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

Last week, we scratched the surface of what is in store for you in the hot spring city of Japan: Beppu! From the Jigoku Beppu to the various hot springs available, there are countless things to do, but still, as I said, we only scratched the surface. Let’s dig a bit deeper shall we? Beppu has a very storied history and that is directly conveyed in the fact that much of the architecture and infrastructure is very old and well-maintained. Many of the bathhouses and onsens are h

One of the most valuable competencies I developed over three months studying abroad is resilience. Before this experience, I was extremely hard on myself whenever I made a mistake. I let failure define me. Studying abroad forced me to confront—and rewrite—that mindset. From the start, it wasn’t smooth sailing. On the plane ride to Barcelona, I was already feeling sick. I later discovered this was due to a deviated septum. While in Spain, I got sick multiple times. I went to t

Where in the world would the cast of Bridgerton study abroad? Dearest readers, It is with great pleasure (and just a touch of scandal) that we present the latest installment of our “Where Would They Go?” series. This time, we turn our attention to the ton’s most dramatic, ambitious, and romantically inclined residents: the cast of Bridgerton . Should Anthony trade duty for diplomacy in Singapore? Would Penelope pen her anonymous dispatches from a café in Seoul? And might Coli

Bonjour toute le monde! Okay so this past week was Paris Fashion Week! And while I don't live in Paris, I live 40 minutes away by train and so I can easily visit whenever I want. So, this past week one of my friends from my hometown came and visited me over her spring break, which called for multiple trips into the city for tourist things. One day we planned to see a lot of the main tourist things in the first couple arrondissements. So, we started at the Arc de Triomphe, mad

The different bins, the shared transportation, and the grocery bag policy are all things I adore about Spain’s sustainability practices. It was inspiring to be in a country that cares deeply for the earth. Bins On my first day in Barcelona, CIS Abroad coordinators brought us all together for a meeting and outlined the differences in American and Spanish cultures. One that stuck with me was Spain’s focus on sustainability. Whether you're picnicking on la playa, uncorking cava

Hey! It’s been a while! Last blog, we talked about Tottori. It’s amazing people, golden beaches, and amazing sights. I can’t emphasize just how amazing of a place it was. But there is another. A place equally as beautiful in its own special way. That place is called Beppu! Located right outside of the massive city of Oita, Beppu is a smaller city, but extremely well known for its hot springs. Every time I mentioned that I went to Beppu to any of my Japanese friends, they were

This week I want to talk about something familiar, and something brand new. I spent the past weekend in Switzerland with a lot of people in the IB program. All of us are studying in different places, some on different continents. Seeing everyone was really nice and gave a nice break to the unfamiliarity of being abroad. And a quick warning, this one gets pretty long. A lot of us keep in touch throughout the year, either over text or through IB events. A few wonderful people c

Hi y'all, Today’s the day! I’m excited to announce the launch of this blog, which will document my adventures during my 10-month study abroad at the Universidad de Chile in Santiago, Chile. Yes, you read that correctly! As a student in the IBA Cohort, I’m lucky enough to study abroad for two semesters. DMSB designed this cohort to put students like me together with students from specific international partner schools (in my case, the Universidad de Chile) to study on campus a

It’s very early on a Wednesday morning, and I officially landed in Buenos Aires a week ago. To say that this week has already felt like a lifetime feels both very authentic and like an understatement. Even with just a week under my belt, there are a few things I know for certain - I am in love with this city and its people. I am also extremely appreciative of the opportunities afforded to me by both my family and USC. As someone from a tiny town in South Carolina, I honestly

Not everything about going abroad has to be brand new. Some things can still feel like home. For me, the biggest example is dance, something I have done for as long as I can remember. I danced competitively from ages 9 to 18, and currently minor in dance at USC. For this week, I wanted to write about how dance has kept me grounded for my first few weeks in Milan. When I was narrowing down my schools roughly a year ago for the IB requirements, I was pretty certain that none of

Welcome back to my blog! Before starting my next semester abroad in Singapore this time, I want to recap my fall semester at the University of South Carolina! 2025 felt like two separate years. January to June looked completely different from June to December. As soon as I arrived back in the States, I visited lots of family and went back to working as an undergraduate advising assistant at the Darla Moore School of Business. It took some time to adjust back to the U.S. pace

Daugavpils has exactly five trains, and all of them go to Riga. Riga, the capital city of Latvia, is around three hours away from Daugavpils, which was the perfect amount of time for an early morning nap ahead of a fun day trip. Although my program has a planned excursion to Riga, I, along with two of my new friends in my program, wanted to take a trip on our own to explore the city in our own time. We bought our tickets and each had ideas of what we wanted to see while we we