This week has been one of trying new food, and experiencing new events, and what a week it has been! For the last few months my friend Vanessa has been telling me how amazing Korean BBQ was, so on Thursday evening I finally bit the bullet and we travelled into Virginia for one of the biggest meals I had ever had. The table was completely covered in fantastic plates of delicious food; 
I ate so much that I needed a nap by the end of it!
Vanessa decided that after this meal she was going to prove how great her cooking was, so on Friday night we hosted 12 people for a dinner party. This turned out to be quite a squeeze and a real run around trying to find enough chairs, but it turned out to be a great success with every plate licked clean. 
The dishwasher definitely came in handy that night! On Saturday it was Chinese New Year – the year of the horse (or the Bronco’s my friend Paul told me, but this will come later). There was a big parade in Chinatown featuring dragons and great dancing!
... and then it was time to celebrate with a pot luck party. I am not the best cook so Vanessa and I made some pasta together and took over a chocolate cake – there was so much food and of course some fortune cookies too! Vanessa and I also got to try our friend Ian’s world famous chocolate chip cookies – and they were the best I’d ever had. 
We had a great time and a lot of fun meeting new people. I was treated on Sunday to crepes, thanks to French Pancake Day courtesy of Christina; 
she even let me make a few (with supervision of course) and they went down a treat!
Sunday however was the big event of the weekend – The Superbowl! Now in the UK it is a little difficult to watch the Superbowl as it doesn't start till 11pm, so to see it through, you’re up half the night. Luckily being in the US I was able to sit down with everyone at 6:30 ready to watch the greatest game of the year! I went over to my friends in Chinatown where the guys had turned on the grill and made some fantastic homemade guacamole. 
There were over 20 people crowded into the living room to watch the Seattle Seahawks take on the Denver Broncos. 
I was supporting the Broncos, which as you have probably seen from the scores, wasn’t the best choice. Unfortunately for my friend Paul, this is his home team, so it was a pretty sad night when Seattle won 43 to 8. 
The half time show though was incredible, with Bruno Mars dominating the stage 
and the commercials were brilliant too. Check out the Budweiser Advert – best one of the night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQB7QRyF4p4
So as you can see, most of my weekend has been spent eating a lot of food, but also getting to spend some time with amazing friends!
Tag: Exchange
Fish, seafood, and some more fish !
By nimames
With the cold weather that has decided to settle in Washington, three friends, Marlitt, Steph, Zenia and I decided to go away for a day and visit the city of Baltimore. I was really excited by the prospects of visiting another city close by because that’s why I applied for the exchange program in the first place: seeing as much of the U.S as possible and I certainly wasn’t disappointed by my first visit: Baltimore. 
We woke up at 7 am and braved the cold weather and headed to Union Station. I haven’t been to union station before and I was glad I did. I never though a train station could have shopping centers what with Moroccan stations having a coffee shop or two and couple of restaurants here and there. I was surprised to see an H&M store and a food court !
We got in the train and the landscape was something akin to the Twilight set except that it was covered with snow. After a mere 40 min we arrived at Baltimore welcomed by a chilly weather and snow falling. 
The adventurous, and prepared girls that we were, we had looked up nice places to visit in Baltimore: the Baltimore Harbor 
, the National Aquarium, the Baltimore Observation Deck and the Cheesecake Factory (of course !). We quickly hopped in a bus that took to the National Aquarium in which we spend 2 hours looking at funny-looking fish, dangerous sharks and extremely rare and deadly poisonous albeit tiny frogs! 
The visit ended with a tour of the loud and humid rainforest of Australia where we got to see birds, parrots, snakes, tarantulas and different kinds of trees and plant, our tummies screamed for some good seafood. We asked around for nice seafood restaurant nearby and we ended up in Mo’s Seafood Restaurant. After being welcomed by the nicest waiter I ever had the pleasure of meeting, we ordered quite a lot of food including the notorious Mo’s Crab Cake and a platter of fresh and oh-so-delicious oysters.
