Tag Archives: excitement

Vodka and Mayonnaise and Bears, OH MY!

After telling people where I was studying abroad this summer, I got a lot of funny reactions: Most of the time I got worried reactions (people asking if I was okay), sometimes I received agonizing looks, and I even witnessed a few angry outbursts. It’s true: Russia isn’t everybody’s first choice for vacation or study, but it’s mine. I love telling stories and am naturally curious, and I see studying abroad in Russia as an opportunity to challenge myself and to inform others about a culture that perhaps they don’t know very much about.

It hasn’t really hit me yet that I am going to be in Russia on Friday. I will be living in St. Petersburg with a Russian family, taking classes in Russian (!??!?!!) about the Russian language and culture, and exploring not only a new world …but a new me.

Just a year ago, I was packing up my stuff for my freshman year at Penn State. I never imagined that this summer would see me off to the Motherland. And I definitely never imagined that I would be taking an oath to speak only in Russian. But hey, I wouldn’t have it any other way, and I cannot wait to soak it in!

I AM nervous, though. Naturally… I have a long plane ride with a few layovers, and packing was a nightmare. Thank goodness I finished that… today… And I am also anxious about living in a Russian family’s home for 8 weeks. What if I can’t understand them? What if they don’t like me? What if I get lost trying to get to St Petersburg State University every morning (the metro system is a whole different story!)? I realize these little worries are stupid to fret over. I’ll get over there and it’ll be fine. Actually, it’s going to be a lot better than fine. It’s going to be amazing – quite the life experience – and I am going to savor the Russian language and culture and share the beauty and excitement of Russia with all of you.

So watch out, world. I am packed (I hope I’m not forgetting anything…) and ready for a challenge. This surreal adventure that I am about to embark on is ON!

Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Takeoff Tomorrow!!!

Well, tomorrow is the big day. A 10pm flight from Philadelphia will take me and 3 fellow Penn Staters to Heathrow in London. After that a taxi will get us to the University for our study abroad experience. I’m feeling excited and nervous at the same time, but it should be a great time. After waiting with anticipation, the big day is almost here.

Tonight will be filled with goodbyes and waiting until the trip to the airport begins.

Location: Old Forge, Pa

Just 8 More Weeks!

Hi, everybody! My name is Melody and I’ll be studying abroad in Taipei, Taiwan during the spring semester of 2011. I’m currently a junior majoring in Supply Chain and minoring in International Business and Chinese. I hope that my time in Taiwan would give me the opportunity to improve my Chinese reading and writing skills. Being able to speak and learn from native speakers would be great too! :]

I’ll be leaving for Taiwan around January 26, 2011. I’m really excited about having the opportunity to be in Taiwan for Chinese New Year. It would be awesome to experience authentic celebrations and traditions of such an important holiday in Asia. Since I have family in Taiwan, spending time with them during this time is also a big plus!

Despite being really excited to live in a foreign country for several months, I also have a lot of fears and doubts. I suppose it’s normal to be anxious. One promise I made to myself though, is that no matter what, I would make the most of this time and make the most of the opportunity that’s given to me. Hopefully I’ll stay true to that promise and have no regrets whatsoever. 🙂

Location: University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

In anticipation

In 15 days I will be heading off to the UK. My parents and younger sister will drive me to JFK (5 hours without traffic) and then I’ll be on my way. Until then, I am stuck in my hometown of Horseheads, NY (population: approx. 6,000). With all my friends heading back to their schools this weekend, I anticipate a boring couple of weeks here, but I still have plenty to do in preparation.

I have two (purple) suitcases to fill…and fill them I will. I made a very detailed packing list that I’ve tripled checked, had my mom check, had my friends here check, and had a few friends from the UK check. All looks good, methinks. I even color-coded it so I know what will be in each suitcase and in my carry-on (organizational dork?). One suitcase is almost completely packed! I’m going to avoid pack the second until next week so I can have something to do. It’s not all that difficult to pack, actually. I don’t take much anywhere with me, though, so maybe that’s the reason.

I’m so excited to get to London! I’ll get in Monday, September 6th bright and early. I’m being met at the airport by a Leeds student I met at Penn State last year. I’m going to be staying with him in London for a week. We have tickets to the Lion King show on the West End and to the Muse concert on the 10th. I’ve been to London before, but I’m excited to see my favorite city again and do all the crazy tourist stuff.

After London I’ll head up to Leeds via train on the 13th. I’ll move into my room in Leodis (I have my own bathroom!) and then get a jump on all the international stuff! The first week will be all internationals, but the second week is Freshers week! My friends there say it’s tons of fun and that I’ll have a great time.

For now, though, I will continue lazing around my small town, watching movies, and reading some good books (perhaps I should get around to finding my Kindle charger?). More to come once I’m across the pond!

Location: Horseheads, NY

Who needs an alarm clock?

