New York is commonly revered as an incomparable city, active and jubilant, an apex of cultural spirit. It’s the city I grew up with, visiting from my small upstate town on weekends until my family made the big move south to the island. But a pipeline seems to exist between another city and New York, perhaps less popular than its counterparts, London, Los Angeles, or Tokyo. I always dreamt of living in this second city someday, the city of Berlin, eager to test the reverberation of another energetic living environment.

No questions asked, this week has been a whirlwind of new emotions, travel woes, introductions to new friends, and new sights to see. In the end, it would be unfair to say that I haven’t been totally swept off of my feet by the city of living history. Coming to terms with the idea that a week of my time here has already passed is bittersweet; that said, I know it has been spent well and that the stage is set for the semester to be the brightest, most beautiful yet.

Change. Something we all fear yet happens so naturally. We as people are in a constant motion of change whether they are big changes like your job, which school you go to, or little changes like trying a new restaurant. But it’s something we must take with our shoulders to the wheel. Leaving for a study abroad was one of those changes that I needed to just face the music. I have never left for school before since I am a commuter at my home school Penn State Berks.

If you're familiar with the Andes plane crash of the 1970s, also known as Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 or La tragedia de los Andes, you'll know that after a plane crash stranded the boys of a rugby team and other passengers into the Andes mountains, two high school-age boys were sent to climb the mountains to search for help. They hiked for several days even while sustaining injuries from the plane crash, the high altitude, the freezing weather, and snow blindness from the mountains.

So far, I have been to two sushi restaurants near the KUIS campus. The first one is called Sushiro, and the second one is called Kamehachizushi. 

It makes sense that back-floating along the shimmering water in the Danube River with your friends, being held upside down 30 feet in the air on the claw ride at Prater Wein for fifteen seconds at a time, and voyaging through the largest subterranean lake in Europe in a gold-colored ship all seem like activities for those curious about new parts of the world. However, never did I expect that walking into a standard IKEA would be one of my first exploratory experiences in Vienna, yet here I am.

It’s been just over one week since I arrived in Barcelona; however, it’s felt much longer than that already. I feel enchanted by this city; energized, perplexed, amazed, and fascinated. Living in the center of Barcelona within walking distance of the IES Abroad building, and other cultural landmarks such as Arc de Triomf, the Gothic Neighborhood, and La Sagrada Familia, has given me easy access to much of Barcelona’s beauty and chaos.

I'm leaving for Amsterdam in three days, and I still don't believe it's really going to happen. I know I'm not returning to campus at F&M, or staying with my family, but at the same time I haven't been able to wrap my brain around studying in a totally new country with new people for four months. Some of my friends and I were chatting the other week, when I asked about the last time we'd done anything new.  For me and my friend, it was our freshmen year of college.

Full disclosure, it definitely has not sunk in that I’ve made it to Dublin and the Writers’ Program is days away from starting.