After having a delicious meal, we headed to the observation deck of Baltimore. When we entered the building, we met a nice guy at the entrance with whom with played a little guessing game. Each of us being from a different continent (Staph was from Australia, Zenia from Singapore and Marlitt from Germany), I guess it would have been difficult though interesting to see if he’d get our nationalities right. We asked him to guess our nationalities and boy was it difficult. When he tried to guess where I’m from, he thought I was from South America which I get all the time! But then when I told him I was from Africa, he got the right answer from the first try and I must admit that I was surprised. I honestly would have never thought that people would know such a tiny country that Morocco is but it warmed my heart nevertheless.
Upon getting to the 27th floor, we had the most amazing panoramic view of Baltimore. The room was a 360 degrees glass window that allowed us to have a view of all the snow covered surrounding which was truly an amazing sight! 
We took tons of pictures and I even go a souvenir 
. I decided to collect fridge magnets from all the places I may visit in the U.S and hopefully my fridge would be full of magnets from all over the country !
After the observation deck, we had a little time to kill before our train back to DC, we decided to go to the famous cheesecake factory (no Penny there !). We got a lemon and raspberry cheesecake and it was heaven on earth. I can’t express how much food is important for me and although I did mention it in my last post, I think reiterate it would be appropriate. The culinary part of my experience in the U.S is both important and present in my new every daily life and I really hope it will not end anytime soon.
Thank you Baltimore for a wonderful day, to you I say <3 
“Are you Australian?” he said in an American accent. “Really?”
By aaront162
Yesterday on the 26th of January, the Australian exchange students organized a small Australia Day party complete with all the trimmings – a sausage sizzle (slight burnt, onions optional of course), fair bread (buttered toast with sprinkles, atypical of any primary school birthday party), Tim Tams (which I think were the fastest to disappear) and of course vegemite (diluted with a bit of butter for those not used to its strong taste). Yet in the midst of creating our little sampling plate of Australiana, I realized it has been just over three or so weeks since I arrived in the US and more so than anything else, I find myself drawn back towards Sydney and Australia though not purely out of sorely missing the summer warmth in the midst of yet another polar vortex in Washington DC.
Australia Day does not mark the birth of Australia – it marks the birth of a colony of Britain which over the course of over two hundred years has wrestled with its own identity set against the identity of others. If the narrative is to be believed, Australia began unmistakably and loyally British in birth, recasting itself as a nation in 1901 with the formation of a federation of states coming of age on the fields of the Western Front and the beaches of Gallipoli, and then once again along the Kokoda Trail. Yet within this narrative is a story of insecurity – of the fear of outsiders which led it to implement the White Australia Policy and a desperate attempt to maintain itself as a loyal outpost of Europe set amongst South East Asia. Australia Day is a strange creature – it marks the date upon which the British flag was raised on Sydney Cove by Governor Phillip. A simple enough act but one which, beneath the sausage sizzles and Australian flags draped over sunburnt shoulders, reveals the sheer complexity of Australian culture, identity and indeed, that most politically loaded notion of what is “Australian”.
There is a certain degree of surprise when I speak to someone in the US – the Australian accent seems to be discordant with what they would expect. This is perhaps understandable enough when much of Australian culture and people continues to be represented by the likes of Crocodile Dundee or Steve Irwin but does a grave injustice to the true, and in my opinion, far more beautiful face of Australia today as a rich, diverse and multicultural nation. Looking back, the most striking image of Australia Day was not at the Cricket Grounds, the Footy Field or even in Canberra. It was a small suburban park in Sydney’s South-West, a area well known for its multiculturalism, in which an Afghani family was having a barbeque, flatbread and lamb next to the Tip-Top with the slightly burnt sausages. I could not help but be reminded of this image as I looked around the room at the multitude of cultures which were celebrating Australia day with us, bringing just a bit of Sydney in the midst of chilly Washington DC. There is little doubt that our Australia Day party helped remind me what being an Australian is all about.
