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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?
Now it’s when you feel your experience is coming to and end. On the one hand you feel happy because soon you’ll get to meet your family and friends, and it’s Christmas time, so that makes it even more sugary. On the other hand, there’s the BIG question mark at the end of this whole exciting experience. Well, I know I have to graduate and all that stuff, but what’s next? One starts thinking of so many things, so many opportunities… Maybe Grad School? Volunteering abroad? Gap year? Find a job? Masters degree… In what?
I knew Thanksgiving away from my family was going to be difficult. It’s the first time I’ve had the holiday without them, so the entire month I’ve been bracing for the impact of a new wave of homesickness, which has up until this point gone almost entirely away.
Living with a host family was one of the things I was most nervous about when I first arrived in France. I’m shy, quiet, and introverted, so what little social stamina I have wears out really fast when I’m around people. I desperately wanted my host family to like me, since we were living together for the whole semester.
Being in France for a presidential election was nervewracking. When I left, I thought it was a spectacular plan—after all, if a certain someone were to be elected, I could extend my stay in France indefinitely. From Nantes, it meant we wouldn’t know who the president was until the early hours of the morning.