Amsterdam is a dense, bustling city, with maze-like alleys and hordes of people marveling at its historic streets. Amsterdam’s unique city features, namely its tall, narrow, and crooked houses, are largely what attract tourists to the city, teleporting them back nearly four centuries into Amsterdam’s “Golden Age” when their colonial rule stretched the whole world and the city prospered as a result.

I’ll start this by saying I do not like heights. At summer camp I loathed the climbing wall. If I get seated too high up at football games I get nervous. Even hikes with what would be stunning views have made me miserable. All of this to say, climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge was not on my study abroad bucket list. I watched Phil Dunphy pursue the climb in Modern Family and that was enough for me. 

As a film major, I’ve wanted to do this post for a while now but could never decide on what movies to include. At first I toiled with focusing on movies that take place in Sydney. I would have written about Finding Nemo and Anyone But You. However that would only apply to a small audience. Next I considered throwing in movies that take place in multiple cities around the world. However Cars Two and Spiderman Far From Home focus more on action rather than the importance of the experiences one might face when abroad.

I have been reflecting a lot the past few days on how much better my second semester abroad has been compared to my first one. While semester-long programs are popular, I think that spending a full year in a foreign country can significantly make your experience better. Here are some of the reasons why, in my opinion, you should go abroad for a whole year.

1. Language proficiency

One of the great things about Granada is that it’s a very convenient city to travel from, both to other cities in Spain and to different European countries. Spain has great bus and train systems, and the Málaga airport is also easy to access via a bus that runs several times a day from Granada to Málaga. As my semester abroad winds down, I’ve been intentionally spending the last several weekends in Granada, but I thought this would also be a good time to reflect on some of the traveling I’ve done. 

The IES Abroad London trip to Scotland was one of the highlights of my time abroad in the United Kingdom. A group of us in the program took a train up to Scotland which allowed us to take in the beautiful countryside on the way. We then settled in our hostel before beginning the weekend’s adventures. We started off with a guided tour of the city of Edinburgh which has such beautiful and rich architecture - the cobblestone roads and gothic buildings enveloped us in an ancient and romantic aesthetic.