In Beijing, things are starting to become “normal,” or more routine for me. I really enjoy being familiar with my surroundings and sticking to a schedule. After Chinese class in the morning, I almost always head to the store that’s really close to school either by myself or with a couple of classmates. I can find everything in that store- eventually. Once I spent 30 minutes looking for Band-Aids. Just in case anyone wants to know, they are in the beauty section!

Soccer has been a central part of my life for as long as I can remember.  Outside of school, soccer took up a majority of my time.  I spent countless weekends traveling to tournaments in cities like Atlanta, Savannah and Nashville.  While the game is growing in popularity back home, its fervor in the States does not compare to that in Europe.  I made a personal goal to go to as many matches as possible while studying in Paris, and I have been fortunate enough to attend three games this semester.

The other day, I walked out of the front door of my homestay — just like I do every day — and a man who was pouring something down the drain outside my alleyway stopped dead in his tracks, stared at me, and yelled, “Welcome to Morocco!” 

“I’ve been here for two months,” I wish I had said to him. 

It’s officially halfway through the semester. It has been six weeks. It feels like I arrived in Rabat, I blinked, and now we’re here. But coming back from a long and relaxing sojourn in Portugal and Spain, I realized how much Rabat is becoming a home to me. 

In just four short days, my time studying abroad in Dublin will be over. It is absolutely no exaggeration when people say that your time abroad will fly by, and before you know it you’ll be on that plane home, a suitcase full of souvenirs and wondering whether or not you should feel happy or sad. In an effort to slow things down, I’ve been going over my favorite moments abroad and creating a sort of log.

After a very long, very cold winter in a country where energy is too expensive to invest in central heating so everyone huddles under kotatsu (heated tables), take steaming hot baths, and rely on gas heaters- Spring has finally arrived in Japan. 

Berlin was my favorite international city that I have visited so far.  It has such a unique character to it, unlike Munich or Paris or Zurich.  Berlin feels like a balancing act.  You have a vibrant art, music, and academia scene, coupled by a dark past that many sites in this city hold.  Berlin in such a unique city that represents and large piece of world history.  What other cities ave been around for centuries as Prussia, yet has actually only been one cohesive place for 28 years after the fall of a wall?

I was a little nervous at first about studying abroad while trying to be a vegetarian. Especially when I thought about the food of Ireland, all that came to mind was potatoes and meat, and I wasn’t exactly looking forward to living off potatoes for 4 months. However, I’ve found more variety of food in Dublin than I have anywhere else I’ve lived. Streets are lined with all different types of restaurants, all equally tempting and nearly all with a wide range of vegetarian options.