Megan C. - Florence, Italy - Spring 2012

After a month and a half in the beautiful city of Florence, my life is only getting better and better!  The city is relatively small, so I walk everywhere! Even though it has been surprisingly cold, the walk to class is a fantastic one! On my way, I pass right by The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore and over the Bridge of Gold!

 Speaking of school, I am attending Accademia Italiana, which is a very small art and design school so the class sizes aren’t much of a change from Elmhurst’s.  My classes are mostly studio art classes, which can be time consuming; however, I feel like I’ve learned more about improving my techniques in the time I’ve been here than in my whole life.  While I normally dislike general education courses, the ones I’m taking here are so interesting!! Italian Cinema is probably my favorite and it counts towards some gen. ed. course that would probably make me fall asleep. How great is that?

My biggest/only disappointment with the school is that a lot of my classes are only with study abroad students from America.  However, in the one where I do have international students, I make a big effort to see them outside of class so I can learn about their culture from their perspective.

Since I don’t have a meal plan, I try and make small quick meals to save money for traveling and shopping! But going out for good meal is extremely important to understand the culture. At first it was hard not eating dinner till after 8, but there are wonderful things called aperitivos to hold you over!  This is a typical Italian course where you order a drink and then you get appetizers to go along with no extra cost! Most times when I get an aperitivo, I use this as a way to skip dinner since it’s cheaper! On top of meals, drinks are pretty pricey for when you go out.  There is also a cover charge for at least 10 Euros for when you go out to the Discoteca. 

Coffee culture is also very important here! If you’re coming here try to know the typical drinks and don’t order a cappuccino after noon or they’ll look at you like you’re crazy!! While all of these experiences are fun and even necessary, make sure you save a lot of money before you leave because it adds up fast!

And do be careful of your wallet! I thought I had everything under control until I lost my wallet. I had to cancel my credit card (luckily I had an emergency card and money set aside) and it took almost a month for my new one to arrive! Be safe and if it does happen to you, just remember it’s not the worst thing in the world so it doesn’t damper your experience.

Other than the wallet mishap, there haven’t been any real issues that I’ve had with the city! Sure I do get kissy noises made at me by old Italian men, but that is something part of their culture that you learn to ignore. I just try and remember that women are valued like art here so I don’t get irritated.

While I could talk for hours more about the chocolate festival, traveling and so much more, I have class so I must run! If you have any questions, I'd love to help!

Ciao for Now,

Megan 

Carly P. - Rome, Italy - Spring 2012

My adventure began Tuesday night as I boarded a plane heading to London.  It still hadn't sunken in where I was going. I'm not sure why, I had been planning this trip for an entire year! Even as I collected my luggage and waited to be picked up I couldn't fathom the idea of being in a different country. By the time I was picked up from the airport and gotten to my apartment it was a little after 4pm on Wednesday, I had officially been traveling for about 14 hours. All I wanted to do was sleep but my ISC (Italian Student Companion) wanted to make me and my other roommates espresso, which was of course too delicious to pass up! I'm living in an apartment with my ISC Sara and three girls from the States. Sara had made us a fantastic homemade lasagna for dinner to welcome us! Later that night Sara took us to a bar near by to meet up with other students from the program, I've been told it's a tradition. 

The next day we started our orientation at our study abroad center. It's about a 15/20minute walk from my apartment. We walk right through St. Peter's Square passing the Vatican and St. Peters Basilica to get there. It's incredible, simply beautiful. We were told which windows are apart of the Popes bedroom so each time we pass we always joke around and see if he is awake or sleeping (if the lights are on or off). On our way we always pass Castle Sant' Angelo.

As you can see it's snowing in the picture! I found out that it NEVER snows in Rome. The last time it snowed was two years ago, prior to that it had been 24 years! I was excited for the snow but thought I had escaped the Chicago winter for once, apparently not. It was cool seeing how every reacted over the inch of snow/slush we got! 

My ISC Sara has only seen snow five times in her whole life. Coming from Chicago I don't think twice about it when it snows. My first reaction when I heard it was going to snow I was like "Great,Snow..Just what I wanted...NOT" Snow was not what I wanted at all. I wanted to be able to grab a light jacket and go explore, not have to bundle up. This attitude changed a little after seeing all the reactions coming from the locals. Everyone was SO excited about the white wonderland that had taken over the city by night.

