During a break I had before classes started, I planned a long trip to Switzerland for 5 days. There were definitely cheaper options, but Switzerland was the No.1 destination on my travel list, and I was determined to take this opportunity.

Getting to Madrid:

Beams of bright sunshine illuminated my room in a similar manner to a gentle alarm clock beeping softly letting me know that I had a great day ahead of me. 

Once I had gotten up, I took the U-Bahn to our meeting point where all of the enthused IES Abroad students congregated: the Schönbrunn Parking lot.

It was about an hour-long bus ride from Schönbrunn to Melk Abbey, a Benedictine monastery operating since 1089. What I found to be most fascinating about the monastery was the Baroque influence on the abbey. 

Weeks 1 and 2 in Buenos Aires have been nothing short of magical. On the first day that we arrived, we unpacked, got to know our homestay apartment and host, and got to know the neighborhoods we were living in. The second day consisted of a comprehensive orientation from IES Abroad about safety, living in Buenos Aires, the program itself, and what we were to expect. Lastly, we got to finalize our class schedules and meet our cohort.

Ciao! The past two weeks have been crazy busy with orientation and our first week of classes. Although my first few days abroad were jam-packed with orientation and tours, it was incredibly important for me to explore the neighborhood I’m living in and around the IES Abroad center. Getting to know the streets and the shops brought me peace of mind when I realized just how much I had forgotten back home.

In my few weeks in Korea, I’ve tried a lot of new food. I had gone out for Korean barbecue a couple times while in the US, but I hadn’t really tried “authentic” Korean food or any other Korean dishes beyond what is typically served at American K-BBQ places. So most of the food I’ve had has been very novel. For example, after our trip to the DMZ, we went out to a traditional restaurant in the nearby town of Paju and I had bibimbap for the first time. It was so delicious and a great source of vegetables, which it turns out is kind of hard to find in Korean cuisine.

If you ever decide to learn Japanese, and if you then decide to talk to someone online in Japanese, you'll probably get told something along the lines of nihongo jouzu desu ne, which basically means "your Japanese is really good." However, people will say this regardless of whether your Japanese is actually good or not, making getting "nihongo jozu'd" a bit of a running joke among people studying Japanese on the internet. It's pretty much a rite of passage at this point. It has happened to me personally countless times online.

“I know a girl whose one goal was to visit Rome. Then she finally got to Rome, and all she did was post pictures for people at home. 'Cause all that mattered was impressin' everybody she's known." - Drake, "Emotionless"

As I’ve relaxed in my apartment after my first week of classes and internship work in Roma, I’ve found myself unsure of what exactly to write about this week, for there is no way to encapsulate the true beauty of this journey in just one post. In the 2 weeks that I have been here, I have found my life turned upside down time and time again; around every corner, I am prompted to think in new ways as I find myself exposed to new ideas, ways of life, and responsibilities to undertake.