Ashley H. - Salzburt, Austria- Spring 2008

By now, I should be a veteran at this whole studying abroad thing, seeing as how I have been in Salzburg, Austria since since September. Sure, the school routines are down, the bus routes are over taken, and the Austrian dialect is slowly sinking in, but parts of being here are still so new to me, and it absolutely amazes me that it's possible. We just finished a two week spring break out here, and having visitors from home and playing tour guide made me fall in love with this city all over again. I have to be honest, Salzburg no longer feels new, but it still doesn't feel like my home yet either; I'm somewhere in between all that and loving it. I feel comfortable here. Don't ever doubt anyone who tells you the second semester abroad is easier and more enjoyable because it is absolutely true! The drama of settling in and the uncomfortablenesses and anxiety of being a full-out foreigner is gone. Classes are surprisingly easier--not the content, but the comprehension. I NEVER thought I could sit through seven hours of German lectures and be able to understand every little joke or colloquialism thrown at me, but I do, and its the most accomplishing feeling ever! I now know many more tricks to surviving with the Austrians, little things like the correct way to pay for a bus ticket, all the way to binding snow shoes and avoiding avalanches in the Alps. There are still hard times: much much more is expected from me here because it's my second semester, the dollar is ridiculously week, efficiency does not exist, and I still find myself defending the American way quite often, but these little things lead to some of the most memorable times I am having here, and I really hope that everyone else who will be or is out of the country now will feel the same way once they settle in and won't give up. Try everything, see everything...twice in fact, and appreciate that its different. Not better or worse, just different. You will fall in love with it too.

Kari G. - St. Etienne, France - Spring 2008

Hey everyone. I figured it was about time I posted on here since I've been here long enough to change my mind! I will not sugarcoat anything, either; this is basically how I felt when I arrived and how I feel now. When I first arrived here in France I was in a sort of daze. I did not prepare myself to leave. I do not really know how you would do that anyway. It didn't seem real that I was leaving until the morning of when I had to tell my family and my boyfriend goodbye. I got here and it was an absolute mess. When I arrived at my residence hall there was no one here to accept me because it was lunch time and NO ONE works during lunch in France. Stores close and everything. SO I was waiting a very nice French girl stopped and helped me. Only problem was she spoke NO English. It was very discouraging but the two of us managed and she was incredibly nice and helped me move in and everything and get a room when the many finally showed up. Needless to say, things were a little rough when I arrived. For the first few days, I was a mess. I did not like it here and I wanted to leave. I was very homesick and did not want to do anything for the first week. However, after that first week, and after I started class and met people, I really liked it here. I just needed to give myself a little time to adjust. I was really really considering leaving, too. I did not really meet anyone for the first two days, and my room is small so it was quite depressing. HOWEVER, now, I love it here. I love all my new friends and I love the town I am in. It's not the prettiest town in France but I like it here a lot. I just needed to give myself time to adjust and meet people. I needed to get a schedule going. I definitely did not expect to be homesick at all or feel like I did upon arrival, but I did. It is not like going away to college for the first time, which I had NO problem with at all. I love France, though, now and all the new things I'm experiencing; I just needed to give it a little time!

SO there you go and yes Alice, I HATED it here when I arrived :( It is very unorganized here, which I hate, but I am doing really well now :)

Elizabeth B. - Oxford, England - Spring 2008

I can't believe it's March--the end of March no less! I haven't blogged so much in the past before now because I think I was waiting for some kind of culture shock, but one never came; however, looking back on it all, I have learned from another culture, no doubt about it. It wasn't one big main event of a culture shock...but more of a gradual realization.

At first, arriving at CMRS in Oxford, I was a bit disappointed. (This only lasted a little bit!!) Living dorm style, with 20 some other American students, it was very much an American bubble, and I began to wish I had picked another country and program where I would have been living in a family's home where they spoke a different language.

I now realize, however, that despite living in the little American bubble...there are plenty of opportunities to get out there and really observe, learn and appreciate the British ways. I'm also thankful that I made an effort to get out on my own, without a group of other Americans, to get the best experience. Of course, making new friends here is a huge part of my experience here, but I also have gained from not being connected to the hip to a group. I think studying abroad should be an opportunity to take time for yourself, really think about things and be a little more
independent. Simply taking a walk in Christ Church Meadows early in the morning can be rewarding. I'll never forget when I helped a little old lady cross the street at Abington Road. I've also enjoyed going to a couple of netball practices with the girls from St. Peter's College.

So, that's my little bit of wisdom...wherever you go, take some time for yourself. Don't get stuck in an American bubble.

Another qualm I had at first was how the amount of work and studying I had to do for tutorials and seminar was taking away from time I could have spent traveling more and getting to know the culture. I thought of study abroad experiences other students have had when it sounded like all the did was travel around Europe without a care in the world, and classes were a piece of cake. But really, studying and academics IS the culture of Oxford! On Friday nights when I was with my laptop and books, not going out to the pubs, I told myself this is what I came here for, and I can go out anytime anywhere to bars in the states....but this is the only time I have to study in OXFORD...where so many occurrences and people have been on High Street and Cornmarket, in the Bodleian. Connections to something famous are everywhere. One of these amazing connections has to do with C.S Lewis: Not only is the pub, Eagle and Child, where parts of J.R.R Tolken's and Lewis's works were first read out loud, right on Saint Giles Street (a 10 minute walk from St. Michael's Hall), BUT, also, my tutor, Dr. Lurcock, who I had for Jane Austen; his tutor's tutor was C.S Lewis!! So, I am now like the great grandchild/student of C.S. Lewis!! So, even though I wasn't blessed with easy classes and time to bop about about Europe, I've learned and studied in exceptional place from exceptional people. priceless.

