Friends | | Page 8

Fabiana in China: Chinese Interrupts My Sleep

March 2, 2015

Gkdgfjhdowjd.

That’s what my brain did as it switched back to English mode on Friday. I had stepped out from my midterm exam exhausted, but accomplished; I had successfully finished half of my time here in China!

Later that day we went to celebrate to a Hotpot restaurant with two of our teachers. We invited them to join us because we had never talked to them in English before, and personally, I wanted to change the impression I thought they had of me: I was a 5 year-old that thought everything was “很好” (very good) and that the weather was always “特别冷”(specially cold). With all honestly, with the limited Chinese we have, we can’t really have “deep” conversations. This was my time to really get to know them.

As we arrived, we were given red aprons, zip block bags to cover our phones, hair ties, and hot towels. I was quite confused. I had been to a hotpot restaurant in Hong Kong before, but never was I offered such service! (For those who do not know what hotpot is, Wikipedia explains it all: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_pot) As I tried to form questions regarding this curious meal to my teachers, my mind went all crazy again. Suddenly, I couldn’t speak English anymore (?) My brain and my eyes didn’t agree: I guess this happened because I associate their faces with speaking Mandarin and my brain just didn’t want to cooperate. This was quite an experience.

During the meal, some were speaking English, others Chinese, and I unconsciously started to speak Spanish (?) I was really confused. This whole event reminded me of a question I was made regarding speaking three languages: “since you are fluent in English and Spanish, is it easier to learn Chinese?” My answer: “NO. It’s harder.” He looked at me confused and continued, “but there are studies…” I listened to him and continued, “In my experience, I consider it harder because I tend to change the language in which I think.” My mother tongue is Spanish, but I have been studying English for about the same time, so both languages come naturally to me. (To my bilinguals out there, have you ever thought about the language in which you think?)

Spanish and English have different sentence structures, ways of expression, and the list continues. So if I change the language in which I think unconsciously, it makes it hard for me to translate my thoughts to Chinese.

I considered the idea of writing an extended essay regarding the reasons why learning Chinese has been hard for me, but I will only write it once I find a scientific explanation behind it. You’ll have to wait for it.

Just to give you an example of how confused my brain has been for the last two months, ask my roommate. Today she came up to me and told me I sleep-talk A LOT: “During the first week you spoke English, some days you switched to Spanish, and you’ve been recently speaking Chinese!” Now that I think of it, I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night with a headache: I had forgotten a word in Chinese in my sleep and my brain has just been going over and over the same sentence. I have to say, that going through experiences like this have been both frustrating and interesting. They just leave me thinking, why is this happening to me?

As I try to leave aside what I think is unexplainable at the moment, I dream about our beautiful Wei Ming Lake back at Peking University. “It’s no longer frozen,” I think to myself. I have been seeing more green in its walking paths and small gardens. What a wonderful way to start the spring!

Till next week!

Comments Off on Fabiana in China: Chinese Interrupts My Sleep | Fabiana in China, Spring 2015 | Tagged: China, Food, Friends, Language | Permalink
Posted by Fabiana in China

Jackie in Switzerland: French, Flaubert and Fondue

February 23, 2015

What kind of blogger would I be if I didn’t start each post with food? This week, I had the most Swiss-centered food experience that I might have actually gained 5 pounds in a single day. After braving the snow to check out a local farmers’ market, my friends and I stopped into a well-known little café for some hot chocolate. What we got served to us was essentially a cross between a drink and pudding. I have never seen a hot chocolate so thick that you need a spoon to eat it. I have also never tasted anything so delicious.

Braving the blizzard

Pretty even in the snow

The Greatest of All Time

Later on in the day, my apartment mate offered to make us some authentic Swiss fondue; he is from the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Honestly, I thought fondue was only melted cheese, but there is a lot more to it. In the end, it was one of the best things I’ve had here in Lausanne, who wouldn’t love bread dunked in cheese?

