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...
by Jessie L | Jul 27, 2016 | Asia, Commerce & Business, Faculty-Led, Summer
Right when I landed back in the US, I still couldn’t get my head wrapped around how I’ve been away for a month. I knew that once I got home I’d be behind in my friend’s life and my families, even though we tried to talk every day, it was limited due to the internet I...
by Kurt A | Jul 27, 2016 | Asia, Engineering, Semester, UA-Affiliate
Studying abroad is one of the best learning experiences for a student out there. It can teach a person so many different things. Not just about the world at large, but about themselves as well. One of the biggest skills I have noticed that many students learn, is...
by Erin B | Jul 27, 2016 | Arts & Sciences, Asia, Faculty-Led, Summer
“I’m going to China.” I have been repeating this mantra in my mind since I decided to go on this trip back in November. Frankly, I don’t even know how I ended up here. I was simply walking out of my Chinese 101 class when my teacher said, “You should go to China.” My...
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 Jessie L | Jun 30, 2016 | Asia, Commerce & Business, Faculty-Led, Summer
Whenever I told anyone I was going to China, I always got a similar reaction from everyone, “why there?” Everyone assumes that China is not a place to travel to, that it’s dirty and the people don’t know English, so why even go there. But I knew never to judge a place...
by Chandlar F | Jun 14, 2016 | Asia, Faculty-Led, Nursing, Summer
When I entered school at The University of Alabama, I wanted to study abroad more than anything. But after finding out that with the nursing curriculum couldn’t be transferred abroad, I gave up that dream. Then I found out about the Medical Abroad trips and knew...
by Lindsey Zimmer | Jun 14, 2016 | Asia, Faculty-Led, Nursing, Summer
Traveling. It’s something I’ve always loved. Jesus. He’s someone I’ve always loved. Nursing. It’s something I’ve come to love. Now let’s throw those three things into a pot and mix them all together. During the fall semester...
