Category: Fall Semester

Submitted by Lia Naselli on the 2019 fall semester program in Prague, Czech Republic…

I spent this past weekend in the beautiful country of Ireland, probably one of my favorite places on earth. This was my second time visiting Ireland! The first time was about three years ago when I went to visit my best friend, which was also my first time traveling overseas by myself. Being back, brought back so many memories from the first trip and reminded me of how much I love the island.

On Friday, I visited Trinity College and the Book of Kells Exhibit. I also took a guided tour of Dublin Castle. It was so refreshing to spend the day seeing historical sites and learning about Ireland’s rich history. I really value educating myself about the history and tradition of the places I visit. One of the many things I love about Ireland is that the people cherish their country’s history and take so much pride in how their sovereign nation came to be.

On Saturday, I ventured to the west coast of Ireland by bus to see Galway and the Cliffs of Moher. Seeing the cliffs was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. When we arrived, the fog was so thick you couldn’t even see past the edge of the cliffs. But when the fog cleared, it revealed a view I will never forget.

I’m starting to miss it already! I have to admit, it was nice to be in a mostly English-speaking country for a few days. However, I always look forward to returning home to Prague. I am a few weeks into my Czech class, so I’m starting to feel more comfortable with the language and navigating the language barrier in everyday situations.

Until next time, Éireann! (Ireland in Gaelic)

Submitted by Danielle Tahan on the 2019 fall semester program in London, England…

I took my first trip outside of England to Copenhagen to visit one of my best friends from home! From start to finish, it was truly a magical trip. It started off with seamlessly traveling on my own to another country, which is a testament to how much my confidence has already grown while abroad. After being greeted by her in the airport, we explored the beauty in the people, canal, streets, landscape, and food of Copenhagen. It was my first experience in another European Country and I was not expecting to observe many differences, yet the lifestyle and structure of Copenhagen differs from London and does not even compare to America.

It was extremely enlightening to immerse myself in a different way of living. Denmark not only acknowledges their impact on the environment, but implements radical initiatives in their lifestyle. For instance, everyone travels by foot or bike. My favorite part of the journey was immersing myself into the community by getting around by bike. It was breathtaking to be biking around Copenhagen and exploring its beauty and culture.

 

Submitted by Haleigh Kidd on the 2019 fall semester program in Paris, France…

This week has mainly been adjusting to my French classes as they just started on Tuesday. I think so far so good because I understand my teachers and I am able to ask questions if the need arises (they are not allowed to use English with us nor us to them) and I feel like I’m understanding a little bit more every day. I was most nervous for my electives because I have been taking my French instruction classes entirely in French for a few years now, but I’m quite proud of myself and how well I’ve been able to follow along and my electives have been an entirely new way for me to experience the language – it’s much more natural rather than someone reciting grammar to you. The only difficult thing about my classes is that they’re 3 hours long (you take all of your credit hours at once, once per week) so sometimes it can be hard to keep focus. Consequently, I have started to drink coffee which I never did in the States. Other than class, life here in Paris is wonderful. I have the chance to travel on the weekends, I have the freedom to invite my friends over for dinner, and my internship hardly feels like work because I love it so much. In fact my supervisor had me eat an edible flower today that has anesthetic properties – aka my mouth tingled, then went numb, then I couldn’t feel or stop myself salivating and my supervisor thought it was the funniest thing in the world (the plant is called brède mafana for anyone with a curiosity). Enjoy some more pictures from the farm!

 

 

Submitted by Daniel Bailey on the 2019 fall semester study abroad program in Granada, Spain…

I have been in Granada for one month now, and it is truly starting to feel like home. This past weekend,  I took a trip to London with seven friends from my group, and I had an amazing time. But interestingly enough, I began to miss the streets of Granada, my apartment, and my host mom. It was at this moment when I realized how many lifelong memories I had already made in Granada, and that I still had 2.5 more months left to make more. I have already noticed that my Spanish has gotten much better as well. I am slowly becoming more and more comfortable speaking Spanish to locals and the other students in my group. It is sad that I have already completed 25% of this adventure, but I will be sure to treasure all of my remaining time in Granada and Europe.

Submitted by Ceara Stewart on the 2019 fall semester study abroad program in Barcelona, Spain…

La Mercé is an annual festival in the city of Barcelona. It has been an official city holiday since 1871, when the local government first organized a program of special activities to observe the Roman Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Mercy. Although the actual feast day is September 24, the festivities begin a few days beforehand.

For this festival, I really went out and celebrated this tradition like a local. I participated in the correfoc, aka the Fire Run. For this festival activity, a group of individuals dress as devils and light up fireworks while dancing to the sound of drum music.

I also got to witness the Catalan Castellers. Basically, they are huge towers of people who sometimes compete against each other.

Finally, on September 24th, the last day of the festivities, I witnessed an amazing pyro-musical. This is basically a show of fireworks synchronized to music as well as the famous Magic Fountain located in Plaça de España.

I am super thankful I decided to stay in Barcelona and witness this amazing holiday like a local!

Submitted by Zachary Shulman on the 2019 fall semester DIS program in Copenhagen, Denmark…

A crucial element of the academic experience here in Denmark are the weekly field studies. Instead of a typical 5-day class schedule, we are given Wednesdays off to travel around the Greater Copenhagen Area with each one of our courses on field studies. While they are mandatory, they break the traditional cycle of classroom learning to give students hands-on experience in the information they would otherwise be learning from textbooks and lectures. Similar to the trip to Hamburg I posted about recently, the field studies are typically accompanied by an expert tour guide.

