by Cho Rong Won | Jul 7, 2017 | All Year, Asia, Semester, UA Non-Affiliate
As a citizen of Korea, but as a child who lived in America since first grade, Korea was unfamiliar to me. Just like any K-Pop star fans, Korea was a fantasy. I went to Korea on Fall 2016 for my social work field placement and on Spring 2017 for a study abroad. I...
by Cho Rong Won | Jul 7, 2017 | Asia, Semester, Social Work, UA Non-Affiliate
I love green tea. Any green tea-flavored deserts impulse my consumer desire so I decided to start my journey of the holy green tea trail and my love for cafés and bakeries. Korea is not the designated green tea heaven, Japan is; however, there were enough or excessive...
by Brittany G | May 25, 2017 | Arts & Sciences, Asia, Non-traditional, Semester, UA-Affiliate, _
I’ve been back in the states for almost three weeks now. It feels like far longer. It feels like I just got back. Reverse culture shock, despite the large differences in Thai and American culture hasn’t been as bad as I was expecting. I’m often disappointed...
by Brittany G | May 16, 2017 | Arts & Sciences, Asia, Semester, UA-Affiliate, _
Interacting with locals, both in language learning and in getting a feel for the culture of your host country, is rather important. It’s also often a challenge. This is also where there’s a huge difference in your immediate chances of success based on program-type and...
![[Pre-Departure] Why I wanted to go to Japan and Ritsumeikan University](https://www.bamabloggersabroad.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/ritsumeikan-university.jpg)
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 Brittany G | Mar 8, 2017 | Asia, Duration, Program Type, Region, Semester, UA-Affiliate, _
For me, trips don’t feel 100% real until my plane hits the tarmac on the other side. Despite this, my anxiety around packing likes to spike about two weeks before Departure Day. The beginning of that usually looks like wide-eyed, slightly panicked shuffling of all...
by Emily P | Dec 14, 2016 | Asia, Semester, UA-Affiliate
As I write this post, I’m sitting in one of our two living rooms (Hello, awesome apartment), feeling the cool night breeze coming in through the window, looking out over the picturesque city landscape, and listening to boys playing soccer in the street below...
by Madison K | Oct 13, 2016 | Asia, Engineering, Human Environmental Sciences, Semester, UA-Affiliate
The 3rd step to the eightfold path is right speech. One integral part of this is to avoid ‘idle chatter,’ something I’ve come to realize The States seems to specialize in. The other day, I asked my Thai professor, how do I say “I agree”...
by Madison K | Oct 13, 2016 | Asia, Engineering, Human Environmental Sciences, Semester, UA-Affiliate, _
14 kilometers up a mountain. 7 hours. 10,000 other freshman students. I was able to take part in a long held tradition that many students look forward to for years: the Freshman trek up Doi Suthep, also deemed, ‘the long walk.’ Over the course of 7 hours,...
by Madison K | Oct 13, 2016 | Asia, Engineering, Semester, UA-Affiliate, _
“I think we were the only Westerners there besides guys married to Thai’s,” “Oh, definitely, I didn’t see any other farangs there,” and as I said that, I realized although we were the only foreigners there, not at any point did I...
by Madison K | Oct 13, 2016 | Asia, Engineering, Semester, UA-Affiliate, _
“Do you want to fight in the freshman competition this Sunday?” One minute I was searching for a weights gym with a fellow study abroad student, and ended up peering in on fencing practice. The next moment we were asked if we’d like to join the...
by Madison K | Oct 13, 2016 | Asia, Engineering, Semester, UA-Affiliate, _
Walking among mounds of colorful chile peppers that will set your mouth on fire and bunches of cilantro that fill my nose with a delightful fresh smell, and I am the only ‘farang’ in sight. Locals load their motorbike sidecars with bags full of cabbage and...
by Emily P | Sep 22, 2016 | Arts & Sciences, Asia, Semester, UA-Affiliate
This might be one of the common questions that people ask me once I tell that I’m studying abroad in Jordan this year. If you’re not super into history/geography/politics and not obsessed with the Middle East (like me), it’s understandable that you...
by Kurt A | Sep 22, 2016 | Asia, Engineering, Semester, UA-Affiliate
It’s always interesting returning to your own country after being abroad, but it’s especially interesting whenever you return after such a long time. Living in another country changes you subtly, day by day, in really small ways that you can’t see until you hit...
by Madison K | Sep 22, 2016 | Asia, Community Health Sciences, Human Environmental Sciences, Semester, UA-Affiliate
-White shirt buttoned up all the way, black skirt to your knee, black belt, and a collar pin- thats the dress code. In college they are making us wear a uniform. It is Alabama summer hot every day and will be for months, and we have to wear a button up shirt. You...
by Erin B | Aug 19, 2016 | Arts & Sciences, Asia, Faculty-Led, Summer
I’ve been home from my time in China for a while now and I must say, I miss it. I never would have imagined missing a country so different from my own with people so different from myself. By the end of my trip, I definitely was ready to come back to the United...
by Lindsey Zimmer | Aug 17, 2016 | Asia, Faculty-Led, Nursing, Summer
Wow. I’ve been home from East Asia for a couple weeks, and in that time I’ve had the chance to reflect on all that I saw and learned while abroad. I’m definitely missing the city I was in, the family and group of nationals that we worked with each...
by Juan C | Aug 12, 2016 | Asia, Commerce & Business, Faculty-Led, Summer
As I begin to pack for my trip across the globe, I can’t help but feel both excitement and a slight sense of apprehension. I know that great adventures await me in India, a country that in my mind is as unique as it is distant. Its culture and customs are highly...
by Megan B | Aug 3, 2016 | Arts & Sciences, Asia, Europe, Semester, UA Non-Affiliate
I’ve been home for about a while now and I’m getting ready to head back to Alabama for the fall. So I have used this time to reflect on my time in Russia. Now it seems so far away and its weird to think that I’ve spent a semester there. At first I wasn’t sure...
by Erin B | Jul 28, 2016 | Arts & Sciences, Asia, Faculty-Led, Summer
I am in the throngs of my China trip and, miraculously, nothing terrible has happened. No earthquakes, no kidnappings, no allergic reaction, I began to feel like I was on top of the world! The fact that I stared my anxiety down in the face and came on this trip was...
