I just took my last final of the semester this morning and while it lifted some weight off of my shoulders, it also feels very bittersweet. A part of me is ready to head home and see my family, but I’m also not ready to leave quite yet. My time here in Scotland has taught me a lot and brought along some great friends and memories.
For the past three months, I have been living in a reality that has felt surreal. Studying abroad has been one of my favorite chapters in my life, and has altered who I am as a person. It has opened my mind up to the size of the world, has exposed me to new cultures, has given me confidence in places I didn’t know it was lacking and has challenged me emotionally and mentally in an indescribable way.
One of the most important things that I have come to embrace, as I have mentioned in my previous posts, is being alone.
As November comes to an end, so does my time here in Western Australia.
Classes and exams have officially wrapped up and I’ve spent the last week traveling to more parts of WA that I can get to with friends before we all jet off to our respective parts around the world.
It’s been a week since I’ve returned and wow are things different.
In these few lines of my last blog post, I would like to talk about how study abroad affected me as well as tell you a little more about Hong Kong. If you are thinking about studying abroad in Hong Kong or would just like to learn a lot more about it, I’d also want this to be your best resource.
First, here’s Hong Kong through my eyes.
Continue reading “Back from Hong Kong, Feeling Like a Changed Person”
You know it’s been a good summer when you can’t tell if the dark spot on your leg is from dirt or a bruise.
Was it an easy summer? Not exactly.
Was it worth it? Absolutely.
Now that I’m back in the United States, it almost feels like Madagascar was a dream and I just woke up to my real life. Except it was my real life, and it was amazing.
Continue reading “After 10 Weeks, I Finally Left Madagascar”
In less than two weeks, I’ll board a plane, spend a lot of hours in the air and arrive home in California. It’s strange to think about returning to the U.S. It’s my home country, yet it’s such a different world from here.
I believe that once you have an experience where you learn and grow and stretch yourself, you can never go back to being exactly the person you were before.
Continue reading “Some Reflections After Two Months in Madagascar”
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”
I have observed a different world in just two months of working at a small ecotourism agency, and living completely immersed in the culture of Ecuador. The most important thing I’ve learned is to appreciate the small things.
A mentality that I plan on bringing home with me — and one that we could all benefit from adopting — is that of gratitude. Gratitude for mother earth, gratitude for our successes and gratitude for family.
Well, my stay in this country has ended.
I have to say that my life in Japan has been absolutely amazing. Though it definitely was not easy at first, I found that some of the most difficult things to do in life are the things that are worth doing. Being as introverted as I am, and having never even left my home state before, it was a big jump to travel across the world all on my own. Yet, I stepped over 5,000 miles outside my comfort zone to live in a country that — in almost every way — is completely opposite from mine.
For three and a half months.
I had a melting pot of emotions before going international — this was my first time going abroad and “flying solo” (literally). I had no idea what to expect. All I had brought with me was a suitcase of comforts to remind me of home and the adequate ability to speak Spanish.
I was a bit uneasy and anxious at the thought of beginning this journey alone. However, as I touched down in BCN, all that fear had vanished.
I’ve been living in Barcelona for about a week and already I’ve been humbled by the culture that embraces me with hospitality, kindness and simplicity. If I’m keeping count of the number of touristic activities that served to educate me on the beautiful, unique qualities of Spanish culture, it is of considerable worth. Yet, as I truly reflect on processing the value hidden behind these excursions and my personal interactions with the natives of Barcelona, it carries even more significance.
Continue reading “The Discovery of Meaningful Living through Cena, Antoni Gaudí”
The global experience, as told by SDSU students 