Tag Archives: arrival

All the world is a stage

First impressions

I arrived in Buenos Aires almost a week ago and am very excited to share some of my first impressions with you! Coming from State College- a place where drivers will ensure that distracted, unaware students on cell phones may cross the street safely- I feel bombarded by all the people, aggressive taxis and buses, and the necessity to look both ways.

The street I walk on everyday to get to IES or to meet with friends

The street outside of my homestay.

While I try to maneuver through the streets, I am awed by the strange mix of French architecture, palm trees, graffiti, and people chatting in cafes.

At home, my host family is very accommodating and welcoming. They are very kind when I ask them to repeat something or if I don’t understand the Spanish. I am very grateful for their patience and am getting to know them better.

Playing my part

Expressing myself with my host family or in a cafe, I still feel frustrated with my fluency. I do not know the words that I want to express or I make a mistake in conjugation. At school with the other American students, we all speak English and I feel relieved that I can express myself without such difficulty. I can make friends and introduce myself without a language barrier. In this foreign place, all of us cling to what we have in common. Penn State students are excited to meet each other and talk about THON. Whenever we hear another American, we reach out to them, introduce ourselves, and connect with some small part of ourselves.

As we settle into our new environment away from home, we carefully observe what is “normal” in Buenos Aires. Although we still jump at the sight of anything close to home, we are trying to learn more about the culture of our temporary home. It’s normal to walk your dog at 11 o’clock at night; you have to beg for the check after you’re finished eating; you don’t go out until midnight. My peers and I try to emulate these norms and try to adapt to Argentine culture. However, we clearly stick out speaking English, and our Spanish language mistakes further identify us as foreigners. When this occurs, the waiter may start pointing at the menu or speaking English. So inevitably, our own personas and our language skills act as antagonists to this process. As I spend more time in Buenos Aires and my Spanish improves, I hope to find a more positive, rewarding balance between seeking out my own culture and adapting to a new one.

Location: Recoleta, Buenos Aires

The First 34 Hours – Arrival!

Welp, in short I’m loving it. I’ve started settling into the city and have conquered the first week! Exploring the town (I live right by the Old City) is discovering something new everyday and I’ve seen how you never know who you’ll meet when you introduce yourself (got a free snowpass for a local ski resort, mmhmmm).

“It’s two floors up” they said

Getting here – Turbulence, Tired, and Trains. Travel is never 100% flawless… A girl I was flying with had her luggage left in Philadelphia, so we missed our train from Frankfurt to Freiburg. Thinking we’d have enough time, I was told before leaving the US “oh the train station is just two floors up from where the flight lands”. After taking escalators up and down, a tram connecting the airport, and running through corridors, I saw the tail-end of the train riding away.

TIP: No matter how prepared you think you are, always check for yourself on travel recommendations given by people. They often may have misinterpreted your question (or flown into a different terminal).

But, thanks to our flexible ticket (can take any train that day) we made it to Freiburg! Since all stores were going to be closed on the following day (holiday – Three Kings Day), I had a list of Must-Do’s. 1) Get euros from ATM 2) Get groceries 3) Buy student-discount tram pass. A quick shower and I walked out through city and I was the ultimate tourist – biggest smile on my face and actually “wow”ing as I approached the Martinstor (large clock tower in picture). This. Would be my new home.

My dad’s advice for jetlag was to stay up for the whole day and eat and sleep when the locals do. Finished errands at 6 PM, it was too early for sleep and 2 girls on my trip messaged me asking to go to dinner. In my head I’m thinking, “I’m tired, I’m exhausted, and I’m drained; no.”. But if I can’t find adventure now, then what am I going to see over the next 6 months? I want to take every opportunity I can to explore and try. And I was right. We went with the first restaurant we found and it. was. awesome. Turns out it was live blues night. At our same table we had two older couples who were chatting it up with us and extremely nice! I haven’t used my German since high school and somehow we all were becoming friends through primarily German. After being up for 34 hours at this point, I was full of tired bliss and laughs and was kicking off Freiburg with a hoot. (We learned every Monday is blues night and have been invited back by our new friends)

TIP: When you’re not fluent, it’s uncomfortable and sometimes embarrassing to stutter and struggle through the language. The locals love it. They see you are trying to fit into their culture and most of the time love to help you find the words and answer your questions. Again, you never know who you’ll meet and what they’ll share.

