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Tag: Europe

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By sonyakalmin

Hey there! My name is Sonya and I am a junior at GW currently studying English Literature for a semester in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Stemming from a first-generation Ukrainian family, I have always oscillated between my American and my immigrant identity. Growing up in an all-Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York further accentuated the difference between my peers and me. However, it wasn’t until High School that I began to understood how little of a role my heritage played in the grander scheme of things, and by that I mean the millions of various backgrounds each teenager growing up in New York encounters.  So in a nutshell, while feeling confused, even uncomfortable with my identity as a pre-teen, by the time I reached young adulthood I was fully aware that I wasn’t alone in the ‘strange family’ category. It wasn’t long before I became quite content with my own unconventional heritage. ...continue reading "Categories, Labels and Identities"

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By stlake

I go to the beach every day and will continue to do so until it is less than 60 degrees (or 15 degrees Celsius #soeuropean). The Mediterranean is extremely warm and relaxing. The waves come and you ride them in and out. You may get knocked down sometimes but hey, it happens. La playa is always a place where I don’t have a care in the world. ...continue reading "La Playa (The Beach)"

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By stlake

I cried in the airport; full on tears in the line to go through security.  As the image of the parents, got farther away, I finally fully realized why I wanted to come abroad and more importantly, why I wanted this particular experience in Alicante, Spain. GW is a fast-pace, competitive environment, where by the time you finish your first semester freshman year, you feel as though you need to have your 12-step plan on how you are going to become the next president of the United States. I always wanted to go to Spain to practice my Spanish but I knew that if I spent 4 months in a major city, I would not get the traditional Spanish feeling I’d been longing before. But leaving behind the wonderful friendships and experiences I had this summer, proved to be more difficult than I imagined. ...continue reading "My new familia"

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By sdemetry

Hallo Alle!

The time for my first blog post has finally arrived. As my departure draws near, I can't help but feel more and more anxious to get to Berlin and start this year-long adventure. It seems surreal that in a few days I will be revisiting those first-day-of-school jitters. It's a little disconcerting to think of going back to a stage in which I know no one, have no bearings in or first-hand knowledge of my surroundings, and feel a general sense of nervous uncertainty regarding my future.

Luckily, all of that uncertainty is pretty consistently being overshadowed by anticipation.

But enough of that- the point of this post is to tell you all about what my time abroad will be focused around: the IES Berlin Language and Area Studies Program and an independent internship with The Nature Conservancy.

I chose the IES program for two main reasons: ...continue reading "IES Abroad Berlin and The Nature Conservancy"

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By jadoerge

As my time here in Munich draws slowly to a close, it astounds me that a year has already gone by. After missing so much news back in the US, it is odd to think that I will be back there so soon and be right back in the middle of things in DC. But, alas, “so it is” as the Germans say. At the end of such a long, immersive program, many speak of how they learned more about themselves and how their time in another place truly changed their lives. I will try to stay away from clichés, but this year abroad was truly one of the best experiences of my undergraduate life and I will sincerely miss and think fondly of the time that I spent here in southern Germany. ...continue reading "Saying Auf Wiedersehen"

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By jadoerge

Now that I’ve finished telling the story of my wonderful and epic adventures around the world with Morgan over the course of our semester break, I’d like to talk briefly about how life in Munich has changed since being back from vacation and how I’ve been getting by in my second semester at the Ludwig Maximillians Universität.

Since the second semester here has started, the Junior Year in Munich program has gained over 40 new students who study with us for one semester and generally leave around the same time as the full-year students like me. It has certainly been nice getting to know and experience life abroad with other like-minded people, but this has also served as a catalyst for me to get out and really try to engage with Germans at the university and who live near me. These friendships, while perhaps not having a huge possibility of being re-kindled later, have not only improved my ability to speak German, but they have provided great insights into how Germans think about particular subjects and how they treat friendships in comparison to Americans. On average, I can say that the Germans are much more serious about their friendships than us Americans. In the States, short-term friends are certainly not uncommon. An example of this could be someone that you sit next to on a bus or subway and have a great conversation with, but never see again and make no attempt to contact. Here in Germany, if both parties show interest in starting a friendship, you had better be prepared to work that person into your schedule and really put forth effort into the relationship before you two can be considered friends and more than just acquaintances. In this sense, I suppose the word “Freund” is used far less loosely than we use “friend” or “pal.” Despite this, I have made some great friends here in Germany and hope very much that they can make it over to the U.S. soon, so that I can give them a taste of where I’m from and why I think like I do. ...continue reading "Getting By With Help From My Freunde"

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By jadoerge

Semester Break Vacation Part 10: Paris

Ah, finally, our end destination: the city of love, the city of lights, Paname, PARIS! After quite a long time discussing in broken French with a customer service agent how we would get to Paris from Lyon, we finally made it in around 7pm and, of course, it was snowing. Now this wouldn’t have been a problem, had the soles of my boots not begun to separate a few days before from all of the walking. You know what that means: wet, cold feet. Morgan was also having some issues with her shoes, so as soon as we dropped our stuff off with our host, stop #1 was a shoe store.

With dry shoes and a much better attitude, around 8:30 on our first night, we got to do what we had been dreaming of for weeks…eat Chipotle. Now don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of really experiencing the culture in foreign lands, and specifically experiencing the food culture. However, just for one night, we allowed ourselves to be nostalgic for our homeland and compensate for Germany’s lack of Chipotle, having lived without it for nearly 7 months. Bellies full, we strolled over to the Louvre Museum, although it was closed, and simply enjoyed the great views of the palace and glass pyramids being lit while the snow fell gently on the ground. A better first night could not have been had! ...continue reading "And a Baguette for the Road"

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By jadoerge

­Semester Break Vacation Part 9: Lyon

Ah, the country side of France. Looking out the window of our small regional train, the rolling hills and small towns of central France whizzed by as  Morgan and I made our way from the Aix-en-Provence to the nearly geographic center of France, Lyon. Filled with a rich history of food and handmade goods, Lyon had a much different nature than the two cities in France we had visited already on this trip. ...continue reading "France and Food: A Love Story"

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By jadoerge

Semester Break Vacation Part 8: Aix-en-Provence

Although we were quite unhappy to do so, Morgan and I did eventually leave the wonderful city of Nice to explore other parts of France. After a short train ride along the beautiful southern coast of France, we slowly arrived in a very different kind of city, Aix-en-Provence. Although the apartment in which we stayed was right in between Aix and Marseilles, we spent most of our time exploring Aix on the recommendation of our host. ...continue reading "Purple Haze"

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By jadoerge

Semester Break Vacation Part 7: Milan and Nice

Although our time in Venice was much too short, Morgan and I were excited to continue our journey our through Italy and on into France! Since we didn’t feel like being cooped up in a train for yet another day, we decided to break up the trip to Nice with a one-and-a-half day visit to Milan! ...continue reading "Border Crossing"

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