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Montreal: Pedals, Parks & Public Transport
By Katie Dolan, McGill University, Montreal, Canada From the very first day that I arrived in Montreal, the city was noticeably vibrant, clean, and well-taken care of. In the summer time, there was music on every street, and every restaurant was full of people sitting outside on terraces. But as the months passed and the weather got (A LOT) colder, the atmosphere didn’t change. People embraced the cold weather and the snow. Every frozen lake became an ice rink, and winter jackets were fashionable. Over the year, the respect and love that Montrealer’s have for their city became so obvious. Montreal is such a unique city because it is literally…
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Merci Montreal
By Katie Dolan, McGill University, Canada After facing every challenge that comes with moving 3,000 miles away from home for almost a year by yourself, it truly is saying goodbye that is the toughest part of going on an exchange. I always thought going on an exchange would be a great experience, but I never could have imagined just how great it would be. After being home for a couple months now, I have had some time to reflect on my year in Montreal and all my favourite areas of the city, classes that I took, and trips that I went on. I feel so lucky to have lived in…
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When the Plan Doesn’t Go to Plan
By Christos Nicolaou, UNSW, Australia The start of my year-long adventure to Australia didn’t quite start as planned. It was supposed to be perfectly timed: right after my birthday, escaping the grip of the August heatwave, and landing with a day to settle in before my orientation day on campus. Instead, it began with receiving an email from the airline that my Monday night flight had been delayed to Tuesday morning subsequently meaning I would miss my connecting flight in Shanghai. From there, the panic set in. I hadn’t even left the country yet and things were already going wrong. Nobody from the airline company was answering my calls. After…
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Lyon: first impressions
By Zehra Kes, Université Lumiere Lyon 2, France Bienvenue à Lyon! It has been officially 1 month since I moved to Lyon and here are my first impressions. The city is super lively and there are plenty of things to do. I have so many restaurants, shops, cafés on my wish list to explore. The weather was super nice and sunny when I first arrived, it was very sunny and jolly outside — if you don’t count the bugs. Luckily, my flatmate took me to tour around Vieux Lyon and we came across a beautiful vintage market. I love the artsy aspect of Lyon. It is very likely to run…
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Why Singapore? My initial NUS experience.
By Holly Scholfield, National University of Singapore, Singapore When deciding where I wanted to spend my year abroad, I had two main considerations beyond academics: finances and travel opportunities. Both led me to put the National University of Singapore (NUS) as my first choice. After two months here, I have had the chance to experience both sides of student life in Singapore, from eating at hawker centres and navigating the huge NUS campus, to travelling around Southeast Asia. Here is why I think Singapore is the best choice for a year abroad. Finances: Is Singapore really that expensive? If you have watched Crazy Rich Asians, you might assume that Singapore…
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7 Reasons To Go Abroad
Here Amelia details 7 Reasons why YOU should go abroad!
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Study Abroad Application Advice/Help/Guide
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Post-year Reflection
By YiPin Wu, University of Tokyo, Japan It’s been a month since I left Japan. I still can’t believe how fast the year went. Before the year, I was nervous and genuinely unsure if I’d made the right decision. However, I didn’t go in with any expectations, like no vision of what the year should look like. I just wanted to see where life took me and experience whatever came my way, even if it wasn’t what I’d planned. And honestly, it was just so amazing :)) !!! Sure, there were moments where I felt homesick or just a bit low. But the good stuff so massively outweighed the hard…
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Weekend Trip in WA
By Beth Cook, University of Western Australia Throughout the semester, it has continued to be normal to spend weekday afternoons at the beach, or have a brief lunch trip and have to race back to make it to a compulsory lecture. A Manchester study break walk around Platt Fields doesn’t quite compare! As a result of these impromptu trips, reading week was much required to prepare for some mid-semester quizzes; however, we managed to squeeze in a two day trip out of Perth. We left Perth on the Friday morning and stopped off in Lancelin for some breakfast and a wander to a beach with incredibly clear blue water, before…
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A Weekend Away: Skiing in the Southern Hemisphere
By Imogen Lewis, University of Otago, New Zealand Of all the things I wanted to do while being in New Zealand, skiing was certainly not the top of my list. But I knew I couldn’t fly all the way here and not do it at least once! Dunedin is only a 3.5-hour drive from Queenstown, so one Friday morning my flat and I packed up the car and set off. We stayed at a hostel called Black Sheep Backpackers, which was 50NZD (£21) per night and even had a hot tub, cold plunge and sauna! On the Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early in time to get the…
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The Little Things I Wish I Knew Before Moving to Amsterdam
By Anna Bluemel, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Moving to a new country is super exciting, but it can also be DAUNTING. I tried to research thoroughly before moving to Amsterdam to feel as prepared and connected to my future mystery life as possible, but there are always small differences that you can only ever find out about through actually living there. For example, during my first food shop I had a bit of a wobble and ended up severely missing the trusty Fallowfield Sainsburys. I had heard that Albert Heijn was very expensive so I tried a different random shop – but my research was not very good because…
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On Privilege
By Jessie Punn, Universidad de las Americas, Mexico Last weekend, I went on a trip to Puerto Escondido on the Oaxacan Coast. It was paradise – white sandy beaches, the most crystal-clear ocean, and the most spectacular sunset I had ever seen. One afternoon, after having spent hours floating in the sea and reading my book on the beach, I went for a wander with my friends where we bumped into a lady selling tamales. We bought some and sat down to eat them on the sand. About 10 minutes later, the lady came back and asked if we would mind if she sat with us for a minute in…
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Cafes + Cramming … Amsterdam’s best cafe study spots!
By Anna Bluemel, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands The rumours are true… the workload at UvA is pretty heavy. You don’t need to fret, though – the work is super interesting and varied, and it doesn’t take up allll of your time. Yet a chunk of the year will definitely be spent studying. During exam periods, I got just a little bit too used to the view of the UvA library, and whilst it is stunning, I felt the need to switch up my study location every now and then. In Manchester, I enjoyed going to cafés to study, but in Amsterdam, there are quite a few cafés where laptops…
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