First Impressions?

The city is gorgeous.
Bikes, bikes everywhere.
Bio-Food (Germany’s version of organic natural food, found at every grocery stores with foods labeled “Bio” and a small price spike)

Classes have begun, registration logistics are being completed, and we’re starting to be completely settled in. Now comes the exploration, trip planning, and classes through the whole semester of blogs. I keep my mantra in my head and I can’t wait to do our first trip soon and share on the blog!

Until then, tschuss!

Feel free to check out a friend on the exchange programs video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEC9nQe6drQ

Location: Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

Two weeks later: Maastricht, Berlin, and life in Europe

Hello all!

So I thought I’d wait until I’d started classes to write my first blog abroad, in order to have ‘enough’ interesting things to write about… turns out there are more than I could ever describe in 10 entries! But I’ll give you a brief overview of my life abroad thus far. I will make a list of events so that I won’t forget everything:

1. Arriving in Maastricht

I took a 7 hour flight into Brussels, where a taxi van driver picked me and 4 others from the CES program up to drive the 45 minutes or so it took to get to Maastricht. Upon meeting my peers at the airport I realized that I brought nearly double the luggage that they each did, but I chock this up to being the only girl in the group lol. Traveling with that much luggage reminded me that I want to learn the skill of ‘packing light’ while I’m here.

After moving into my sweet digs (single room that was big enough for two by Penn State standards) and taking a much-needed jet lag- induced nap, I met my coordinators, Nathalie and Laura, who then showed the group of us (which now included 2 more later arrivals) around downtown Maastricht for the rest of the day. The next day we all met up again to have a nice breakfast of bacon and eggs (fabulous) and then orientation activities with Nathalie and Laura for the rest of the day.

2. Berlin Study Trip

Just as I was starting to get over my jet lag hangover, we prepared to go to Berlin for a study trip. I was super excited (and super exhausted) to say the least to visit a city so full of life, history, and beauty, and to see Germany for the first time. The plane ride was less than an hour, and before I knew it I was in another European city after only 3 days of being away from home! My first impression was that Berlin certainly was cold. The kind that made me want to wear all of my clothes I brought at once! Ah but it was beautiful, too, and the airport and train station were amazingly clean. The second impression of Germany was how orderly everything seemed to be; Nathalie told us that it’s a common (and true) stereotype that as a culture Germans are utterly Obsessive Compulsive, and MUST have everything in its right place and everyone doing their rightful job. We saw evidence of this almost immediately when the train we got on to take us to our hotel was delayed. Berliners have one of the most efficient and timely public transit systems in the world, but the way the people were acting, you’d think two minutes’ delay meant the end of the world, or at least a MAJOR inconvenience. Two hundred seconds of watch-glaring, finger-pointing, annoyed grumbling, and melodramatic eye-rolling ensued before the train started again and everyone sighed as if to say “Well it’s about time!”. I was beginning to think how much I’d like these crazy Germans.

We did so much in Berlin that it literally would have taken any normal person at least 10 days to accomplish what we did in four. Therefore I will give you the highlights. Firstly, we went on a fabulous (and I mean Fabulous with a capital F) five hour walking tour of the city, seeing the great sights of Berlin such as the Brandenburg Gate, remnants of the wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the site of Hitler’s bunker, the Reichstag, and so much more, all while listening to our tour guide, Tom Williamson, throw so much history at us he aptly described it as a “250 page book”! I never knew history could be so interesting, funny, and just flat out surprising, and learning it all from an ex-pat American with an iron wit was certainly unforgettable.

While in Berlin it is also important to mention we went to museums, LOTS of museums! And I mean all kinds. One day we went to a former concentration camp outside of Berlin called Sachsenhausen, which was turned into a museum of sorts. I won’t easily forget how I felt walking in the footsteps of thousands whose last days were spent there. It is impossible to not feel something when you look out across the barren property, empty save for a few remaining original living barracks, the only sign of nature being two tall trees flanking each side of a Nazi guard tower. However disturbing it was, visiting the grounds is something I’m glad I did, as it really made the history of the war and the Holocaust real for me, and I won’t forget it.

Another emotionally heavy excursion was to the Stasi prison in the former East Berlin, through which we were guided by a former prisoner. We saw the cells, torture rooms, interrogation rooms, and heard the incredible story of our guide, who turned out to be a famous anti-communist protest leader in East Germany, and who got elected to parliament when the wall fell, helping in the reunification of the country.

