January 2018 – Page 2 – GW Blogs from Abroad

Everyday counts like crazy

AdminJanuary 3, 2018December 14, 2018

I took a solo trip to Spain last week. It was the most affirming, anxiety-inducing, and wonderful thing I've done since I came to Europe. And, traveling alone is something you should all do if you plan to study abroad.

The trip started out as one that I was supposed to take with a friend of mine, but her visa wasn't processed in time, so I was forced to take the trip alone. I was admittedly nervous before going, which was weird for me. I pride myself on not being scared of travel or city life. I've done some pretty unsafe and questionable things since I was a little kid, whether it's walking around Times Square by myself, taking flights alone, or getting lost in the middle of Maryland by myself my freshman year at GW. I'd never felt that scared doing all those things, but traveling to Spain alone was something that genuinely worried me. I took Spanish for four years but my proficiency is still incredibly poor. I didn't have enough time to plan out the places I was going to because of finals so, in turn, I hardly knew anything about the three cities--Seville, Madrid, Barcelona--I would be going to.

The week leading up to my trip was a difficult one--I had three papers to write and one project to finish all while packing for this trip and taking care of some . . . let's call them "mishaps" that happened in regards to my booking details for this trip. I was feeling pretty hopeless on the Thursday night before my flight. I had to calm myself down repeatedly and tell myself that it would all be okay. And, of course, it was.

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December

AdminJanuary 3, 2018December 17, 2018

By gwujrbenjamin

བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས།! Tashi Dalek! This is Tibetan for hello, and in this blog I am using a traditional Tibetan greeting because I am back talking about my research on Tibetan peoples. To remind everyone, I am researching Tibetan mental health practices which is very interesting because not only is traditional Tibetan medicine the oldest system of written mental health methodology, but also it places the mental health above other kinds of health. In order to properly research this I became part of the community, volunteering at a local crafts center and Tibetan culture center. I taught English, and this gave me access to the community in a different way, one that was more comfortable.

People were able to talk to me more freely. I was able to shadow both Tibetan doctors in western medicine and Tibetan medicine hospitals. As well as a volunteer American doctor that works primarily with Tibetan nomads. This was an amazing experience, being so involved in a community that has such a rich culture. I was welcomed to learn Tibetan language, Tibetan traditional paining, and even to come over to Tibetan homes to eat dinner with the family.

These were not things that I thought I would be able to do because I had imagined they had nothing to do with my project. However, much like the medical system, everything in Tibetan culture is connected. I found speaking some Tibetan helped me become more of a trusted person to talk to, even though Tibetans have a culture of not talking about their problems. I also found that there is a huge connection between art, spirituality, and health with the Tibetan traditional art. Finally, being welcomed into a home to experience meals with a family taught me about the importance of the family unit and daily life dietary methodology. I was extremely fortunate to get connections through my SIT program.

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Abnormal Summit

AdminJanuary 3, 2018December 17, 2018

By gwrobinkim

In South Korea, there is a very popular television program named 비정상회담 ("Abnormal Summit"). Loosely mimicking the G20 Summit, it features a panel who openly discuss a number of topics related to Korean culture. This show is unique in that the panel is made up male foreigners who live in Korea. Not only that, but they all speak fluent Korean. Ranging from nationalities (e.g. Italy, USA, Mexico, China, Ghana, and Poland - to name just a few), they also vary in occupations (e.g. students, professors, corporate workers). They're also diverse in their length of time in Korea ranging from 2 to 10 years. Despite purposely focusing on the differences in Korea and the panel's respective countries, the show also highlights the similarities in experiencing South Korea as a foreigner.

I was invited to an event at 홍대 (Hongdae) that was hosting four of the 비정상회담 ("Abnormal Summit") members to discuss "Peace and Citizenship," specifically targeting students studying abroad. Of course, I said heck yeah.

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Morocco: My Most Memorable Moment

AdminJanuary 3, 2018December 17, 2018

By nadyahhilmi1

Throughout my four months in Morocco, I have had the opportunity to travel to cities all across the country, every weekend brought another adventure. But my most memorable experience was climbing Mount Toubkhal. Located within Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, it is the highest peak in North Africa, totaling almost 14,000 feet tall. The trekking tourism website described the hike as a ‘mild walk’ – this became a running joke as me and ten of my friends’ ascended the mountain, it was anything but a ‘mild walk.’

After taking a five hour train ride from Rabat to Marrakech, and spending a night in a hostel, we were picked up by a bus early on Friday morning to drop us off near the trekking company’s shop. Here we put all of our bags on mules, laced up our hiking boots, and rented gloves, walking sticks, and other equipment. At around 9 am we started our ascent, going along the non-existent path, avoiding boulders, mud, goats, and donkey carts along the way. After nearly eight straight hours of hiking through fields, valleys, mountains, and streams, we made it to the base of the mountain. This is where we found our basecamp, where we slept for the night. It was freezing, and the altitude made many of us sick, dehydrated, and weak.

We had to be up at 4am to start hiking to the summit at 5am. After putting on even more layers, and stuffing bread and hardboiled eggs in our mouths, we started again. It took five hours to reach the summit, and since it was 5am, it was pitch black outside. Since none of us had headlights, we used the flashlights on our cellphones to scale boulders. It was even more difficult the second day, we were already sore and the altitude wasn’t getting any friendlier on our lungs. After hours of scaling rocks, avoiding boulders, and trying not to freeze to death, we finally made it to the top of the mountain.

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Cramming

AdminJanuary 3, 2018December 14, 2018

By paigebradford

Cramming. But not the type of cramming one would think of around finals time, rather the type that involves fitting in as many activities and trips into their final weeks abroad. Attempting to do all the things one said they would do throughout the semester in two weeks. In my defense, I visited most of the sites I hoped I would while abroad, however I've realized all the small things I wanted to do but never got around to because I was more focused on planning big trips to other countries.

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Exams, Papers, and Presents

AdminJanuary 3, 2018December 14, 2018

By keeganblogsfromabroad

As I mentioned in my previous post my two in person exams are very far apart. That means that although I took my first exam yesterday I'll have to wait more than a week and a half until I'm fully finished. In the meantime I've got a paper to write but I'll start with my exam experience.

Exams at the University of Edinburgh feel more formal than exams at GW. I accidentally arrived only 6 minutes early because of a walk I slightly underestimated (it was in a different building than the class meets in) and an unavoidable pit stop to the bathroom before I left. When I got there the proctor was already beginning instructions (I hadn't missed anything) and 95% of students were in their seat. At this university the exams are not given by the lecturers and their TA's but rather by people totally unaffiliated with the class.

They did try to answer questions for students that had them (going so far as to text the course organizer) but generally recommended that if you were unsure about the wording to a question you should answer a different one (there were 8 prompts from which to write two essays.) Seats are assigned. Being as late as I was I had the misfortune of having to walk almost completely to the front (the test was located was a long and somewhat ornate library) only to find they had directed me to the wrong row.

Eventually I found the desk with my name on it (they provided stickers with identifying information,) only to realize I had forgotten to leave my phone in my bag. I got that sorted out and got comfortable in my seat with plenty of time to spare and filled out the information on the exam booklet. Unlike at GW exams at the University of Edinburgh are graded in a totally anonymous manner; the identifying information we put on the essay booklet is sealed over with a tamper evident adhesive.

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