Mid-terms Go Away, Come Again…Never
Sorry for the lack of updates. I’ve been pretty active on Twitter though haha. Things have been…hectic and chaotic to say the least. Classes have been busy and it’s Mid-term season right now. Working almost every day of the week, as…
First Night Out In Barca
Third day in Barcelona and so many things have happened that it feels as if two weeks have already flown by. I have more stories to tell about my eventful Wednesday that just added to the chaos of my day.…
Birthday Trip to London!
Sunday evening Roxy and I arrived at Copenhagen Airport, ate dinner and tried to find a decent place to sleep because our flight to London Gatwick left at 6:40 am the next day. We found a thing of four seats…
An adventure before the adventure
I leave for London in 109 days! yayyyy! But before that even happens, I will be traveling to Eastern Europe this summer with my family! My dad is competing in an international dragon boat competition (just don’t even ask) in…
Bittersweet.
Just wrapped up my last class in Kunming, and handed in the final draft of my term paper. One more week of exams and then I’m done for the year. It is such a strange kind of feeling, knowing that…
International Student Festival
On Friday is Ipsilenti the big Korea University festival. So to lead up to it there are a bunch of smaller festivals happening on campus. One of the festivals was the International Student Festival! International students had the chance to…
Día 78: Viaje a Huacachina Cap 3: Oasis en el Desierto
Día 78 en Perú. el domingo, 19 mayo 2013. Estoy en Huacachina, Perú. 10:30AM, I pull the door open, sunshine fills the room. I thought, “Wait – did I forget something?” My backpack never felt heavier. I shook my head. “No,…
Sprite Be Back, Alright
After the flight attendant took my trash, including my Sierra Mist, I got over my Sprite fetish and ended up treating myself to a water with lemon once I escorted myself off of the plane. During the hour-long layover in…
Sparkle, Sparkle Sprite
My favorite part about plane rides is the complementary soda. Man, I have been craving a Sprite since I woke up this morning at 8am. Okay, fine. Since 8:15am since I pressed the snooze button a couple of times. Anyways,…
Sit back, Relax and Enjoy the Flight
Squeezed between two grown men, I am sitting in the middle seat. To top it off, the lady in front of me has had her seat reclined since before the plane took off. What a rebel move. Oh man, now…
Attitude is everything
“Attitude is everything.” I heard that so many times this semester from a wonderful woman named Allison, who was in charge of my study abroad program. It seems cliché, I know, but when you are in a country where it…
Home is where the heart is…
I’ve been home over a week now and I’ve been planning on sitting down to write but life has been so busy and full that I haven’t had time. After the semester ended, I went to France and then Germany…
Poli”shhhhhh” Adventures
We spent this past weekend in Warsaw and let me tell you, it was wildly underwhelming. Towards the end of the second world war the whole city was destroyed in the Warsaw Uprising and subsequently the city had to be…
El Huerto de Rabanales
Translated to The Garden of Rabanales. Rabanales is a province in Espana. We, the group, visited this place today to see where some of us will be volunteering. They will be helping the immigrant women, working with the women in crisis,…
The Trip Has Begun!
We finally arrived in Barcelona! The trip couldn’t have started off any better than the way it did. On the flight from Miami to Barcelona there were 12 other fellow Longhorns with me and for a semi-full flight I lucked…
Problem…
So there happens to be a problem with me posting too many pictures to this blog, because I’ve hit my limit on how many I can upload. So until this is resolved, I will be posting on tumblr: fierceinflorence.tumblr.com Ciao!
Día 77: Viaje a Huacachina Cap 2: Sandboarding!
Día 77 en Perú.el sábado, 18 mayo 2013.Estoy en Huacachina, Perú. Sandboarding, dune buggy, and a Coincidental reunion:“You can rent sandboards for S/. 5 nuevo soles an hour to slide, surf, or ski your way down the irresistible dunes – alternatively,…
Finally!!! My Finals Are Done!!!