I ate my weight in fondue, like a real Swiss

Moving away from my food obsession, let’s talk about classes. Here in Lausanne, the class system works a little bit differently. For the first four weeks, students can go try out classes without pre-registering. This way, you can see what you like, and what you don’t, before committing to anything. I think this is a really good idea, but it is STRESSFUL. My parents can attest to that- I have called them everyday in a state of minor panic. Taking classes with students who speak only French, with professors who speak perfect French, and in subjects that revolve around French literature can be very intimidating, all while trying to figure out what will transfer back to Richmond. But as of now, I am beginning to figure things out with the help of some awesome professors here!

Better start reading!

Right now, I am following nine classes, which seems like a lot, but they all require less work than in a typical Richmond course. It is definitely harder to keep all of these courses in order, but the subjects are really cool. I am taking a course about the French author Flaubert, and at the end of the semester, I have to give a 45-minute presentation in French. Again, really really intimidating.

That being said, I am incredibly happy to report that I can understand French! I was getting seriously worried that I wouldn’t be able to understand a single word that my professors said. But it turns out, I can understand almost every word. The language isn’t really a struggle, even in taking classes about more technical literary and historical subjects.

Finally, at the end of a long week full of French, Flaubert, and Fondue, it was necessary to unwind a little bit with my friends! As a proud Pittsburgher, hockey has been one of the things I have missed the most Luckily, I found a bunch of hockey-crazy Canadians who feel the same way. We went to see the local Lausanne Hockey Club play one of their last games of the season and it was wild! The fans were so into it, and the atmosphere was incredible. We needed up winning 3-2 in a shootout, which was the perfect way to end a full week of class and to start another amazing weekend in Lausanne.

Me and my fellow hockey-lovers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG4ljRszGpQ

Comments Off on Jackie in Switzerland: French, Flaubert and Fondue | Jackie in Switzerland, Spring 2015 | Tagged: Academics, Food, Friends, Host University, Sports, Switzerland | Permalink
Posted by jackieinswitzerland

Becca in Hungary: A Weekend Fairytale

February 19, 2015

Once upon time, in a far away land lived a woman by the name of Rebecca. She spent her days slaving away on programming apps for Iphones and solving mystical mathematics problems for her combinatoric class. While lost in a world of new words, and people, she met a messenger who spoke of a glamorous ball scheduled to occur in Vienna. But Miss Rebecca was just a simple peasant girl; how could she afford such an activity? Well, in the dark of the night Rebecca was spooked by the arrival of her fairy godmother, Barbara. Cheerfully Barbara announces, “What are you waiting for? You have a ball to attend, a dress to try on, and a carriage waiting for your arrival.” Rebecca was shocked and before she knew it she was swaying to the music of Strauss and Mozart.

Okay okay so maybe I am being sightly over-dramatic about my so called fairytale weekend, but most of the story is actually true. Though I never saw a messenger roaming the streets sharing the word about the future ball, I did find the ball’s website after a comprehensive Google search of unique things do in Vienna. And unfortunately, I do not have a fairy godmother that gifted me with tickets to the ball, but rather my parents purchased tickets as a birthday present for me. But I did in fact travel to Vienna this past weekend and attend a proper Viennese ball. During the month of February Vienna is known for sponsoring hundreds of balls for various organizations. The ball I attended was called the BonBon Ball and was sponsored by Manner confectionary and various other Austrian candy companies. Essentially the premiss of the ball was to look and dance classy while also enjoying the pleasure of hundreds of free samples of various confectionary treats (so basically my heaven).

The ball was on Friday, so right after school fellow University of Richmond student, Jackson, and I boarded a train to Vienna and within an hour and half arrived to our destination. We met many road blocks before getting to the ball, but we finally made it to our hotel and began to get ready for the ball. Embarrassing enough, we didn’t have time to get dinner, so before our classy ball we had to swing over to McDonalds to gain some energy for a night of dancing. When we arrived at the ball the first thing I noticed was CHOCOLATE!! There was SO MUCH chocolate! After noticing all the chocolate though, I began to notice all the people between me and that chocolate and soon realized this place was packed!! So Jackson and I slowly made our way to our seating in the upstairs parlor.

Making our way up to our table.