Time to begin an interesting routine
By inepalacios
After a first week in US, spending time with my friend Emma in the nice region of New England; after another week knowing DC and the other exchange students; it was time to begin my classes at GW, to begin my exchange routine. But when I say routine, I am not necessarily referring to a boring routine.
These last two weeks of class were not an ordinary experience. It was two weeks to know my professors, to set my new academic goals, to realize how challenging study in English will be for me, to plan how I will reach all my exchange goals.
These two weeks were unexpectedly full of new senses. On one hand, I was afraid of not being able to understand each word of lectures, because all of my professors speak in a speed that is really difficult for me. But on the other hand, these weeks were to propose myself the challenging to learn and involve myself in issues that I really want to get to know. I realized that there are many academic skills to acquire, and at the same time a lot of people to get to know.
These two weeks were worth to stop some concerns I had before starting.
- I was afraid of not be able to understand mathematics topics in my class of Public Finance, but after a revision I realized that my home university provided me a strong base in mathematics. I noticed that I am ready to learn about the US public finance. It will help me distinguish which aspects, the Argentinean public finance – a typical system of developing country- could improve following the political and economical aspect of the US public finance.
- I wanted to take an Argentinean economic policy class that is offered only this semester in my home university, so I thought that I was loosing to learn about these issues but I noticed that the Latin America class that I am taking has an important approach in the Latin America’s economic policies and the professor is very dynamic.
- I was afraid to not take advantage of GW since I wasn’t taking a class about American or Political History, but I noticed that my Poverty, Welfare and Work class is a course that not only addresses the issue of poverty, but also address American poverty problems, so I am having the opportunity to learn deeply about the US and about one of the social issues that I am interested in.
- I was wishing to be engaged in some American community service and I found that my Ethical of Leadership class is a course that not only has an activity of community service as a requirement, also it offers a good guide to learn about the practices of human services.
First conclusion: I am really gratified with the GW courses that I am taking. So, I just have to be responsible with this great opportunity to be studying at GW.
In each first class of all of the courses I was remembering the EXO’s advice: to get contact information of someone in our class to ask help whenever we need. So, just waiting to get some contact information from my classmates I found more than a simple contact information. In each class I found really friendly people.
In Public Finance I knew Darby, Christina, and Sohyoun and we met to work in the first assignments.
In Ethical of Leadership I knew Nadia and Megan; they have been helping me to find some activity of community service.
In Poverty, Welfare and Work, I knew Emily, she let me borrow her class notes.
In Latin America I knew Steph, she is a really nice person, we have shared not only classes, but also dinners, hang outs, parties, potlucks, and long talks. We also are planning to travel together! Thank Steph for those fun moments!
But also, I could meet with the people who I knew before to arrive to DC.
One of them is Fernando. I met Fernando a month ago, thanks to one great friend in Argentina, Marcelo. Thanks, Marce, for introducing me to your friend. Thank you, Fernando, for the great welcome, the coffee, the DC references, I was missing a good Argentinean talk.
Also I knew Chelsea, a friend of some guys that I met on new years in Fairfield. Thank Chelsea for your willingness to help!
Moreover, I started to do Language Exchange with one of my EXO Leaders, Whitney. She is so nice, we had been talking long talks, hanging out, and going to basketball games. She also was helping with my writing, thank you so much Whitney!
Also I met two Chilean girls, Gisella and Javiera, they are so lovely, we share outings and they invited me to visit their OAE where they are working.
I can’t forget of my dear buddy, Steven. He was studying in my home university the last semester. I can say that he was one of the people who helped me pass the English exam to be here. These last weeks, he has been inviting me to hang out with his nice friends, Bert, Betsy, Anna. We also had a nice dinner with his dad. Thank you so much Steven for everything!
