Americans know how quintessential this movie has become during the holiday season. I mean, if playing it on 24-hour repeat during Christmas Day doesn’t give you an idea…

My adventure in Europe as officially been over for about a week now, and although I've been crazy busy with holiday events since I've been back, I've still had some time to really think about my semester abroad and how it changed me.

            The month of December in the Galápagos flew by in the blink of an eye! Classes wrapped up smoothly with the final module in Geographic Information Systems. I also counted down the remaining sunsets over Playa Mann and got my fill of sea lions before I left. Upon returning to the Ecuadorian mainland, three friends and I stayed over the program a week to go travel southward to Parque Nacional Cotopaxi, Latacunga, and Baños. Everyone we talked to insisted on making it down to Baños, and they really meant it!

It was our third-to-last day in Japan, so we decided to eat kaiten sushi! Well, correction, Sierra and Kaochi wanted to eat kaiten sushi, so they invited me after I had bought my bread for lunch, so I ate the bread and then I went for second lunch with them. Mmm, second lunch. Delicious.

This past year has been one of the hardest for me, and to be completely honest, I didn’t know how I would get through it. Living with an anxiety disorder and depression left me lost and helpless. I couldn’t recognize myself, and I couldn’t even recall anything that could possibly bring me joy.

After 4 months in Nice, these are my strongest recommendations...

Many summers ago I travelled to Les Deux Alps for a ski training trip. Thanks to the glacier at high altitude, skiing was still possible — even in July! I really fell in love with France while I was here, and I consider the French Alps a large reason of why I wanted to spend a semester in France.

Throughout the semester, small groups of students have taken a cooking class with the most wonderful lady, named Clem! This week, it was finally my turn. From other students, I had heard this class was fantastic, so my expectations were high.