Housing in Florence

Honestly i think the API packet prepares you for the worst where, in reality, all the apartments I saw were amazing.  As soon as I landed I prepared myself for a tiny, dilapidated apartment with bunk bed stacked three high.  I figured the program directors were just candy coating the pathetic truth when they wrote "The apartments are quaint, authentic Italian buildings...the rooms are normally sized for Italy but will be smaller than you are used too..Hot water is limited so be sure to turn it off when you shave."My only thoughts were, YIKES!  Instead I had a beautiful, spacious apartment with french door windows and white linen drapes reaching from ceiling to floor.  It was picturesque.  My room was almost too big, my roommate and I did not need that much space.  We had a small European kitchen with a hotel room sized fridge and a dinning room.  There was a little TV in a sitting area but it pretty much went un used.  We have two bathrooms for 8 girls  which turned out to work out just fine.  The tenants who lived there previous left blow driers and electrical adapters.  Every girl seemed to bring her own towels, a few of us borrowed some from the hotel next door, they were pretty willing to share with us.  It was only me and one other girl who brought sheets, the ones they had were surprising fresh looking but I still preferred my own.  We didn't have a problem with bugs like the manual prepares you for but we can probably attribute that to the scented bug-be-gone plug ins we put around the apartment.  I don't know anybody who did a home stay in Florence but all the apartments I saw were just as nice.  All were pretty close to one another which was centrally located, only a 10 or 15, if you like to mosey, minute walk to most classes. 

Just as a side note for those who are nervous about randomly assigned roommates, I don't know anybody who had a problem.  I had 7 flatmates and 1 roommate and I adored 5 of them and got only with all of them.  You have to remember that by picking Florence, out of anywhere else in the world, you already have something in common. Also being away from home and unsure about your surroundings helps you bond.  You will have roommates that want to see something or shop someplace you do so its an automatic buddy system.  I couldn't be happier with group of people in API, I would have lived with almost all of them. 

Until next time,
Brittany

View from our window

Classes In Florence

None of my classes transfered back to UWL, which was a perk of traveling in summer because I didn't fall behind, except for maybe in my finances.  I study fashion illustration and fashion buying concepts and absolutely adored them both.  I am a marketing major with both a Graphic design and cultural anthropology minor; the classes I took were mostly to satisfy my curiosity.  Each class was pretty long, they have to cram a lot into a 4 week class, but I enjoyed both the lecture an homework.  I use the term "homework" loosely because it was really more like fun projects to do on the side.  The class added to my experience, it did not take away from my free time or exploration time.  Fashion illustration cost quiet a bit extra for supplies but it was a good purchase to make.  At the end of class we had successful drawn 2 full lines of clothing, the first wasn't in color and were more like sketches, the second acted as our final and was incredibly detailed.  Skill level didn't matter, it was all about you improving from your first day.  We went to a famous costume museum, the Ferragamo museum and a huge trade show as field trips.  The coolest part was going to the trade show Petti,  it was the Mans show with buyers from all over the world coming to view next seasons lines.  I still have my portfolio from this class!  Fashion buying concepts was more of a business class, which I liked, but we also got to get out of the classroom for field trips often.  We went to a leather craft factory/school to see how leather coats and purses were made,  this is no Ma and Pa store, pictures of Robert Downey Junior and other celebrities that have graced the store were hanging on the wall.  This school has world renowned craftsmen who design leather goods from scratch per customer, it was amazing.   The final for this class was a paper on home of the major fashion houses, we went into the stores and found price points, observed store lay out, and evaluated the service.  My project was on Gorgio Armani, it was like espionage work because the stores didn't like us doing it.  

Although I had a strong passion for the classes I took I left with a long laundry list of classes I wished I had more time to take.  Among the highly reviewed by my friends were: Wine and food pairing, photography, figure drawing, history of the mafia and italian cooking.  

There was no student in my class that spoke italian, our teachers were italian but they spoke english to accommodate us.  So that should not be a concern. You can't really go wrong, the only time intensive classes were the literature classes.  

Anybody wanting to a see a portfolio, let me know! 

