Everyone has one. Whether it’s written down on a piece of paper, typed up on a cell phone, or just known; a bucket-list is something that every traveler wants to accomplish. The past two weeks I’ve been doing just that. It hit me a while ago that I would soon be leaving France. I’m halfway done with my program and feel like I’ve gotten to know Paris better. But at the same time, a part of me is disappointed in myself for not having accomplished everything I’ve wanted to do here in France.

This last weekend, I took a break from daily biking, canal seeing, and studying for a three day trip to Prague. While the ten hour bus ride was a little too much for me, the time in the city was absolutely amazing. I should not complain, though, because a ten hour bus ride across Germany beats a ten hour bus ride across the desolate midwest. We arrived at Prague on Friday morning where we were welcomed with chilly air and cloudy skies. However, I think these conditions really added to the ambiance of Prague.

After two months of living alone in dorms, the Chinese roommates are finally coming back to school! With regular classes around the corner, and students from all over the world moving into our dorm building, so many changes are occurring (including incredibly slow elevators).  One of the best things for us dorm-students is that our roommates are finally arriving!

This week we officially passed the half-way mark of our time here in Ecuador. It is crazy to look back at all that has happened and to realize that we still have all of that time for more adventures!

Week three has come to an end in our new country. Life is now starting to seem normal and we are all starting to get into a flow. Today I actually found a cafe without getting lost once! Life is good.

AUSTRALIAN SLANG OF THE WEEK: “How are you doing?” (US) = “How are you going?” (AUS)

There are over 10,685 beaches in Australia. That’s right. 10,685 beaches to surf, tan, and experience the beauty that is OZ. If you wanted to explore all of those beaches in one year, you would have to see 29 beaches everyday, for 365 days. This idea alone brings me so much joy.

March 15^th 2015

              My past few blog posts have centered on isolated (albeit memorable) adventures during my time in China.  To keep things “fresh” on the illustrious forum otherwise known as my blog, instead of writing the usual story this week I will riff on cultural differences between the Upper-Midwestern United States and Shanghai, China.
 

Line Etiquette (or Lack Thereof)

During the nearly 15 day February vacation, my friends and I decided to venture outside of Nagoya. Instead of going to 北海道 (Hokkaido) to see the famous さっぽろ雪まつり (Sapporo Snow Festival), we went to 東京 (Tokyo). By bus, it took us about 6 hours to get there from Nagoya. We rented out a small apartment and spent nearly every day somewhere new.