Some Reverse Culture Shock
It’s been almost a month now since I’ve returned from my study abroad program, and from the beginning of my journey, I knew I wanted to do a post about reverse culture shock. While spending three months in London with the Hansard Scholars Program was a life changing experience, few phenomena compare to coming home after a whirlwind adventure to family and life back in the US. While, culturally, London was a fairly similar city to...
You comin’, blondie?
Before leaving for study abroad (and leaving the country for the first time…ever), I often compared what I thought my experience would be like to a scene in my favorite movie-Tangled. It’s the moment when Rapunzel decides to jump from her tower, and is struggling to make her descent. For those who haven’t seen it, here is what she said: “Look at the world so close, and I’m halfway to it! Look at it all so big,...
Academics at St Andrews
In some ways, academics at the University of St Andrews is very different from the University of Alabama. I expected many of the obvious differences, such as new set of terminology: module instead of course, term instead of semester, or revising instead of studying. Unlike most courses at American undergraduate colleges, each module at St Andrews features several lecturers, as many as 8 or 10 in some, who each teach his or her own...
An Update on my Tanzanian Adventure
I’ve been in Tanzania for almost 3.5 months now, and I’ve loved every minute of my time here. Despite being very different from the United States, I didn’t have any issues adjusting to life in Tanzania; however, I have definitely grown from exposure to the culture. For example, I am better at accepting that not everything will go as planned or happen on time (here, everything happens on “Tanzania time” – i.e. late). Also, I’ve...
Preparing to Return Home from Italy–Crazy!!
Ciao Everyone! It is insane to be saying, but I already only have eleven days in this beautiful city of Florence, Italy. I honestly have no idea where time has gone and I am totally not ready to leave yet (but my Bank Account is). I have not really started getting ready or packing yet because I am trying to soak everything in and do last minute things I have not been able to do yet. I have been eating at my favorite restaurants a lot...
Feeling Like a Sevillano
After being in Seville for a few months now, I can without a doubt say that I picked the perfect place to study for a semester. Seville is not exactly what I imagined, as I began my adventure in Madrid for orientation. However, unlike the city-like bustle of Madrid, Seville is covered in palm trees, mosaic tiles, and sunshine. It took me a while to gather my surroundings, as everything in Seville is centered around the beautiful park...