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Arriving at UNC: First Impressions of Chapel Hill
By Adam Lamin, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States) Before arriving at UNC, I had already had a slightly unusual start to my year abroad. One of my friends from home came out to the US with me beforehand, and we spent a couple of weeks in Miami before eventually driving up to Chapel Hill. After that, arriving at UNC the day before orientation felt like the real beginning of the exchange. I arrived at UNC knowing absolutely no one, but strangely, I did not feel nervous at all. I expected to maybe feel overwhelmed or slightly anxious, but instead I just felt excited. I had this…
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A Brit in the Business School
During my exchange at Rutgers Business School, I took diverse business classes, developed valuable skills, and engaged in networking opportunities, whilst making some amazing friends!
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Where Sustainability Isn’t a Trend – It’s Just Germany
By Miranda Dreisin (Universität Leipzig, Germany) I had a friend visiting me recently in Germany, and on an afternoon walk through one of Leipzig’s most beautiful parks, she asked me if the entire city had randomly woken up that morning and decided to go cycling. It was that comment that made me realise that the sustainability that had initially suprised me, had become something I had slowly stopped noticing. Living in Germany has made eco friendliness seem like less of an occasional effort, and more like a consistent everyday expectation. The Culture of Recycling One of the first things I noticed after arriving in Germany was the recycling system –…
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Staying Sustainable In the States
Phoebe Faupel, North Carolina State University, United States Before moving to the United States for my year abroad at North Carolina State University, I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to live sustainably compared to being at university in the UK. I expected to rely heavily on cars and thought I might struggle to maintain some of the habits I’d built at home. However, one thing that genuinely surprised me was how many opportunities there were to make environmentally conscious choices in day-to-day student life. Here are a few ways I have managed to stay sustainable while studying abroad in the States. Walking More Than You Think: Although American…
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5 Things to know Before Going to University in the States.
Phoebe Faupel, North Carolina State University, United States Studying abroad in the United States has been one of the most exciting and eye-opening experiences of my university journey so far. Moving from the UK to study at North Carolina State University came with a lot of excitement- but also plenty of surprises. If you’re thinking about doing a semester or a year abroad in the US, here are five things i wish i’d known beforehand. 1: Campus Life Really is Like the Movies Before arriving, I thought American campus culture was exaggerated in films and TV shows- but in many ways, it genuinely isn’t. College campuses in the States often…
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A Collage of My Favourite Activities – Ver. South Korea
If my other posts have been about the big things – the culture shock, the travel, the emotional weight of leaving – then this one is about the small things. The afternoons, in-between moments that didn’t make it into the itnerary but made it into my heart anyway. Consider this a collage: unchronological, unpolished, and entirely honest. Cherry Blossom Walk Spring in Korea arrives slowly at first, snippets of sunshine, a warm breeze cutting through the cold, and then all at once. One week the trees look bare and the next the streets are lined with blossom so dense it almost looks like something out of a fantasy book. We…
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My Top Tips for Studying Abroad
A year abroad is, in my opinion, one of the best things you can do for yourself. But like anything worth doing, you get out what you put in. Here are some things I hope will help you to either decide whether or not to go for your year abroad, or some things you can think about while out there. Say yes (almost always, and within your means). The version of you that stays in and watches Netflix is not the version of you that comes home with stories. Say yes to the dinner invitation even when you’re tired. Say yes to the day trip you hadn’t planned. Say yes…
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January in Japan
Three Weeks of Food, Culture and Friends Winter in Korea is cold. It’s so cold. Temperatures can get down to -20°C… so I decided to book a trip to Japan to escape the worst of it. Don’t get me wrong, I love cold weather, but two months straight and you begin to feel differently. I left Korea and its -11°C weather, and flew to Japan, landing in 11°C (still not warm, but marginally better – I’m not built for winter okay) wearing layers upon layers. Happy to be able to take off most of them and not get hypothermia, I left the airport and was picked up by my friend,…
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Learning A Third Language in My Second on My Year Abroad: First Impressions
By Miranda Dreisin, (Universität Leipzig, Germany) I grew up only speaking English in an area where a lot of other people spoke another language fluently at home, and I distinctly remember from childhood wishing I were able to do the same. I was put in a German class in Year 7, and really enjoyed it, and by the time I was 16, being able to be proficient in another language was very important to me. I thus chose A-Level German, and at 18, decided to carry that passion through to degree level. Three years later, I am now studying in Germany, where having learnt another language from scratch is hardly…
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A day in my life as a Osaka University student
By Gloria Zheng, Osaka University, Japan I normally start my day by 9:15 on weekdays with an easy breakfast of a pasta pot with rice alongside a cup of green tea. Breakfast (~179 yen) Most of my classes start at 10:30, with this semester being much lighter than my previous one as I’m taking 12 credits now compared to 18 I took last semester (I would really not recommend taking this many and to split them 15/15 so you fufill the 30 credit requirement to pass the year). Study spot on campus I usually leave my dorm at 10:21 because even though the dorm is located next door to Minoh…
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A Foodie Guide to New Brunswick
If you're at Rutgers University, check out these great food spots. Honeygrow offers customizable noodle bowls, Hidden Grounds Coffee serves excellent cold brew, and O Bagel is perfect for breakfast. For comfort food, visit Stuff Yer Face, while Playa Bowls provides refreshing açai options. Don’t miss Thomas Sweet for ice cream and 7-Eleven for snacks.
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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…
A study abroad journal by students, for students.
