Crystal - Cork, Ireland - Fall 2009

Hey guys! It’s Crystal here, studying in Ireland. In Cork to be exact. I’ve been here for about two and a half months and still loving it. Cork has become my home away from home. It’s pretty small compared to cities like Chicago. But it’s a real college town with great pubs, an awesome gym, and really friendly people. I’m here through the Arcadia program, and they’ve really come through for us so far.
Even though we had to endure several orientations, Arcadia set up some great things for us. Like seeing Riverdance perform while in Dublin. And just this past weekend, we went to Belfast in Northern Ireland to see the Giant’s Causeway. I’ve travelled through most of Ireland so far with the early start class I took. It’s basically their version of our J-term for visiting students. And in the class, we went on field trips every week and saw some of Ireland most renowned places. It was a great time, not to mention the nice hostels and free meals that came with it. And yes, if you’re wondering if I’m trying to make you jealous, I definitely am.
The “culture shock” has been an interesting thing to watch out for. Since I got here early, all by myself, without a laptop, phone, or any form of contact with home, I hit the very bottom of the rollercoaster pretty fast. But since then I’ve adapted fine to the new environment. Honestly, things are similar enough for me to not even notice sometimes that I’m thousands of miles away from home. The only problem I’ve had so far is how the Irish drive. It’s not that they drive on the left side of the road. Nor is it that they drive so fast (which they do). It’s the fact that they drive on winding roads not big enough for two cars, at around 70 mph, while on the left hand side of the road. I’ve actually started feeling carsick for the first time in my life.
My accommodations are pretty good. They’re at least better than Elmhurst Terrace, which at the worst of times can be terrible. I have my own room but I share the apartment with two other women. One is Irish, and one is an American. We all get along well, but the Irish one and I are practically soulmates. She’s been kind enough to bring me home with her, and her friends and I hang out often.
My classes are going well enough, but I’m anxious to be home again taking classes for my major. But I’ve got two months left and plan to enjoy them to the fullest. Hopefully my friends and I will take a few weekends out and travel to some places like Rome, Barcelona, and Scotland. Well, I’ve got to go. Go ahead and ask any questions if you’d like!

~Crystal

Kim P. - Australia - Fall 2009

Hey everyone! I have to apologize that I’m a little late in posting this but I’ve been doing quite a lot of traveling in the past month, including my two week spring break trip or “holiday” as the Aussies call it where I traveled up the entire east coast of Australia as well as a few weekend trips to Sydney and Melbourne.

I am currently studying at the University of Newcastle in Newcastle, Australia. Uni (as we call it here) is much different from Elmhurst. The campus is set in a bush land and it takes me about 20 minutes to walk to class or the train station, which took some getting use to at first! Unlike everyone else who has more recently arrived in their destination abroad, I’ve been in Australia since way back in July and only have about a month left in Oz. Australia is a beautiful country full of some of the most easy going and friendliest people in the world. The past 3 months have just flown by, so I’m trying to make the most of the precious few weeks I have left here.

I think that people are hesitant to study abroad for a semester because they’re afraid that they’re going to miss out on something big while they’re gone. I’ve come to realize that everything at home is nearly exactly how it was when I left. However, if I didn’t take the risk and study abroad then I would have missed out on the semester of a lifetime.

Before coming to Australia, I would have never guessed that I would become such great friends with people from so many different countries and parts of the world, not just Americans and Australians. I’ve met hundreds of people through my adventures and travels that have taught me some unforgettable things and allowed me to experience so many different cultures. However, I am very grateful that I’ve had this opportunity to actually live and study in Australia because I’ve come to know and love the Australian culture (music, lingo, food, way of life, etc) that I wouldn’t get to absorb if I was just traveling through Australia.

I hope everyone is excited for their semester abroad, because trust me it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. I know that right now it can be quite stressful with all the paperwork and details to take care of, but hang in there, it’s totally worth it :). I have had such an amazing time in Australia thus far, and would be more than happy to talk to anyone about studying abroad. Please don’t hesitate to contact me should you have any more questions, I know I had a lot before I left! You can shoot me an email at kpitingolo@gmail.com or add me on Facebook. Also feel free to check out my personal blog from down under (http://kimpitingolo.blogspot.com) with heaps of information, pictures, and stories about my travels and adventures in Australia.