Soon we heard the music planning, and we quickly got out on the dance floor. I am proud to say that Jackson and I were the first ones dancing. Before coming to the ball we learned a basic waltz, and that was the ONLY dance experience we had. The rest of the crowd there must have been taking lessons for years because they were amazing! Though it is fair to say we were by far the worst dancers in the room, we definitely were having the most fun! With all that dancing though I quickly realized that this is NOT the event to bring out your highest heels. Within the first couple songs my feet were throbbing with pain, but the excitement and adrenaline is what keep me on the dance floor.

Wishing I could switch shoes right about now!

The event was split into three ballrooms. The smallest (which also happened to be my favorite) was a Frank Sinatra/ Jazz themed room.

They also had a caribbean themed room which mainly had people tangoing.

In the caribbean themed room.

The last dance floor they had was the main ballroom floor. This is where all the main activities were, but the dance floor was also crazy busy. Each hour they would release huge balloons from the ceiling onto the main ballroom. If you caught the balloon then you would try to pop the balloon open in hopes of finding a prize.

Looking down onto the main dance floor from a balcony.

Overall, going to the ball was absolutely amazing, and I could not think of a better way to celebrate my 21st birthday. I would like to thank Jackson for being the best escort a girl could ask for and for helping me feel like a true princess. I would also like to thank my parents for the best birthday gift ever!

Feeling like a princess 🙂

Enjoying all the free candy!

All the candy we were able to take from the ball.

Comments Off on Becca in Hungary: A Weekend Fairytale | Becca in Hungary, Spring 2015 | Tagged: Austria, Food, Friends | Permalink
Posted by Becca F

Fabiana in China: Chinese New Year for Beginners

February 19, 2015

Red lanterns, golden dragons and white goats.

YES! Spring is finally here! The arrival of the Chinese New Year (or modernly called as the Spring Festival) can be seen, smelled, and touched everywhere you go. For a foreigner like me however, the countdown to a holiday like this has meant smiles, less traffic and clear skies. What not to love about it!?

While trying to find out more about the holiday, I found a short&sweet video I’d like to share with all of you. The video explains what the most common Chinese New Year traditions are and things History.com “bets you didn’t know” about the holiday. Deep stuff.

http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/chinese-new-year/videos/bet-you-didnt-know-chinese-new-year

As part of this week’s language activity, our professors organized a dumpling-making（饺子） evening. We gathered in the immersion guys’ apartment and were taught how to wrap （包）pork and onion leaves dumplings (猪肉大葱饺子)，and chives and eggs dumplings (韭菜鸡蛋饺子). Although I did most of the taking-pictures part and not much of the actual making of it, we all learned about the different techniques used and traditions held behind the dumpling-making. We definitely enjoyed our time with the whole Immersion-track family.

The most interesting thing I learned that day was the reason why northern Chinese people eat the dumplings on New Year’s Eve. According to my professors, the tradition of eating dumplings occurs because the word dumpling or jiaozi (饺子) in Chinese, sounds like a Chinese word meaning “bidding farewell to the old and ushering the new” (credits to travelchinaguide.com for the translation). I can’t think of a better adjective than superstitious when I think about Chinese people and customs, but then again who am I to judge after freaking-out every time someone tries to hand me the salt.

Next week, we’ll be having a break from 5am coffee and endless character-writing for our one-week Spring Break vacation. As a treat to our hard work, today, two friends and I decided we wanted to travel. YOLO right?

With the luck we have, we managed to get train tickets to Harbin, China, or may I say, the “Ice and Amusement World.” So yes, I’ll be freezing to death in one of the most beautiful cities in China, most know for its ice sculpture festival, Siberian tigers, and Russian landmarks. 10 hours in a hard-seat train during the famous “spring travel rush,” OH! am I going to breath in Chinese culture. I can’t wait!

Comments Off on Fabiana in China: Chinese New Year for Beginners | Fabiana in China, Spring 2015 | Tagged: China, Culture, Food, Friends, History, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Fabiana in China

KyungSun in Scotland: The Scots, Brits, and Somewhere in Between

February 9, 2015

Most of you are probably wondering who I’ve been hanging out with here in Edinburgh or if I even have friends at all…Anyone that’s studying abroad can tell you that their greatest fear is not making any friends. I certainly felt anxious about the type of people I’d meet. The good news is that like freshmen year, every exchange student has the “new” factor in common. You also strangely feel close to the other exchange students simply because everyone is experiencing the same fears, cultural shocks, and excitement over the little (often touristy) moments like you.

