Upon coming abroad, I definitely expected to experience culture shock. Though some things have surprised me about German culture and I have noticed differences between American and German culture, I can say that I haven’t been hit with culture shock… at least not yet.

I absolutely loved my recent visit to Paris with two other IES Abroad students! We were able to see so much of Paris over the course of 5 days, and we were fortunate to have received a student discount for almost everything we did (the only exception was climbing the Eiffel Tower). As strange as it might sound, my favorite part of Paris has to be the ceilings. It seemed that no matter where we went, I found myself looking up and each time my eyes found a beautiful piece of art or noticed the detailed architecture of a building.

In light of recent events back stateside, I wanted to revisit a blog post IES Abroad wrote in March of 2014 titled “10 Ways Study Abroad Leads to Happiness” and how it has fit in with my studying abroad experience: 

It’s been just about one full month since I arrived in Paris and just about two weeks since I’ve started my real classes. It goes without saying that things are very different here (no duh, it’s a different country). But some of the things that are different surprised me. For the most part in the U.S. you walk on the right. This prevents awkward pedestrian traffic. Here in Paris, you just walk where you can find room and you keep your eyes peeled for possible obstacles (i.e. other people).

Sunday | September 24th 2017 | Setagaya

Saturday | September 23rd 2017 | Harajuku - Shibuya

Okay, it’s been far too long since I’ve posted. I’m sorry! Moving on…

Last weekend, there were two huge festivals held in the Shibuya ward in Tokyo. In preparation, we started off the day with lunch at Kaffir Lime, ordering Pad Thai because we’re basic, and of course we just had to explore Cat Street on our way over to Yoyogi Park.

Choosing housing can be a daunting step in the study abroad process. Especially when there are many possibilities to choose from. When deciding which housing option would suit me, I found myself asking, “How will I know the best place to live?” “Will it suit my needs?” “Is it cost-effective?” and “Will I get along well with my roommates?” Committing to a living space abroad for four months challenges students to consider whether they want to push themselves out of their comfort zone.