It is the last week of my semester abroad! It is surreal how time has flown by. In my block program, I have been blessed to spend 6 weeks each in Sydney, Rome, and am in week 6 in Paris now! I think this type of program has definitely made time go by faster, rather than if I stayed in one city, but I would not change it for anything. There is no other way I could have experienced 3 very distinct cultures, made friends from all over the world, and gotten to live out my dream i

Before flying to Singapore for my next semester abroad, I decided to visit my friend who is studying abroad in Australia. This semester I am focusing on fewer but higher quality trips. From my semester abroad in Germany, I learned that while I can travel to dozens of cities, the experience is not always the best when I am trying to save as much money as possible. I still have to be mindful of what I am spending and I am completely okay with backpacking, staying in hostels, an

We took a weekend trip to Lithuania, where I got to see the cities of Kaunas, Vilnius, and Trakai—and while I love traveling, sometimes it leads to unfortunate outcomes, like getting sick. Suddenly, feeling tired after our trip to Lithuania had a bigger reason behind it: I had caught a cold. Luckily, I was prepared and my program offers really great support. Planning for illness starts before you leave for your host country. You need to consider your personal needs: Do you ge

As the semester comes to an end, I wanted to share some specific reflections I have on wrapping my head around leaving such an amazing experience as well as advice for this part of the journey! Spring break snorkeling in the Amalfi Coast Finals Giving your best effort up until the end isn’t as hard as you think when you’re having fun abroad. The issue is balancing it. You want to go to all your favorite spots one last time and maybe even have some class skips left. Finals sti

Today is my last night in Ireland. I dropped off my friends at the airport and am now having dinner with the last of us before we all go our separate ways. This experience and even this day don’t feel real. I have gotten to experience so much, such as going to the Aran Islands, the Ring of Kerry, and Dingle. I feel sad about leaving, especially now that I’ve only just begun to understand the surface of its culture. My eyes have been opened to Irish culture and the way people

Education abroad goes by quickly. And when I say that, I mean it. It seems like a summer, full semester, or even a year abroad would last a lifetime, but your experience will go by like a flash. I’m still shocked that my semester abroad was already a year ago! It was such an amazing experience that went by in the blink of an eye. But, as they say, all good things must come to an end. So I think we ought to talk a bit about my experiences in my final weeks in Japan as well as

Hey guys!! I’m three weeks into coming to Japan and my class is starting tomorrow. I’m super excited to start my classes and meet my classmates but before that I wanted to share the best eats I had in Tokyo so far! One of my goals of studying abroad is to find hidden gems all around Japan! And for three weeks I have been going wandering around to find the best foods around Tokyo. First thing you have to try after coming is to go to any rotating sushi restaurant. If you have e

Hi everyone! I have officially been in Japan for three weeks now, and what a time it has been. The first two days after I arrived, I stayed with my friend and her family. It was great seeing familiar faces in such a new environment. I was practically running on adrenaline those first couple of days, and once they dropped me off at my dorm, everything really set in. The best way to describe it is like when your parents drop you off at college freshman year—everything feels new

Living abroad. We’ve talked a lot about the adventures, the school, the people, but a massive part of the experience is just living in a different country! Your bathroom might be in a different layout, you may not be able to find the foods you’re used to in stores, or you may not even be able to find clothes that fit you! (Such was my case… I’m too tall for Japan!) But no matter what roadblocks you must face, living abroad is a crucial and, honestly, quite exciting part of st

Hey guys! Welcome to my very late Pre-departure blog post. My name is Temmi and I am a junior majoring in Accounting and International Business with a minor in Japanese. Starting from this mid April, I will be studying at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan!! The spring/summer semester in Japan doesn't start till April so It was a perfect opportunity to complete a busy season Accounting Internship from January to March in Chicago. After all this busy season work, I am very exci

I’ve been talking a whole lot about the trips and such of my time in Japan. I don’t want to say it isn’t all fun and games, but half of the title of “study abroad” is “study” , so, let’s talk about it! Broadly, classes abroad are structured quite similarly to how classes work here in the US. Yet, I have no doubt that you might find yourself with more free time to travel, enjoy your time in your host country, and do fun things! For me, Japan was an interesting change of pace,

If there’s one piece of advice I have to give to students wanting to go abroad, it has to be do not get sick. Obviously, this is a bit inevitable. However, taking care of yourself abroad is so important and so easily forgotten about! I was extremely excited to go to Germany this past weekend for a music festival. The plane tickets and trains were booked. Of course, I ended up getting really sick and having to go to the hospital. Traveling every weekend and doing activities on

Bonjour toute le monde! A couple weeks ago it was spring break for my best friend who goes to school in Florida, so she decided to come and visit. It was her first time in France, let alone Europe in general. Which means that this had to be a good week. Her arrival day was very packed. We started at a mall near the Notre Dame, then walked across the Seine to the Shakespeare & Co bookshop, got a crepe next door, and continued walking towards the Luxembourg garden (sadly we got

Hi everyone! My name is Madelyn, and I am a junior International Business and Marketing major with a minor in Japanese. This semester, I’ll be studying abroad at Keio University in Tokyo, Japan. My semester doesn’t start until the beginning of April, so I’ve actually been on break since December! While it’s definitely been nice to have some extra time to relax, I am so excited to finally go abroad. A bunch of my friends are also studying in Japan this semester, which makes it

Being back in the great old US of A was awesome, but damn, it was expensive compared to Egypt. I got to see just about everyone I was hoping to see in the month I was back, and share my experiences, but also listen and hear about their summers, which I think is important for people to remember when they study abroad. Although your summer or semester may have been life-changing, make sure to listen to what has been going on in your friends’ and families’ lives and don’t just d

With one week to go in my summer program, three of my friends and I rented a car and headed up to the North Coast along the Mediterranean. Known for its teal-colored water and white sandy beaches, the beach itself lived up to the hype. Beautiful beaches of the north coast However, our Airbnb had no Wi-Fi, no AC, and only one working shower (or more accurately, one working hose). That, combined with our rental car, which, after passing a pack or two of wild camels, decided to

When you see your friends on Instagram while studying abroad, you may see them in a different country at a different club every weekend. And while that does look like one hell of a time, I am almost a little happy that being in the Middle East I am not afforded that luxury. This past summer however, I did take one trip abroad with my previously mentioned group of friends, where we went to Istanbul, Turkey. This had been at the top of my bucket list for places to visit for yea

My first few hours in Egypt were quite hectic, I must say. My bus driver, who was assigned to me by the university I was studying at, dropped me, along with my two duffel bags, off on campus. But I soon realized my dorm was not on campus. After getting an Uber (man, Ubers are so cheap in Egypt, it’s amazing) and reading off the extremely unclear address that I was provided, my new friend and I were driving around for, I kid you not, an hour trying to find my accommodations. M

Where should I even start? Through the International Business Middle East and North Africa (IBMENA) cohort in the Darla Moore School of Business, I have been abroad for nine of the past 10 months. Pretty crazy. My name is Josh Pasternak, a current junior studying International Business and Finance with a minor in Arabic, hailing from “the ville” Rockville, Maryland. If we rewind the clock a little bit to May of 2025, I was getting ready for my first of three stints abroad, th

Everyone has their comfort food at home, and new foods and especially new eating habits in Barcelona are real adjustments. From sobremesa, the tradition of prolonged chatting after meals, to late dinner times, I had to find good places to eat that aligned with my schedule. People in Barcelona tend to start eating dinner around 9PM. Going out to dinner around this time is great and relaxing, but many people also have early classes that they need sleep for too. Finding the bala