We didn't let the gloomy weather in Paris put a damper on our little trip. The two days we spent in Paris were packed but I enjoyed every moment. We definitely experienced more of a culture shock while visiting Paris due to the different language and customs. The architecture throughout the city is beautiful so I would definitely recommend taking some time to just walk around different areas and explore, even if you're there for a short amount of time. The metro system works pretty well too.

I'm not sure if I believe in coincidences or not, but in moments of doubt or despair, I always find something. Here I've found odd similarities between Dublin and the city I call home: Providence. The River Liffey divides the north side from the south side, and in Providence the river separates The Hill from downtown. There's one bridge in particular that is almost identical to one in Rhode Island. I can't help but take comfort in the new familiarity.

(My first full day out wearing The Shoes to the Dublin Flea Market.)

This past week of orientation activities have run the gamut from being extremely social and Western (read: ice skating and disco bowling) to as traditionally Dutch as possible (read: apple pie, clogs, and gouda). I can’t believe it’s only been one week since I was on a flight with a stewardess asking me a lot of questions in a language I’d never heard a word of before. (I just sort of nodded until she realized I had no idea what she was talking about.) Each individual day has gone by so quickly, but somehow we haven’t been here very long at all.

It has been about three weeks since I landed in Vienna, but I feel as though I have been here for months. This is due partly, I think, to the three-week German language intensive that is nearing its end, but more to Vienna itself. Indeed, time seems to move slower here than in America, where I plan my days down to the minute and aim to get from one place to the next as fast as possible.

So we went hiking (!!! I went hiking in Sierra Nevada. It was wild, guys. It was wild.) and we were given two choices for our time there. I could have either chosen the shorter, easier path, which was more aesthetically pleasing and less physically challenging, or the harder, longer route which was definitely physically challenging alongside it's respective aesthetics. Feel free to guess which one I chose. 

Of all the things to remind me of home, I did not expect hockey to be one of them when I decided to study abroad on the French Riviera.