Christmastime starts early in Vienna. November 11th to be exact. I’ve been in the Christmas spirit since September, though—my roommate and I always play Christmas music when we’re cooking together, so the opening of the Christmas markets was long overdue. On the first Friday of their opening, my friends and I went to the two closest to us: the Christmas markets at Stephansdom and Altes Wien. There were so many great stands: handcrafted jewelry, pottery, ornaments, and some delicious treats and drinks to go along with the ambiance!

On October 9th, I went to Sawara, which is located northeast of Narita city. It's in a rural part of Chiba prefecture and is home to plenty of incredibly old buildings. We went here to experience an autumn festival and it was a completely different experience for me.

It's an odd thing to have a deadline for friendships. When we go abroad, we spend three months living with random strangers. We all come from different schools, states, and even countries. Three months of building relationships and making memories. Yet, in the back of your mind, you know that when the third month comes to an end, you probably will never see these people again. It is a bittersweet situation.  

I had been vegetarian for four years, ever since going cold-turkey in 2018. I never struggled with cravings, and (after a while) had the support of my unapologetically meat-loving family. Eating different food than everyone at the table was difficult for a while, but I quickly learned to love it. Becoming a vegetarian taught me to cook for myself, and gave me a new appreciation for where my food comes from. Living in America, too, made transitioning easy. Products like tempeh, tofu, seitan, and protein powder were readily available nearly everywhere, and so were recipes.

One of my courses for this semester is called Theatre in London: An Introduction. The premise is simple; every Tuesday night for nine weeks, the whole class had tickets to see a play in a different part of the city. The following class period, we discussed what we liked and didn’t like, and prepared for the next show. The class is very small—five people, including the instructor—so it’s fairly casual for us all to meet at the different theaters every week.

I have now been home for a few days. This morning, I felt quite proud of myself for waking up at nine o’clock, a great improvement from waking up at four yesterday. So far, the change in time zones has been the biggest adjustment for me.

Besides having to get on a new schedule, I feel I am adjusting fairly well to being back. It has felt good and bad to not have a busy schedule. Mostly, though, it has felt great to be back home. Being back has given me some time to unwind and turn my brain off, but it has also given me time to look back on this incredible experience I have had.

Right now, I am packing my bags once again, only now I am preparing to head back home tomorrow. I find myself feeling a lot of different emotions right now. I am excited to be home again, but I will also miss Britain very much. These past few months have been the best of my life, and I have made a lot of amazing memories here.

It is difficult to say goodbye to the friends I have made over here. They have made the experience even better, and it is difficult to not know when we will see each other again.

TikTok made me want to study abroad in Vienna, Austria. During Covid, I was stuck on the travel side of TikTok, scrolling and scrolling, dreaming of all of the amazing international travel I would do when the pandemic was over. One day, I came upon a video posted by a girl who’d studied abroad in Vienna prior to covid, and how she and her friends were able to attend a ball together!

I’m taking a much needed break from studying for finals to write this post. Speaking of studying for finals…how the heck did I get here? How are we already at finals? How have I been in France for 3 months already??? So many questions, so little time to figure them out.

Hailing from the relatively flat East coast, I've been happily surprised to discover a newfound love for mountains this semester: Granada is nestled at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (literally: mountain range covered in snow), one of major ranges of Europe. Apart from stunning sunset views, the Sierra Nevada offers skiing (Granada’s locals brag that southern Spain is one of the few places in Europe where you can swim at the beach and ski in the same day), fascinating geologic history, and, of course, hiking.