This Week Abroad - 2/6/15

February 6, 2015

Blogs Abroad: One Month Advice

This is Arcadia's weekly roundup of highlights from student blogs abroad.

The first week of February has been a busy one for Arcadia Abroad, as we are still in the early stages of the Spring 2015 semester. In addition to welcoming Arcadia in Italy to The College of Global Studies' news blog network, the Student Bloggers were highly active in updating us on their adventures. Most of them are finishing up with their orientations and acquainting themselves with their surroundings (though some haven't even arrived yet).

Month One Advice - Jackie in London, England

"It’s amazing how fast time has already gone. It feels insane to say that I’ve been a Londoner for a month. I feel like I’ve barely scraped the surface of this amazing city, and I know I haven’t scraped any surface of Europe yet. There’s so much to do, and thankfully, I still have a lot of time to do everything I want to do. I’m excited about plans I have in the making: a trip to Dublin this weekend, a trip to Rome for Easter to see my best friend, and as I’m writing this I got a text from a friend asking about how serious I am about going to Luxembourg at the end of the month. Every day I think of new plans I want to make, and get excited all over again about how much the world really is my oyster this semester. With 4 months remaining, I am nothing but excited and ready to make this semester the best time of my life." 

Academic Field Studies are Awesome - Brenda in Barcelona, Spain

"The hands-on experiences that I had thus far was not only fun but also educational. It helped me have a better understanding of what we were learning in class. By grasping the information that I learned on academic field studies, I am able to interpret it more clearly during discussions in class. This was the best week yet! I cannot wait until next week."

6 Days and 8,000 Miles to Go - Meredith in Canterbury, New Zealand

"6 days. 6 days and over 8,000 miles are all that stand between my dream-come-true and I. Does it feel real? Nope. Not one bit. Everything still feels like a distant dream; a ‘someday’ kind of experience that maybe if I’m lucky I will get to do. " 

Taking a Look Around - Yasaman in Barcelona, Spain

"This past week or so has consisted of a ton of adventures! I took a trip to the Arc De Triumphe area in Barcelona and that has been by far my favorite location. The gothic area is filled with museums, cute cafes, cool vibes + people, and beautiful sights." 

Dunnottar Castle - Kelli in Aberdeen, Scotland

"Pronounced dun-NOT-er, and known as Dún Fhoithear (fort on the shelving slope) in Gaelic, this ruined cliff fortress has been my favorite place yet. A ruined medieval castle that is set up on a hill belonging to a peninsula, it boasts the surroundings of a beautiful coast and an impregnable fortress just 2 miles south of the town of Stonehaven."

When in England, Do as the Romans Do - Lauren in London, England

"Welcome to my day in Bath! Contrary to popular belief, I did not actually bathe in these appetizingly green waters but I did get a chance to drink them (it tasted like dirty pennies, because I know you're wondering). Story goes that the Romans found the only hot spring in all of England, took it over and then converted it into a public bath house in order to utilize it’s 'healing waters.'"

Meeting Galway - Allison in Galway, Ireland

"I awoke to my early morning alarm thrilled to be traveling to my new home later this afternoon. To end our orientation, the Cork and Galway Arcadia students met for a final time in the Wood Quay venue to go over home stay information, housing information, and academic information. Before I knew it, the orientation was over and we were loading the bus for our destinations."

St. Louis Globetrotter - Kristi in Perugia, Italy

"Hello gentle readers. These past weekends I have been traveling, both in and outside of Italy. Traveling to close by countries is one of the biggest draws for studying abroad, especially in Europe. Plane, train and bus tickets are cheaper and locations don’t get any better to quickly weekend trip your way around."