Sara had woken us all early all enthusiastic about the snow and wanted to walk through the city to see the transformation of the city. We first walked to St Peter's Square. Sara had wanted us to teach her to build a snowman, something she had never done. So there we were making a snowman in St. Peter's Square, in front of the Vatican. It was actually really cool, I hadn't built a snowman in years! We also made snow angels. We then walked to Gianicolo Park which is on top of a hill. It's a beautiful walk, and once on top it has one of the best views of all of Roma.

Andriy D. - Vienna, Austria - Spring 2012

Grüss Gott Elmhurst Students! My adventure began long before my departure to Austria; however I truly knew I was on my way when I boarded the plane in O’Hare Airport. After about 4736 miles and 10 hours of sleepless flight I finally arrived in Vienna.

During the beginning days of my trip I worried about the language barrier. I had two semesters of German prior to my arrival, but it was more than 3 years before my trip began. At first I was struggling to order food in the restaurant; however, after completing 3 weeks of intensive German, I began to get accustomed to German language.

Even now, after living abroad for over a month, I am still getting over the fact that my home is now Vienna!!!! And not simply somewhere in Vienna, but 15 minutes walking from Erste Bezirk (First District) which is the heart of the city! Vienna is astonishing, very clean, and beautiful while managing to remain extremely diverse and multi-cultural (as it is in the heart of Europe). So far I have enjoyed going to Operas, Theatres, and the Ballet on weekdays and have enjoyed the many bars and nightclubs on weekends.  During my second week I was able to go to the TU Ball in Hoffburg Palace. It was one of the most exciting experiences of my life. Just imagine dancing the waltz in the same room the Austrian Emperors danced!!!! This experience easily convinced me to want to attend more Balls during my program in Vienna. Lastly, one amazing thing about Austria is its central location. It is stunningly easy to travel almost anywhere in Europe by a short bus or train. I have taken advantage of this by traveling to Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia so far.

I am really happy I chose Vienna for my program and definitely would recommend it to everyone!

Tschüss!

Sarah C. - St. Etienne, France - Spring 2012

Saint-Etienne!  It’s not Paris, but don’t let that fool you into thinking that it’s not awesome.  This has already been the most exciting, challenging and rewarding experience of my life – and it’s only been a month!  Getting here was half the fun.  I flew out of O’Hare and went to Zurich, Switzerland for a week to visit with family before coming to France.  After a lot of raclette cheese and INCREDIBLE views of the mountains, I took a 7 hour train ride into my new home.  I’m not going to lie, at first I was insanely overwhelmed.  I naively thought that after 4 years of French I would be able to get around without a problem, but it ended up being quite a bit trickier than I was expecting.  Just keep at it, after you’ve filled out all your residence forms and settled into your dorm it definitely does get better.  I’m so grateful for all the new friends that I’ve made.  Not only have they helped me improve on my language ability, but they’ve really made this feel like home.

I didn’t know much about Saint-Etienne before I came.  Whenever I typed it into Google, the most popular search results were for the British band that goes by the same name.  But once I arrived, I toured the city’s museum and found out that they are known for 3 things: Ribbons, Bicycles and Guns.  Quite an interesting combo, I know.  But it almost makes a weird kind of sense when you’re here.  Also, the entire city is built on top of mines that apparently played a big role in World War II.  The people here are always pretty excited to talk about it.

Meeting people has turned out to be one of the easiest things about the trip.  My school has a really big international program, and every Wednesday night is SAVA night which means that all the international students and some French students go out to a bar together to mingle.  It’s always crowded and it’s always a ton of fun.  I would recommend going to a smaller city because tourists aren’t nearly as common so the people are always friendly and interested in your views and opinions.

The biggest thing that I was worried about before I came was the classes.  I thought that I wouldn’t be able to follow what was going on and get behind in material, but it’s actually not bad at all.  Just tell your teachers that you are an international student and they’ll understand completely.  Mine are generally just happy that I show up.

I hope you guys are all getting excited because this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I know that you’re going to love it!

Sincerely,

Sarah Consoer, ISEP Saint-Etienne, France

Drew D. - Madrid, Spain - Spring 2012

Madrid!! So I'm finally nestled away in this beautiful city, I've been to Europe before but the flight didn't seem as long as I remember it being. I flew out of O'hare and had a connecting flight at JFK Airport in NYC. Traveling was a very cool experience because it was my first time traveling alone. Finally making it to my destination after traveling some 4,000 miles gave me confidence once I arrived in Madrid. Though my confidence level was increased from finally making it to Madrid, I was humbled by the language barrier. I thought it wasn't going to be such a big issue because I had three semesters of Spanish at Elmhurst under my belt. WRONG. The first week or so in Spain was undoubtedly the most difficult for me and it seemed that people were talking so fast (and they actually do) and when I tried to comprehend anything they were saying, it was like a blur of nonsense once it hit my ears.