Tess, Kara, me, and Meghan at Burns Night

I’m pretty sure it was for kids, but we really wanted to try the costumes at Stirling Castle

The girls from the Parliamentary Program!

On the other hand, it’s really difficult to meet Scots here in Scotland – how can this be? Here at the University, the best way to get to know other Edinburgh students is to join societies (clubs). So far, I’ve only really joined the Music Society. This is mainly because the societies I’ve wanted to join always seem to conflict with a tour or meeting I have as part of my program. But hopefully I’ll be able to join at least one more society.

I’ve also noticed that 99.9% of the time, societies socialize by going to pubs – even after church! After mass, the President of the Catholic Student Union invited everyone – students and non-students – to join them for wine. I admit, I was caught off guard. But I had to remind myself that the drinking culture is different here; it’s much more common to go out and grab a few drinks with friends.

Other than pubs, I’ve also met Scots at museums or walking along the beach wall:

Met him at the People’s Story Museum (a museum telling the stories of the ordinary people of Edinburgh)

Met him at Stirling Castle

He was my favorite. I met him at the Regimental Museum

The only Scot I haven’t yet met in a pub is my MSP (Member of the Scottish Parliament), Richard Simpson. I’m really excited to work with him because he’s involved in a lot of healthcare issues ranging from chronic illnesses to healthcare inequalities which are issues that I’m also interested in researching. He also said that I would have a few opportunities to travel to visit his constituency which is going to be a great way to get to know Scotland even better!

The new Parliament building, usually referred to as Holyrood

Something that I didn’t consider before coming here is what it means to be Scottish versus British versus English. I embarrassingly didn’t realize that Scotland is not a country. Rather, it’s called a state because it’s part of the United Kingdom.

Okay so let’s work from a micro to macro level. People in Scotland are Scottish, but they’re also British because they are part of Britain, which consists of the main island including Scotland, England, and Wales. But people in England are English, but also British. People in Wales are Welsh but also British. Then what about people in Northern Ireland?

I met someone from Northern Ireland a few days ago (not surprisingly, at a pub) and he told me this: If they’re Protestant, they’ll generally call themselves British, but if they’re Catholic, they’ll generally call themselves Northern Irish or Irish.

As you can see, it can get very, very confusing. But this confusion has also made me think about the importance of preserving your identity within a union of states like the United Kingdom. For those who don’t know, Scotland recently voted on whether or not they wanted to break away from the United Kingdom. Although it didn’t pass, coming here has made me realize how much Scotland prides itself in its unique history, culture, and independence.

Scotts Momument in the heart of Princes Street, dedicated to Sir Walter Scott.

I’m certainly learning a lot about how Scotland fits within the rest of the UK and likewise, how the UK fits in with the European Union (which is also anticipated to come up to a vote soon!). It’s a great time to be here as a politics student especially as the UK General Election is less than 100 days away!

The diversity in Scotland and the UK is also one of the reasons why I’m falling more in love with the state/city every day. Edinburgh is really a hub of diversity. But I’ve come to realize that being in a diverse place no longer means seeing people simply of different ethnicities/races. Rather, the more modern diversity is defined by people of cross-cultural backgrounds and multiple identities – the Pakistani-British, the Polish-Scottish, or the Asian-Australians. It’s a concept that I think we, as Americans, still have much to explore and I, as an Asian-American, have a lot to learn from.

Til next time, cheers!

My Asian-Australian friend Jackie and I celebrating our (semi) successful nutella cupakes!

My Asian-Australian friend Jackie and I celebrating our (semi) successful nutella cupcakes!

Leave a Comment » | KyungSun in Scotland, Spring 2015 | Tagged: Culture, Friends, Host University, Politics, Religion, Scotland | Permalink
Posted by Klee

Jackie in Switzerland: One Week Down

February 5, 2015

After a week of living here, I can say that Switzerland is pretty perfect.

