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.

When I think of my life over the past three weeks the word that keeps coming to mind is overwhelmed. I am completely overwhelmed by the beauty of this country. Beauty that I am stunned can even exist in this world. Beauty so striking, it demands your attention. I wake up to the view of Table Mountain everyday, and I can’t help but feel my worries a lighter and less significant in comparison to the greatness of what is around me.

In the Silence

Song Stuck in My Head: Enchanted by Kings Kaleidoscope

Adjusted to jetlag? Check. Had my first German meal? Check. Saw Angela Merkel? Not yet…

I just hit the three-week mark of surviving Berlin, which according to IES Abroad is significant since the first two weeks is when the worst things happen.

March 7, 2017

Song Stuck in My Head: You Only Live Once-The Strokes

I’m ready. After seeing every single other person from my school make the classic study abroad post with the “traveling to” icon on Facebook, finally my time has arrived. Some people, when seeing me visit friends at school in late February, thought I wasn’t studying abroad anymore and had dropped out of school. This always led to an awkward conversation about the German school calendar.