In our typical style, my friend and I decided to take a very last minute trip to Brussels this week.  We bought our train tickets on a whim and boarded the train that same day.  I had heard a few things about Brussels prior to this trip but was so surprised by how much I loved the city.  The city itself is very artistic; it seemed like every other building was an entrance to a pop up art exhibit.

Today marks my 2-month anniversary in Morocco, and I’m officially on the downhill slope of my study abroad life. Though it’s only been a mere few weeks, I feel like I have had a lifetime of experiences (cliché, I know, but it's true).

Paris is one of the most visited cities in the world, home to some of the most famous and iconic landmarks, and on the top of almost everyone’s travel wishlist.

Hello dear reader(s),

During my first weeks in Beijing, there was an empty bunk bed in my room that soon would be occupied by my future roommate. Since she came to live with me, things have significantly changed. Her name is Braven, 鱼儿 (yu, little fish in English). It’s so much fun to have her now. Besides being a great and immediate help in my Chinese learning process, we’ve done so much together already; I’ll be explaining that to you in a second.

This post is honestly going to be kind of hard. Even after hiking through the Lichtensteiner, Austrian and Swiss Alps for about 8 days; I am still having a hard time trying to describe just how powerful they really were. Even the pictures do not bring out out just how intense the peaks and valleys were. Well, I'll bring you on a short journey through my Alps experience. 

Today is October 21st. In eight and a half weeks, I’ll be leaving  Granada and boarding a plane back home to the United States in time for the holidays.

In the dead of morning on October 21st, I’m leaving for my second non-school sponsored trip outside of Nantes. That’s the only kind of trip I’ll be having from now on, as last weekend we went to the Chateaux de la Loire (well, just four: Azay-le-Rideau, Villandry, Amboise, and Chenonceau). This week, though, is a special sort of chaos, as we have a full week and two days off for the Toussaint holidays.

I’m still mildly shocked that I’m not dead or lost somewhere in the French countryside. Since my sense of direction and ability to be on time for things are both nonexistent, I planned my weekend trip to Paris and Pierrefonds happily, but with the looming feeling that I was signing my death warrant. I was going to Paris all alone, then on Saturday taking another train to the town of Compiègne, which offered a two-bus trip to the tiny village of Pierrefonds, the final destination of that day trip.