In the spirit of continuing with my bucket list of things to do before I leave Australia, I finally went INSIDE the Sydney Opera House for the ballet, La Bayadere (The Temple Dancer in french). I am a major fan of the arts in all forms so was very excited to finally see a ballet (and in the world renowned Sydney Opera House at that). The Opera House is incredibly spacious and ornately decorated.
“In the spring of 2013, I spent a semester studying in Rome. That March, I walked down the Via della Conciliazione to St. Peter’s Square, where I attended the inauguration of Pope Francis. This semester, I am in Berlin and last Sunday I walked down Unter den Linden toward the Brandenburg Gate to participate in another historical event. Thousands of people, young and old, swarmed the streets of Berlin on the night of Nov. 9 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Before you depart to study abroad, you’re most likely going to be inundated with documents from your program that give you advice on how to dress like a local and certain things you should do or not do while in your host country. For the most part, this information is helpful as it gives you an initial look into the culture you’re going to experience, but it can discourage you in a sense as well.
My program, like pretty much any other study abroad program, includes trips organized by our advisors that are meant to both show us some cool places and teach us about the culture surrounding us. The problem is, while we get to go on these trips, I’ve hardly seen many of my program-mates work as hard as the program advisors in order to go on trips themselves.
As part of the 3rd course, Human Rights, we all got the opportunity to travel to Bocas del Toro, Panamá. The goal of our travel was to see how tourism development is affecting indigenous communities on the islands of Bocas del Toro. In addition, we also got to examine how the human rights of these indigenous communities have been violated. We spoke with indigenous community members, local indigenous leaders, and indigenous women activists.
In my studies this term, I have come across an unexpected realization which directly relates to my future career plans. At University of Rochester, my home institution, I am a double major in History and Molecular Genetics. I started off my time abroad in London, studying history with an amazing IES Abroad professor and one other student from my Oxford program (as per the Oxford tutorial style of learning which encourages independent study).
My man Ferris Bueller once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
My classes are over. I just took my last two finals. Now all there is to do is pack and enjoy my last day and a half in this city. The past four months have flown by. Study abroad is something I’ve dreamt of and imagined since I was touring universities in the US. And now it’s over?