After getting settled into Freiburg and starting off some classes, we all headed off to Berlin and Prague for the first of our field trips. The best part of this trip was getting to know all the people in the program. Sight-seeing and discovering new cities with people is a really cool way to get to know them. Both Berlin and Prague are so different from each other, but I ended up loving them each for their own unique charm.

Back again, your favorite afro blogger live from the good 'ol land of 日本. As you can tell, Japanese class is going pretty well (or if you can read kanji, maybe can't tell since all I've used so far is fairly simple kanji). Anyway, this time around I will once again be skipping the weekend adventures and be blogging about personal opinion and observations.

It's FunkTerm Berlin, an audio chronicle of my time abroad. Episode 4 is, at its core, about communicating. With a focus on my temporary inability to do so. Episode notes for the week: A.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing enough. When I come back to Wooster next semester, I’ll have two more months until my jury for my voice recital, so I’ve been focusing a lot on preparation for that, as well as my classes I’m taking here. Almost every weekend we go on excursions around Nantes, prepared by IES, but I haven’t traveled independently around or within France.

16 October 2015 Now that I have been here for about one and a half months, I feel like I have a good hold on what I would have liked to bring to Japan, packing-wise. The only problem is, I am already here. Now, it is very common for people to forget to pack something essential while traveling. I am usually an over packer… well; let’s us just say that I over pack every time I travel. However, I like to see over packing as “cautious packing”. This is a small packing list for those “cautious packers” who plan to travel to Japan for more than a month.

Each year on October 1st, China celebrates what is called The National Day of the People's Republic of China. The national holiday was declared after the founding of the PRC took place on October 1, 1949. While most only celebrate the holiday for that one day, it can lasts all of 7 days, a Golden week, with festivals, decorations, and concerts to keep people excited throughout the week. During this time, students are able to a break from their normal schedule of classes and can choose to either study or partake in vacations.

¡Hola! These photos are from the Salvador Dalí Museum in Figueres. I visited the museum as part of the Costa Brava trip. It was my favorite part of the trip because Salvador Dalí is my favorite artist! We took a bus but it is only a 2 hour train ride from Barcelona.

"Right now I’m sitting in the IES Center with Maya. There is a lot to like about the center—it is really well located in Mitte, right against the Spree and Museuminsel. There’s a wonderful döner store nearby that I eat at far too often, coffee shops in every direction, and it’s basically a straight shoot to my house as well as Alexanderplatz. We have a balcony which is nice to sit on between classes, tons of computers and printers, and comfortable couches that I think are used for naps just as often as they are used for sitting.

One of the greatest perks of studying abroad in Europe is how easy it is to travel the continent. Low-budget airlines, fast trains, hostels, and Airbnb (my new favorite travel tool) make things easy. So far this semester, I’ve visited Florence, which is only an hour from Siena; Cinque Terre, the five dreamy villages on the Italian Riviera; and Madrid and Barcelona this past weekend. I have many, many pictures to share but the photo uploading system is currently under repair. Trust me when I say that I’ll put photos up as soon as possible!