Spanish cuisine is amazing!! Lunch and dinner are the biggest meals of the day, which was different for me to begin with because I love eating a big breakfast. I decided to do a homestay for my residence while I'm here studying, I'm served two meals per day and my laundry is done for me. My host mother can pretty much cook anything, and having an open pallet is a definite plus for me because she cooks things from Spanish chorizo with eggs and beans, to chipirones en su tinta (squid cooked in their own ink). Spain is known for its cuisine and a few exchange students and I had the chance to eat at one of the words oldest restaurants on the planet, Restaurante Botin, it has been open for over 300 years without closing once. Their signature dish is cochillo asado, which is a suckling pig that is stuffed with seasonings and then spit roasted over a fire. Amazing.



Nightlife in Madrid is pretty crazy, people don't usually go out until midnight or later. I know, I know, Elmhurst is a pretty crazy party school (not). Let's be honest, by the time Spaniards are about to get their night started, Elmhurst students are ready to finish theirs. Staying out late the first couple nights helped me beat jet lag and also have a blast. There are so many bars and clubs to choose from in Madrid, so far I have experienced a lot of bars but only one club. I want to go to Kapital for my next club experience and for those of you who don't know what Kapital is, it is the largest club in Europe that has seven separate floors, each with different genres of music.



Oh yea, school. Almost forgot to mention it. I'm studying at the Pontifical University of Comillas as an exchange student. I'm an International Business major at Elmhurst and it was a bit difficult to figure out what classes would meet specific requirements for my major. I only found one economics course and one general education course when it was all said and done, but Comillas offers a diploma in International Relations for exchange students if they take at least 20 credit hours of the required courses. I decided to do that because it seemed like a deal to me since I wasn't able to find a lot of courses that I needed. WARNING: STUDENTS LOOKING TO STUDY AT COMILLAS, BE AWARE OF THE FACT THAT ELMHURST COLLEGE ONLY HAS AN EXCHANGE PROGRAM WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES WITH COMILLAS. ALSO, BE PREPARED TO TRAVEL AT LEAST 40-45 MINUTES TO GET TO THE CAMPUS. I thought that the campus that I was going to be studying at was the one nearest to my residence. I never knew that Comillas had another campus until I found out first hand. I was NEVER informed by Elmhurst nor Comillas that I would need to take a metro and a bus to get to the campus where all my classes were. Because of that, I have to buy a bus/metro/train pass and it costs 34 euro a month. The only benefit that to that it's unlimited traveling by metro, bus, or train for the month. PHEW! Okay, I'm done venting about my only negative experience so far, just thought it should be something to be aware of. The campus that my classes are at is in a very pretty location. It's located on rolling hills and a view of the Sierra de Gu

adarrama montain range is easily seen on my way to school. Well that's all I have right now, so to those who have read this, I hope you have found it somewhat informational. Hasta luego!

Rachel H. - Oxford, England - Spring 2012

Hey EC students. I am currently at CMRS and am having a total blast. Don't listen to what anyone says about it being school work and no fun stuff. There is time for fun stuff as long as you have time management. For example I am writing this blog instead of a paper, so I won't have time for fun stuff tonight. That is my choice.

But it's been great, seriously. We have adventured to all of these sick pubs and are also frequent customers at our local McDonald's. Its really the best of both worlds. There's this one place that has 5 pound pizzas on thursday so we've been there a few times. The pizza is yummy. So is the Indian food. Nom nom nom. 

I am learning some intense stuff in my classes and it is really a rewarding experience. A lot of the learning here is done independently with guidance from a tutor so I am building a relationship with some of the smartest individuals that I will ever have the opportunity to encounter in my life, specifically in this field. It's definitely an honor. Plus English people have this weird sense of humor where you're like, "Is this supposed to be funny? Can I laugh at him right now?"

I am really glad I am here. It is seriously so beautiful and interesting and all that stuff you want from a study away experience. English people are awkward, but you'll get used to it. Also sometimes it is just like Harry Potter in a really hilarious way and its hard not to feel like a straight up muggle around all these magical old buildings and stuff. We have to wear robes to dinner. This is not a joke.

Ask me questions if you want! Ok.

Rachel