Anyway, it was the beginning of this last weekend and I felt overwhelmed with all of the reading that I had, and all my expectations to hang out with all my new friends. How can I do to see all of them? What can I do to spent time with the Exchange students? How can I plan with them but save time to study? I realized that the best thing would be to organize a meeting in my apartment. So, I invited all of them.
We were almost 45 students among my friends and friend of my friends in my apartment. Us music, Latin-American music, Argentinean music, games, dancing, jokes, time to talk with all my friends, opportunity to invite other friends, among them to invite Bibi, another Argentinean girl who is studying in American University, so all these made my weekend a good beginning of the exchange routine.
At the same time, I had time to study and see all the new friends.
Again this exchange is exceeding my expectations.
Thanks all for this great class beginning!
Snow days and away games!
This week has been a little bit odd, as I have only had 1 full day of classes out of 5. I am lucky enough every week to have Fridays off; but, this week I was also graced with a 5-day weekend!
Monday was Martin Luther King Day, a celebrated holiday in the US, similar to one of our bank holidays at home in the UK. So, me and my friend, Christina, decided to use the day wisely and go to the zoo! 
I had always planned to visit the zoo, but hadn't got round to doing it yet and this was the perfect time, as there was a new baby panda which I was very excited about. The baby panda wasn’t out for long, but we did get to see the mother, who was beautiful and slightly scary – look at those teeth! 
We also got to see the lions and elephants and I learned that elephants can actually lie down and sleep; something I did not know.
It was a great day all round and a perfect way to enjoy DC. The great surprise of the week, however, came from Tuesday which turned out to be a Snow day!!
Washington DC isn’t known for getting much snow, but over 6 inches fell in one day; the worst snow in three years. Now, this maybe should have been the day for staying in and catching up on TV, but not for me! Me and my friend, Scott, decided to venture out to the monuments to check out how they looked in the snow; they did not disappoint. 
The snow was coming down so fast that you couldn’t even see the Washington monument from the Lincoln steps. I also got some cool shots of the squirrels 
that I was stalking, and a women with a red umbrella – because I thought it was cool! 
Although we were freezing by the end of the walk, it was totally worth it and something I probably won’t get to see again. 
The rest of the week was spent dealing with the reality and aftermath of the snow, it was -12c on Wednesday – not a temperature I am used to! Then, all too soon it was the weekend again (it was a strenuous week with 1 day of classes!). My friends and I have been religiously following the GW Basketball team this season so decided to travel up to George Mason University, in Virginia, to watch an away game. Even though it was a 45 minute trip down there (and I swear it was colder than DC!), seeing their stadium was incredible – it was twice the size of ours and seats 11,000 people. 
They also had a great half time performance from their cheerleaders, which was really cool. 
. Continuing their winning streak, GW finished 75-69 making it 16 wins and 3 losses for the season, which is amazing! 
. All round it has been a pretty perfect week full of a lot of great outings and even a snow angel or two! 
Turning back time…
By inepalacios
In my excitement to talk about my first week in DC, I ran out of space to talk about my first week in the United States. The week before I arrived to DC, I had the opportunity to enjoy seven beautiful days with my friend Emma and her family and friends. I met Emma a little more than a year ago in Di Tella, my university in Buenos Aires. She was doing an exchange program for a year, and I shared one of the best and enriching experiences of community service with her. We visited Villa 31, one the biggest slums in Buenos Aires.
Tutoring at a high school in this slum, we started to realize that we share more interests than we knew. We started to spend times with the same group of people, mainly with Clari, another great friend in Buenos Aires. Also Emma was one of the friends who taught me how to speak in English the past year.
Journeys, classes, friends, discussions, English, clubs, projects, university life, ideas, and discussions with her caused me to grow and create great memories. That is how I received the invitation from Emma to spend the days before to start the exchange in her house in Georgetown, Massachusetts with her and her family and how I decided to spend my New Year with her.