I've learned so much here from my tutors and professors and I'll be able to refer to and go back to it all again and again (at this point, after my Jane Austen tutorial, I seem to find an Austen connection in the craziest ways).

Some other favorite things about my time here is that there's flowers in February! The weather although at times is gloomy, is still milder, and it's just impossible to be down in the dumps when you see daffodils everywhere. Also, I'm going to miss the chip/kabob stands (chips=french fries). On nights when dinner is particularly mysterious, the chip stands are always there...all night.

I've also cought on to the whole Americans are loud stereotype. We are! I've noticed tour around different places that the Americans are always noticeable in a crowd.

I'm quite torn about going home so soon. It will be nice to get back to better food, Target, a car and my friends and family (not in the order of course), but I'm going to miss Oxford a lot. It's such a beautiful little city and I've learned and grown so much here. Nothing back home in the states is like it.

cheers!

Kari G. - St. Etienne, France - Spring 2008

So, it has been a while since I wrote my last blog, BUT I can definitely say I am really enjoying myself here. I struggled when I got here to understand things. Luckily, there was a another American girl who understood well. I have made amazing progress, though, over the past two months if I do say so myself. I actually have people tell me I speak well...even though I sincerely doubt that haha. BUT I have no problems understanding everyone now. There are, of course, the times when I'm like, "Can you repeat that please?" But now I understand so much better. I can express myself a little better now, as well, which is really nice. It's hard to not be able to say what you want to say. However, I have found that people here are extremely nice as long as you try. It's really true--contrary to popular belief, French people are not rude and do actually like Americans and are very helpful if you ask.

There are some small things, though, that I have had to adjust to here as well. I will make a little list of things because these are things you wouldn't know until you came. Coffee here...is TINY. They drink little expressos, not our big Starbucks coffees. It is also really normal for men to hit on women here. Women expect it; you just don't acknowledge it. It's a compliment, though, so it is nothing to be offended by. EVERYTHING stops at lunch time from 12-1:30. NO ONE works during lunch unless its a big mall or store. NOTHING is open on Sundays either, which is very different then in US. WELL, that is enough of the list. BUT yes, I definitely suffered a little culture shock, but it just takes adjusting and now it seems totally normal.

I love speaking in another language. It's something that not everyone can do and its a lot more fun to learn in the country then in a classroom in US. I also love that the program I'm in in the university here is for exchange students so its like its own little world. I have Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Sudanese and Russian people in my classes--and that is just my class. It's amazing to meet all these people. It's interesting, too, because French is the one thing we have to tie us all together. WELL, that is all. If you guys have any questions go ahead and ask, and I'll try my best to answer!

Kristen S. - Oxford, England - Spring 2008

So just finished a semi-break week. Technically during ninth week tutorials are over and only seminar remains, so most people use it as a spring break. I still had one tutorial left and a seminar meeting so I had a half busy and half empty week. It was nice to have a bit of a break and be able to relax, but it also left a lot of time to be homesick. After a week of that I was quite ready for the lecture series to start. On Monday we started an intensive lecture series. We went from having only three classes a week to having at least two lectures a day. The change has been a little brutal, but has been a welcome change of pace. I am having a little bit of hard time getting motivated to read and do work again. The hardest part is being unfamiliar with the subject matter of the lectures, I just have to look up topics before the lectures to fill in the holes of my knowledge. So far so good.

With a little over three weeks left here in Oxford I have been starting to think about going home, I am ready to be there but will desperately miss some of the wonderful friends I have made here. So, while I am ready to go home, I don't want to go home either. As you can tell I have pretty mixed feelings right now; it feels like I have been here forever, but at the same time it feels like I have only been here for like a week. As before, if you have any questions, shoot me a comment and I will respond. Good luck on your travels.

Kristen S. - Oxford, England - Spring 2008

So, I am a little over halfway through my time here in Oxford. It has been quite a trip. I have been to Wales, saw Princess Anne, went to London, saw the British Museum twice, saw the Tate Modern, and ate pizza at a European Pizza Hut--they are very classy here. Bottom line: I have seen a lot of awesome sights in UK so far. Tutorials and Seminars are almost done, so in about two weeks there will be no more weekly essays; I am quite ready to see those go. I am in the process of planning a trip to Germany, which is something to look forward to. Soon we start having integral lecture, and all the Oxford students go home for break. It is getting to the point where going home is not such a bad thing. It would be nice to eat food that tastes like I want it to taste, and, secondly, to have more than eight shirts to cycle through. No severe homesickness yet, which I appreciate. I had a visitor from home, and when my visitor left, I had a more much more difficult time. But things are good now. On Saturday we went to Blenheim Palace which was interesting and huge. It was nice to take a break after a week of four papers. So a little burned out on writing and British food, but overall doing wonderfully across the pond.

As always, if you got a question, send me a comment. Have a wonderful day everyone!!!!