Kim Pitingolo

Josh Z. - Kolkata, India - Fall 2009

It’s hard to believe that I have already been in India for two months. It seems like it was just yesterday that I stepped off the plane wondering what my time here would hold for me. Kolkata is a somewhat overwhelming place to be, especially given that I had never been outside the country before this trip. My first impressions were varied – the smells were pungent, the streets were dirty, the sun was scorching, and the city was crowded. At the same time, the food was great – not to mention cheap, a lunch of four samosas for 10 rupees, about US 0.20 – the people were friendly, the colonial British architecture was beautiful, and the city has a buzz to it which is indescribable. Everything was going well until I decided to be brave and try some street food. I didn’t eat a bite for a week after. I had recovered for only a few days when I fell ill again, this time worse than before. It’s funny how perception changes based on attitude. During those couple of weeks, I stopped seeing things as quaint and described them instead as backward, useless, archaic, etc. I felt almost disdainful toward conditions of squalor, because the enormity of the problem felt so beyond helping. After recovering from my illness, however, I began to take things more positively. The freedom of living here in India has given so much time to reflect on what I value and why. If for no other reason, this trip has been worth it. I also feel challenged on my most basic assumptions, going from a liberal minded and capitalist nation to a Maoist state with conservative values. All in all, I feel reaffirmed in my life’s direction having come to India. I fell in love with the city of Kolkata, even feeling “homesick” when we took a week’s vacation to Varanasi, Agra and Jaipur. The culture here is a mixture of things I love and things I hate, but altogether they form something captivating and beautiful.

Ashley D. - Glasgow, Scotland - Fall 2009

Heya guys!

I'm so sorry this has taken me so long, I've just been incredibly bogged down. It's amazing how much reading I have to sift through for my classes...blah!
But anyway, I've been studying at the University of Strathclyde here in Glasgow, Scotland for just over a month now. And yeah...it took alot of getting used to. I expected to be thrown off by accents and etiquette, so that wasn't much of a shock - if anything, I've already embraced a bit of the jargon.
But education here is so much different than back home: there's a huge focus on self-directed learning, so I spend much more time reading and researching for my classes than actually attending them. And continual assessment doesn't exist here. Each class requires one essay of about 3,000 words and one final exam. And that's it.
Social gatherings are also way different from what I'm used to. Hanging out in the Chicago suburbs equates to chillin’ at a friend’s house or getting a cup of coffee, or something along those lines. But here, it’s much more common to go to a pub or a club to cap off the night. Also, back home most of the good bands play at 21+ venues so being underage means missing out on a lot of fantastic music as well as the whole atmosphere in general. Whereas here, there aren’t any venues that I’m barred from - and there are so many with live music, even during the week. It’s amazing. And although binge drinking is still a problem here (as it is anywhere), I think that aspect of the social scene is a bit more mature. It’s really more of an unwind-and-relax than a get-drunk-and-dance-on-the-table sort of thing.
Ok, now comparisons aside. My class schedule is all over the place, sometimes with 4-hr breaks between classes and other times clashing so badly that I have to run to catch my next lecture (Tuesdays are especially hectic). I’ve already gotten myself addicted to a soap here called Coronation Street which airs Monday nights before Flash Forward. Mondays are quite an event for flat 9C, actually - my roommates and I either order in food and spend the night bumming around, or we cook up a feast. Which, by the way, our feasts are amazing because influence comes from all over - one of my flat mates is from Canada, and she eats only raw and organic. Another girl is Czech, one is from Denmark, two from Singapore and one is a Dundee (Scotland) native. So sometimes we’ll have Northern Indian food with raw pepper salad and s’mores for dessert. Or pizza with prawn toast and fried Mars bars…it’s crazy. And amazing.
We’ve also been doing a good bit of traveling, too. We’ve been to Loch Lomond (this gorgeous lakeside town about an hour outside Glasgow), and Edinburgh (the capitol of Scotland). This past weekend we went to Manchester, and while a few friends caught a ManU match, I walked around the city-centre. We stayed in a hotel in the suburbs, and it was the friendliest environment we’ve been in since arriving.
...And that's where I leave you, 'cause the timer's going to go off on the oven any minute now.

Feel free to ask questions if you’ve got ‘em!

- Ashley

Brian - Dublin, Ireland - Fall 2009

Hello all perspective travelers to Europe!! Pay attention to this and learn from my unfortunate experience.

When traveling to Europe, you should think about how much money you’ll need to have in your checking account (credit cards are nice, but debit cards are lifesavers!!). The current exchange rate from USD to EUR is $1.55 to every 1 Euro.

I was only able to save up $1600 during the summer before my traveling (I’m here in Dublin for the fall semester) and I ran out of all of it in a little over a month, what with all the weekend traveling and having to register with the Garda (the Irish police/Immigration force) because I’d be here longer than 3 months. That cost 150 Euro ($232.50).

