In the interest of honesty, let me just say right off the bat that I had no interest in Bosnia whatsoever before I got into the program. I thought there were thousands of other places I’d rather see; I thought the only benefit of going would be not having homework; I thought it would be boring. I’ve been here for four days now, and I’ve been proven wrong every single day. The eleven of us arrived in Bosnia-Herzegovina on the eleventh, and we’ll be here until our return to Freiburg on the eighteenth.

English: One of the coolest things about Barcelona (besides the sangria, of course) is that the city is a mix of mountains, the beach, and beautiful architecture. I have loved exploring around the different areas, where alleyways are covered in artistic graffiti and filled with local boutiques and bakeries. I’ve spent a couple days at the beaches – at Barceloneta you can’t see an inch of sand past noon, and at Ocata you get the feel of being a local with lots of open space and tranquility.

For most Chinese students at Donghua University, June 9 was the Dragon Boat Festival and a day off from school. For IES Internships students, we had class all day including our evening seminar. But since the rest of the college was off, that meant our school building was locked for the night. Field trip!

New students have arrived at IES Abroad. They began trickling in yesterday morning, jet-lagged and nervous-looking, all fretting over whether it’s appropriate or inappropriate to use the formal case with their guest families, and trying to figure out what the proper thing to say to someone is when you bump into them on the subway.

Welp.  This has started out as an interesting journey.  I’ve been trying to write this blog all week, but I just couldn’t bring myself to it.  I spent the whole week spending time with various family members, trying to get the most I could out of my time left at home.  Honestly, I was pretty numb.

One of the main regrets I’ve heard from previous students who studied abroad in Christchurch is that they never actually spent time in Christchurch.  Besides the first week I spent here with IES Abroad, I was starting to become part of this group.  During the 4 months I spent in New Zealand, I only spent three weekends in Christchurch.  During the week I would go on day trips to Riccorton, New Brighton, or Sumner, but I always chose to travel rather that stay in Christchurch on the weekends.  Looking back I don’t regret this beca

Studying abroad in Madrid, I feel like I’m collecting communities. For example, I have my home community in my homestay and my community of Madrileños that I’ve met since coming to this city. I also have my IES Abroad community, a group of people who deserve more attention on this page given how integral they have been to my experience. This was a week of the IES Abroad community at its best, and I want to use this blog post to highlight a few examples of what made it so great.

When I was home in London, I tried to do as many of my favorite things as possible. I explored different parts of town, I revisted the National Gallery, I ate at my favorite restaurants, I wandered along the shopping streets, and I spent a lot of time in my comfy bed.

I've been working at a magazine for the past two weeks (and hopefully for the next five), and it's been challenging and rewarding.

I suppose those terms aren't all that descriptive, but they certainly are expected for when something of this caliber is going well. That being said, I never thought I'd be able to call myself a journalist, primarily because I've never had any interest in being one. But I do enjoy holding the title, and the associated tasks accompanying it.

Bonjour de New York,