tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25577576194009539142026-01-23T05:08:46.985-06:00Study Abroad blogAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11089430172014277019noreply@blogger.comBlogger406125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-12432553342205661832020-01-22T10:39:00.002-06:002020-01-22T10:40:36.745-06:00

    The first day was very exciting, to say the least. I arrived at Heathrow Airport on Sunday at around 6a. The airport is fairly large but is very easy to navigate if you follow the signs. Once I had received my oyster card, I hopped on the tube and took a 40 min ride to South Kensington Station where our student quarters were located. From there I walked with my luggage from

Mama Abroadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15201661372413790593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-73751883152719879102019-08-06T02:09:00.000-05:002019-08-15T13:57:50.522-05:00

I didn’t know what to expect before arriving in Geneva, Switzerland, but I was anxious. The grandeur of the city’s name and it being known as the world’s headquarters for peace had me in a continual cycle of suspense. I noticed my spirit was unearthed as I felt that there was something I was supposed to find, discover, or connect with. What exactly? I didn’t know. And, as our departure date drew

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-41009895249554483082019-07-18T14:33:00.003-05:002019-07-18T14:33:37.189-05:00

The other weekend we took a ferry to a nearby town called Gandria. There is an olive trail that runs throughout the town, going alongside the mountain and through the village. The trail was mostly shaded which provided for a nice, cool walk. The purpose of the trail is for preserving the abundance of olives for olive oil and other olive infused goods. About two miles down the trail, our group

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-65901917659620354542019-07-17T13:40:00.001-05:002019-07-17T13:40:39.287-05:00

We made a trip up the Geneva in the French part of Switzerland and visited the Red Cross museum while we were there. There were 3 main parts to the museum and a bonus section that happened to be on display while we were visiting. There was a part about how the Red Cross provides help to soldiers who need help which is what the organization was founded to do in the first place. This section also

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-53734931405338013942019-07-11T14:46:00.001-05:002019-07-11T14:46:05.139-05:00

Before traveling to Lugano, Switzerland, I had no idea what to expect. Even with thorough research and planning, I still had no concept of what I was really getting myself into. Upon arrival, I experienced a culture shock. For one, the Swiss put a huge emphasis on collectivism; everyone is expected to do their part for their community. This plays a key role in

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-66247475592223424912019-07-09T17:11:00.002-05:002019-10-05T04:01:29.990-05:00

As a first generation college student, participating in a study abroad program appeared to be an opportunity one in my position could only dream of. I saw the posted flyer at school and decided to apply for the attached scholarship. After a couple of months, the award letter came, and there I was proceeding down the path of a study abroad program to Switzerland for a month! It was so exciting!

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-61815078352053291202019-07-07T13:41:00.000-05:002019-07-07T13:41:17.965-05:00

First Impressions in Lugano: A lot of up and down hill walking Prices here are much different than the US The water in most places is drinkable  water fountains are everywhere they just have to be found The mountains are more amazing than any pictures They have strange traffic laws  only cross at cross walks cars have to stop for you if you start to walk they can driver much

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-28257244197721671832019-06-20T11:37:00.000-05:002019-06-20T11:37:12.525-05:00

Greetings all!      First and foremost, I want to take the time to say congrats on being able to be apart of an EXTRODINARY EXPERIENCE! Many people are not able to have an experience going abroad, so to be able to be apart of the Study Abroad Program here at Columbia is not only a once in a lifetime experience, but an honorable one.      Now allow me to

Mama Abroadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15201661372413790593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-14460136470764430872019-06-03T13:09:00.000-05:002019-06-03T13:13:05.083-05:00

Ciao a tutti! I am about two weeks into my study abroad experience to Italy, and it has been a blast! I have experienced more places the past two weeks than I have the past five years of my life! Instead of telling you all about how much fun I am having, I think I am going to make my blogs mostly advice for future study abroad students! Being across an ocean in a new country, Italians do things

Abby M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/16958854550452157999noreply@blogger.com0Florence, Italy43.7695604 11.2558136000000143.586129400000004 10.93309010000001 43.9529914 11.578537100000011tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-62660838417366945052019-03-04T03:00:00.002-06:002019-03-04T03:26:24.145-06:00

Heyo, it's been a hot minute since I posted. I've been quite busy with finals and such. Spring break has started and is a little different than it is in the U.S. Rather than a week off, we have about a month and a half off, but I don't have a summer break this year. I will go back early August, so I already know it's going to be stressful between catching up with everyone I need to before going

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-59122102941964696712018-12-23T20:06:00.001-06:002018-12-23T20:06:02.376-06:00

I got quite busy, but I've been meaning to post about several things so I will make a master post of sorts for the past few weeks. I am officially on break, so I've got the time now. Fall here is absolutely incredible. Paired with temples, day trips are stunning. I went to Nagahama on the last Sunday in November and then to Kyoto on Tuesday. Both trips involves several miles of walking, but the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-55499393095925414692018-12-15T06:00:00.000-06:002018-12-15T06:00:02.169-06:00

I began this series with the three things I will miss most from home. I'm excited about home, but there are definitely things I will miss from Canterbury too, so I made another little list - Walking. I love going on long walks, and it has been so great being able to walk everywhere. Most of the other Americans say they miss driving and are looking forward to having their cars back, but I've

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-80102940619674094802018-12-08T11:04:00.000-06:002018-12-08T11:14:09.233-06:00