It was December 29, 2013 when I entered American territory, more precisely Bostonian territory, at the Boston Logan International Airport. The hug that I gave Emma was the warmth that I needed after facing the shocking weather that I experienced. A day before, I was enjoying the summer with 99 °F (37°C), but at this moment the temperature was around of 5°F (-15°C).
When I arrived, Emma told me about the New Year plan. We were going to Fairfield, Connecticut, a little town where she is studying and we would be celebrating the New Year with a dinner with friends in her house along the Atlantic Ocean and go to a party at the beach organized by her university. It was the plan, but definitely the celebration exceeded my expectations: games, good music, good food, and nice people.
That is how Emma´s friend told me about and introduced me to their friends who were studying in GW or living in DC. After the New Year, I had time to return to Georgetown, to enjoy the snow and the quiet town, and mainly to spent time with the Cannon’s (Emma´s family).
Without a doubt, it was the best transition that I could have had between my country and my university experience in the US. Not only because they were patient with my English, also because I had the opportunity to enjoy time with a really nice American family and learn about their customs, their habits, and spend a really nice time with them. I think few people have the willingness to receive exchange students during their short holidays. I was lucky to have the opportunity to share dinner, play games, talk, eat cookies, drink wine, and play in the snow.
Also I had the opportunity to tour Boston, “the capital of New England”, its garden, its avenues, its nice squares, its traditional market, as well as its food, like the pasta in the Italian neighborhood. Although I still want to return to tour more, the few places that I visited were interesting, entertaining, and nice. Definitely my first week in the US was not only was worthy for exploring the region of New England, it was a week to immerse myself in American life, to perceive and adapt to the contrast between my country and the US.
It was worth learning about the customs and to reflect on my customs. If I had to choose the best aspect of this week I would say that it was Emma and her family because they provided me with warmth and Emma gave me the best understanding of the experience that I was about to start. Who better than she that lived as an Exchange, to know about Argentina and US?
Among my experience and her wisdom, I would like to highlight her advice of living and taking advantage of each experience, activity, projects that GW and DC have to offer, especially the things that I won’t be able to do in my country. Also, it is important to do all of the things with willingness and effort, without forgetting to enjoy it.
I will see if I can follow your advice, Emma. If I can, then next week I will probably be talking about it. To Emma and her family that I am missing, thank you so much!
First week of Classes…
The first week back at school is always difficult to get back into; you’re trying to get to all your classes as well as seeing all your friends you've missed for the past month. So my first week has been all about catching up with people, lots of food and going out. And the first event of the week was the GW Basketball game! Our school team have been playing brilliantly this past semester, so it was no surprise that this game was sold out. Luckily though, I managed to get a seat and had a perfect view of the game.
It was my friend Christina’s first game of the season as well, and she showed her school spirit perfectly with her GW sweater.
The final score was 76-66 to GW, with the team making our school proud. Hopefully next week I will be able to travel up to George Mason University to see their next game.
The weather as you may have noticed has also turned bitterly cold – I had three layers on the other day, just to run to 7/11! However this meant it was the perfect weather on Saturday evening for a trip to Georgetown and to the ice rink that has been built in the fountain. Now I absolutely love ice skating, however I was surprised to find out that half my friends had never skated before, so were in need of a bit of coaching.
We all fell down at least once (but that’s half the fun of it!) and had a great time, finishing the evening off with a burger. 
The rest of my week has been filled with food, making fajitas for my friends 
and also going out for brunch on Sunday afternoon with the girls – a perfect first week back to school!
Desynchronosis (of sorts)
By aaront162
Desynchronosis, also known as jet lag, is the well known result of changes to the body’s natural rhythms as a result of long distance travel and generally speaking, a few days of rest is enough to overcome the fatigue. Yet moving from the laid back and warm summer of Sydney to the middle of winter in Washington DC – the large and unfamiliar city and heartland of American power, politics and government – involves a certain change in pace and rhythm which takes a little more time (perhaps a well planned week?) to adjust to.
