Dia duit!
My name is Blake, and I’m studying abroad at the University of Limerick in Ireland. For those that are wondering, “dia duit” is Gaelic for “God be with you,” which is how people say “hello” in Ireland. The past three weeks have been the best of my life! I traveled abroad for the first time, flew for the first time (my first flight ever was international), and traveled completely alone for the...
Intentionally Lost Luggage: Leaving Anxieties at the Airport
As a child growing up in the ever-expanding suburbs outside Chicago, Europe seemed more like a fantasy than an actual place I might someday visit. Aside from the semi-frequent road trips to Wisconsin, Michigan, and sometimes Florida, my family and I didn’t really travel much. I was almost a teenager before I saw the ocean for the first time in-person. The first (and only) time I left the United States was during a road trip to Niagara...
Preparing for Prague
My name is Emily and I am a second semester junior at UA. I am a double major in Communicative Disorders and Psychology and I will be studying abroad in Prague, Czech Republic for this upcoming semester. I officially leave for my semester abroad in two days. I don’t really know what motivated me to study abroad, as it is very difficult and not very practical for my Communicative Disorders major, but with the program that I chose I was...
Hello Wembley
My name is Johnathan Anderson and I’m studying abroad in Leicester, England! (LES-TAH) I’ve been in town for just about a week now and feel like everything is beginning to feel a bit normal. Classes started yesterday and my routine is beginning to settle in, but this past week has been anything but ordinary. Before I left the states, I had long been a fan of English football and hoped that my time abroad would open my eyes...
ありがとう、日本！
I’ve wanted to study abroad in Japan since I was in middle school, so of course I was very excited when I first got there. I found that month by month my excitement slowly became replaced by comfort and familiarity, and as I adjusted to Japan it became home to me. Its society, my classes, and the friends I’d made from around the world helped me to grow as a person in more ways than I expected. First, I became more patient. Japanese...