Besides these we went to at least five other world-famous museums that housed treasures such as the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, works by Monet, and countless others. It was incredibly hard to say goodbye to the city I fell in love with after only four days, but I’m promising myself that I will return – when the weather’s nicer! haha.

Well, that’s all for this post, the next one will be all about the start of classes.

Tot ziens, vrienden!

Location: Maastricht, Netherlands

We’re…here?!

So WE MADE IT! Really still soaking in that we’re on the other side of the Atlantic. Words probably don’t do justice to describe how displaced and time-thrown I feel. It feels like it’s at least 9 o’clock at night here while it’s only about 16:00 (as the locals – and the rest of the world – would write it).

In the airport I met Katie, a girl from Madison who’s also on my program, so we stuck together for the trip over and met Briana when she came in too. Turns out Briana and I are in different hotels, so we split a taxi to our different locations and plan to meet up later.

The flights over weren’t bad at all. Matter of fact, the one to Madrid was pretty cool. I got chills when the pilot announced preparation for takeoff to the flight attendants. It was especially neat because there was a camera on the tail that showed us on the runway and then cruising over Chicago away from the sunset and (literally) into the night.

We were fed typical airplane food on the flight there – rice and chicken or beef and a side of crab salad for dinner, which was actually pretty good, and ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast. I opted out of the latter meal, as I don’t eat red meat – especially not pork (and no, ham is NOT white meat!! It’s still very much a mammal). I emphasize this point because I’m pretty sure a lot of people here won’t understand this. There are lots of unsuspecting foods here made with lard and other animal products – like “polvorones,” little cake-like tapas – which I’m not so keen on, so that’s something I’ll have to look out for. Anyways, the real reason for telling this story is because there was an Arab woman sitting across the aisle from me, and she didn’t want her sandwich either because it’s not halal (the Muslim equivalent of Kosher for Jews). So we bonded over that and I shared a granola bar with her instead 🙂

When we landed, all you could see was a black silhouette of the plane and tons of lights down below, it was beautiful. It was also neat because we landed just in time to see the sun rise, and the changing light in the huge airport, which had a high, arching and curving wood-beam ceilings and steel beams each painted the next hue of a color of the rainbow. Another really cool thing about the airport was the signs and directions to gates. We had to go from our arrival gate, through customs, and to K93 in about a half hour. Along the way, signs pointing the way to K also had times for how long it would take from your current location to get to that, and other terminals. We started out with a sign that indicated we were 30 minutes away, so we made our way through without any putzing.

When we landed in Seville it was cold and overcast, and as soon as we got into the cab it started to rain, which continued through most of the afternoon. Not so nice, but made for a perfect jet-lag nap 🙂 The ride here was uneventful, but intriguing. The tall, old apartment buildings here remind me of those we saw in Chisenau, Moldova, where I went for a volunteer Spring break last year. I’m not sure how else to describe it, but it’s such an obviously European city, by it’s looks and lay-out. Oh and I was warned about this, but had to see it for myself to believe – Sevilla drivers are a little bit on the wild side. You’d think a cab driver would try not to totally freak a couple of twenty-something year old American girls upon their arrival to the country, but apparently that’s second to getting us to our destination way too fast.

Some other things I’ve noticed already were the use of commas to denote a change in units, as in the price of my room: €80,00. On a relevant note, I was lucky enough to get a discount on my room because Katie mentioned that she’d seen a promotion on line for mid-January reservations, so I asked about it and got €50 off!

The hotel is beautiful. The lobby is all shiny black and white marble, and everything down there is divided by big glass doors. All the doors in the rooms are big sliding sections of the walls, lights are motion and key-sensored (as is usually the case in nice European hotels, I’ve noticed), there are two showers (one for the tub), and a king size bed! I took a hot bath as soon as I got in because my muscles were so sore from schlepping my bags around, and then passed out for about an hour and a half. Hopefully I’ll be able to go find something to eat soon, I want to go out and walk around all the little shops and cafés around here (:

Stay tuned, lots more to come!

Location: Hotel Sol Melia. Seville, Spain.

