Anyone who's seen the Lizzie McGuire movie knows that there's only one real reason to study abroad: to fall in love with a sophisticated, charming European man with an accent. Today I'm handing the reigns over to my neighbor and friend, Spencer Grady-Pawl, to tell the story of his whirlwind European love affair. May we all be lucky enough to find our own Albert someday.

-

Tokyo Part 1: Art

* This post is a rougher sketch than my past posts. Please accept my apology. My thoughts aren’t coming easily or gracefully to my pen. *

Halloween weekend came and went quickly, because I spent it with a friend in Freiburg. Friday morning, I flew into the small city and met my friend, who studies (and blogs) there through another IES Abroad program. She is just the sweetest thing, and you should check out her bright photos on here. Her name's Layne Garrelts.

When news first broke that Hong Kong was being taken off of our fall break itinerary, many participants in my program were upset and downright mad. Hong Kong is an extremely famous city-territory in Asia and is known for having one of the strongest economies in the East. Beyond that, it is home to both Cantonese people and food, which meant for some in my program, seeing family and friends. We would later come to find out that the Hong Kong trip was being replaced by Singapore.

Besides all the studying and reading and writing and contemplating when would be a good time to get my eyesight checked out again (reading can apparently become a painful activity, proceed with caution), there is always approximately five thousand and one things happening in Oxford, all the time.

A Song To You From Me - lyrics

[Hook] 

This is a song from me for you

Lemme tell you a thing or two

Back back way back I thought I knew

I wised up and you should too.

[Verse 1] 

FOMO - noun. fear of missing out. Anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website. "Even though he was exhausted, John's fomo got the best of him and he went to the party."