So, I’d suggest having at least $4,800 at your disposal (i.e. in your checking account) when you travel. More would be better, that way you don’t have to worry about running out of money like I did. If you’re like me, and you run out of money, you have to turn down travel opportunities because you can’t afford it. I’m halfway through my 3 month stay, and basically, my experiences are over. I’ve nothing left I can do except sit in my flat and watch all the American TV I’m missing, on the internet.

If you have to, get a small student loan to help finance your trip. My parents talked me out of doing that, and I severely regret being talked out of it. Do it. Get a couple thousand dollar loan, it doesn’t have to be anything big. But just do it. You don’t want to be like me, who might as well be back in the states right now, going through the motions at Elmhurst College, for all the chance at seeing Europe that I have now…

Oh, and get slip-on shoes. You’ll have to take your shoes off at the airport when going through customs, and you don’t want to be the guy (or gal) holding up the line because you have to tie your shoes whilst putting everything that you had to take out of your bag, back into your bag.

That’s all from me for now. Perhaps there will be more words of advice later.

Brian - Dublin, Ireland - Fall 2009

Well, it’s 6:03pm here in Dublin, and (apart from the hour nap I just took to ward off the last remnants of jet lag) I’ve been up for 34 or 35 hours. But hour long power naps make all the difference.

The flight into Dublin was great (except for the landing, which I’ll get to in a moment). We (my girlfriend and I) were in and out of customs at O’Hare in a flash, and didn’t encounter any incidental fees. I read and listened to music practically the whole way to Dublin (pausing only when the stewardesses served food and drink). If I didn’t do that, I could have watched any number of television shows or movies that Aer Lingus had on the menu.

The only negative part of the flight was the decent to Dublin Airport. The pilot descended too fast – my right ear canal swelled shut, causing me to not be able to adjust to the changing cabin pressure. The 10 minute descent was filled with excruciating head pain. Ill affects of this incident lasted all morning. It took several hours for my ear canal to “un-swell” as it were, and get back to normal. I spent all morning only being able to hear out of my left ear (which was especially annoying, as all the people that chose to talk to me seemed to try and do so from my right).

It was partly cloudy when we arrived (8am Dublin time, 2am Chicago time), but as per usually, it only took a short while for it to start raining – a moderately strong rain that’s lasted up until just a short while ago.

There’s lots of rugby on the telly, and my roommates and I enjoy watching it (so do the girls down the way a bit – my girlfriend and her roomies - so that’s a plus).

It’s Wednesday, and classes don’t start until Monday, so I’m out of things to discuss until then.

Jake H. - Rabat, Morocco - Fall 2009

Hello to those from Elmhurst, after backpacking around Europe and Morocco for a bit I am now with my study abroad program. Let me tell you traveling is a lot less stressful when you are with a program and they take care of transportation and you know where you are going to sleep that night. You
are going to talk plenty on culture shock and let me tell you. An Arabic country like Morocco during Ramadan is very different from the great “night
life” of the Chicago area.
First impressions; no matter where I have traveled especially
here in Morocco, I have noticed that you can not “blend in”. If I was to do
what I thought I was supposed to and dress conservative, I would stick out. Here in Rabat if you’re not wearing “D&G” or “Burberry” you stick out, but that is not a problem because they are all extremely cheap (not real but cheap). It’s a lot warmer than Chicago is especially for you now. I am told that it is warm enough to surf all year round, so that’s exciting. We have an apartment that’s next to parliament so I get to watch the protests that go on every day between 4-6 p.m.
The foods good, the Sahara desert is cool, monkey’s, clubs, the king, tanneries, camels, genies, and flying carpets all help to make this place awesome to see, so I guess try to make it out here I’ll be this way for a year so have fun, plan a lot so you can have an awesome trip.