So, in the past five days, with every intention of being done by Monday evening, I’ve done nothing but procrastinate finishing my last paper. Saturday I got up and went to Camden Market(yes, again) with Mai Lea to get her…
This is just the begining!
I made it to Barcelona and am in awe over this amazing city! I would love to say I have great stories from the flight, but alas I do not. I slept most of the way to London and watched…
El Olvido Está Lleno de Memoria
“The forgetting is full of memories.” This comes a little late, but I think it’s important. About a week and a half ago, my program took us on a trip to Santiago to visit some memorials from the dictatorship. Before…
The Garden of the Alcazar!
Not only did great kings live in the castle, but a garden secretly lives here also. At first I thought it was just going to be a place where some kings ruled, and decisions were made, and etc, but NO.…
Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos
Yesterday for class, we went to the Alcazar (from the arabic word meaning castle) of the Christian Kings. There was so much history. I was told to research a statue of a man that stood at the entrance to the…
洗濯をしよう!
Hello all! Once again, I’m terribly late with posts.. ごめんなさい！ But these past two weeks, I’ve totally had a reason! Yes, Final Exams are upon us here at Kansai Gaidai, and I won’t be done with them until at least…
Día 77: Viaje a Huacachina: Cap 1 “Getting There”
Día 77 en Perú.el sábado, 18 mayo 2013.Estoy en Huacachina, Perú.En resumen:Estoy viajando desde Lima a Ica por el bus Cruz del Sur y luego, tomé un taxi al pueblo de Huacachina para hacer sandboarding and dune buggy en el desierto.…
Double Digits
I have hit the double digits 99 days until my flight for Scotland ! whoop whoop. I am home from school and enjoying summer and I also got my very first job. It just so happens to be at an Irish pub in town and…
5 Reasons Why You Should Consider Teaching Abroad
If you have the opportunity to teach during your year abroad, it’s something I would definitely recommend. I’ve been lucky enough to both study and teach abroad, and both are very different experiences. Here are some reasons why, if you…
Sunny Seville
It’s Friday night and I’m sitting in my empty (apart from me) hostel room, on the floor with my aching legs stretched out in front of me, surrounded by my guide book and maps. It’s been a good day. I…
How To Identify A Girl Who’s Studied Abroad
I’m leaving London in a few days… where has all the time gone? I still have to tell all of y’all about Budapest, and Spain, and Ireland. So many things to say, so little time, too many finals/essays/projects… But in…
Mérida
Midday on Thursday, I caught a bus to Seville. The whole trip, however, from Salamanca is pretty long, so I decided to break it up with a stop in Mérida. I only had two hours there so it was very…
Ya regreso! Huacachina –> Ica –> Lima
Hey everyone, 11:38PM, el domingo 19 mayo 2013. Ya regreso! (I’m back in Lima!) I have quite the story – But you will have to bear with me a little longer in hearing it. Sometime soon, I promise. It will…
100 Days To Go!
I have hit that wonderful mark of one hundred days left until I depart. I am nervous, excited, and overall overwhelmed. Paper-wise, I am ready. My flight has been booked and paid for (many thanks to Webster’s World Traveler Program…
Being a Rotary Outbound Candidate.
This is possibly the best feeling I’ve ever experienced. Every time I leave a Rotary event with all of the inbounds (exchange students that are here) and outbounds (people going on exchange next year, me!), I am so bittersweet. I…
Mi Primera Cena
So, it was 8pm and I’m in the living room with mama watching some american movies speaking in Spanish. Well, I could understand most of it but I’d personally rather watch some Spanish movies. However we have 30 more days…
Istanbul
As promise I have pictures. It was a 6 hour bus ride with only three hours of sleep then a long ass day to get all of there. But it was amazing so I can’t complain to much because it…
Some tips.
Throughout my time abroad, I’ve been keeping a really rough document on my computer with some tips that I’ve come up with for studying abroad. Some of them seem trivial, but they are things I wish I had considered. Join…
Being human.
