I don’t mean to brag or pat myself on the back too much, but everyone (including my tutor and teacher) tells me my Chinese has improved. I think in this program, going abroad and learning Chinese, it is a given that your Chinese ability will improve. I just never knew it could improve as much as it has.

Sorry. I hate to use that joke but it’s too good to not use at least once. I’m less than two weeks away from finishing my study abroad program (Don’t make me leave!) and I’m starting to feel a little panicked that I have to leave a place that I’m starting to feel comfortable with. I feel like I have finally made a life for myself here and I hate to leave it. Of course, until I’m fluent in French, the language will always be a barrier. But in other regards, I truly feel like I’ve started to assimilate to this culture.

I’m not sure how many people read this, but for those that do, I am sorry I have been MIA for a while. A lot has happened since my last post and now, which I needed to focus on more than writing/updating my blog. Time has been flying here and I am almost done with my fourth class of the semester. I have only three weeks left before I return to the states and it’s a sad yet exciting moment to realize I am so close to going home.

 If I ever had to tell anyone what my perfect day would look like I think I would answer that question with a warm, sunny, spring day in Paris. 

The ocean water sparkled behind a long concrete dock and the chain link fence that guarded it. Red-roofed houses dotted the hillside, protruding from the greenery as if they had sprouted from the ground. Colorful mopeds zipped along the narrow street. And, for the first time in months, I didn’t hear people speaking Spanish on the street. It was strange.

Name three things you know about Chile!

Patagonia? Copper? Spanish?

To say that leaving London was heartbreaking for me would be an understatement. But my adventures abroad were not quite over: As a Health Policy and Practice student, I was Jamaica bound.

Song Stuck in My Head: All We Got (feat. Kanye West, Chicago Children’s Choir) by Chance the Rapper

Because of how awkwardly spaced out my classes are, I am often left with a significant chunk of time in the morning or evening to kill, which has allowed me to explore more on my own. The nice thing about living in the capital city is that there are plenty of activities to fill my time and are indoors because it has not started to be spring here in Berlin.

お花見、鶴舞公園　(cherry blossom viewing, Tsuruma Park in Nagoya)