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Joining Societies Abroad
By Shaw Chiba, University of California, Los Angeles, USA How to Join Going to study abroad can feel scary at first, and my first quarter at UCLA was no different. Sign up/ attend your universities’ career fair! By joining the ski and board club, and the Nikkei Student Union I was able to make amazing friends and experiences that will last me a lifetime. This was a great way to settle into university life, and ensure you aren’t getting swept up by the academic side. First trip to the beach with NSU Ski Trips! The Jackson Hole AllCal trip involved colleges from across California, we took the bus up to…
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Geophysics Field Trip to Afton Canyon
By Shaw Chiba, University of California, Los Angeles, USA During my Spring quarter at UCLA I have taken an applied geophysics course, enabling me to take geophysical measurements in the field, and explore more of California! The trips start early, with the class meeting at 7am to load the trucks. key items to bring include water bottles, tents, sleeping bags, and lunch! Once on the road we drove around 4 hours towards Las Vegas, into the wilderness. Our first trip was to a volcanic crater, where we took measurements using ground penetrating radar. This was followed by travelling to a dune field, where we took the same measurements. The dunes…
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A Day in the Life at UW-Madison
By Orla Feeley, (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA) There is no such thing as a dull day in Madison. Between sports games, midterms, and last-minute plans, there is always something to do. Even a “typical” day ends up feeling full.
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3 things that shocked me about Sydney
By Yaryna, University of Sydney – Sydney, Australia Rise and grind Sydney, like the rest of Australia, is extremely health conscious. People here live with their circadian rhythms. Everything opens early and closes early too. There was one distinct situation that highlighted this stark difference to me. I was staying at a hostel on the Gold Coast and couldn’t sleep at all because of a snoring man in the bunk bed next to me. I accepted my losses and left the hostel at 5am to go see the sunrise on the beach. I was shocked to find an open café next to the beach, already bustling with people. After ordering…
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Manchester vs ELTE: A Comparison of Teaching Styles
Nadine Brachi – ELTE University, Budapest As a preliminary point, I would like to emphasise that this blog post is not criticising either university and is instead intended as an interesting comparison of culture and education. Having now studied at ELTE for two semesters, the sometimes subtle, sometimes not‑so‑subtle differences in how law is taught here versus at Manchester have been very intriguing. Although I am an Erasmus student, an experience which might well have me living through rose‑tinted glasses, the observations I have made regarding variations in teaching styles, student attitudes (both held and expressed), as well as assessment procedures, offer a perspective that may be of use to…
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More than the headlines
by Scarlett Gilligan, la Universidad de las Americas Puebla, Mexico N.B. In late February 2026 there were reports of cartel-related unrest and violence in Mexico. This was primarily in western Mexico, but some other cities, including Puebla City, experienced some spillover disruption. This blog is a little more serious. As important as it is to focus on the amazing things that a year abroad can provide, nothing is ever perfect. Just like anywhere in the world, things can change overnight. This week in Mexico, a large figure in the cartel realm was killed, sparking violence across parts of the country. We found out on the way back from our Malinche…
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Keeping up with hobbies whilst on exchange in Melbourne
By Amelie Duroux, University of Melbourne, Australia What I hadn’t expected when I moved to Melbourne for my exchange was how much I’d miss the activities I would do every week in Manchester. When you suddenly leave that life behind, there’s nothing making you continue these activities, but I hadn’t realised how much they had contributed to my identity and given me structure in my weekly routine. Luckily for me, I found ways to keep most of these hobbies going, and also start some new ones. For example, in Manchester I went bouldering with my friend every Monday. I was worried that I wouldn’t find anyone who liked climbing in…
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Returning to the Bloc: Student Life in One of Leipzig’s GDR Plattenbaus
By Miranda Dreisin, (Universität Leipzig, Germany) Living in Leipzig means living among history – and in my case, inside it – in an apartment block defined by the housing policies of communist East Germany. My block belongs to a type of housing called Plattenbau, roughly translating to a prefabricated building or an industrial apartment block. For decades, Leipzig stood on the eastern side of the Iron Curtain, shaped by the socialist policies of the German Democratic Republic. When I chose to spend my year abroad here, it was a choice influenced by my desire to better understand the history that is strongly written into the city. Leipzig’s Communist Past From…
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Life at ANU and in Canberra: What to Expect
By Lily Amos, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Coming to ANU as an exchange student, there is quite a lot to get your head around — a new city, a new campus, a new academic system. Here is what I wish someone had told me before I arrived. Courses and Academics ANU runs on a major and minor system, which means that as an exchange student, you may (depending on your course) have a lot more freedom to explore subject areas outside your home degree than you might expect. For me, studying Politics and International Relations, this has been one of the best parts of the whole experience. I’ve…
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Festivals, Events, and Why Canberra Surprised Me
By Lily Amos, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Before I moved to Canberra, my expectations for its social calendar were, honestly, modest. It’s a planned city, a government city, famously described as “a good sheep station ruined” — not exactly the language of a thriving events scene. I was wrong, and I’m glad about it. Canberra turns out to have a genuinely packed festivals calendar, and the city’s layout — all that green open space, that lake, the mountain backdrop — actually makes it a spectacular setting for big outdoor events. Here are the highlights worth knowing about. Canberra Balloon Spectacular Every March, hot air balloons launch over the city…
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Setting Up in Japan: Shopping Guide
By YiPin Wu, University of Tokyo, Japan Moving to Tokyo? Here are the shops you actually need to know about. Daiso (ダイソー) — Your First Stop Seriously, go here first. Daiso is Japan’s famous 100-yen shop, and it’s so much better than it sounds. Plates, bowls, chopsticks, hangers, storage boxes, cleaning supplies, stationery, kitchen stuff, all ¥110 (about 70p) each. Whatever you think you need, just check Daiso first. I managed to tick off most of my moving-in list for under ¥3,000 (roughly £15). I’d recommend doing a big Daiso sweep in your first few days before spending money anywhere else. Nitori (ニトリ) — Japan’s IKEA For the bigger stuff,…
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A day in my life as a Shanghai student
Eva Tollett – Fudan University – Shanghai, China Of course, every day is slightly different due to my timetable and social schedule but I will introduce what an average day living in Shanghai looks like for me. I have 4 hours of class a day, all Chinese language but covering different aspects like grammar, spoken and written Chinese. An normal day will be from 10-3 with a break for lunch. This does make it feel a bit like school as you are in the same classroom with the same people every day. I quite like this though as it can mean you form really close bonds with your classmates. My…
A study abroad journal by students, for students.
