Category: Spring Semester

Week 11 & 12 Abroad

Submitted by Lauren Choptij the 2024 Spring program in Rome, Italy…

I am combining these last two weeks as I experienced one of the hardest challenges while being abroad. I was hospitalized for two weeks following Easter due to an untreated ear infection that led to surgery and two weeks in the hospital. I am very lucky to be out of the hospital now, but it was not an easy journey. I am trying to catch up on all the work I missed and still be able to enjoy the last two weeks of this study abroad experience. (Submitted on April 15,2024)

Week 13

Submitted by Hannah Scheck the 2024 Spring program in Sydney, Australia…

Still hard at work at my internship, but that doesn’t mean there still isn’t time for fun. This week I was able to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Theater Royal Sydney. It was a very fun performance and everyone in it was very talented. I was able to see another act of live music at a pub in The Rocks. I tried a Greek Pita wrap, some of Wingboys famous wings, a cookie 

sundae from Kuki, and a spinach and cheese Turkish Gozleme at the markets in The Rocks. I ended my weekend with a free yoga class held under the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We had a perfect view of the Opera House and it was very relaxing. It was such a great way to reset and get myself ready for the week! (Submitted on April 14,2024)

Cracking the Code of the Irish Accent

Submitted by Olivia Tadlock the 2024 Spring program in Limerick, Ireland…

Moving to another country comes with a lot of cultural differences and culture shock. One culture shock that I didn’t expect to experience in Ireland was the strong accents. Even though everyone in Ireland speaks English, some Irish accents are very strong which can make it difficult to understand what they are saying. I’ve had trouble understanding the accent with my professors and classmates, in stores and restaurants, and when traveling around Ireland. Some areas of Ireland have stronger accents than others. In fact, I was recently on the west coast of Ireland where their accents are very strong and it was very difficult to understand people’s accents. Even though it’s frustrating when I can’t understand someone’s accent, I try to be patient with myself and I just ask the person I’m talking with to repeat themselves. I also know that the more I hear the Irish accent, the better I get at understanding it. (Submitted on April 13,2024)

World’s Best Airport: Changi Airport

Submitted by Navleen Kaur the 2024 Spring program in Singapore, Republic of Singapore…

This was a very relaxing week because it was Eid al-Fitr. In Singapore, Eid is a national holiday, so my company gave us a half day on Tuesday and we got Wednesday off. We had a welcome lunch for one of my managers who recently got hired at Allianz Trade. I have found that in Singapore people do not individually order dishes. Instead, the group collectively decides on a few dishes, taking into consideration allergies and other food sensitivities. Then, the group shares all the food ordered. After the welcome lunch, I decided to explore the Tanjong Pagar neighborhood. My friend had recommended a few cafes to me, so I decided to go cafe hopping. I checked out Cloud Cafe, Fieldnotes, Folks and Stories, and The Better Half. By the end of the day, I was tired of eating all the sweets and felt too full to have dinner. I was surprised by how big the cafe culture is here. Each cafe has a unique theme as well as sweet or savory dishes they specialize in. My favorite cafes were the Cloud Cafe for its ambiance and Fieldnotes for its Mango Yuzu specialty cafe. 

After cafe hopping, I decided to head to Gardens by the Bay for their daily Garden Rhapsody. Every night, the trees light up in tune with the themed music. This month’s theme was Retro Fever, so the trees were lighting up to 1970s disco music. In May, the theme will be Garden Waltz, so the trees will light up to multiple waltzes. This light and music show was spectacular and one of the most magical things I have ever experienced. Afterwards, I went to Marina Bay Sands to see the Spectra – A Light & Water Show. This was an interesting experience because the music went from soft ballads to opera to metal rock. By the end, I was shaken because the music became metal! The next day, my friend and I decided to walk to Fort Canning Park and check out a few museums in the area. It started raining as soon as we left the house, so after wandering around for some time we decided to head to the Changi Airport. I heard that this airport is one of the best in the world, so I wanted to have enough time to fully explore it. My friend and I were able to walk around all the floors in about two hours but ended up staying for an additional three hours to catch the HSBC Rain Vortex colorful light show. After spending a little over a month in Singapore, I am easily able to recognize the famous chain restaurants and cafes. My friend and I did get bored after spending three hours walking around because The Jewel mainly consists of places to eat and places to shop. Anyway, we saw the light show which lasted about five minutes, and then headed home. Today is Saturday and I decided to take it easy. I visited my favorite vegetarian Korean restaurant and visited Ice Lab for the injeolmi bingsu as my dessert. Overall, it has been a very exciting week, and I cannot wait to share more about the upcoming trips I have planned. (Submitted on April 13,2024)

My JPop Expereince in Singapore

Submitted by Riley Hazel the 2024 Spring program in Singapore, Republic of Singapore…

Blog #12

Concerts are something else within most of the entirety of Asia. Japan is most known for its insane Idol, JPop, and JRock concerts. While in Singapore, I had the most amazing fortune of seeing a Japanese rock/pop band called King Gnu. Let me say, that this experience was so much more different than back home in the states, let alone the Western world. For one, the seating system and ticketing system were more organized and simple to pass through than the hectic state of Western concerts. Even then, people were super kind and forming lines as such which made everything go a lot smoother. I’ve been to events such as WWE, and even concerts like Green Day, and nothing compares to the orderly fashion that was Singapore. King Gnu alone was an amazing Japanese band to see in person, even if their songs are all in Japanesee, I knew them. It was also a surprising thing to hear and see the amount of Japanese people that live in Singapore despite it being dominated by Indian, Chinese, and Malaysian populations. The lines for merch after the show were a little bit hectic, but not as crazy and a lot more coordinated. I was able to get three limited edition CDs right after I was interviewed by the Japanese media team. The media team interviewing me was so kind with question and did their best to ask me in English as I couldn’t understand any other languages well besides Chinese. In the overall thought about Singapore concerts, not only are you surrounded by the most passionate fans (especially since Asian bands and singers never come to the US), but also the most organized operations going on before and after the concert. (Submitted on April 12,2024)