Over the past two weeks, I have had three field studies with three separate class. My first field study was with my E.U.-U.S. Relations course, which brought us to the Danish Foreign Ministry where we received debriefings on Denmark’s relationship with Russia and its strategic interests in the Arctic Circle from two advisors/experts in those respective fields. Then, this past Wednesday, I traveled to the Danish Parliament, more accurately called the Folketing, with my core course, European Game of Politics. During this field study, we had the pleasure of receiving our tour of the building from a Danish Member of Parliament from the Socialist People’s Party, a misleadingly named, moderately left-leaning political party committed to the perfection of the Danish welfare state.

Lastly, I had the pleasure of taking a bike tour with my Environmental Policy in Practice course through the preserved land of Amager Faelled on the large island of Amager just south of Copenhagen’s center city. As a student of politics, I am primarily concerned with environmental issues, so this field study was particularly fascinating. Amager Faelled is a fascinating case study in the balancing act of economic development and natural preservation. The northern-most region of it is owned by the Copenhagen municipality, which had been pushing to pave it over and build new housing units. Fortunately, in accordance with EU law and public outcry, the plan was scrapped. The fight for preservation, however, is never over, and our tour guide highlighted some of the responsibilities of the park’s management and the Danish Nature Agency to make sure that there are always undeveloped pieces of land for locals to enjoy.

Through these case studies, I am able to gain an understanding of these issues as Denmark is dealing with them, though they are not specific to Denmark at all. Relations with Russia and the Arctic states, the expansion (or at least perfection) of a welfare state, and the ongoing debate between development and preservation are just as prevalent in the United States. As a concerned citizen, I believe my opinions and ideas are being all, but refined by these experiences which provide valuable inspiration and creative perspectives with which I can view our own unique situation.

Submitted by Emily Gray on the 2019 fall semester program in Prague, Czech Republic…

Last weekend, I ventured outside the Czech Republic for the first time since I arrived in Prague. I and three of my friends braved a 4 and a half hour bus ride to the beautiful city of Vienna, Austria. I was particularly drawn to Austria because of my interest in the Vienna Secession Art Movement in the early 1900s. Visiting the Leopold Museum, I had the privilege of seeing the works of Egon Schiele, my favorite artist, in person. That weekend, we also visited the Freud Museum, picnicked in palaces, and sang The Sound of Music through it all. Overall, my trip gave me the phenomenal opportunity to explore a new place and expand my knowledge of art and history.

The most valuable part of my weekend was learning that having fun can actually supplement my studies. For instance, seeing Schiele’s art allowed me to psychoanalyze his work for one of my classes. My professor even told me that we would actually be doing a unit on the Viennese painter later on in the semester! Visiting the Freud Museum was particularly applicable to my studies, making me even more passionate about what I’ve learned. My psychology class focuses a lot on Freud, so being able to learn about him as both a person and a doctor has improved my understanding of the class as a whole. My trip taught me that education exists both in and out of the classroom, and that I should always look for opportunities to expand my knowledge further.

 

Submitted by Nicole Caracciolo on the 2019 fall semester study abroad program in Barcelona, Spain…

This week in Barcelona, my friends and I went to see Sagrada Familia, walk around Parc Güell, and attended some events of La Mèrce. The Sagrada Familia was absolutely one of the most incredible things I have ever seen in my life. The architecture is beyond incredible. I went to the Giants Procession of La Mèrce, which was really cool to me because I have never experienced a festival of another culture before. I have been to a handful of small festivals/fairs at home, but they are nothing like La Mèrce. We all went to an outdoor concert the first night in one of the city squares and the next day went to the Fire Run. The Fire Run consisted of people literally walking and running through fire, fully protected, and finishing with a huge firework/sparkler show in the center.

 

Submitted by Zachary Shulman on the 2019 fall semester DIS program in Copenhagen, Denmark…

This week, I had the opportunity to travel on a school-sponsored trip to Hamburg, Germany, where my class and I learned about European trade, international law, Hamburg’s history, and Germany’s relationship with its own past. Not only was the trip powerfully educational, it also served as a way for the people within my “core course” (essentially our semester-specific majors) to grow closer together. DIS sponsors two “travel study” weeks per semester; a shorter study tour to a different region of Denmark, northern Germany, or southern Sweden depending on the core course, and a longer study tour to a different country almost anywhere throughout Europe. In two weeks, I will be traveling with this same class to Brussels, Belgium, the capital of the European Union, to gain personal experience with the European political institutions.

The benefits of these study tours outside the classroom cannot be understated. Real-life experience with individuals, institutions, and ideas of the field you are hoping to enter is crucial to finding your spot within it. In a field as broad as politics and government, my ability to learn about the United States’ closest partners, the member-states of the European Union, and the processes by which they enact continental policy provides me with a fresh perspective of the U.S. and how each country can learn from the other. As a city of industry and trade, Hamburg offers a unique and detailed image of European commerce. As a political science major focusing on international relations, I was able to draw a lot of inspiration from this experience in regard to future career path options.

To any students planning on studying abroad, I cannot stress the importance of taking full advantage of your location. Whether you are studying in Europe, like I have for both of my studies abroad, or somewhere else in the world, allow your experience to change the way you view the world and your country’s position within it. No matter where you are receiving your education, there is always something new to be learned to help you refine your own ideas and grow your potential for success in your professional life.