I thought last week of June would be the end of my time in Italy, but I was wrong! As a class, we briefly visited Venice a couple weeks ago to see the Biennale. It was an amazing experience; however, we were only there for a day and a half, and I was not able to experience much of Venice. Because of this, my parents decided to help me extend…
As I travelled to Portugal, I was very nervous because of the large language barrier. Portuguese can be like Spanish in some ways, but I did not know any Portuguese except from some songs that feature Portuguese and Brazil artist. However, I was able to understand some of the words around the restaurants, supermarkets, pharmacies and around the city. Also, because we were in the capital, almost everyone knew…
Embarking on my Semester At Sea journey, we were presented with an extraordinary opportunity—to travel from Belgium to Thailand, passing through the Suez Canal and visiting 12 diverse countries along the way. However, the course of our adventure took an unexpected turn due to an unforeseen conflict in the Middle East. Originally set to enter the Suez Canal and explore destinations like Jordan, Dubai, and India, our plans faced a…
Embarking on Semester At Sea is like stepping into a dream for any college student. The sheer awesomeness of traveling the globe on a cruise ship, hitting up three continents and thirteen ports, transforms us into true global citizens. Living among 500 fellow students and 300 staff members creates an incredible sense of community. We’re not just studying abroad; we’re coexisting, learning, and exploring together. This unique experience turns us…
I am writing this in my room, back home in the United States. It feels extremely weird typing that because I have been studying in Italy for the last four months. I am sad that my trip has ended, but I am so grateful for what this experience has given me. If I had any advice to give to future students, it would be to study abroad and don’t look back. You will only receive the opportunity once in your…
One of the major cultural differences I’ve experienced here in Belfast is the drinking culture. One of the major reasons, of course, being that the drinking age here is 18, not 21, as it is in the States. This means that alcohol is much more a part of life in university in a casual way, a way it cannot be at American universities. For example, clubs and societies are able…
Food is a somewhat different experience in Belfast than it was at the College of Charleston. First of all, all of the student accommodations at Queen’s University are self-catered, which means that students have to cook all of their own food. The freedom of being able to choose what you want to make for dinner is very nice to have, but having to make your own food does mean that…
The education structure is a bit different at Queen’s to what I experienced at the College of Charleston. Courses at Queen’s would meet once to twice a week for lectures where a professor would stand in the front of a lecture hall and speak for several hours and meet once for tutorials which were run by TAs with smaller groups and were discussion based. This resulted in less face-to-face time…
To any future study abroad students I would say the very cliche phrase: don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. You are going abroad to learn new things and have experiences you can’t have here in the States. That being said, having ties to home helped me a lot. I would set aside time each weekend to call home and I brought a couple of mementos from…
One of my favorite parts about studying abroad in France was the ability to travel to other cities and countries. “ La Toussaint” is a holiday in France when all the schools and universities across the country get a week-long vacation, typically at the end of October. A friend from my program and I went to Italy during the break. Throughout the course of the week, we traveled to five…