The whole process begin subtly enough - the small chit chat in the lobby of City Hall on the first day of orientation week, a mixture of foreign accents somewhat anxiously looking around and getting acquainted with other new faces. The basic introductions follow, nerves gradually calm, barriers slowly break down and unfamiliar faces soon develop into familiar personalities with the help of our orientation leaders. There is a lot of walking around unfamiliar streets – the wind is biting and cold but anticipation (and plenty of enthusiasm from group leaders) is enough to drive you from place to place. Then the sound of applause in the Lisner auditorium as Sonya Sutamayor gave sound advice from someone who moved from the Bronx to the Supreme Court. Long bus rides lead to the excitement of “snow tubing” on Wisp Mountain. Then the roar and cheer of the home crowd in the Smith Centre, the sharp tension which fills the arena during a free throw and the unmistakable energy which explodes at the end – GWU wins a well fought game. Then more walking and the grandeur of the monuments and national buildings, statuesque figures of carved marble and bronze within the dome of the Capitol building. In between, plenty of jokes, lots of laughter and good humour.
By the end of the week, the weather is warmer, the wind no longer as biting and cold, the streets and buildings no longer so unrecognisable. Just like the passing of the jet lag, the pace and rhythm of Washington DC and GWU settles into something familiar and everything just feels that little bit more comfortable. Not quite home - but for the semester ahead, definitely close enough.
E Pluribus Unum
By nimames
My arriving to the United States, a country I’ve never been to before, was not smooth to say the least. I flew a total of 11 hours in one single day, waited almost 2 hours for my luggage only to find it open and broken. So the only way for me to move my suitcase was to tape it. The next bad surprise was the lovely DC weather. Although I did take my precautions and packed warm clothes, I certainly did not expect the chilly -14°C that welcomed me to the DC. Luckily, the orientation week made up for all the hassle of my flight and my deep dislike of the weather.
Orientation week was exhausting but ultimately fun. We got to meet students from literally the 4 corners of the world: Korea, Singapore, France, Australia, Brazil, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Germany and many. This reminded me why I participated to the exchange program in the first place: to explore the diversities the world had to offer and to be exposed and part of such diversity was a delight as it is always interesting to find out more about other countries.
This week will most definitely go down in my “history” as one of the best weeks of my life and it would have happened without the continuous help of Shawna and Hilary as well as the EXO Leaders who were always (I mean always) so cheerful and friendly and did an amazing job showing us around and giving us helpful tips. They did a marvelous job guiding us, giving us advice, making sure we make it to all our appointment and we don’t get lost but ultimately they brought us all together in an atmosphere of laughter and joy. At first, people, me included were hesitant but after each day, we all became more comfortable with each other.
The first two days were intense; we split up into small groups with two EXO leaders who helped us with our visa and bank appointments. I personally had to adjust to walking because boy did we walk a lot!
The third day, we took the metro to visit the Newseum and I have to admit that the DC metro is … weird. Not that I haven’t been to a metro station before. But being in the DC Metro stations is like being in a huge concrete alien spaceship. It was interesting to compare the DC metro stations with the ones I had previously been to but they were ultimately the same: busy.
The Newseum was really interesting for me especially for someone minoring in communication. We had the opportunity to explore 6 floors worth of media coverage of major events. The balcony on the 6th floor offered a magnificent view of DC. In the afternoon of the same day, we had a tour of campus and later the famous scavenger hunt. I absolutely loved the game. Basically, we had a list of locations we had to find and take funny pictures with. There is a Frensh saying roughly translated in English as “Ridicule does not kill” and as a ferm believer in that, the game was tremendously entertaining for me! Although the weather did not help us, the hunt proved to be rather fun and brought our group, the SanFransisco Smarties closer.