Brittany 

Emotions of Studying Abroad

Studying abroad took my emotions everywhere from arrival to well into returning to the US. The day I left for France I was a mixture of excitement and nervous, more excited than anything else that I was finally going to live in Paris. I had never traveled by myself before and was freaking out that I would miss my flight or lose my luggage or something - of course none of that actually did happen it was all nerves. After the long flights and finally arriving in France, everything seemed surreal, it took a couple days for me to realize that I was actually living in Paris and it was real. Inital adjustment to the French culture was easy for me since I wanted to experience it all and was so excited to try out something new.
Leaving was a completely different situation. One of my roommates and I were the first to leave out of our close knit group of friends and we all did cry and reminisce about everything that had happened over those 4 months. It was really weird leaving, as sad as I was that I was leaving, I was also overflowing with happiness that I got to go abroad.
I'm sure you've all heard about reverse culture shock and I defiantly had a bad case of it. When I got back to the US, I missed my new friends, and I missed everything about Paris and living on my own. Sure I was happy to be home and be with all my friends I missed but, rreadjusting back to your own culture and what you are used was the weirdest, most confusing thing for me. Luckily, one of my best friends had studied abroad and many of my friends studied abroad at the same time as me so it was very comforting to have people to talk to and understand what you go through cause it is really hard to explain!
Thankfully technology like skype helps a lot! I still skype or talk on the phone all the time with my friends I meet while living in France and we already had one reunion in Las Vegas!
Thats all for now,

Kelsey

Emotions

Emotions are big part of studying abroad. When I was leaving, the only emotion I felt was excitement. I was excited to leave, excited to go back to Spain, excited to speak Spanish again. I'm the kind of person who lives for putting myself into situations where I don't really know what's going to happen. By having a laid back "go with the flow" mindset, I was able to avoid being overly nervous and frustrated when my trip there turned into a disaster.

When you first get to your study abroad location, you are in the honeymoon stage. Everything is new and exciting, and you're always in an ecstatic mood. If you're there long enough, this feeling mellows out, and you return to your normal range of emotions. There are, however, overwhelming traces of excitement that still occur. They can happen when you're visiting a new place or doing something fun, but I found that I got this feeling at strange times. For example, sometimes I would simply be walking out a store and be thrown into the noise of the street, the warmth of the air, and the language being spoken all around me. It was in times like this that I just felt that I was doing something truly amazing and life changing, which is a good feeling to have.

Leaving is always a sad thing. I overslept the morning of my departure, so I was really rushed. My host mom was crying, and I was trying to comfort her while trying to finish packing my suitcase. Once I left house, all I wanted was to be back home. Not that I really missed my home, but if I couldn't be in my new home in Granada, I definitely didn't want to be traveling for 24 hours. It's strange to think that in a month in a half, I will already have been back home for a year. I still think about Spain all the time and try to keep in touch with all my friends. I'm just waiting for the next opportunity to put another stamp in my passport.

un saludo,

Jacob

Nightlife in Paris

I found there to be very many differences in nightlife in Paris and Europe in general. First, the French do not go to clubs till after midnight. Dinner is eaten later than American, but not as late as Spain, but, dinner is a big deal and takes hours, so nightlife obviously starts later. There are many different options for going out, from rowdy bar hopping in the Latin Quartier to high class clubs on the Champs.
Depending on what you want to do, you need to plan according for drinking and for dressing. For girls- When your going to a club, dress to impress. When in doubt, wear black and heels. Once you start going out, you'll figure out what people are wearing and can blend in from there. Cover charges can get very pricey, most clubs have times every night or days that ladies get in free. If not, the only bonus to cover charges is that usually include a drink ticket. Speaking of drinks at bars, it is incredibly expensive. Buying a drink or two is all that is needed and will cost you 20 Euro in Paris, especially at clubs. I went to many techno concerts too, tickets at these venues were pretty cheap- usually 15 Euro- and you got a show to go with your night at a club!
We went clubbing a lot during the beginning but with the high prices, the desire died down and we started to prefer hanging out at bars and clubbed less. Bars in France are a place for people to just hang out, have good conversation, and a couple drinks. These are the places that we would meet many French students. In neighborhood like the Latin Quartier where all the college students were, there were an array of bars from very chill places with live acoustic music, to rowdier places blasting American 80's and 90's music.
If you want to go out when traveling - if you plan to travel. I would recommend pub/ bar crawls. They are cheap, all your drinks and cover fees are paid for, you meet many international travelers, your whole night is planned out to the best bars/clubs in the city and there are "chaperons" that watch you and take you place to place, and you most likely will get a t-shirt! I did one in Prague and two in Rome and they were a blast! I felt a lot safer doing these too cause we were in such a large group and we wouldn't make the mistake of choosing a bar to go to that sounded fun, but ended up being shady.
Have fun, and be safe!