10 Things They Never Tell You About Studying Abroad

Abstract: Read each sub heading

1) It Gets Better… After Getting Worse: When you first arrive, it is exciting and you can’t wait to plunge into things. But then a feeling of “is this it?” may creep its way into your mind. You may feel like you are back in freshman year, having to start all over without any of the friends you have already passed this phase with back home. It may be challenging settling down and many things may frustrate you, from the simple things such as trying to charge your phone while your laptop is charging and realizing you just have one outlet converter to feeling nobody is understanding your sense of humor or sarcasm. No worries! It gets better. Go at your own pace as everybody’s experience differs. Hint at support if you need any. Sometimes just receiving a piece of home in the mail, whether in the form of homemade banana bread or something so common as your favorite hairspray, unavailable abroad is enough to keep you going. It’s the little things…

2) You Get Sick: Homesick, yes, but you also get SICK-physically. I remember being sick about 3 times during the term. A headache, a cough and sore throat come around more often than they did for me back home. Going out a single night without a scarf had me waking myself up with the crackle of my own cough. Moral of the story: dress appropriately and expect to get sick at least once. I am no doctor but I know your body is adapting to a new environment. If you are on any special meds, don’t forget them.

3) The Course Load Can Weigh In Heavy: When people talk about their study abroad experience, they tend to omit the studying and talk about the experience abroad. Although you want to travel and make the most of your experience, remember the primary reason you are there is to study. WATCH OUT for people from other institutions whose work abroad does not factor in towards their overall GPA. The amount of fun they are having can be misleading! Make sure you always get your work done first, just as you would back home. Just because it is abroad makes the work no less serious.

4) You Get Lost: Self-explanatory. Even when in groups, always have a map handy. Personally, I always had 3 but always got lost regardless. Also, leave your location giving yourself twice as much time as googlemaps may claim you need so you are not late to events.

5) People Are People No Matter Where You Go: Don’t think everyone loves Americans, don’t think everyone hates us either. Some are absolutely in love with our accents and culture while others think we have no culture and find our accents repulsive and flat. There are different kinds of people in different races and different countries, so don’t think one persons actions are a reflection of a nation of people. Every country has the good the bad and the ugly. Even outside America, there are the nice ones, weird ones and the douche bags. And just like back home, you won’t get along with everyone, so don’t worry about it.

6) There Are Expenditures Beyond Tuition: The tuition may seem like the main study abroad obstacle, but you will spend money on trips, groceries, books, and remember the conversion rate. The conversion rate KILLED my pockets in the UK! Before leaving, be sure to call your bank and inquire about the international charges or if they have a branch abroad. If you are there for less than 6 months, they generally don’t let you create a bank account in you host country, so spend wisely. Withdraw enough to sustain you for the week to avoid constant ATM charges. Also, remember to check your bank statement EVERY evening. I got a miscellaneous $80 charged on my account that I am still in the process of figuring out. Since you are abroad, unfamiliar acronyms appear on your statement and at the end of the day your purchases are still fresh on your mind.

7) You will meet a lot of people, but won’t know as many: In the midst of everything, remember to meet people and get to know a few of them. Take time to build a relationship with people so that they are more than a familiar face on campus or on facebook. I remember meeting a guy (turn friend, turn college husband) at a speed meeting event one day and another day staying up talking with him till 2am. After my program ended, I visited his family in Southampton and now we chat whenever we get a chance. Another friend of mine and I met on the very first day and then I didn’t see her in weeks. One day I ran into her, we went to hall together, went partying together and one night, she and I walked all the way to Dominos to put our coupons to use as we nonchalantly looked out for Emma Watson. While there are many who I can barely put a name to a face without the help of facebook, there are a good few whom I know as people and share memories with. Don’t try to hang out with everyone at once and do not let the only place you hang out with people be at the club or at the movies, because it is difficult to get to know them in such environments. I personally liked stopping by peoples’ rooms or grabbing a meal with them.

8) Life back home goes on: Here’s the sad truth. You’ll miss birthdays, MLK Day, Thanksgiving, anniversaries, historical events, etc. It is hard to catch up, especially with the difference in time zones. Upon your return, you may have to re-socialize into your previous social groups, but that is ok. Do yourself a favor: Don’t sit behind your laptop feeling nostalgic as you click through people back homes’ pictures on facebook. Chances are they wish they were in your shoes so live in the moment and try your best to enjoy the here and now. I remember it killed me the morning I heard Joe Pa was fired. I heard it over chattering at breakfast and it took everything in me not to log on to facebook (shamefully my primary source of news after twitter) as I had an essay due in 4 hours. I knew even though I loved Joe Pa, he was not going to type this essay and even though I cared about the safety of everyone in the midst of the riots, the essay was not going to write itself. I had to put aside all my thoughts of my Alma Mater, concentrate on what was important and accept the harsh fact that I could not be there to support my university. (Then again, when you think about it, what could I actually do even if I were there.)

