by Mackenzie D | Jul 30, 2018 | All Year, Arts & Sciences, Asia, Exchange
Moving backwards just a little bit into my time over break. I was lucky to have been able to visit a whole new country rather than returning home! At first I wasn’t sure what it was going to be like, but my friend that I’ve known for about 2 years was more...
by Mary D | Jul 26, 2018 | Australia/New Zealand, Exchange, Faculty-Led, Law, Summer, UA-Affiliate
I intended to make this post over a week ago, so let me start with a piece of advice: when you’re studying abroad, time can get away from you pretty easily. It’s a challenge to stay on top of your schoolwork when so many other, more interesting things are happening...
by Mary D | Jul 5, 2018 | Australia/New Zealand, Exchange, Law, Summer, UA-Affiliate
I have been in Australia for a week now, so I’m an expert on international travel, the study abroad experience, and mastering the nuances of a new culture. (This is a lie.) I intended to make this blog post much earlier, but it turns out preparing for a...
by Mackenzie D | Jun 18, 2018 | All Year, Arts & Sciences, Asia, Exchange
I’ll include my winter posts soon, so please be looking out for those, but I would like to begin with everything that has happened thus far this month. For the first time in a while, I was able to travel to Osaka after school. While Kyoto is a lovely and quiet...
by Mackenzie D | Dec 29, 2017 | All Year, Arts & Sciences, Asia, Exchange
It’s been unbelievably fun here in Japan ever since I arrived in September. At first it was a little difficult to adjust to everything, and I’m still sad that fruit is so expensive to buy… But thanks to everyone living here at Utano International...
by Mackenzie D | Dec 5, 2017 | All Year, Arts & Sciences, Asia, Exchange
As the season has changed from summer to fall, there are a lot more tourists in Kyoto. According to my Japanese teacher, they come to visit many of the temples and shrines that Kyoto has to offer. But also to see the ‘紅葉’, or Autumn leaves. At first I was...
by Mackenzie D | Oct 30, 2017 | All Year, Arts & Sciences, Asia, Exchange
After the first week of coming to Japan, everything became a whir of trying to orientate myself here. There was a lot of paperwork we had to do for both the university and for Japan, not to mention I had to buy more groceries and the store near the bottom of the hill!...
by Emily P | Sep 11, 2017 | Asia, Commerce & Business, Exchange, Semester
Being abroad has changed me, and it was for the better. I loved every minute of it, even though some parts were hard. I have been back in the United States for about a month now. Sometimes I still finding myself doing things that I was used to in Japan such as taking...
by Mackenzie D | Sep 4, 2017 | All Year, Arts & Sciences, Asia, Exchange
It’s a little difficult to explain what it’s like to leave the country for a year. At first, you can’t be more excited for it, but then the reality starts to sink in. Suddenly, you’re looking at your wallet wondering how you’re going to...
by Emily P | Aug 9, 2017 | Asia, Exchange, Semester
In America, we usually drive around cars to get from place to place. The same is true for Japan for some people. Except, driving in Japan is extremely expensive. Japanese law mandates people to go to driving school first before they receive their license, which ends...
by Carter B | Jul 24, 2017 | All Year, Engineering, Europe, Exchange
Since I left Germany after a two week vacation in high school, my goal has always been to go back, but I did not know how. The opportunity presented itself with the Two Steps Ahead program at UA. The expectations were lofty: become a fluent German speaker inside of...
by Elayne Smith | May 15, 2017 | Australia/New Zealand, Comm & Info Sciences, Exchange, Semester
While the buzz of life on campus restarted, while my friends started filling their agendas and while others studying abroad started taking off for their adventure, I have been stuck in a weird kind of limbo. As a future exchange student at the Queensland University of...
by Spencer Main | May 15, 2017 | Comm & Info Sciences, Europe, Exchange, Semester
Once I stepped off the plane at London Gatwick, I felt as if I was in the middle of dream. Everything was different. The people talked funny and the signs I had to follow were different than the ones in America. Flash forward almost an entire month and I still feel as...
by Sarah F | Apr 5, 2017 | Europe, Exchange, Semester, _
I have lived in France for a little over three months now, and every day is still an adventure. My exchange program is placed in Tours, France, and idyllic and quaint French town about an hour train ride outside of Paris. This little town, located along the Loire...
by McKenzie M | Apr 3, 2017 | Australia/New Zealand, Exchange, Semester, _
Lemonade is actually sprite. Thongs are flip flops. Toasties are sandwiches. And everyone screams “Yeeew!” when they’re excited. Tim Tams are delicious and Aussie guys will make any girl swoon! This first week in Australia was nothing less than...
by Emily P | Mar 25, 2017 | Asia, Commerce & Business, Exchange, Semester, UA-Affiliate
Traveling to other countries has always been a dream of mine. As a child and teenager, I did not have the fortunate opportunity to travel the world like some people I know; however, I did not let that deter me away from challenges. When I entered the university, I...
by Linnet K | Jul 12, 2016 | Asia, Commerce & Business, Exchange, Semester
안녕 Sitting in a coffee shop in the middle of Seoul and finally realizing that in exactly a month, I will be back in Alabama, is filling me with nothing but sadness. It seems impossible that four months have already passed of my study abroad experience, and it is now...
by Christina I | Jun 24, 2016 | Comm & Info Sciences, Europe, Exchange, Semester
I’ll start off this blog post with a cliché but oh-so-true sentence: Studying abroad was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I saw so many amazing places, met so many amazing people, and made memories to last a lifetime. Through ups and downs I...
by Christina I | May 2, 2016 | Comm & Info Sciences, Europe, Exchange, Semester
One of the best perks of Study Abroad is the Abroad part of the experience, especially the travel abroad. By choosing to go to school at Leicester University, I had the opportunity to pack my life in a backpack for a five week Easter break. I did...
by Hunter B | Apr 28, 2016 | Australia/New Zealand, Comm & Info Sciences, Commerce & Business, Exchange, Semester
It’s absolutely crazy to me to think that I have already been in Australia for over a month! The time sure does fly out here… And what an exciting month it has been! One of the cool things about college (or as the Aussies call it, “uni”) in...