Kelsey

Spanish Night Life

I really enjoyed the night life in Spain. First of all, it's important to know that in Spain you don't eat dinner until 9 or 10 at night. Because of this, it's very normal not to go out until midnight or later. There were a few times at the beginning of my trip when I went out before midnight, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you enjoy empty bars and closed discotecas.

When you do go out, many Spaniards and internationals alike will start the evening off in a bar. Here you have a few drinks and eat tapas. In Spain (unless you are in a club) you are expected to eat while drinking. In my city, in every bar a free dish came with every single drink each round.

Clubs are fun, and at the beginning of my stay I went to them pretty frequently. After awhile, the excitement died out a little and I only went to them every once and awhile. I did, however, go to Kaptal in Madrid which was a 7 story club. It was a very interesting experience and if you get the chance, I recommend checking it out.

House parties are extremely rare in Spain because, well, there's really no reason to have them when you can go anywhere else to drink. I did go to one once, but I've never heard of anyone else going to one.

My advice: go out with a few friends you're comfortable with and meet natives. Not the creepy, sweaty ones who take of their shirts on the dance floor and grind on everyone and everything in site, but people you have good conversations with. It's a great way to branch out and meet a ton of natives.

Jacob

Housing in Paris

Housing was a very big concern to me when choosing which program to study abroad through. With CEA, I had 4 options: apartment with other Americans in your specific program, home stay, dorms in an all American building, or dorms mixed in with French students. In part of the preparation work for CEA I had to rank where I wanted to live and also take quizzes to match roommates together- my roommates and I became extremely close and I still talk to them today! Possibly due to the personality quizzes? Maybe. Anyways, I ended up in an apartment with 3 other girls in my program in a building that had 2 other apartments with people from my program. My apartment a very different living situation than I had ever lived in before, but I ended up loving it. It was a duplex, and my bedroom was a loft shared with one other girl. CEA provided pretty much everything we needed: couches, table, chairs, bookshelf, and all the kitchen utensils (first one they checked for was a wine opener, only in France). I was on the fourth floor and luckily there was a elevator for use for the days we had luggage. I really liked the locations with CEA, all the housing was located in the heart of the city, meaning that no one lived in the suburbs of Paris. This was a huge bonus because everything was so easy to get to. My apartment specifically was located in the 13th arrondisment (district) of Paris, close to the boarder of the 5th. I was able to walk to huge landmarks like Notre Dame in about 20-25 minutes. Also, my apartment builing was with all Parisians, which gave us a chance to get to know our neighbors, most were adults or small families, and create more French friendships.
Another big question with housing in linens, to bring or not to. I would recommend to bring your own, you can probably find information from your program or other alumni what kind of bed to expect. For me, a bed, a duvet, and a pillow were provided. I brought my own sheets and pillow case and bought a duvet cover once I arrived.
Heres a couple pictures of my apartment when I first arrived!

Thats all for now!
A Bientot!