Are we ever really our “real” selves in another country, another language? I’ve been spending a lot of time with our Chinese roommates lately, and a hot topic is whether the “us” that they know is really the “real” us…
Vibrant Vitoria
Vitoria is a city in the Basque country, only a few hours away by train from San Sebastian. Emily had a much shorter time there than me due to the lack of choice of trains in her being able to…
Ripped Off in San Sebastian
Maybe the title of this post is a bit harsh. But it being a place that attracts many tourists, the businesses in the industry will want to squeeze as much money out of you as possible. San Sebastian is a…
Hiatus Broken.
I took a small hiatus from writing this blog. Things got very crazy with the start of May and I got a new co-worker. I figured it’s more fun to go out and have things to blog about as opposed…
Next Steps
Next steps? That’s a big question. I have a lot on my plate. Well, this summer I plan to work as well as intern at the California Department of Justice. I need to research law schools , how to pay…
Special Thanks
GOD: For obvious reasons. For lifting me up. For proving to me again and again that I can do whatever I put my mind to. For being there at all times and never leaving me. For allowing me to conquer…
My Return Home
My return home and flight experience was relatively simple…considering everything I had and did. I went to sleep really late after washing my hair, which wasn’t bad at all because I can never sleep before a big trip. I didn’t…
Battle of the Week
All that weight I claimed I lost has come right back lol. It doesn’t help that I’ve been gorging on all the food I see and want since it’s my last week here. Operation cleanse and summer body will be…
Week 18: LAST WEEK OF STUDY ABROAD!
Last week in this thang bro! Surreal!Sunday was Mother’s day (in the states and in Italy) and I gave my homestay family the gifts. This was only after talking to my dad and questioning whether or not I should. He…
Announcement: Weekend trip to ICA – be out of touch.
Hey everyone!I have news.Saturday morning I leave for ICA to go sandboarding. I will not be returning until Sunday night so do not expect to hear from me until at least Monday. I’ve been attempting to make this trip happen…
This Last Week, The First of The Goodbyes
So, today I had to say goodbye to one of the amazing people I’ve met here in London, and here is how we all spent her last week (relatively)together. Saturday May 11- Today, Chong, Marie, Mai Lea, Tamara, Deana…
Taking a Break
Ok, so I’ve been off a while..But here’s the thing, I worked my butt off to get my finals done before Sarah got here and of course I failed at that one!!! But since she left, I’ve gotten two of…
Day 12: Group Dinner and Excursion
Guess what!! I’m all caught up on my posts!! FINALLY! Today, there was a gelato festival right outside of our school. Apparently there is always something cool happening, which is awesome! I am yet to try this gelato, but don’t…
Days 10 and 11: Class
Wednesday and Thursday were just typical days at school. I didn’t do anything special. Here is a picture of a typical lunch break: On Wednesday night, Anthony, Monica, Lexie, and I went to Tijuana, a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Their margaritas…
Day 9: Cooking Class
On Tuesday, we went to in Tavola, which is a place that teaches cooking classes. We made these eggplant zucchini stack things for our antipasto. Then, we made pasta from scratch with meat sauce (ragu) and just plain tomato (pomodoro)…
Day 8: Benedictine Monastery
Day 7: Sunday was a day to get caught up on all our homework and sleep. I had a project due on Monday about Virgil and Limbo. You can find it here: http://prezi.com/wthxyenr-898/untitled-prezi/?kw=view-wthxyenr-898&rc=ref-41315097 Day 8: We visited the Badia, which is…
Why I should watch my body language and Assistant Language Teacher
First of all, I feel really embarrassed. Just like… I kind of suspected what my ”fault” yesterday was, but it’s more of a misunderstanding. First of all, my teacher is not really angry (anymore). It’s not like she said anything…
Sweden Observations 2.0
