Well, with classes in swing, and our first full week of school almost over, everyone's starting to get into the swing of things!  Orientation week came and went, and we all feel like a pretty united group of kids over on this hemisphere.  The RAs planned some great excursions into the city to explore, "Mystery Beijing" set us out in groups trying to get as many pictures as possible in a scavenger hunt all around Beijing!

As I am among my half-packed suitcase, lingering parents, and judgmental cat, I cannot help but repeatedly curl up into a half criss-crossed- child's-pose position. Basically, I am contemplating my decision to leave home for the next four months in the most awkward and unintentional yoga pose. I have been packing, unpacking, and repacking for the past two weeks. Should I pack some snacks for the journey? Probably. How about those mini shampoo bottles? Preferably. My sloth calendar from the natural foods store? Most definitely.

Hello again everyone! I will hopefully be posting a little more frequently from this point forward (the format in which we need to upload photos is quite time consuming and a real pain). For this post I wanted to highlight one of the student assistant socials (trips) that we went on. It was a boat ride down the Thames (pronounced Tems) to Greenwich to check out the surrounding area like the Royal Naval College, Prime Meridian, and Royal Observatory - among other things. We got off to a bit of a late start but after that things ran pretty smoothly.

For months, I have had a photograph of the Cliffs of Moher as the desktop background for my laptop in anticipation of my Irish travels. Before coming to Ireland, I knew almost nothing about the country aside from information about the urban center, Dublin, and, the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs of Moher are one of the most famous attractions in Ireland, drawing visitors even in the off season months such as January.

I'm here. I have finally arrived in the city of love. The city of lights. I have been here for about a week now, which is shorter than many people's vacations. But in just seven days I have experienced so much. I have seen some of the most famous places, including the beautiful Tour Eiffel itself. But I know I have mearly skimmed the surface of a most magnificent city. Now I am just more excited to explore and experience all of its wonders.