Kelsey

The Packing Dilemma

One suitcase, one carry on and one purse sounds like it would be no problem, especially when the biggest purse I owe is more like a sac half the size of my body, but its extremely hard.  Lucky for me my older brother is a seasoned traveler so my Mom has been forced into becoming an expert packer.  It wasn't until my first full week in Florence passed that I fully appreciated my Moms help.  Pre departure I was annoyed that my cute pink heals didn't make her cut and stayed home, by the 5th day I realized even packing one pair of heals might have been too much.  My feet were swollen from exploring the city everyday, fashion came second to finding comfort while walking on the uneven brick sidewalks.  I don't know if it is because I was enrolled in fashion design courses or if magazines and movies created an inflated image of Italy's fashion but I envisioned wearing heals everyday.  I thought I would be more of a tourist if I wasn't dressed to impress everyday.  I was very wrong.
The trick to packing and the trick to fashion in general, I think, is simplicity and versatility.  Bring clothes that can be worn multiple ways and can be dressed up, dressed down and changed around with accessories or other items of clothing.  I wore this one loose black tank at least 10 times; it went with everything and was my go to.  I paired it with shorts, skinny jeans, tucked into a skirt, under a jacket and with a high waited belt, it was awesome.  If I could do it all over I probably would only pack neutral, loose, versatile clothes and I would not pack any accessories because that is what I bough the most of.   
Packing outfits was only part of the process. I cool thing my mom and I did was pack A LOT of things I would just toss at the end of the trip.  We went to TJ Max and bought cheap towels, sheets, and toiletries.  When I threw them out I regained half my luggage space.  I was pretty please with my packing overall, the one thing I wish I would have brought was my straighteners.  This item was so much harder to find than I anticipated, I didn't buy one until after the first week and it was super expensive.  Also, there was no reason to pack electrical adaptors because the girls before us left a bunch in the apartment. 

Lastly, my lap top was my life line.  Skype was an awesome way to keep in touch with family; it is so much cheaper than using a international phone.  It was heavy and kind of a burden BUT totally worth it for me.  Some of my roommates shared with each other and it worked out for them but I liked having mine. As a side note, because luggage space was limited I had to fight the deep urge to buy my family all the cool trinkets I saw.  The cool Idea I had was to take a picture for each member of my family (a picture of a Venice for mom, my favorite restaurant in Rome for Dad, etc).  I framed them all when I got home and wrote them a note as to why I was reminded of them there.  These gifts were a hit and very personal. 

Happy Packing
Brittany

Why Florence?

I'm not much for blogging or at least I don't think I am, this is my first time so I'll let you know.  Although I am not much on sharing thoughts just for the sake of sharing, I am all about spreading the word about going abroad because it was the best experience I have ever had. 
I always knew I wanted to go to Italy because: 1) I am Italian and I felt exploring the Italian culture beyond my grandmas kitchen was a must and 2) I am an artist and what better place to find inspiration than Italy.  So, picking the country was easy, picking the city, not so easy.  I always saw myself as a big city girl because I loved all the weekends I spent in Chicago but after talking to some of the people who traveled abroad and seeing the movie "Taken" (which I don't recommend pre departure for women) I realized something smaller might be perfect. The people who loved Rome seemed to thrive on the fast paced environment, the people who Loved Florence talked mostly about stopping at the fresh market on the way to class and how, by the end of the trip they felt they knew all there was to know about Florence.  I really like the idea of creating a home in a different country.  Florence was a perfect choice. It was a central hub, only an hour or two train ride away from a day at the beach, Pisa, Verona or Venice, ten minutes away from horseback riding through vineyards, and a 20 minute walk to the highest point overlooking the entire city.  I loved this city..I loved all of Italy.  The truth is, you can't really pick a bad city in Italy, especially if your going with a program like mine, API, because they plan so many trips that you get to experience it all anyways. 

-Brittany

Class...

Class. Studying abroad gives you a many options of how to take your classes. In my case, I chose a hybrid program, half of my classes were at the CEA Global Campus with other American students in the program and the others were taken at the Universite de Paris - Sorbonne IV.

First the classes with CEA were taught in English by foreign professors. I chose to take an International Business course and a Globalization & World Politics course. These courses were very different than classes I have ever taken. Then were more focus on experience and learning through seeing what's in Paris, and with that in mind most of my classes were field trips. I had the chance to not just read and see a video about the European Commission and UNESCO, but I actually got to have a tour of the facilities, meet people who work there, and even get to sit in on an conference. Classes only meet once or twice a week for about two hours and we had a midterm, a final, and a project. My professors at CEA tried to grade on more of an American scale too.