Saturday was the last day of orientation and what a better way to end an amazing week than a visit of the Capitol and then a nice dinner. The visit to the capitol was insightful and I could feel the weight of history and the power it stands for. Later the same day, we all met at this really nice hotel where we had a great dinner. The formal dinner was a chance for us to be gathered together around a meal and get to know each other in a more relaxed fashion. We then took pictures to commemorate the moments we have spent together this week.
Saturday came and although orientation was over, I found myself up by 9am ready to meet my group. Even in one week’s time and although it doesn’t seem like a lot, I got used to seeing the warm faces of everyone.
To everyone that I met this week, I say thank you because I spent great moments with you guys ! I really hope we keep in touch !
New Friends, New Adventures, New Lessons.
By inepalacios
I can’t believe it. After nine months preparing for this trip, I am in Washington, DC. A week wasn’t enough time to realize that this adventure has started.
If I thought that it would be easy to take advantage of every situation, the past week taught me that I need to be more prepared physically and mentally to do that. The amount of activities that we (the exchange students) had to do, the new people, the new places, the new feelings challenged and exceeded my expectations.
The cold snap that hit the US didn’t stop the Exchange Orientation Leaders (EXO), Shawna, or Hilary who gave us the best beginning. Their main advice: take advantage of all the resources offered in this orientation week.
Food, trips, tours, parties, information, games, presentations, museums, discussions, and information sessions were some of the activities that we enjoyed. From the past Monday to the past Saturday we didn’t stop with scheduled activities.
The first day, I had time to get to know some of the students that are going to live with me. This opportunity began with a barbecue diner. It was the best American way to start the Exchange, definitely. Thanks to the chef for the delicious diner!
The second day, we learned more about DC and it was a good moment to mentally prepare me for all of the things that this semester has to offer. Shawna and Hilary shared video with us about DC, it was incredible. During the activities, my Argentinean exchange mate, Timothy arrived. When I saw him, I ran to give him a big hug. We were celebratory after realizing that we were in DC after many months of planning the trip. We are able to avoid any possible homesickness through talks in Spanish, jokes and mates (the typical Argentinean drink).
The third day, we had the opportunity to visit one of the best museums in DC: the Newseum, a museum that allowed us to learn more about contemporary American and international history through the media. Thanks to Shawna and Hilary!
The fourth day, we had the opportunity to learn about the campus of GW through a fun game: the Scavenger Hunt. We took funny pictures in different places around the campus in teams. Not only was it worth getting to know each other, but we also had so much fun touring our new university. Those who have the opportunity to attend GW are definitely lucky. It is a privilege to have so many resources to develop ourselves into whatever we want.
The fifth day was the trip: we traveled a couple of hours to go to Wisp Mountain. This moment was one of the most fun moments of the week. Not only could we enjoy the beautiful mountain, but we also enjoyed the mountain’s activities. Thank you again to Shawna and Hilary for the incredible excursion.
The last day, time to get to know the Smithsonian, to shop, and to prepare for the formal dinner. The dinner was absolutely incredible and a great opportunity to get to know the exchange students that I will spend time with this semester.
In conclusion, it is not only important to see different places, but to also meet more people while in Washington, DC. Egypt, Morocco, Singapore, Italy, France, South Korea, Brazil, Japan, China, Australia are some of the places were the other exchange students come from. What do you think about the new democracy in Egypt? What is your perspective on the events that occurred in 2011? Why do you think that Singapore is developing at a different rate than its counterparts? Discussions like these, daily interactions, sharing our expectations, and getting to know many interesting people were the best gifts of this week.
Thank you again to the new friends who gave me a great beginning to the program.
Thank you to the leaders for helping me with my English. Thank you for giving us funny moments and sharing your experiences as GW students and students who studied abroad.
Thank you to Shawna and Hilary for this great welcome, your work was excellent, and it is a pleasure to finally meet you in person!
I hope that I will still see everyone or at least the majority when classes start. Good luck with the start of your semester!
Checkout photos of Exchange Orientation Week on the Office for Study Abroad Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/GWOfficeForStudyAbroad