Another point under this heading is that you should remember to keep in touch with your academic advisor. As I mentioned, life continues, therefore do not forget to schedule your courses for the next semester, to settle any housing contracts you plan on signing for the next semester and to ensure that upon your return, your academic standing enables you to graduate on time. Also inquire what you will need to do to be sure of timely grade conversion. Remain in the center of your academic business.

9) You Can’t do it all: I am the queen of telling people to get involved and meet people and do stuff and travel etc etc but I think even more important is to remember that you can’t do it all. I remember saying I was going to attend every single activity listed for fresher’s week but there comes a point when you are physically and mentally drained of meeting new people and making a melody out of the recitation of who you are, where you are from and what you are studying. When that point comes, it is vital that you eliminate any form of guilt of “missing out” on anything and respect your body enough to give it time to rejuvenate. If you fail to do so, well you may find yourself on a slippery slope where you physically begin to fall ill, your grades begin to slip, you therefore will be a cranky socializer then you will start feeling homesick, and end up having a horrible study abroad experience and wishing you had stayed home. All this to say: Slow down! 🙂

10) You WILL have a good time*: (They tell you this, but let me reiterate) When things get rough, you may begin to second-guess everything. Maybe you chose the wrong program? The wrong country? Maybe you aren’t going to have that life-changing experience? Maybe you should have saved more money? The answer: oh well. It is what it is, so make the most of it and once you stop worrying and start living, before you know it, the best experience of you college career will be over and you will wish you could start over.

I wish you nothing but the best. I had an AMAZING time abroad (The highlights of my experience are coming up in my next entry) and I sincerely hope that the only negatives you are bringing back from your trip are those from your old school camera or none at all. I wish every student could experience studying abroad, but if you can’t, at least Geobloggers are there for you to live vicariously through us. Safe travels to all studying abroad in the Spring.

*This excludes the negative Nates and Nancies who complain about the weather, the workload, the food and the people and spend extended periods of time in their rooms skyping all their friends at home, while not participating in life around them. Sorry, can’t guarantee happiness for you. Actually, I can’t guarantee this for anyone.

Location: Oxford, England

Arriving in Turkey

Merhaba!

I am finally here and what a great way to start a new semester. I feel like I am exactly where I need to be. Everything is just flowing and I feel good about why I am here and what I am doing. To be honest, when I got off of the plane, there was a small thought of “what are you doing” that entered my mind momentarily. Luckily, I realized that it was only my fears and quickly put myself in check.

My taxi driver did not speak English but we communicated very well. He was very proud of his country and that is very refreshing especially with the political chaos that is everywhere. I don’t know what I thought Istanbul was going to be like but it was not this. There is no picture or movie that could convey how beautiful Istanbul is. You are just going to have to come and see for yourself. This city is vibrant and vast with lots of people, shopping malls, traffic (horrible), construction, etc. You name it and Istanbul has it. It seems as if every inch of Istanbul covered with highways, homes, and commercial property.

The Koc University campus is awesome. The CIEE faculty and Koc faculty have been wonderful. One of the cool things about arriving a few days early is you get to meet everyone one on one before the crowd gets here as well as be better prepared. I got a chance to have lunch with Kathryn, Koray, and Defne (CIEE Faculty). Even though I did not know what I had it was great along with the company.

I am looking forward to not only learning the Turkish language and culture but also getting to know and learning about myself. It is all about growth and I am ready for it. Hopefully, everyone is having a wonderful semester abroad or in the US.

Kimberly

P.S. Below are some more pictures I took as I arrived in Istanbul and on the Koc campus. Enjoy!

Location: Koc University, Rumelifeneri Yolu, 34450 Sariyer, Istanbul, Turkey

Hisashiburi

`It has been a long time`

While Japan appears to be a technologically superior country–and as far as robots and gadgets go, it is–wi fi is a rare find. So rare that I haven`t found it yet. That being the case, I have to use the family computer to surf the web and such for the most part. I try to keep that to a minimum, however.