In one week, I'll be back in the United States. It's much easier to leave something when you're going to something else. I don't really think about it as leaving Canterbury so much as going home to Christmas with my family. Again, it's not really something I'd been thinking about when choosing to study abroad during fall term (actually, I'd initially been intending to make next semester, my

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-9546916881365316912018-12-02T15:23:00.000-06:002018-12-02T15:23:29.671-06:00

I didn't think Christmas would be all that different here, but there are a few things. Perhaps everyone else knew about them, but I didn't. Christmas Markets -  I'd never seen Christmas market before coming here. Apparently we do them in the US but only in the major cities. Here, they're set up everywhere, even in small towns. They're actual shops set up out in the street, and they're

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-46739245528150041322018-11-29T09:17:00.001-06:002018-11-29T09:17:34.493-06:00

 It's been a busy past few weeks with school work. Luckily, some of that school work required some adventures. We went to Nagahama a few weeks ago to experience the process of making soba noodles. I say process, but it was pretty close to art. They follow a very specific process. It's pretty incredible to watch, and really fun to participate in. Some of the chefs had been making soba

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-82261570166314909002018-11-25T11:54:00.000-06:002018-11-25T11:55:00.256-06:00

I used to think we started celebrating Christmas early, but they don't have Thanksgiving to ease them into the holidays. There were already advertisements before Halloween was even over. Thanksgiving is an American holiday, so I nearly forgot about it and let it pass me by this year. But I did remember Thanksgiving, and this was the first Thanksgiving away from home. Everyone says they're

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-26282321640989260192018-11-18T11:08:00.001-06:002018-11-18T11:18:36.182-06:00

Photo Credit: 123Calendars It seems like having an entire semester to study abroad is a lot of time. You have a long list of things you want to do and places you want to go, and then the time passes pretty quickly. I thought coming for a semester was a long time - since lots of study abroad trips are only a couple of weeks - but so many people here are commenting on how short it is. Most

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-25432883686894654482018-11-11T18:12:00.001-06:002018-12-04T13:51:20.274-06:00

Photo Credit: Oatcakes Veteran's Day. Remembrance Day. Armistice Day. There are various names and various traditions for the date, but the world is united by commemoration. Photo Credit: csfotoimages on iStock Today marks the 100th anniversary of the day World War I ended: 11 November 1918. It was called the "Great War" and supposed to be the "war to end all

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-3558102036864099742018-11-04T16:45:00.001-06:002018-11-04T16:46:19.662-06:00

One hundred years ago, World War I ended. It was a war that shook the entire world and demonstrated how devastating wars can be. It revealed advances in warfare that no one was prepared for. Dan Carlin has an excellent podcast series on World War I called Blueprint for Armaggedon, and he discusses, in detail, how shocking the war was - unlike anything that had come before; no one could have

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-40264059786571814292018-11-04T01:36:00.001-06:002018-11-04T01:36:50.915-06:00

My birthday was on Thursday, so that night Ayame, Yuuka, Yuka, and Rei came over with food and I made pancakes. We hung out for a while, and it was an enjoyable end to my birthday. On Friday came the real fun. Yuuka went with me to Moriyama to get my latest tattoo. I was sort of hoping it would be done in the traditional Japanese tattooing method, but it was done with a gun. I'm happy with it

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-70712042565539616342018-10-30T07:27:00.001-05:002018-11-04T01:44:13.629-06:00

My latest adventure was to Nagahama, which is about half an hour by train. It was for one of my classes, but it was fun none the less. The whole class is a project basically advertising Nagahama which is interesting. Our topic is old structures, and we set out with the intention of visiting four specific temples and shrines and stopping at Soba 8 for lunch. As we were wandering the city to get to

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-92182488671160907012018-10-28T17:11:00.003-05:002018-12-08T10:53:39.813-06:00

People ask me how I like England, and sometimes they're shocked by how much I like it. They aren't impressed with the beauty or history or any of the things I find so fascinating; they think it's boring - because it's so normal to them. Meanwhile, I'm a complete tourist, taking pictures of everything - streets, signs, buildings, statues, scenes - at every turn (thank God for Google Photos!).

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-15327351197007503582018-10-21T14:33:00.000-05:002018-10-21T14:33:51.815-05:00

Everyone said England was going to be cold and drizzly, but the weather has been sensational! We have had rain, and it does get chilly but never terrible. Weather isn't something I normally give much consideration to, but it's such an important factor when travelling. It's very influential and determinative for the mood of a trip - drink hot chocolate or iced tea? go to museums or open markets?

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-80204651664454735602018-10-21T06:41:00.000-05:002018-10-21T06:41:30.606-05:00

We went to Kobe as a class trip to learn more about SDGs, sustainable growth development. It was an interesting and informative presentation. Japan is doing quite a bit to achieve the goals, and they're ranked 15 out of 156 currently. They've accomplished the goal of quality education. America ranks 35, and hasn't accomplished any of the goals. Here is the website to check it out for anyone who's

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557757619400953914.post-62136389443863340362018-10-15T20:06:00.000-05:002018-10-15T20:06:27.650-05:00

I finally got to travel outside of Hikone! Kyoto is about an hour away by train, so it's not too bad. I went with a German friend, Alex. We didn't set out with any super specific goals, just the bamboo forest and the Golden Pavillion. That left us with plenty of time to just wander and explore. We found some temples and a lovely path that led us to the bamboo forest. Now I had never even thought

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0