Nice is a city located in Southern France but which may well be Northern Italy; a conglomeration of cultures with a very pleasant ambiance and atmosphere tying it all ogether.  As the destination of our second fall break for two friends and I, Nice was a nice change of pace from Freiburg.  We were able to leave behind the stresses of school and the recent rainy weather for sun and relaxation.  On our trip, I decided to interview my travel companions - Josh and Chris - about their study abroad experiences.

Dear readers,

As you know, China is a huge country that covers a surface several times bigger than many countries in the world. Traveling here entails preparing everything in advance, be really sure about dates, places you want to see, activities, travel style and money. However, none of this previous preparation you’re supposed to do was the case for my first DYI trip. I decided I’d go to Nanjing around 3-4 days before the guoqingjie 国庆节 or the Chinese National Holiday.

The south bank area along the river Thames has quickly become one of my favorite spots in London to explore. One of the best ways to spend an evening in London is to walk up and down alongside the river. Between the London Eye and Westminster Palace all the way down to Tower Bridge there is so much to explore. St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Tate Modern, and Borough Market are only a few of the gems hidden alongside the Thames.

There are so small differences between the education system—not to mention the culture—in the United States and the one adopted by Oxbridge (the slang term for the combination of the UK’s highest educational institutions, Oxford and Cambridge). So here are some things I wish I knew before I arrived.

My biggest fear about studying abroad wasn’t the schoolwork, the new language, or moving around the world; it was getting along with the host family I would be staying with while I was in Buenos Aires.

It’s easy for me to fool myself into thinking that I’m fluent in Spanish—and therefore, that I can naturally handle any situations that arise abroad—until a situation actually arises and I don’t know how to handle it. It’s funny because the “situations” that challenge me aren’t bad; they’re not even inherently difficult or confusing.

Woohoo! Midterms are over and we survived! Of course, I haven't gotten most of my scores back yet, so survived may or may not be the correct term. Half of my midterms fell between our Corsica trip and my fall break. My last two midterms took place after fall break. Essentially, midterms were plaguing my mind for three weeks.

     This past week was exam week and luckily, my only exam was on Tuesday morning providing a nice open window of time for traveling.  So my friend and I decided to use this opportunity to head to Switzerland!  As much as I love living in the city and appreciate how flat the landscape is for biking, I had been really missing the mountains that I am surrounded by at my home school.  So what better cure than a getaway to the home of one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world: The S