Onto the French system. The French are known to be very harsh and strict when it comes to school and grading, and that I can say is true. I went to La Sorbonne IV, which is the international section of the college, so, my classes there were with students from literally all around the globe, which was really neat because I was able to make friends from all over the country and still talk to some of them today. I took French Grammar and Phonetics, taught in French and only French. Written placement examinations were given for grammar and an oral examination was given for phonetics.Two hours of grammar everyday and an additional hour of phonetics everyday every other week. English or any other language was not to be spoken once one entered the class room. The teaching style was quite different and very straightforward. My teacher would call out people's mistakes on the spot in front of the whole class and you would have to fix it then and there. Exercises were done aloud and my teacher would pose challenges on everyone and push you till you had to check the book or notes for what to say. It's hard to explain how exactly they taught grammar, but I loved it and learned a great deal from my grammar professor. I had never taken Phonetics before and when Phonetique classes started I was kind of shocked of how it was run. 30 minutes in the classroom working on a specific sound, then 30 minutes in Lab, recording and listening. Phonetics was the most helpful class for me and I have noticed a great deal of improvement in myself with help from it. Final exams were very different too. We had to go to a huge building, Maison Des Examens, and were not necessarily with our classmates but just others who were in our level. You had to check-in, and someone told you a room number and chair number quickly in French. The final exam was pretty much what our whole grade was based off of and grades were give on a number scale up to 20, obtaining a 20 is nearly impossible so striving for a 15 or above was the goal.

Maison Des Examens. A bit overwhelming.

Well guys, that's all for now,

A Bientot!

Kelsey

Daily Transportation & Traveling

Daily transportation in Paris was a whole new system for me, I'm so used to driving my car wherever I need to go and had ever had to take a subway before ever in my life. I was terrified that I would never learn the metro system and I would always be lost. Luckily I learned that the system is in all honesty, simple. After taking it by myself once, I had it mastered. If you have a subway system in your city, put up a poster of it in your apartment so you easily find a route and always carry a pocket map of your city and the subway. You do not want to look lost down their if you are at one the not-so-friendly stops or exchanges. Just like rush hour traffic, the metro had traffic, and it got crazy. But, in the end, we perfected running down escalators and cramming into cars as well as knowing where to turn to get on a certain line at the large exchanges. A downfall to be prepared for is the cost of getting passes. I would get month passes called a Pass Navigo, which cost me around 70 Euros and have a card that I would swipe to enter. The cost was high, but for how many times you use it a day, it is a great deal.

Now onto travel, I took planes and trains to get everywhere and it defiantly depends on where you are for which airline is the best deal. I know everyone says RyanAir is the cheapest and the best, but disclaimer, if you are studying in Paris or going to Paris, don't even think about looking into it. Why? The airport for RyanAir is so far outside the city, the cost of taking a taxi to get into the city will be double the cost of your ticket. With that said, there are many other very cheap airlines with prices as low as RyanAir, my favorite was SmartWings or EasyJet. You can look at their website or use other like Kayak or Expedia to book your flights. Once you arrive to your destination, be sure to figure out from advisers, other students, or travel guides (Rick Steve's is a favorite) what is the best way to get to your hotel or hostel. Most cities we were able to haggle down the price of a taxi or found a route using the city's subway system.

When traveling within a country or to city very close, look into trains, or just go to the station and ask for the cheapest ticket. When I was in Italy, we took trains from Venice to Florence and Florence to Rome, each of which costs about 12 Euro, and another bonus is you can buy your ticket when you get there or buy it as you get on the train. Same goes for the Cote d'Azur (Southeast coast of France) we hopped from Nice to Canne to St. Tropez so easily buy paying 5 Euro for trains.

Bonne Voyage :)

Kelsey

Packing & Skype

Bonjour mes amis :)

Packing was very challenging for me. I am such an over packer I tried to bring almost all my clothes with me at first - something that was impossible to happen with the limited space of two suitcases. I recommend bringing mostly basic pieces, dark jeans, and leggings. Fancier pieces for going out to clubs and bars is a must, and a business professional outfit comes in handy too. I brought scarfs and different cardigan sweaters to mix and match everything and seem like I brought more. Shoes was another issue for me, one pair of good heels is a must for women, and tennis shoes are a must as well. I wore many layers at the airport when I left to save every tiny bit of space, haha. Don't even bother bringing any hairdryers or curling irons with you, since they will NOT work, my roommates and I went to the equivalent of Target and bought those pieces after we got there and shared them. Defiantly bring pictures of friends and family from home to decorate your space with, and a nice journal isn't a bad idea either. Check the packing lists online, I did not bring everything they said to but it reminded me of little things I needed.

