spending the next four months in Ecuador; one month in Quito and the following three in the Galapagos Islands.

I’ve been home for about two weeks now and while I am so happy to be surrounded by my friends and family (and back in 70 degree weather), I sure do miss Dublin! For those of you studying abroad in Dublin, or planning on visiting the country, I thought I would share my ultimate Ireland bucket list!

Heritage Card

Going abroad means meeting new people. You can’t avoid it, even though sometimes you might want to. On my first day in New Zealand, I met over twenty new people because I met all the other American students in my program, plus my flatmates. That was way too much for me and I felt exhausted afterwards. As a result, I ended up pulling back for the next few days.

I had heard a lot about how for a lot of study-abroad students, the real culture shock doesn’t set in until reentry. I didn’t think this would be the case for me; what could possibly shock me about my own country?

Just as they had warned, I really did have an abrupt awakening upon reentry. Perhaps it was just the taxing nature of traveling halfway across the world, but arriving in an American airport was a culture shock and a half.

Everyone told me that going abroad would change me in some profound way. They said that I’d return to the U.S. a completely different person. Well, I’ve been home for a while now, and I still feel like the same person. I don’t think New Zealand changed me as completely and profoundly as they said it would.