When the birds are as psychotic as the ones living above my balcony, they are much more trustworthy of an alarm clock than any 1992 Nokia cell phone I can buy for 40 euro. And if that doesn’t work, apparently on Sundays you can be woken up to the tune of “Here Comes the Bride” playing during a wedding taking place in the garden below our balcony. But hey, I wake up to the same cell phone noise every day at Penn State, and this way is already a great improvement.

Last week, I moved into my humble abode of the next 6 weeks of my life. It is so much cooler than I’d imagined. There are 5 of us living here, and we have a sweeeeet apartment. If the balcony overlooking one of the most beautiful scenes I’ve ever witnessed isn’t enough, how about the large bedrooms, the spread of food the school left out for us, and not to mention all of the awesome friends I’ve made in this building. And I’d also like to take the time to give a shout out to how incredible the orange juice is here. When we moved in, they’d left two gallons in the fridge for us, and I think I’ve had like 5-10 glasses a day since. It is some seriously fresh squeezed quality product. Sorry, I had to fit that in here somewhere.

Anyway, my first days here have been nothing short of amazing. The school took all of us up to a town called Fiesole on a hill overlooking Florence about a 20 minute bus ride away. The view from Fiesole overlooking Florence and its surrounding hills was hands down the most incredible view I’d ever seen in my life. It would be an impossible feat to accurately put into words how it felt to stand where we stood and see what we saw in Fiesole on Friday. If this Internet connection allows me to, I think I’ve posted a picture of me in Fiesole with Florence in the backdrop.

Sorry if the picture at the bottom is enormous, I didn’t know how to reformat the size.

Anyway, I had a great weekend. Caught the end of the Flyers game at a bar on Saturday, which was a magnificent personal victory for me. So pumped that they are in the Cup Finals. But Florence is really cool at night. The bars are fun although the drinks are relatively expensive, but it’s always a great time going out in a group of friends.

I have been to the first class of both of my classes so far this week. Monday I had my “villa and the garden” class which is going to be awesome. Every class for the rest of the semester takes place on site at some country villa or garden. Imagine going on a field trip every class, and that’s what I have to look forward to. Today, I had my first Management class taught by the Dean of Penn State’s business school. It was interesting, and he seems like a really interesting professor. He uses a lot of fun stories and real life scenarios to illustrate the application of the material, and keeps the whole class involved with a conversational style. So far, it seems like I’ve got a terrific 6 weeks ahead of me, from an academic, social, emotional, and almost any other perspective you can name.

And if anyone needs any sort of reminder or alarm at 1 a.m. your time, 7 a.m. mine, I’ll put the birds on speaker. Ciao!

Location: Florence, Italy

T-Minus 2 Days til Florence!

As I was sitting on my couch this morning watching The Today Show, it finally hit me…In three days, I will be on my way to the airport headed for Florence, Italy! It’s hard to believe that in three days I will be across the world, experiencing Italian culture and having the journey of a lifetime!

After I came to this realization, my first thought was the empty suitcase that is sitting up in my bedroom, waiting to be packed. As anxious as I am to go on this adventure, the thought of packing for SIX WEEKS makes me cringe. I’ve told myself that as soon as I finish this blog, I’m going to go pack…We shall see how that goes!

I’m not sure what to expect when I get to Florence. I am so anxious to see where I will be living, who I will be living with, and what the city will be like. Everyone that I’ve spoken to has only good things to say about the city, and I can’t wait to experience it first hand!

My roommate is also studying abroad in Italy, and it’s comforting to know that I’ll have someone there who I know well to travel with. While there, we’re hoping to travel to Venice, Rome, Milan, Cinque Terre, and various other cities in Italy. We also hope to make it to Dublin, Ireland and London, England. It’s so weird to know that flying in Europe isn’t a big deal, and I couldn’t get over how cheap plane tickets were!

I’m off to pack – looking forward to keeping everyone updated on my adventures in Florence! Stay tuned 🙂

Location: Butler, Pennsylvania

Less Than a Month Until Florence!

Hello to everyone!

Just got trained on how to blog during my time abroad. I can’t believe that I am less than a month away from being in Florence, Italy for 6 weeks! It’s very exciting!

A little background info on me…My name is Jennifer Cully and I’m from Butler, Pennsylvania which is about forty minutes outside of Pittsburgh. I am an Accounting Major in the Smeal College of Business at Penn State University. This summer I am studying abroad in Florence, Italy for 6 weeks and I cannot wait. During my time there, I will be taking two classes, one on Italian Art and one on real estate in Italy.

The next month is going to fly by. I haven’t even considered what I’m going to pack yet, but packing light is definitely going to be a challenge for me!

I cannot wait to study abroad. I am sure it’s going to be one of the most memorable experiences of my life and I’m so excited to share it through these blogs! I definitely have some anxiety about going abroad, but it’s a positive anxiety (more like excitement/anticipation!)… I’ve never considered myself the adventurous type, but this is definitely going to be an adventure. I cannot wait to soak in every minute of it!