So that explains my absence.

What I want to talk about is food. I want to talk preface this by saying so many people mention that Japan has small portions, not enough food and that they`ve lost a noticeable amoutn of weight. Perhaps they never went to Nagoya, because I do not share those sentiments in the least. Take a look at my last meal at the traditional inn

From top to bottom, left to right.
Crab stuff with shell, roast beef salad, eggplant with a sort of a bitter sauce, curry rice, tofu with peanut sauce, tempura and sashimi. The lidded item is tea. Unfortunately I was too stunned/jet lagged to ask for the names of each dish. This is also less traditional looking than the other dinners. Soup came mid-way through.
Oh, don`t forget dessert!

Mochi, orange slices and apple cake.

Finishing these meals was a chore in part because I was so jetlagged I left my stomach in America, and I just think this is too much food for one person. But apparently this is Japanese hospitality because my host family does the same exact thing. I am hoping it gets to a point where they are done treating me as a guest and showering me with food. It must be as hard to cook all of it as it is to eat it.
Another strange thing is none of this food is especially hot. Sort of just room temperature. That`s another thing that I didn`t expect.

So I don`t see any dramatic weight change in the future, needless to say.

Location: Yobitsugi, Minami-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi-ken, Japan

Benvenuto in Italia!

Ciao! My name is Brianna Paterniani and I am studying in Florence, Italy for the summer. After just finishing my sophomore year as a Neuropsychology major, and Biology minor, at University Park, I quickly became nervous about my trip this summer. Now, I am currently sitting in my apartment on Via Ricasoli in Florence getting nervous about starting my classes tomorrow. As I sit here and realize that this is only the fourth day of my stay in Italy, it has not hit me that I’ll be here for six whole weeks. During these six weeks, I hope to gain greater cultural understanding, learn Italian a little better, become more outgoing, travel, make new friends, and get more credits to my undergraduate degree. One of the biggest parts of this trip will be new experiences.
It may not seem like much but I’ll give you a recap of my first few days here in Florence. It started off a little rough but then quickly turned into the most amazing few days of my life. On Tuesday, two of my roommates and I left for Italy. The flight from Philadelphia to London was surprisingly good taking into account my dislike for flying. The only thing that was terrible was that I literally only slept for about 15 minutes. In London Heathrow, we were meeting another one of our roommates and we had an airport switch. When we got to the airport our other roommate was nowhere to be found and one of the girls luggage never got on the plane from Philadelphia. So while we looked for our roommate, and solved the luggage problem, we were stressing about getting to the bus station in time for our shuttle to the other airport. Once we got to London Gatwick airport, we had a very long layover and ran into a lot of trouble with luggage limits because this plane was smaller. We arrived in Florence around 11 pm and got into a very sketchy taxi who dropped us off at our hotel. When we went to open the door to the hotel it was locked. Since none of us had phones, we had to walk a few blocks to another hotel (remember we have all of our luggage) and ask for help. We found a man who was nice enough to call the emergency number listed. We didn’t get settled in to our hotel until around 3 am. In the morning we left as early as we could, eager to see our new apartment!
When we walked into our apartment it all seemed worth it. At the time I had been somewhat bitter about the trip and this bitterness quickly disappeared. Our apartment is fantastic

From my bedroom window you can even see The Duomo!

After settling into our apartment, we all went out to eat with some other students that we met earlier that day. If you ever make it to Florence, I highly suggest you go to Il Gatto e Il Vulpe. It is all you can eat, all you can drink for only 15 euros!

Since Thursday, I have had Gelato at least once a day! Things to notice at Florence 1) sometimes cafes and restaurants charge you for sitting down and/or have a service fee 2) apparently you aren’t supposed to tip anyone 3) men are usually way to friendly and the best thing for you to do is not even acknowledge their existence 4) Italians are very aware of electicity and wasting things 5) Theyre absolutely crazy drivers and 6) they NEVER wear shorts! Even in 90 degree weather like today, it was hard for me to even find them in capris! I’m sure I’ll have many more of these tips to post throughout this trip!

On friday morning we had a very long and extensive orientation about Florence and the program. On Saturday we picked up our schedules and books. Palazzo Rucellai is absolutely gorgeous. Apparently students have never been able to use the front entrance until this year. We are the first group of students allowed to enter through the front door.