Here are some more observations I’ve made on Sweden -For some strange reason, while there are two doors to accommodate for people going in and out of a building, only one door is capable of being opened. -Once it’s…
My teacher seems to be angry with me…
…And I have no idea why :O After class, friends told me that my teacher is angry with me, and started to explain why because I had/still have no idea. Something with a boy, silence, and me being bad. I…
Living in Frontier House
When I got my housing assignment I was told I had a double in Frontier House. So like most people I started googling and couldn’t really find anything besides blog posts. So I thought I’d write another one to give…
ACCEPTED
Well as you may have guessed from the title…I AM OFFICIALLY AN EXCHANGE STUDENT! Got the email last night letting me know my application was successful and that I will be a student in London come September! So now I…
Priorities and Torn Decisions
It’s getting down to a month and a half until leaving Fiji. I must say, there are some things I am looking forward to going home to. Like my puppy, family, friends, food, and no school. However, overall, I really…
Road Trip to Oslo
A few weeks ago, someone posted in our International Student fb group asking if anyone would be interested in renting a car and going to Oslo, Norway for a weekend. I had been wanting to go there all semester, especially…
Home Sick
So never had home sickness before but it’s starting to get bad. I will be home in 24 days and that 24 days is taking forever. I know that I have been here for over 90 days and 24 is…
You Can’t Not Go
There I was, waiting by the bus stop for the SHAWCO bus to Manenberg. Tuesdays are my long days, 8am-5pm, and finishing the school day by attempting to make 11 and 12 year olds learn math is not exactly relaxing.…
A cool idea
So I got this wonderful idea from Kaci Harrison; applying a soundtrack to my study abroad experience. My playlist may be a little odd…I”m in Japan and I love Japanese, Korean, Instrumental, and few American songs. My experience has just…
Starting over from the beginning of my experience
Aaaahhhhhh! So I’m sitting on the floor of my almst empty bedroom in my apt and I could literally cry. I’ve had to unpack/pack like 5 times and still there were things that were left out… So that was Sunday…
Glass Factory (Photos)
This week, one of my classes paid a visit to the nearby glass bottle company. I also like making picture posts when I’m tired and exhausted from doing real work. Here, the molten glass in dropped into moulds and formed…
노량진 and Octopus (Video)
*Older Post* So yesterday I went with my buddy group to Noryangjin fish market and got some fresh flatfish, another kind of fish, shrimp, and live octopus! The place smelled like I was standing near the ocean. Even though it…
Fast and Furious 6 Cast Appearance
I went with a friend to Time Square building in Korea to see a part of the cast from the upcoming movie, Fast and Furious 6! We arrived there at around 4pm and they weren’t expected to show up until…
Busan Trip
So on the weekend of May 3-5 I went to Busan with some friends and stood at a hostel 2 minutes walking distance from Haeundae Beach (해운대해수욕장). We left Seoul at 10:15AM and arrived in Busan at around 12:45PM. From…
Guggenheim
Last weekend Anna and I went to the north of Spain and in only three and a bit days we managed to see a lot of places. We started off in Santander and then went on to Bilbao, San Sebastian…
Happy Queen’s Day (Day 86)
I had been looking forward to April 30th for a few weeks now? Why, you may ask? Because its Queen’s Day! What is Queens Day you may ask. Let me explain this Dutch Holiday. Yes, you read that right, Dutch.…
What normal Japanese Bento Boxes look like
It’s weird, at first, because the food is cold, but it tastes good Under it is also another Box with rice, which is standard^^ I eat it at 12:40 at school with friends
I’m the new guy
Hello everyone… I’m a GUC(German University in Cairo) engineering student & I hope I can find friends here from all over the world. I know nothing and nobody here. plz comment.
Things you should consider pt. 4
Here is a list of things you should try eating in Korea. I had composed a list of food you should try ^^ i wanted to write a description for each one but if you need me to describe something…
Do you get homesick often?
