TJ left Madrid the Saturday morning that started a three-day weekend. Most everyone in my program was already traveling and, for a moment, I regretted not joining some plan last minute. Walking home at 6am, I wondered what I would do without anyone around. The week had taken a toll on my body so skating seemed out of the question for the next couple days. The moment passed when I got home and I fell into a dreamless sleep. When I awoke, rays of afternoon sun dappled the clothes scattered across my floor.

This is a blog about blogs.

A course (which shall remain nameless) that I am taking this semester seems to exist exclusively to pressure students to fabricate entertaining online content to satisfy a specific audience.

I forgot how to study? Or so I thought when IES Abroad Milan slid into midterms week.  I looked at my spirals and Google Documents filled with notes from my courses and slowly felt dread wash over me. I had been traveling nearly every weekend. Classes had been fun and engaging. But I had totally forgotten that studying for exams was, like, a thing. 

I have officially been in Freiburg with IES Abroad for over a month, and I can’t believe that it has been this long. The time is going so fast. I have already done so much, but I still have so much to do. I have traveled a bit, counseled a camp in Switzerland, met with my tandem partner a few times, and my classes have started up. The last three things are the most recent, and I haven’t written on them here yet.

‘Twas the night before St. Patrick’s day and all through Dublin airport everything was stirring. In fact, every single American college student studying abroad was stirring.

Study abroad is a balancing act, one that I can attest to. Grades, “trabajos de campo”, social life, language practicing. Many people look at it as a vacation of sorts, but there’s still so much to do!

Question: why do people study abroad? For many possible reasons: to travel, to integrate oneself into another country, to practice a foreign language, to expand a way of life, to travel more easily within a desired region and even to escape the monotony of the American university

For the last two weeks, IES Abroad students have been diligently studying for exams period. You would typically see many students scattered around the city, nose in textbooks in cafes while sipping on Viennese coffee. The city is truly a supportive place for students, providing quiet, comfortable nooks for one to hunker down for many hours at a time. I spent much of my time last week myself studying in cafes.

Last night I returned from my final trip outside of London. I have gotten the opportunity to visit so many wonderful locations during my time studying abroad, and consequently have accrued many photographs. I thought it would be fun to go through all the pictures I have taken and pull out some of my favorites. You can get a glimpse of all the countries I have stamped in my passport through the photos I have as souvenirs.

In the order I visited them, here are my favorite pictures…

Copenhagen, Denmark

It’s just past 6:00 pm, I’m on the metro heading home. It’s been a long day and I’m quietly marveling at how nice seats are, as it’s about 30 minutes from Centraal Station to Uilenstede and I’ve been on my feet all day. Just before the metro doors close to leave it’s first first stop, two men not much older than I am enter the metro and sit opposite me.

This past weekend we had the incredible opportunity to travel to the French island of Corsica with IES Abroad! It’s not often that one gets to go somewhere with a group of fellow students that’s both aesthetically beautiful and historically fascinating.