Here are a few photos from an IES Abroad field-trip to Rotterdam and Kinderdijk. Rotterdam feels like a very modern city, compared to Amsterdam. Rotterdam was bombed during the second world war and was completely destroyed. When the city was given the chance to rebuild, it attracted architects to build a completely “new” city from scratch. You can see elements of experimental architecture all over the city of Rotterdam.
We traveled to the Cinque Terre Region of Italy last weekend and it was by far the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. We spent the weekend hiking, exploring, cooking, and at the beach. 10 of us rented an apartment through air b&b for the weekend and took a train to get there, which was very easy and affordable.
Milan has very quickly become my beloved new home. It has been a relatively easy transition and extremely enjoyable experience so far. I love my roommates and my apartment is in a great location. We have been so busy meeting new people, seeing new things, attending intensive Italian classes, and taking in the new culture.
My oh my what a wonderful place Tokyo has been so far. Every day I wake up to the sound of my host mother cooking breakfast and my two host siblings getting ready to go to their respective school or care center. The sun is already pretty bright at around 6:30am here, which is right when I prefer to wake up, making my mornings as vibrant as possible. My neighbors are out cleaning up their porches or maintaining their plants by around 7:30, and I leave to school about an hour later at 8:30 most days.
When I decided to study abroad, I made an almost mandatory decision to live with a host family. They said that the commute would be long, that the curfew would be strict and that the family might not have Wifi. Despite all of this, deciding to live with a host family has been more than worth it.
Amazon to the Paramo from Ella Fornari on Vimeo.
Today marks my final day on the mainland of Ecuador. Tomorrow I voyage 600 miles off the coast to the Galapagos islands where I will spend the remainder of the semester. I’ve always lived in big cities in the US and could not be more ready to trade the quick pace of Quito for the small sleepy beach town of San Cristobal island.
Paramo of Papallacta- altitude 4,400m
Hunter Valley is Australia’s wine country (similar to California’s Napa Valley). Thanks to the amazingness that is Groupon, friends and I were able to take a tour of 5 wineries in Hunter Valley for about $60! We were picked up in the city and the bus drove us around to each winery where we were able to learn about how the wines were made and then taste them. Afterwards we had the chance to buy wines which we particularly liked.
As a New Yorker, I am no stranger to a city filled with people of all walks of life. I would liken Sydney to New York in that aspect. Similar to America there is no typical “Australian”. You have people from every Asian country imaginable. From the various islands in close proximity to Australia. From the Middle East. Europeans. Aboriginals. The list goes on and on. What HAS been different for me has been meeting so many people from pacific islands I had never even heard of and learning about their cultures!
Today marks the end of my first week in Freiburg! It’s surreal to think I left the comforts of America for Europe such a short time ago, but here I am, at my new desk, in my newly decorated digs, procrastinating.