I arrived in Switzerland at 7am with two suitcases, no sleep, and no idea where I was going. Luckily, I had an exchange buddy, Daria, who picked me up from the train station with her boyfriend, Sergey, to take me to my hotel. They are both from the Ukraine, and are maybe the nicest people I’ve met so far. They took me out to breakfast and we walked around Lake Geneva (Lac Léman in French) and they told me a lot about the University. Overall, it was an awesome welcome!

This is a picture from the highest point of Lausanne overlooking the entire city!

Still struggling with jetlag, I went to school the next morning with some serious nerves. French is supposed to be my thing, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was in over my head. But when I got to school, I met so many awesome people that I didn’t even need to worry. One of my favorite things so far has been meeting so many amazing people from all over the world! I have made friends from Germany, Norway, France, Russia, Iran, and Brazil. It turns out that over a third of the people in Lausanne are foreigners, which is awesome because I get to meet people from all around the world, and experience Swiss life at the same time.

After the less-intimidating-than-it-sounds written, oral, and listening exams, I got put into the more advanced level of French (which is good because I have to take ALL of my classes in French!). Most of the people in my class are older people with families who have lived in Lausanne for many years, and simply want to be even better French speakers. My teacher’s name is Pierre, which is really just the perfect French stereotype and I love it. Still, one thing I will always struggle with is calling your teacher by their first name, which is normal here but not so much in the States.

My first real Swiss meal; Cheese, bread, and even more delicious cheese.

One night, our class met for dinner at a Swiss café in the center of town, and I don’t think my life will ever be the same. I ordered Croute au Gruyère avec un oeuf à la poêle, which is basically a huge piece of French bread covered with an absurd amount of cheese and a fried egg. This glorious masterpiece was arguably the best thing that has happened to me so far; if I could eat this every day, I would. The food here pretty much revolves around their cheese, which makes sense because it is some of the best I have ever had! As I was sitting at dinner with my classmates, I tried to explain what Velveeta is, but mostly I got confused faces. And THEN I tried to explain Kraft Mac and Cheese, and all bets were off. Explaining how powdered cheese works to a bunch of Swiss people did not go over too well, I think they thought I was a little crazy.

Other than the food, Lausanne is an amazing city and I can’t wait to explore it even more! For the first week, I stayed in a hotel in the middle of the city, so it was really easy to just walk around and see all of the architecture and art throughout the Lausanne. It has snowed almost every day, but somehow I think that made it feel even more special, like something out of a movie.

The only city I have ever visited where snow just makes it better and better.

After staying at the hotel for a little, I got to my dorm in Ouchy, the region of Lausanne closest to the lake. I am lucky enough to be in a dorm that sits right on the lake itself! I can see the lake and the mountains from my window, and it only takes about two minutes to walk to the water. Before I came here, I pictured snowy mountains and a beautiful lake, and that’s exactly what I see every day. I am amazed every day when I peek through the gaps between buildings and see distant, snowy mountains. For now, I’m not worrying about my classes; I’m just enjoying the view.

This view is actually what I see almost everywhere in the city. Its so strange to walk down an ordinary street, look up, and see the most gorgeous background! So far, its my favorite part of Lausanne.

Comments Off on Jackie in Switzerland: One Week Down | Jackie in Switzerland, Spring 2015 | Tagged: Academics, Food, Friends, Host University, Switzerland | Permalink
Posted by jackieinswitzerland

Fabiana in China: You either Sink or Swim

January 26, 2015

“You either sink or swim,” stated Dr. Sun (the Director of the program) on our mandatory meeting after finishing our first week under the Language Pledge. He talked about Peter Kropotkin’s notion of anarchism and mutual aid and took us as an example of a small community: “As social beings you are bound to help each other as means of survival. You should be able to point each other’s mistakes in pronunciation and grammar and when this happens, you should be happy; it will save you a lot of time and trouble in the long run, and improve not only your language learning process, but also your personality. “

He continued by saying that, “people who learn foreign languages should be thick skinned,” meaning that we should not be afraid to make mistakes. We should actively engage with the community and take every opportunity as a learning occasion.

Oh yes, I took his advice word for word.