Packing to return was another interesting challenge. I bought a lot of clothes in Paris and ended up leaving a lot of the clothes I originally brought there or swapped things around with friends. If, you have any visitors, who will return to the US, it is a great idea to sent some things with them. My parents visited in April and they brought me a suitcase with some of my summer pieces in it and I they took back with them all my bulky winter clothes.

Skype is something everyone studying abroad should have! Not only can you video chat for free with your family and friends back home, but it is a vital tool to avoid extremely high cell phone bills from communicating with your friends abroad with you. I started by skyping my family once a week and my friends would either set up times or we would just be on around the same time and call. Facebook is a way to stay in touch too, but skype is much better since you can actually talk to their faces instead of messages or chat. CEA provided cell phones for everyone, but the charges were ridiculous, as were the pay as you go phones from France. To avoid those rates we barely used phone to talk to one another or plan, skype was our savior. Whenever I was in my apartment, I would pull up my skype and we would call each other that was instead of the silver brick cell phones.

Bonne Chance!

Kelsey

Planes, trains, and buses

I didn't get the chance to write two weeks ago, so you're getting two blogs from me today! First, let's talk about transportation. I honestly amazed by the transportation in Spain.

If you need to get anywhere in Europe, I recommend using Ryanair.com. This site is awesome. Once I got a round-trip ticket to London for less than $20. If you have a specific destination in mind, try to be flexible with the departure and arrival dates because it will be much easier to get a cheaper flight. If you just want to travel and don't have any solid idea on where you want to go, you can do searches based on price. I know people who have gotten flights cheaper than $5, and my friend from the Netherlands swears that she got a flight for free once.

I only took a train once. It was a little faster than a bus, but much more expensive.  I don't recommend taking a train unless you plan to travel before or after your program. If you do decide to travel after your program and want to see a lot of different places throughout Europe, the railpass is a really great deal. You can buy passes that last for different amounts of time. My friend bought one for two weeks after our program ended and jumped on any train he wanted to any destination he wanted within those two weeks. He got to see a lot of different cities and countries that way.

I did a lot of traveling within Spain, so I used buses. The bus system in Spain is great. You can get to almost any city for a very reasonable price. I either bought my tickets online at alsa.es or I went to the bus station and bought my tickets at the counter. If you plan to go across the country, however, I recommend flying. I took a 13 hour bus ride to the north coast and then took the same ride back a few days later and it was miserable. With all the transfers there were a lot of issues. Not to give too many details, but I spent a snowy night sharing a blanket with a homeless man.


Now let's talk about classes.

I took all of my classes in Spanish with Spanish professors from the university; however, 98% of the other students were Americans. There were some French, Japenese, African, and Canadian students, but the place was dominated by American students. On top of that, the building at the University of Granada where the language classes are taught is on the other side of the city from the rest of the campus. Meeting native students during classes was practically impossible. I didn't know about this before I went, and it's probably the one thing that bothered me the most about my study abroad experience.

In Spain they use a grading system out of 10 (instead of 100 like we do here). It's very hard to get a 10 or even a 9. Many students are happy just to get a 5 or a 6. One of my professors explained that if there is a class of 30 students, only 1 student will get a 10, 2 students will get a 9, and everyone else will get something lower. That may be a little exaggerated for some classes, but not all of them. Overall, I enjoyed most of my teachers and the classes were fairly interesting. Also, all the classes that I took abroad helped me to graduate a year early!

Well, that's all I have for you guys today...

cuídaos!

Jacob

What to Pack and How to Stay in Touch Back Home!

