Just about a week before I left for Vienna, I was scrolling through Instagram. It was a nervous, hungry scroll, one that I committed when I should have been packing or writing this post. I was seeking to escape the fierce reality that I would be leaving home in 10 days for a wildly different faraway place. I had all my material items purchased and gathered in one room, and I knew I could leave my family and friends even though it would cause a great soreness inside me.

            As I type this, I am watching America fall away through a plane window. I am realizing, not for the first time, but definitely more intensely than ever before, that I will not be back for 5 months (which is 4 months longer than I've ever been away from the country before). I am panicking.

Seven days and counting!! Oh wow, seeing it on paper, well…screen, is a little nerve-wracking. Thankfully I’m already in Oxford with my family, so I’m looking forward to not having jet lag after I fly (for just over an hour) to Nantes the second of September.

Insha'Allah is my all time favorite word, and it's not even English.

My suitcases are slowly being packed to the brim with sweaters (or jumpers as they say in the UK), my friends are going back to school, and it’s all starting to hit me…I’M GOING TO LONDON. For the past 2 months I’ve had almost no time to think about the crazy experiences that await me in England this coming semester. However, with my summer internship coming to a close and my plane set to leave in seven days, so many questions are arising and I’ll be honest…I’m a little nervous.

Servus! Welcome to my IES Blog. My name is Erica, and I'll be blogging for the Vienna Music program this Fall 2015 semester. I first set my eyes on the IES program four years ago, my freshman year, and have never looked back since. I still cannot believe that this is finally happening; that I am now here, in Austria!

Hi there IES community! 

My name's Grace and can I just say that I am stoked to be about to head out to Dublin for the Irish Studies program.

A couple things about myself:

It’s taken a long time and a lot of effort to get here.