That Saturday night I went to discover the nightlife of Beijing at Sanlitun. There, I made friends with a Chinese lady that turned out to be the manager of the place, talked to interns working for the Canadian embassy and met a Bolivian at a salsa club after she heard the country of where I was from when they announced the winner of the dancing competition, a.k.a me. I haven’t had that much fun in so long.

That weekend I decided that if I was going to actively engage with the community I should play that “外国人“ (foreigner) card to the fullest. I would be the girl that would go around doing what normal Chinese people do with very limited Chinese. I would point at fruit at the marketplace and try to pronounce it in Chinese, and if the salesperson would correct my pronunciation, I would repeat it over and over again. I wanted to act like a sponge and immerse myself as deep as I could to get as much as I could from each experience.

I signed up for a membership at the gym located in my apartment complex. I ask for a 钥匙 (key) and a 毛巾 (towel) every time I enter the place. They see me and smile, and as days go by I try to add some more conversation to the mix.

After the clock turned 12am on Sunday night, the apartment got very quiet. The language pledge had begun again. Week two looked promising.

Little did I know we were about to loose a gladiator that week.

Robert, Sam and I sharing the “Friday (we-can-now-speak-English) happiness”

Joy, Sam, Mitch and I

Sanlitun Saturday

Homework Sunday

Comments Off on Fabiana in China: You either Sink or Swim | Fabiana in China, Spring 2015 | Tagged: Adventure, China, Culture, Friends, Language | Permalink
Posted by Fabiana in China

Diana in Germany: Re-entry and Reflection

January 26, 2015

The past week and a half back to the USA has been full of energy and fun! I’ve seen all of my friends again, celebrated my 21st birthday in my hometown of Baltimore, and returned to school. Reverse culture shock is not really happening to me, which surprises me given how much time and resources were devoted to this topic by my IES program and the study abroad office at University of Richmond. I know several of my friends are experiencing it though – especially as it relates to their much heavier workload and busier extracurricular lives. For me, coming back to America has been almost entirely positive with one or two moments leaving me feeling uncomfortable.

Friends and I celebrating my 21st birthday back in the USA sleepover style.

So why do I feel so good? Unlike many people, I studied abroad in a country where I did not know the official language before arriving. Every day sent new struggles and triumphs in the form of language barriers out in public. Now I am back in a world where I can listen in to conversations others are having and order food with 100% certainty of what I will be receiving. Places are familiar, faces are familiar, I have access to my family and friends again! The coolest thing I realized about Americans once I came back is how friendly we are in public. Exchanging smiles on the street with complete strangers, saying good morning in a hotel elevator, discussing things with people in the grocery store line, which did not happen once while I was abroad. I used to take for granted how open we are in public, but with the lens of studying abroad in Germany I will always appreciate the warmth we show each other. There is also the fact that, even though I am taking 5 classes this semester, they all seem manageable and are being taught by passionate, supportive professors. The biggest struggle academically is keeping track of all 5 at once instead of one at a time.

What were the few experiences that have left me feeling a little wistful for Freiburg? So far they mostly relate to transportation, energy saving, and recycling. there are still plenty of ways we waste BIG TIME compared to Freiburgers. People who even label themselves environmentalists leave the lights on or keep their power cord on all day when they are not in their rooms. At the grocery stores and convenience stores they pack everything up in plastic bags, which I forgot about while I was abroad. Everyone in Freiburg would bring their own cloth bags and buy for only a few days worth of food because grocery stores are so close by. Here, the stores automatically put your products into plastic bags… which I know from my work at Watershed Monitoring often end up in rivers. I miss wind turbines and streetcars and knowing that my energy is coming from woodchips and biogas. However, I am happy to see several new recycling/trash combination receptacles on campus and several new options for public transport from University of Richmond’s campus into the city.

What has changed about me because of study abroad (besides my hair color, haha)? How has it impacted me?
-Navigating public transportation is like breathing now.
-I know a bit more German and have a new perspective on English. We are so privileged to live in a predominantly English speaking country. Young people in all areas of the world are learning English, which makes it that much easier to study abroad anywhere.
-I’m totally confident in my cooking skillz for the future (oh right that brings up my sadness about no longer having a kitchen)
-My life goals and day-to-day perspectives are more flexible. I believe that no matter what, I will get a job I like. Somehow and in some unexpected way.
-On New Years Day I felt a shift in my heart. I let go of past fights or negative feelings about situations and people. Thankfully it seems those people involved have also grown in this way 🙂 GO POSITIVITY!!