Throughout the days we have been wandering the streets trying to figure out the layout of Florence but I don’t think I’ll ever truly understand it!
The Duomo:

Ponte Vecchio:

I’ll update soon about classes and travel plans with hopefully more pictures! I’m sure this week is going to be extremely busy though.

Location: Via Ricasoli, Florence, Italy

Welcome to Taiwan

It’s been 3 weeks or so since I’ve touched down in Taiwan but I haven’t started classes or seen my school. Classes don’t officially start until Feb. 23rd but I wanted to come back earlier in order to spend some time with my extended family and spend Chinese New Year here in Taiwan.

Everything here is definitely more cramped and dirty. There are stray dogs and cats everywhere so it makes sense that there is plenty of animal poop on the streets as well. Mopeds are one of the primary if not THE primary source of transportation here. You can’t go anywhere without seeing one. I had the chance to ride one since I came and it’s definitely a thrill. On a moped, you can get to places faster than you would a car since they’re small and can maneuver around other cars and parking is so much easier.

Chinese New Year is always very festive and busy in Asian countries. Much like our Thanksgiving, everyone returns to their household to have a feast on the eve of the new year. The kids would then get 紅包 [hong2bao1] (red evelopes) with money in it.

I’ve been able to eat so much good food. I’ll spend about 1 more week in Tainan (in Southern Tainan) before going up North to Taipei where NCCU is.

Location: Tainan, Taiwan

Finally in Roma!

Ciao Tutti (Hi All)!

It has been a week since I have arrived in Rome and I am finally getting around to updating my blog. I think that says a lot about how crazy my week has been!

I arrived in Rome last Friday (a few days before my program started) to do some sightseeing before I had to start my classes. I stayed at a hotel near the Vatican which was nice in that it was a bit quieter than staying in the city center of Rome, but it also meant that every time we wanted to get to the main part of the city we needed to either walk 25 minutes or take a taxi. I normally took a taxi, but it set me back about 10 Euro each time. In hindsight, I think it would have made more sense to stay a bit closer to the city center.

My first impressions of Rome are pure excitement and amazement. The weather is gorgeous (55+ every day I’ve been here) and it seems like there is a beautiful building, statue, or fountain around every street corner. I think it is impossible to see all the sites in Rome in a lifetime, yet alone in 4 months! Given this, I got started right away by going to see a bunch of sites the right after I got to my hotel. I took a taxi to my apartment’s address and started from there. As I mentioned in my last post, the Castel Sant’Angelo is literally a 2 minute walk from my apartment, so I saw that one first.

There is a pathway that connects Vatican City with the Castel Sant’Angelo. Whenever the Pope was in danger, he would leave Vatican City and take refuge in Castel Sant’Angelo. It was essentially his fort! is actually an old fortress. At the top of the Castel is Michael the Arc Angel. The statue was put there after a plague devastated Rome and the Pope led a procession around the city of Rome praying for God to intervene and end the plague. When the procession made it to the Castel Sant’Angelo everyone saw an image of Michael the Arc Angel holding a sword. Shortly after this, the plague ended.

After seeing this, I ventured into the winding cobblestone roads behind my apartment. My apartment is situated in what was the rich section of Rome during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, so chances are that I am walking on the same roads some of the great minds of Rome walked on. There are so many great looking restaurants close to me – I hope I can see them all! After about a 10 minute walk (and passing the famous “Steeler’s Bar” in Rome), I stumbled into the Piazza Navona which is considered to be one of the nicest Piazzas in Rome.

This is a fountain that is in Piazza Navona. Piazza Navona is a very touristy place, but that does not detract from its beauty. There are artists selling their gorgeous art, a lot of cafes along the sides of the piazzas, and musicians playing the “typical” Italian music. I could definitely see myself walking down to that Piazza to people watch while enjoying some gelato.

After seeing the Piazza Navona, I continued on to see the Forum and the “Wedding Cake” (a name that tourists gave to a monument commerating Victor Emmanuale – it actually looks like a wedding cake!).

Largo Argentina. It is actually below street level by at least 30 feet. The reason for the change in street level is because the Tiber River used to flood every year. This led to a higher street level. The Romans eventually built walls around the Tiber River to keep this from happening again.

This is the Wedding Cake AKA “Il Vittoriano”. Il Vittoriano is also home to Piazza Venezia, another well known Piazza in Rome.

