Wow.  We're leaving for Spain already?  I keep telling myself that I cannot believe how fast this summer is going by.  I have always known time flies when you're having fun, but this is just what happens in a multi-city program, when you are shuffling from one place to the next and taking in as much of the city as you can before packing up and leaving again.  I have to be honest, though-2 weeks here was perfect.

Now that I'm more established in Beijing, I'm finally starting to get the hang of keeping up with both schoolwork and my emerging "social life". In the beginning, it seemed really hard to juggle the sudden influx of work while still trying to make friends with a bunch of new people that I haven't met before.

Last week I went with some friends to see the Tokyo Giants play the Chunichi Dragons at Tokyo Dome. I had gone to a baseball game in Japan six years ago with my family and it was so much fun that I immediately jumped at the chance to go again. The tickets were about ¥3,000 (around $25.00 at the time) which wasn’t too bad, although we ended up sitting almost all the way at the top of the dome.

With more time passed than time left, It's becoming hard not to get a little sentimental about my beloved Vienna. Wonder and beauty truley define this city from its largest cathedral to its smallest, yet elegant, lampost. One thing I know that will stick with me is Vienna's cohesiveness.

Believe it or not, I am currently writing my last IES student blog. As I sit one of my favorite cafes in my barrio, I am wondering what am going to write about and how I can possibly wrap up an entire 4 months in a foreign country into one blog. For starters, our IES program ended last week, and almost all of the students are already back in their normal habitats in the United States. (I know this, because I am getting snapchats) 

“Do you have tap water?”

“Well we do have to wash things sometimes so…”

That’s the sassy and hilarious response we received from the waitress when we tried to get free water during our first meal in Germany, if that’s any indication of our overall competency in Europe. My friends and I have affectionately named our experience and future band “The Struggle Bikes.” It’s a play on the expression “riding the struggle bus,” but since we ride bikes in Amsterdam, struggle biking seems more fitting.

There was definitely some difficulty in deciding what we wanted to do for this week because we mostly had outdoor activities planned and it rained pretty much all week. We really were not prepared for the cold even though we knew it was winter here. That's probably a point that I would stress a ton... it is winter. While it isn't extremely cold, it is chilly in the houses and in the morning on the walk to class.

Still though! It is really, really pretty and we've been able to do some really cool things.

This past weekend, IES was kind enough to arrange a trip for the Dublin Studies and Internship programs to visit Northern Ireland. In three days, our plan was to cover Belfast's oldest pub, Crumlin Road Gaol, the Rope Bridge, the Giant's Causeway, Dunlace Castle, a hike over waterfalls, and an unofficial visit to a local karaoke bar. We started with an overcast day, leaving bright and early for lunch in Belfast.