Finally, I promised you all a list of the things I would exchange between Germany and the USA to make one super awesome place. The things I would want from Germany are: curry ketchup, more wind turbines, more trams/subways, bike lanes, biking culture, chemical trackers (see below), good cheap beer, actual dancing, and black forest cake in every bakery. The things I would want from the USA are: more vegetarian options, more fruit and vegetables in restaurants, grocery stores open on Sunday, less bottled water, more free or inexpensive tap water, no cobblestone streets, Chipotle, and real milkshakes.

Wistful for wind turbines

These track levels of different chemical pollutants that are in the air and gives a green, yellow, or red light depending on the air quality. Freiburg gets all green!

I missed volunteering! For MLK Day I volunteered at a non-profit farm, Shalom Farms, that sends its produce to those with less access to fresh, healthy food. Photo taken by Kevin Heraldo.

Blogging has been a wonderful experience and a way for me to record my life in Germany for myself. I appreciate the opportunity very much and thank the Office of International Education for selecting me!

Signing out for the last time on this particular blog!

Diana in Germany

Leave a Comment » | Diana in Germany, Fall 2014 | Tagged: Adventure, Culture, Friends, Germany | Permalink
Posted by dianaingermany

KyungSun in Scotland: Living a Double Life

January 22, 2015

Since classes started, I’ve been trying to acclimate to the local lifestyle. I stopped randomly taking pictures of picturesque streets, do my work at the local cafes, and even gave someone directions! But I admit: I can’t call myself a local quite yet. I’ve also gone on tours to the Parliament Building with the other interns, taken photos from every angle on Calton’s Hill, and still can’t figure out how much each coin is worth (the size is nowhere indicative of the amount! See below).

Can you guess the amount? From left to right it’s 2 pence, 2 pounds, 1 pound, 20 pence, 1 pence, and 5 pence.

Thankfully, I’ve been able to get my dose of local culture through the University’s International Buddy Program. They invited me to my first pub quiz at a place called Frankenstein’s Pub last Thursday night. And yes, the outside was as cheesy as it sounded. When I arrived, I was greeted with a loud muhahaha!! sound effect that blast from a tall Frankenstein figure.

I am not particularly good at trivia, but I discovered a new love for pub quizzes. Everyone and by everyone, I mean the entire pub, participates. Each table forms a team, the MC asks trivia questions throughout the evening, plays music while teams answer the questions, and everyone grabs drinks in between. It was a very casual hangout and I got to meet a lot of local Edinburgh students. We didn’t talk about anything special, but simply understanding what they meant by things like “timetabling” (schedule) and “in queue” (in line) made me feel more like a local.

Of course, I still had to get my tourist fix a few days later. We finally got a sunny day and it was a perfect day to climb! My flatmate and I were too excited to be outside that we did Calton’s Hill and Arthur’s Seat on the same day. Let’s just say I didn’t wake up until 2pm the following day.

Arthur’s Seat was by far my favorite place to climb. When I first arrived at the base of the volcano, I was happy to see lots of locals on the trails. I played it casual, hoping I didn’t stand out as a tourist until…I got closer. The locals were not only running the trails, but wearing shorts and sweatshirts! Meanwhile, I arrived looking like a marshmallow. I didn’t regret it though. The sun was misleading because it was still very, very cold outside.

We asked someone coming toward us which trail was the best to take. He said that if we took the left one, we’d get to the top in thirty minutes! Woo! My flatmate and I were itching to get to the top. The way up was quite steep and we had to stop more than we anticipated. But I took these moments to turn around and see how far I’ve come. Doing a “look back” is one of my favorite things to do while climbing. I also looked up and I was excited to see how high I would be:

The “look back”

The “look up”

Once we got to the top, I was in awe. The view is absolutely breathtaking! The sun was just setting, the landscape was beautiful, and I was very ready to capture the moment. The problem was I couldn’t move. The wind kept knocking me over and it was so cold that my eyes were tearing up. I blindly snapped some pictures but my hands paid a price. You may think I’m exaggerating, but see for yourself. Here is a video when I tried to climb Arthur’s Seat on a good day versus a bad day:

Here is also a picture of my flatmate and me:

My flatmate Lindy and me!