A Weekend in Liverpool

Submitted by Megan Zalinkanskas the 2024 Spring program in London, England…

At the top of my sightseeing list from the beginning of the year was Liverpool. As a massive Beatles fan and music fan in general, I was so excited to finally see this city, and it did not disappoint. From the vast amounts of museums, shopping, restaurants, and music venues, there was a lot to explore. I went on a bus tour to see various Beatles signs throughout the city which was an incredible experience. My tour guide was super friendly and knowledgeable, everyone was so excited to see these seemingly boring houses and streets because of the music history behind them. 

The Museum of Liverpool, which I explored on my second day, had artifacts surrounding the city’s shipping history and railway innovation. It’s important to acknowledge that Liverpool was once a thriving port city because it profited from the trade of enslaved people. This history, while difficult, is important to learn about. 

My third day in Liverpool was dedicated to the British Music Experience, an interactive museum with costumes and artifacts from the 1950s to the present day. Many of the early music stars of the British skiffle movement were covered in my British Popular Culture class this semester so it was really cool to see some costumes from these stars in real life. Liverpool was such a cool city and I really recommend visiting it if you ever have the opportunity. (Submitted on April 11,2024)

Final Group Projects!

Submitted by Sydney Moreno the 2024 Spring program in London, England…

Classes end soon, which means that now starts the whirlwind of lots of final papers, projects, and presentations. Lots of my final projects are with groups of two or three other individuals, and with us living scattered all over the city and having different schedules, it can be extremely difficult trying to figure out when the best time to get all of our work done is. 

One thing that is extremely important to getting work done in a group project is just having an open line of communication. Making sure that I am in constant contact with my group members for my different projects has made managing all of the work so much easier, and has also allowed us to get the work done faster. I’ve loved having these group projects, as they have allowed me to get to know more people in the program, and now I can come back home with more friends! (Submitted on April 11,2024)

Living Abroad – The Home Stretch

Submitted by Sydney Moreno the 2024 Spring program in London, England…

As the semester starts to wind down, I have learned to live more in the moment than ever before. Making sure I have time to balance my studies, my social life, and my internship has gotten easier with time, and now that I feel like I’ve finally gotten the hang of it, it’s almost over!

I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on what it means to live in another country, and how it shapes my views as well as my behavior. I feel like Inhave learned so much about becoming adaptable and remaining flexible in order to make the most of my experiences, and that’s really all that I can ask for. I feel like I will be returning home with not only a better understanding of a new culture, but also a better understanding of who I am as a person. (Submitted on April 11,2024)

Expedition Denmark

Submitted by Samantha Jennings the 2024 Spring program in Copenhagen, Denmark…

This week marked the first opportunity that I was able to venture into another city of Denmark beyond Copenhagen! My friends and I traveled to Roskilde, Denmark where we spent the day exploring, learning about history, and shopping! We began at the Roskilde Cathedral where we saw beautiful stained glass portraits and learned about how the Protestant Reformation affected the church and Denmark as a whole. Next, we went to an open-air museum to experience how shops and general stores were run in Roskilde during the 1800s. We compared this experience with our own when we traveled to the open-air market in the city center. A selection of flowers, antiques, and unique Danish cheeses were on display for purchase and it was a beautiful day to see people outside and greeting each other. We finished the day with another one of my Copenhagen Bucket List items–the Viking Ship Museum. This museum was amazing! It was super interesting and interactive. We learned all about the vikings and their journeys as well as how their real ships were found and restored. It was so cool to imagine how the vikings sailed on these wooden ships all the way from Roskilde to Dublin, Ireland! I can’t wait to travel to Ireland next week and learn more about how vikings affected history in Dublin. Stay tuned to hear more about my Irish experiences next week! (Submitted on April 11,2024)

Food Sustainaibility

Submitted by Samantha Jennings the 2024 Spring program in Copenhagen, Denmark…

This week our weekly event for the Culinary Living and Learning Community brought us to Bygaard, a sustainable mushroom farm located in Refshalevej, Copenhagen. There, we learned how the farm was established in a base of three former shipping containers, as well as how the mushrooms are grown, processed, and sold in a sustainable manner. We discussed the malpractice of labor and harvesting that is often characteristic of products sold from large companies in grocery stores and we talked about the true costs associated with fair labor. This farm is small and relatively new, however its products service a wide array of restaurants across the city center of Copenhagen. All mushrooms from the farm are grown in controlled conditions in two of the shipping containers, then processed, packaged, and delivered to each restaurant or catering service in true Danish fashion–by bike! Any remnants of mushrooms that cannot be sold are either used as a foundation to propagate new mushrooms or repurposed as compost for a local community vegetable garden nearby. Prior to coming to the farm I didn’t know anything about mushrooms or food sustainability, but I feel as though I definitely learned a lot from attending this event! It was extremely informative and interesting to see the process of how our vegetables ultimately reach our tables. I can’t wait to try cooking with some of these mushrooms next week! (Submitted on April 11,2024)