Mhm… Overall, I’m not really homesick. It depends on the situation. Usually, I have moments when I really want to be home or at least understand the language better. This occurs mostly when my hostmother tries to explain me things,…
Seeing Parallels Between Different Cultures
Tonight starts the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, a holiday on which the Jewish tradition believes is the anniversary of the day that the Jewish people received the Torah, our holy text. This is a holiday marked by lots of study,…
Tips to Packing Lightly (You’ll Thank Yourself Later)
One of the most terrifying aspects of study abroad is figuring out how you’re going to get everything home. Let’s be honest here. If you’re living in another country for weeks or months, you’re going to buy stuff. And probably…
Eurovision 2013 “Euphoria” by Loreen (video)
Loreen – Euphoria – Live – Grand Final – 2012 Eurovision Song Contest (by eurovision) This will be the first time I’ve watched Eurovision!! You barely even hear about it back home in the States—not sure why—and I’ll be happily…
Dream Destination
Well, today’s the day! My plane leaves for Atlanta, Georgia in less than 8 hours and then after a layover, departs for Charles de Gaulle! It’s nearly impossible for me to register the fact that I’m going to Paris for 5…
Away with the Hobbits in Hogsback (Days 89-91)
With the stress of exams steadily approaching, a few of the international ladies spontaneously decided that a relaxing weekend away from Grahamstown was in order. A few of them planned the logistics, and I was lucky enough to get invited…
Silent Protest (Day 75)
One of the coolest things about Rhodes is that, traditionally it has been a fairly liberal school, fighting for human dignity and speaking out against injustice. Today, marks the 7th annual Silent Protest, a day speaking out against sexual violence…
Cage Diving with Great Whites (Day 62)
Bright and early on Saturday morning, at 5:45 AM, Miranda and I woke up for our cage diving adventure. We put on our swimsuits and warm clothes while half asleep, shuffling around in our dark room. It was too early…
Happy Mother’s Day to the Women I love
Thank you the blog Life’s Letter for giving me the idea for this blog post Many times over the last year people have said to me “Its amazing that you have been able…
School Festival^^
Today, I was at the school festival from the school of my hostbrother. There were many different kind of food stands, and the okonomiyaki was really delicious^^. The students sell stuff to raise money for their clubs. I went there…
A Study Abroad Soundtrack
The saying goes something like music speaks where words fail, right? Right. It does. And what’s cool is that you can condition yourself to have certain songs remind you of certain moments in your life. Or sometimes it will trigger…
Perspective
Being abroad has helped me figure out who I am and to think about issues from a broader perspective. I grew up in a well-to-do town outside of Boston, MA. My life was very self-centered, and my parents helped me in…
Food
When I came to Switzerland, I packed my suitcase and a half to the brim – with snacks. (That way I also would have room for goodies to bring home.) I knew I would miss American food, but there were…
Taking a turn about town
“Dar una vuelta” is one of my favorite Spanish phrases. Literally translated, it means “to give a turn” and is used to say “to take a walk.” My principal pastime in Madrid is dar una vuelta because that is the way that…
Gotland- An Island Adventure
This past weekend I got to explore more of Sweden! The VIS put together a weekend getaway to the Islands of Gotland and Fårö and it was simply amazing. We left Vaxjo Friday afternoon, arrived at the harbor in the…
Sea Battle
So, Sea Battle. What exactly is Sea Battle I’m sure you’re all asking? Sea Battle is a trip through ESN (Erasmus Student Network), which is also the network that my student org VIS (Vaxjo International Students) is a part of.…
Day 65-67: Trip to the North of South Korea
April 26-28, 2013 No excuse, just laziness on my part as always. Anyways, here’s another very late post: Midterms is FINALLY OVER and the fun BEGINS! Even before I got accepted at Ewha, one of the places I knew I…
Danish Language Quirks
There’s a lot you can learn about a culture from their language, and Danish is no exception. If you’re attempting to learn Danish (and I don’t even know if it’s worth it unless you plan to live here for a…
