- I decided to study abroad to help broaden my horizon and expose myself to other cultures. I chose to participate in a faculty led program studying international financial reporting standards in Berlin, Germany and Florence, Italy. I am currently completing my Masters of Taxation at Manderson and wanted to ensure that the program I participated in was relevant to my degree and upcoming career in accounting. There several key items I needed to consider before leaving, and one of the more important item was how I was going to communicate with the local residents. Although most people in Western Europe speak English as a first or second language, I wanted to try my best to learn some helpful phrases in French and Italian mainly (as I had accepted I would not be able to learn much German). Additionally, I had decided to pack only in carryon luggage as I would be traveling by train for some of the journey and did not want to deal with the hassle of a large checked suitcase. In order to pack that light I purchased compression packing cubes that allowed me to put my clothes in a cube, zip it closed, and then squeeze all the air out so my clothes would take up less than half of the space they would have normally taken up. I am extremely excited to go abroad and live in Europe for some of the summer. I have not felt any anxiety about traveling abroad. I have tried to somewhat temper my expectations about each city I will visit and try to live more in the moment to limit the amount of regret I might feel about not having time to see something I would like to see or feel that a certain city did not live up to the hype. Overall, I hope to gain a broader perspective on how to live life and hope to learn more about myself on how to live in a global community.