Initially I was worried about coming to London because I'm known as the "over-packer" of the family. Though I brought more than most people, I made good use out of almost everything. For clothing try to bring clothes that can be very versatile and layered. I made sure to bring all the basics, plain colored v-necks and t-shirts, jeans, black jeans are very European, one or two professional outfits for class presentations, dress up clothes for going out to clubs and to the theatre. I'm sure most of you have a pretty good handle on what to pack clothes wise. And remember, you are probably going to buy clothes there as well.

I really recommend bringing a comfortable sheet to sleep on. I took an old queen sheet, folded it in half and sewed half way up the side to create a little sheet sleeping bag. The linens provided at Nido Student Housing aren't super comfy, so I used this all the time. It can also come in handy if you plan on staying in hostels and it doesn't take up a lot of room in your suitcase. I was really glad I brought thumb tacs for the bulletin board provided, 3M wall hooks (with the sticky backing, found at Walmart), and pictures from home. Though you can use Facebook to see your friends and family's pictures, it's nice to have something on the walls. I also brought a small tapestry to add color to my room and give it a homey feel. I recommend bringing 3 coats: a raincoat, light autumn coat, and a heavier winter one. To make it looked like I had more than three outfits, I brought and bought a lot of colorful scarves to change things up. Some people suggest buying a converter for abroad, the adaptors in London work fine and are really cheap. Also, some of my friends bought hair dryers at a place called Argos (it’s a cheap catalogue store) so they wouldn’t have to worry about using an adaptor and changing the voltage settings. If you’re a big movie buff, you may want to bring a couple of your favorite DVDs along so you can watch them on your laptop. The TVs in the Nido kitchens didn’t have DVD players and the screening room was under construction when I was there. From what I saw, London didn’t have anything like a Redbox but I wasn’t really looking. Cell phones are really cheap and easy to find abroad but if you have a smart phone and are considering bringing it, check with your carrier to see if you can change out your SIM card for a UK card. My friend brought his iPhone and it helped us navigate through the city and came in handy a lot.

As for staying in contact with family and friends, the first month I had 100 minutes of international calling but ended up switching to unlimited texting/calling in the UK towards the end of my stay because I wasn't using my minutes and it was less expensive. I mainly used Skype, email, and Facebook as forms of communication back home. Nido’s internet usually gets really jammed up at night so Skype was quite slow at times. I’m not the type of person who gets home sick a lot, so this didn’t really bother me much. I know one of my friends who had a Gmail account used Gtalk to call the US for free but I’m not totally sure how that works. I will ask her though if anyone is interested. Just remember there is a 6 hour difference from London to Wisconsin so try to come up with a good time to talk. If you don’t bring a laptop, there are a couple apple computers in the Nido lobby and 2^nd floor café. There are also computers at London Met in the libraries but are being used most of the time by other students.

Casey

¡buenas!


I wish I wouldn't have packed so many clothes. By the second month I had already made an area in my closet for clothes I hadn't worn and wasn't planning on wearing. It's almost inevitable that you're going to buy some clothes abroad, and towards the end of my trip when I needed more room in my suitcase, I actually donated a lot of the clothes I had brought with me. I also wish I wouldn't have brought any toiletries. I'm glad I brought contacts and contact solution, but I easily found the rest of the items I needed at a decent price there. Also, my luggage arrived a week late, so I had to buy all my toiletries anyways. I wish I wouldn't have brought my electrical adapter either. I used it properly (with the converter and everything), yet it still blew a few fuses. I bought a really cheap adapter (less than $5) there at an electronic store and it worked perfectly.There's nothing that I didn't bring that I wished I would have. Depending on your host country, you can find almost anything. I would, however, recommend that you bring nail clippers and tweezers because those can be expensive (in Spain they were almost $15 each).


The best way to stay in touch with people is with Skype. There was no wifi where I was staying so I either had to use my computer at school or at a reasonably cheap internet café down the street from my apartment. I did have a couple friends that bought USB wireless internet through different local phone companies, but I didn't think that was necessary. Personally, I had a hard time keeping in contact with my friends and family. With the time difference and everything that I wanted to do, I probably only talked to them once every week or two. Instead, I decided to make a blog, and I updated it once a week with stories or pictures.


un saludo,


Jacob

And through foggy London Town the sun was shining everywhere.

