This Week Abroad - 3/20/15
Blogs Abroad: An Ode to the Ordinary
This is Arcadia's weekly roundup of highlights from student blogs abroad.
One huge part of study abroad is making that which is unfamiliar familiar. It's a huge process of intercultural learning, and a number of students are experiencing that this week. On the 11th week of her program, Brenda reflects on her time in Barcelona, while Jillian writes fondly about living the dream in London. Additionally, Emma, Eien and Allison all got better acquainted with their adoptive countries by traveling to gorgeous areas within them.
Meredith, however, will start us off this week by wowing us with her Ode to the Ordinary.
An Ode to the Ordinary
Meredith in Canterbury, New Zealand
"Although the title may lead you to believe that what is to follow will be a beautiful, poetic representation of my feelings toward the ordinary, I regret to inform you that this is not a poem in a formal sense. As the dictionary defines it, an ode is a poem that expresses strong feelings of love and respect for someone or something. While my poetic skills are a tad rusty, I liked the idea of expressing my appreciation of the ordinary. The ordinary is often forgotten, because it is exactly what it claims to be; ordinary. However, I think there is a lot of beauty to be found in the ordinary, especially when studying abroad. Hence why I think taking time to give a nod to normality, or an ode to the ordinary, is so important."
My Heart Tonight is in Ireland
"With my huge hiking pack on my back and camera bag on my arm, I greeted Gabbi in the lobby and we began our first trip of the semester to Clifden, the largest town in Connemara. The lady at the tourism office recommended the town, but insisted we would need more than a day to explore the town and surrounding area. It sounded like the perfect destination to begin our travels and with a bus ticket in our hands and B&B booked for two nights, we were ready for the weekend."
Living the Dream
"Over the past two weeks I have been able to live out my childhood dreams thanks to the amazing place I have the opportunity to study in! London is full of opportunities for everyone and can help make any type of dreams come true. For me specifically London has given me the chance to live out things I have only dreamed of when I was young. From Harry Potter, a circus class, and the Olympics, London has SO much to offer."
Sydney is an Adventure
"Wow. I can't believe I've been here three weeks. I haven't even been to the beach yet! I only just made a trip into Sydney the other day, though. I didn't know until last week, but Sydney hosts a Queer Mardi Gras every year. It’s apparently a really long parade with lots of glitter and rainbows? See, what happened was: I joined a group heading for the train station about noon. We rode the train about an hour and a half to the city; the whole way with a clear view of the beach out the window. Then we got into the city around 2, but the parade wasn't until 7:30. So we wandered through the city for a while, got lunch at this burger place, checked out the mall, found this cool alleyway with tons of birdcages hanging from the sky, and finally made our way to the harbor."
11 Weeks in
"Today was a very relaxing week. My classes are fine and I had another academic field study. For our history class, we went to a bomb shelter. The bomb shelter was very cool inside. To see how 2000 people were to fit in the bomb shelter, how they lived and worked was astonishing to hear about. The struggles they had to overcome was very inspiring. The tour guide was very interactive and informative."
Queenstown Weekend
"Hugging Lake Wakatipu, built among forested slopes and cradled by a mountain range literally called The ‘Remarkables’, Queenstown is a crescent of blissfully idyllic cabins, cafes, ski runs and gondolas. Some of the Lord of the Rings’ most dramatically beautiful mountain scenes were filmed in Queenstown: it's featured in the opening sequence of Two Towers, and its beech forests are Lothorien. It’s also a hotspot for adventure tourism, and known as the “adventure capital of the world.” And best of all for me, Queenstown is only a three-hour drive from Dunedin."