Bethany P. - Ecuador - Fall 2009

In the six weeks I have been in Ecuador, riding the bus has been consistently the most culturally informative activity of my study abroad experience. Although I have no statistical evidence, I believe that every one of the approximately million and half inhabitants of Quito ride the bus every day. This is most apparent while waiting for the bus. I quickly learned that there are no lines in Ecuador, only crowds. The two opposing masses of people trying to enter or exit the bus push and squeeze past each other desperately hoping to reach their destination before the bus driver gets tired of waiting and closes the doors.
I ride the bus nearly everywhere I go in Quito. The university is located in a valley suburb of the city, and it takes me three buses and about an hour to get to school in the morning. The view of the mountains from the bus on a clear day is breathtaking. The view inside the bus is often equally remarkable. It is quite common to see vendedores selling anything from food to stickers to closet organizers on the buses. Their sales pitches are well practiced and almost musical. Even the bus drivers’ assistants use a distinctive rhythm and melody when they call out the destinations of their routes to the people on the street.
I also take the bus to my volunteer job that is part of the IPSL program. The organization I work for is called FENOCIN, and roughly translated it stand for a confederation of Ecuadorian organizations for farmers, indigenous people, and Afro-Ecuadorians. I love my job because, among other reasons, it is only place other than the bus that I see such a diverse group of people. FENOCIN works on a number of issues including leadership development, food sovereignty, agro-ecology, and any number of human rights issues. My own project is a campaign to end violence against women, something I have mercifully not witnessed on the bus.
This weekend I took a six-or-so-hour (another element of Ecuadorian culture that becomes apparent on the bus is the relaxed orientation toward time) bus ride to the beach. The buses are the cheapest, if not the fastest, way to travel around Ecuador. They go everywhere in the country, save the Galapagos Islands. Again, the view from the bus was astounding. In this single trip we saw everything from the volcanoes Pichincha and Cotopaxi near Quito to lush hills throughout the coast of the Pacific Ocean. The vendedores were out in full force on the buses, selling coconut juice in bags and rows of hamburgers out of a plastic tub. A container full of chicken, rice, and fried bananas proved too tempting, and many of us learned the hard way that it is better not to eat chicken from a bus.

Jonathan L. - Salzburg, Austria - Fall 2009

Hallo von Osterreich! I just arrived in Austria Thursday and I also just got internet! I have to say, my flights went very well without any hiccups and in these few days here I've done a great deal due to the amazing public transpiration system here. For only around 5 Euro per person (with a group up to 5) a schones-wochende ticket took me and a few students to Munchen for Oktoberfest in about 2 hours by train! Everywhere I've been so far, the locales have been very accommodating, and we've made a few friends along the way. We seem to have alot of free time here (every weekend being a three day weekend). Otherwise I'm settled in Haus Humbodlt, and my class schedule is being forumlated this week. To say the least, I'm excited and I'm trying to pick up the dialect here (aber es sehr schwere ist). Well I'm off to Mittag essen with the group

Best regards,Jonathan

Alexina V. - Salamanca, Spain - Fall 2009

Busy. Unreal: the first two words that come to mind when I think back to my last few weeks and days in Chitown before leaving for Salamanca, Espana. I say busy because, amidst packing (and my mom yelling at me to get ride of the mounds of clothes strategically thrown on my bedroom floor), shopping, calling the banks, and working like a mad woman to earn some spending money, I spent many a nights out on the town with my family and closest friends. I found myself yearning to create as many memories as possible with my family and best friends. Lo and behold, I did just that; created memories on too many nights that turned far too abruptly into forgotten early mornings. For this reason, and this reason alone, my pre-departure experience seemed unreal. It was difficult for me to fathom the idea that I was leaving my home, my family, and my friends for four months. However, one must remember that life is, indeed, a journey and to each his own path. Your family and those who matter will be there when you return. They’ll find their own little ways to show you how much they love you (thank God Facebook can be utilized for more than people stalking). I will impart to you a message my best friend Molly wrote me the night before I left: “Enjoy this experience, for it’s an opportunity that may never come again. Remember that you will have many a rough days and it’s at those times in which you must remember how bright the sun shines and, not only does everything happen for a reason, but things will always work themselves out. Do five things you would never do, just because you can, make new friends but don’t forget who you are and what you believe in, and take too many pictures, for you can always delete the ones you don’t really like. Most importantly (and this may be the most crucial tip I am leaving you with), kiss a Spanish man, two, or three. J.”
I must say that Molly was right. Thus far, my experience in Salamanca has been an amazing one that I will never forget. Although I am here with two of my best friends, I have already become best of friends with other IES students and, in the last month, we have done far too many things to recount it all here. Among the highlights have been meeting my awesome host family (complete with a mom, dad, twenty-three year old brother, nineteen year old sister, two cats, and a turtle named Coco), taking part in the two week long feria (which included delicious tapas and cerveza for less than two euros), traveling to Asturias--where we spent the evening looking for a Woody Allen statue, drinking sidra (Asturian alcoholic apple cider, eating chorizo a la sidra (chorizo cooked in sidra), walking around the beach in Gijón, and spending time with best friends--, horseback riding (we were actually allowed to let the horses trot, canter, and stray from the line), watching the sunset every Thursday night with a cheap one euro bottle of wine, cheese, bread, and six of my best friends, standing two feet in front of legit Salvador Dali, Goya, el Greco, Picasso, and Velásquez paintings, celebrating two 21st birthdays Spanish style, people watching and playing spoons and the compliment game in our Plaza Mayor, booking relatively cheap flights to Ireland and Paris, and, really, just learning the Spanish culture—especially its night life (i.e. Sangria, calimocho, botellons, tapas, canas, etc.)
Of course, you, too, will have your rough days and the best thing you can do is remember that things will get better and that you cannot let one little thing ruin your trip. By the way, for those of you participating in the IES program, I would recommend that when IES sends you a preliminary registration form (for classes) don’t take the time to search for classes at the university. Pick random classes and send the bad boy back—!!!ASAP!!!--because this is how IES determines class selection order (not by seniority—like most schools do—) and not a single person had to enroll in the classes they originally picked on their preliminary registration form. Trust me, it will make your life ten times easier and you will avoid the rough week I had of stressing over class selection because the IES class I wanted filled up before it was my turn to register.
I wish you all luck and hope to hear from you soon! Let me know if you have any questions about anything. Vale?

