I don't think I've been dissapointed by ANY performances here in Vienna so far.  As a music major, my goal was to see as many performances/concerts as I can see throughout the semester.  There are three major performaning halls : Staatsoper, where most of the opers and ballet are held, Musikverien, where the Vienna Philharmonic usually performs, and the Konzerthaus, mostly chamber music and pop concerts as well, and even Vienna Phil as well.

After my program ends, my mom, dad, and brother are coming to visit me in Morocco for a week. We’re planning on traveling to Casablanca, Marrakesh, Meknes, Rabat, and into the Sahara. The following is just a few things I want to tell them before they come visit, and I think it’ll be helpful for other travelers who want to visit Morocco in the middle of December.

Dear fellow wanderlust, study abroader, or comfy couch reader,

Travel somewhere by yourself! Get out of your comfort zone and explore! Traveling on my own was easily the most informative and interesting part of my study abroad journey. I tend to be an introverted extrovert (or an extroverted introvert?)  by which I mean I love people, but I also desperately need time to recharge after being with people for too long. Due to the fact that I generally organize my life through an extrovert’s lens, I tend to travel with others.

I had many expectations before my arrival in Nice, France. A lot of people thought I was crazy because I was willingly living in France following a string of terrorist attacks in Europe, especially France, and specifically Nice. Studying abroad is a once in a life time opportunity and I knew I couldn't give that up.

This weekend three of my friends and I headed to Scotland to visit the charming city of Edinburgh as well as the Scottish countryside.  We stayed with one of my friend's relatives who legitimately lives in a castle in Dundee, so naturally I was excited to check it out.  After h

I officially have five days left in the adorable Italian city that has captured my heart, and this is both daunting and bitter sweet. I have learned more about myself and the world in these four months than I can express with words. I have become a more caring, independent, and an overall wiser person. I know that it sounds cliche, but it's true. If someone wants to expand as a person, they need to study abroad. Period. I have had so many wonderfully crazy and mind blowing experiences here, and want to share my top ten moments.

I didn’t prepare that well for a lot of things going abroad: English accent (which isn’t actually a thing—#RegionalAccents) was decidedly not up-to-par, wardrobe was too American, you get the idea. But, as it became readily clear to me earlier this week, my luggage game was WEAK.

When I was in middle school, my dad handed me a small stack of books with topics ranging from the physics of space, to the concept of zero-waste manufacturing. I took one look at the top book, which promised me “a simple journey through the history of injustice in America,” and decided to continue reading the Twilight saga. This, I thought to myself as I highlighted the particularly romantic passages where Edward likens his love for Bella to the hunger of a lion, is true literature. 

Nimen hao, dear readers!

Over the past week, we had a little Thanksgiving break in which some of my IES Abroad friends and I visited the beautiful Chinese coastal city of Qingdao.

Qingdao was a German colony for over 15 years, and such heritage wraps every corner of the city. We got there on a very cold Wednesday evening. As soon as we arrived in our hostel, we decided it was time for us to have dinner, and what could be better than some fresh seafood?