Hello mates,

To start off, let me just say that studying abroad was one of the best decisions of my life and has forever changed me. I think I first caught the travel bug just before my senior year in high school when my family road-tripped over to Niagara Falls and New York for a couple weeks. I loved how different the New York City atmosphere was compared to my hometown in Wisconsin. Quickly after that trip I started to write my bucket list and visiting every state was one of my goals. I'm only up to 16 states but at least it's a start (not including states I've driven through, because those don't really count). I hadn't really set my sights abroad because I always figured I would travel when I was older and had more expendable money. But during my sophomore year of college I saw pictures of one of my friends studying abroad. It looked like so much fun so I decided to check out La Crosse's study abroad programs. 

I passed the map of places available abroad and realized we had a ton of options available. My foreign language skills are minimal so that helped to narrow down my choices. Once I decided I wanted an English speaking country, I was going between a couple Australia programs and England. I ended up choosing London because it's the hub of Europe and would give me many opportunities to travel. I was also very interested in the rich history and yes, I’ll admit it, I wanted to catch a glimpse of Prince Harry. I then chose London Metropolitan because it offered many business courses so I wouldn't get too behind back home, and it turned out to be a great decision because London Met really is in the heart of London. I lived just a couple blocks away from Kings Cross and was only a tube ride away from all the main attractions. 

                                                        http://unexpectedways.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html

Cheers,
Casey

Paris

Bonjour!
I always knew someday I would live in Paris. I don't know when my love for the city had started but it was the only place I wanted to go. From the sites, the art, the fashion, the language, I wanted to experience it all and had always been obsessed with France. I began taking French in high school and after learning more about the language, country, and culture I knew it would be a perfect fit for me.
When it came time to start looking at colleges my first priority was to find one that had a study abroad programs that went to Paris. Once settling in at UW-L, Jason showed me all my options and programs in France. I briefly looked at other cities in France, but, in my mind, nothing could compare to Paris, with that said I narrowed my selection down to the programs that were in Paris and continued my search from there. I am also double majoring in International Business and Finance, and IB majors are required to spend some time abroad to complete thier program.

Studying in Paris was the best choice I have ever made and was my longtime dream come true.

À Bientôt,

Kelsey

This is Granada. This is my city.

¡Hola a tod@s!

I always knew that I was going to study abroad while in college, and, honestly, the study abroad office and its programs are one of the reasons why I chose to come to UW-L. I started learning Spanish at a young age, and in high school I had the opportunity to go to Spain for two weeks. The first week was spent traveling to various cities, but the second week I spent living with a Spanish family in Sevilla. That experience completely changed my life. Being abroad is addicting. When I came back, all I could think about was traveling again, so I emptied my bank account by taking a trip a to Mexico less than three weeks after I got back from Spain.

In my freshman year at UW-L I began talking with Jason Kouba about wanting to study abroad. My mind was set on going back to Spain, but I didn't know which city I wanted. I had visited a bunch of cities during my trip in   high school, but I couldn't make up my mind. I really wanted to go to Madrid because I love big cities; however, Professor Socha recommended Granada. He may have been a little bias towards that city, but I respected his opinion and did some research. I asked everyone for their opinions (including everyone I knew from Spain) and finally decided to go to Granada. I don't remember exactly why I chose it over Madrid, but once I arrived, I'm so glad that I did.

This is Granada. This is my city.

un saludo,

Jacob

Why students go abroad and to the places they do...

This week kicks off the beginning of this blog adventure! Our peer mentors are very excited to share their experiences with other students who may be thinking about going abroad, are abroad, or are coming home.

The first hot topic of the week is: Why I Went Abroad and to the Places I Did...

Step One of the Study Abroad Experience: Where should I go???

To every individual, the "perfect" study abroad location is different. Some people have known for years where they want to go while others may just throw a dart at the map. It is a guarantee that no two students will have the same experience when they are abroad, so that is why we are having our peer mentors talk about their selection process. Maybe you will find that you are having the same thoughts, feelings and experiences when it comes to finding that "perfect" location. Feel free to ask questions, post comments, etc. and the peer mentors will try and get back to you.

Enjoy and Explore you options!

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." ~ St. Augustine