The past two weeks have been the focus of an independent study project (ISP) with SIT. This entails setting out to manage your own time, setting up interviews, and experience what the culture has to provide. This has proved to be an interesting task, and quite a handful at points. Being in a city such…
Winding Down
Well it’s official. 11 days left in London and I genuinely don’t know what to do with myself. Last week was a bit rough, having to spend Thanksgiving away from my family. However, CAPA held a Thanksgiving dinner for us and while I knew it wouldn’t be the same, it was nice to be among…
Monuments: Belgrade to Avala Mountain
I had been getting ready for my travels back to Sarajevo to do qualitative research, when I was given the opportunity of going to Avala mountain a few days before my departure. Avala mountain is about a 30 minute drive out of Belgrade Southeast, and offers stunning scenery of all the land around it. On…
Belgrade, Serbia
My first week in Belgrade, Serbia is a blur. It’s been almost three months since I first landed, since I first walked the still warm streets and cautiously ordered food. I still eat more vegetables and meat in one meal than I would an entire week back home. I was half terrified, half excited each…
Tu Parles Français?
Why are you studying in Aix if you don’t speak french? This is a question I have had to answer many times in my 3 months of being here. I 1) chose Aix-en-Provence for the location and it’s beauty and 2) was not required to know the language prior to being in France. It has…
Thanksgiving and The Beginning of Packing
November flew by so quickly – almost quicker than my flight to Paris. One of the high lights of this month was getting to celebrate Thanksgiving here in Paris even though it’s not a French holiday. Originally my brother was going to come visit me in Paris for Thanksgiving but due to the attacks our…
Made it to the Mountain!
This past weekend I finally completed a major travel goal of this semester: hiking on Huangshan (Yellow Mountains-黄山)! Much of my first blog was dedicated to explaining this goal, and it was even more beautiful and worth it than I had imagined! Neither my friend nor I had ever hiked on (and up!) mountains before, so we researched much-needed tips before leaving, especially using traveler blogs. I learned so much and…
Small Opportunities Often Forgotten
One aspect of studying through Alliance (the program that Rollins is working through in Shanghai) that I have truly come to appreciate and enjoy is the existence of Alliance-coordinated lectures, activities and extracurricular activities. Sometimes we get caught up in big weekend trips and forget to take in the small experiences. (I say this about myself just as much…
Experiencing the fabric markets
Experiencing the fabric markets What a crazy environment. I recently explored the famous fabric markets of Shanghai. They are quite huge and quite a site to see. If you like clothes for a good price, that is the place to be. We entered a warehouse like structure and through the dusty plastic doors it was…
Himeji Castle
Just about every weekend this semester, my roommate and I have made sure to go somewhere interesting, even if it isn’t far. We’ve traveled all through downtown Osaka together, through nearby Makino, all the way to Nara to see the oldest wooden buildings in the world, and most recently went to Himeji Castle (located near…