My pictures don’t fully capture what it feels like to be on top of this great inactive volcano, but I wasn’t too disappointed. I realized that part of living and becoming part of Edinburgh means soaking in the beautiful views with my own eyes rather than trying to capture it on camera.

Trying to hide my touristy moments and integrate myself as a local is certainly a challenge. But I think being able to play both identities is the best part about being an exchange student. I have had moments where I know I’m being judged and labeled as I quickly try to snap photos for friends and family back home, but I’ve also used it as an excuse to strike up a conversation with locals and other exchange students. It’s all about perspective, and I’m definitely taking advantage of playing both a tourist and local while I’m here.

Simon Cowell was in town!

Leave a Comment » | KyungSun in Scotland, Spring 2015 | Tagged: Adventure, Friends, Scotland, Sightseeing | Permalink
Posted by Klee

Fabiana in China: First Day

January 12, 2015

“Why is it this hard?” I asked.

“What is?” he answered.

“Leaving. I knew I was going to leave the minute I got here. So why is it this hard?”

“Maybe it’s because every time you leave somewhere that’s important to you, you leave a part of you there.”

He was right. Parting Bolivia always meant leaving a part of me. Painful, but in my eyes, necessary.

I left home when I was sixteen because I felt limited. Bolivian youth was bred under the idea that we could not change the reality of our country, they set boundaries between what was “do-able” and “unreachable” and with that limited our possibilities.

I was lucky enough to be able to build the path I was eagerly looking for and become someone that now realizes that taking roads less traveled are difficult but essential. The innumerable experiences and qualities I found along the way have taught me that my horizon must not be full of dreams, but also actions.

The feeling I get after leaving Bolivia reminds me of the work I’ve started and still have left to complete.

2 days, 13 hours and 10 minutes.

That was the insane amount of travelling it took for me to get from Bolivia to China. It took only 1 minute however, to forget about how tired I was as soon I saw Lang 老师 (Jun Lang) and a sign that read “Chinese Studies Institute.” I couldn’t believe I was that happy to see a familiar face.

Lang 老师 (“lang laoshi” which stands for Teacher Lang) was my Elementary Chinese teacher back in Richmond. She was the one who encouraged me to apply for the program and since then, never left my side. She hugged me and put us both in a cab on our way to my new apartment.

I was the last one to arrive to the apartment where I and 5 other girls would be sharing it with a teacher. The apartment was quite fancy for Chinese standards, it was pretty big and clean, and seemed to have covered the basic necessities. Ma 老师 (the teacher I would be living with) showed me around and introduced me to my beautiful and exotic roommate, Ble. Ble is from Madagascar and attends Wooster College back in the States. She was warm and friendly, so we started on the right track.

It’s getting late now and I should be heading to bed. Tomorrow will be a big day.

Taking a taste of home with me: Trimate Tea, a mixture of anise, chamomile and coca leaf tea.

Defrosted in Chicago

A bed I’ll call my own for the next 4 months

Comments Off on Fabiana in China: First Day | Fabiana in China, Spring 2015 | Tagged: Adventure, China, Friends, Preparation | Permalink
Posted by Fabiana in China

Fabiana in China: Chinese Interrupts My Sleep

Jackie in Switzerland: French, Flaubert and Fondue

Becca in Hungary: A Weekend Fairytale

Fabiana in China: Chinese New Year for Beginners

KyungSun in Scotland: The Scots, Brits, and Somewhere in Between

Jackie in Switzerland: One Week Down

Fabiana in China: You either Sink or Swim

Diana in Germany: Re-entry and Reflection

KyungSun in Scotland: Living a Double Life

Fabiana in China: First Day

Blogs by Semester

Tags

Like us on Facebook

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Blogs by Semester

Tags