I then walked down the Via del Corso which can be equated to New York’s 5th Avenue. It has a lot of very well known stores. Along here, I bought a cell phone with a company called Tre. This was very challenging because it was the first time I had to use upper level Italian, but I succeeded and got a phone. Very proud of myself, I continued on my way up the Via del Corso.

The Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps are both a block off of the Via del Corso.

The Trevi Fountian.

The Spanish Steps.

A fountain near the Spanish Steps.

I then walked to the Piazza del Popolo and went back to my hotel. I was amazed to see how many amazing and famous sites were within walking distance to my apartment. I even missed a site along the way – the Pantheon. The Pantheon is a 10 minute walk from my apartment. Rome is truly an amazing city.

The next day, I took a hop-on, hop-off tour and was able to see some other sites like the Colosseum, Circus Maximus, and the Baths of Caracalla.

Then, it was the day I’ve been waiting for since I knew I wanted to study abroad – move-in day. Our apartment is absolutely gorgeous and exceeded my expectations in every single way. It is less than a 2 minute walk from the IES Center where I will be taking all of my classes. It has a great view of the Castel Sant’Angelo from my window. There are two bedrooms, a huge living room, a kitchen with a dishwasher and a washing machine, and separate dining area. I was so happy that we have a washing machine because it would have been painful to bring my laundry to a laundromat every week!

This is my room. My bed is the one closest to the window.

This is the view from my window looking to the right. Not a bad view at all….

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I am in an “Italiano a Casa” apartment which means that all four people who live in my apartment can only speak Italian within the confines of my apartment. The hope is that by using Italian in an everyday conversational context I will be able to pick up Italian at a much faster rate than I would otherwise. It is definitely working – one of my roommates, Silvio, is an Italian student who attends the University of Roma Tre, another of my roommates, Jordan, is an Italian major and goes to Seton Hall, and the last roommate, Zach, is an Italian minor at Connecticut College. My Italian is definitely the worst out of the group, but I look at it with a sense of optimism in that I have the greatest chance to improve my Italian.

I can already see a difference in my Italian. When I first arrived in the apartment, I understood around 60% of what my roommates said. This was partly because I was not used to listening to Italians talk as fast as they do. Now, I have gotten used to the speed and have built up my vocabulary a bit. I would say I understand about 70% of what my roommates say – not a bad improvement for only 5 days!

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were the orientation to IES Rome. We were introduced to the staff, listened to a police officer talk about the rules of Italy and how to stay safe, learned how to take the public transportation in Rome, and took our Italian placement exams. I placed into Italian 301. I’m very happy I got into this one because I did not do very well on the oral exam. The questions they asked you were hard to answer in English, yet alone Italian. The hardest one was “If you were the President of the United States, what would you do?”. I obviously did well enough to get into the 300 level class which will transfer to Penn State and satisfy the requirement for my minor.

We also had the chance to introduce ourselves to the other students. It definitely is true what they say about Penn State – we travel well. There are 16 other Penn Staters in the program (143 students in total), so Penn State was the most common school. I had the opportunity to meet people from many schools including Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Emory. Everyone at the program is so outgoing and so much fun to be around. I could easily see myself socializing with anyone over here.

On Friday, we took a tour of the historical section of the city. We saw many sites that I already saw like Piazza Navona, but I got to see the Jewish Ghetto which was very interesting. It has all been torn down, but all the Jewish people of Rome had to live in an area of four square blocks between the years of 1555 and Italian Unification in 1861. It is estimated that at one point, there were over 9,000 people living in those four square blocks. The Jews were also forced to go to Catholic mass on Sunday. The people who remained in the Jewish Ghetto after Italian Unification were also the first people to be sent to concentration camps in Italy during World War II.

On Saturday, IES hosted a scavenger hunt called the Amazing Roman Race. This was very exhausting as we had to walk to pretty much every major site in Rome in period of three hours.

That brings me to today. This morning, my roommate and I went to an open air market called Porta Portese which is the largest open air market in Rome. It is open on every Sunday and the vendors sell things from clothes to electronics to old books and postcards. I bought an alarm clock for 10 Euro, so I was satisfied. Tonight, we’re going to one of the “American Bars” in Rome to watch the Super Bowl. It starts at 12:30 AM, so it is going to be a long night.

I apologize for the length of this entry. I will try to update my blog more frequently once things calm down.

Ciao,
Mike

Location: Roma, Italia

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