Alexina

Jenn K. - Salamanca, Spain - Fall 2009

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

On the first day of class, my Comparative Religion professor told me to get drunk.No, not from sangria (it makes me sleepy anyway) or the glasses of beer called cañas...but from the Spanish culture.Consider me slightly buzzed.Today I got to take a tour of the gorgeous cathedral in Salamanca, climbing the stairs of the towers, walking along the upper exterior of a prominent, historic building to take in views that few get to see. Saturday I went horseback riding. Last Monday I started a Personality Psychology class - in Spanish, with one other U.S. American and about 30 Spanish students. The weekend before that I went searching for a Woody Allen statue in Oviedo and saw a peacock roaming around a park. On the bus ride there, I drove through the most incredible mountains I have ever seen in my life.In my religion class the first week, I learned that people in Spain say Jesus instead of salud when people sneeze. I've had a wine tasting, enjoyed many nights sitting in Plaza Mayor talking with friends, experienced frustrations registering for classes, discovered I share a love of Bruce Springsteen with my entire host family, learned to dance salsa and flamenco, and decided that I enjoy drinking my coffee at home every morning much more than drinking it on the run. Tomorrow I'm visiting a cemetery for class, I'm going to start volunteer work with immigrants in the next week, and this weekend I'm visiting Granada, Sevilla, and the windmills made famous by Cervantes.This doesn't even cover a sliver of what I have experienced in the past month living in Salamanca, and I still have 83 days to take in the rest of this town and hopefully the rest of the country. I have again taken the chance, this time in depth, to do what I think should be a part of everyone's college experience - travel or live with a group of strangers, communicate in some kind of "foreign language," accept the challenge of establishing connections with people with whom I seem to have little in common, and ultimately appreciate the relationships I establish with them.My time here has been both challenging and rewarding already. There are so many cultural intricacies that are necessary to pick up in order to really get along in Spanish society, from vocabulary and manners to night life and food. The university system is entirely different here, and can be really confusing for U.S. American students; the homework load appears lighter, but if I want to do well on the midterm and final - often the only two grades for courses - I know I better be reading my notes fairly often. Many classes are lecture-based as well, which is quite a change of pace coming from Elmhurst. However, traveling is fairly easy here, people and professors are understanding of the fact that I am here to learn, and I have made some awesome friends. With all the ups, downs, and even the current cold that I'm shaking off, it's pretty easy to be utterly content with myself for being here, for taking advantage of all the opportunities I have here to learn, explore, and teach, and to continue taking my life in the direction in which I want it to go. Yes, consider me buzzed indeed. Perhaps by the time I leave in December my professor will approve of my drunk-on-Spanish-culture status.Nevertheless, I think it's important to remember that I am going to return home eventually; there is a large portion of my life waiting for me outside of Salamanca. As I am here, I am finishing my applications for graduate school. It's not really making me miss out on any opportunities here because I have managed my time really well thus far, but it has been constantly reminding me to think about how this experience fits into the grand scheme of things for me. Having a concrete connection to the future, working toward my next goal while completing a different one at the same time, really makes me think about the decisions I make here. I think so far I have done a pretty good job of taking care of myself and my responsibilities, while still managing to have a ton of fun. Studying abroad is all about balance in so many different ways.I hope that sharing a bit of my experience encourages some of you back home to pack your bags, take a risk, and head out somewhere new. I'm keeping my own blog while I'm here as well, so if you want to stay really up-to-date on my experiences and see more pictures, you can visit me at http://jennscoloringoutsidethelines.blogspot.com/.

Hasta luego. ;-)

~ Jenn - Salamanca, Spain