“China. China, China China, China.” It almost sounds like a sentence, no?
The name itself carries so much context that an introduction is not quite needed. China, the home of the Great Wall. China, the land of almost unrivaled smog. China, a country of designer lovers, city dwellers, and factory workers, all of whom make this modern country possible.
But of course, there is a lot more to it than that.
So I just wanted to elaborate on my first Airbnb experience and to let others know what is out there!
The location of the Airbnb was not very good, which of course depends on what your plans are while staying in France. Yes, Herblay is fairly close to Paris, certainly closer than Pontoise, but it is a really small town. There is not much going on there in the way of nightlife, grocery shopping, events, etc. In fact there isn’t any perceptible sign of nightlife and there is one grocery store — but they do have a really nice farmer’s market Saturday mornings!
A year ago today, I wrote my first blog post on my personal blogging site Einstoss Abroad, and began the experience of a lifetime.
I knew then that I wanted to write a post a year later, comparing the reality of what it was like versus what I thought it would be like. So now that I’ve almost completed my abroad experience in Germany, I came up with the idea of taking my first blog post, and dissecting the post — piece by piece — and offering new commentary.
So here we go!
Continue reading “One Year Later, A Reflection On My Time In Germany”
Since returning to Germany from my visit back to the United States in April, I have been busy every week with school. I came back from break on April 10, with my classes starting less than a week later on the 16th. If you have read my earlier blog posts regarding my classes, school has been very stressful for me this semester — but it’s also been an opportunity for growth.
I had not had a break from school since it started, and the stress was actually affecting my health and well being. I decided a vacation away from school for a weekend was what I needed to get myself motivated again.
Studying abroad has provided me an amazing immersion into different cultures, people, languages, foods and so much more. Not only have I had the wonderful opportunity to study and learn the ways of the Israeli people, but I have had the chance to visit so many other places that I probably never would have had the chance to see otherwise.
Recently — not too long after being diagnosed with pneumonia, and with the condition still lingering for some unknown reason — I was invited to take a boat cruise to Akko, Israel (also known as Acre). The boat ride was lovely. It was more like taking a relaxing cruise ship into the unknown and coming upon an historic walled city rising from the sea.
Hello again, San Diego State! This is my last blog since I will soon return to San Diego after a full academic year of living in Singapore. In this post I will show you my last trip before heading home to conclude the great year abroad I’ve had.
The reason I chose Asia as my study abroad destination in the first place was to visit Japan. It was one of those bucket list destinations that I had to fulfill. I waited until my spring break in Singapore so I could see the famous East Asian cherry blossom trees in full bloom. Well, the wait was worth it because this past spring I got to visit Japan for a whole week.
Words cannot describe the feeling I had when entering Jerusalem. I know you all are probably tired of hearing me say “amazing,” but it is just that and so much more.
On our return from the Dead Sea, my traveling partners and I decided to do a stop over for the evening and the next day in this beautiful, holy city.
For the past month or so, I’ve had a terrible bout with pneumonia. Even now as I sit and write, I still feel some effects of the lingering illness.
Nothing is worse than being ill while traveling and studying overseas. It makes it very hard to focus on the curriculum, difficult to obtain a good night’s rest and even harder to enjoy any new functions or activities that may arise while being in a new location.
Homework? Who wants to do homework when you can’t sleep, eat or breathe?
After having two months of break, I finally started classes here at the University of Ulm this week — officially starting the second leg of my academic year in Germany. I just got back from the United States on April 12 and was lucky enough to recover from jet lag right before my classes began, so I was fresh and ready to go.
This week has been a very interesting for me in many ways, and I wanted to discuss this more in detail here.
First I want to talk about Ulm, and then what my university classes are like.
The global experience, as told by SDSU students 