Three (almost) day trips to take from Shanghai
By Megan C.
Published Dec. 20, 2017
If you find yourself with a free day (or weekend) while in Shanghai, make sure to check out these neat spots. Happy travels! 1. 黄山 Huangshan Mountain A trip to Huangshan will take a little more than a day, since it takes 6-8 hours of travel time depending on if you go for a train…
Homecoming
By Garren W.
Published Dec. 11, 2017
After 258 days abroad, it was finally time to come home. I was ready, and had been for a while, but it was no less sad to say goodbye to my friends and host family. I had become a member of the family. My younger cousins asked me not to go and my host mom…
Creating Kimchi: a Korean tradition
By Daryn F.
Published Nov. 16, 2017
This past Saturday was a very popular couple's holiday in Korea called Pepero day. It was basically created by the candy company to sell a ton of the Pepero snacks. I originally thought I would write more about this holiday when my wonderful Korean mum asked me to come home and spend that holiday in…
What happens while you’re away
By Garren W.
Published Nov. 3, 2017
When you get ready to go abroad, especially for a semester or even a year like I did, you have to consider the fact that time doesn't stop while you're gone. It can be a hard process to make sure you're ready, and it's even harder to recognize that just as you're changing and evolving,…
Getting cultured and confused in Gyeongsangdo
By Megan I.
Published Oct. 6, 2017
It's Chuseok break out here in Korea — which we foreigners all seem to have collectively agreed is "Korean Thanksgiving" — and you know what that means! It means nothing is open and you're all alone because you, lonely foreigner, do not have a Korean family to cook you amazing Korean food or Korean grandparents…
Costa Rica: El día de la virgen de los ángeles, roosters, saints, clowns and… cow bladders?
By Garren W.
Published Sept. 21, 2017
When you hear of Costa Rica, you probably imagine beautiful beaches, tropical rainforests and tons of tourists. All of that is here (Costa Rica is a beautiful country), but you probably don't think of what happens in the rainy season from roughly March to October. I've on an IFSA-Butler calendar year program here since February,…
Las Fallas
By Benjamin W.
Published Sept. 18, 2017
My trip to Valencia, Spain, was only for a day, but it was a special day — the final day of Las Fallas. Las Fallas, or The Fires, is one of Spain's largest festivals that occurs every year in mid-March where wooden ninots are burned at the end of the festival. A ninot is an…
Thank God for free rice
By Megan I.
Published Sept. 11, 2017
I have traveled a lot for someone my age and with my budget, but I also have some of the worst bouts of bad luck imaginable and am generally the poster child for clumsiness. Naturally, despite all my best efforts and intensive planning, things go horribly awry. Here lies an account of my first (less…
Pizza, pizza, pizza
By Victoria R.
Published Aug. 31, 2017
When you think of Italian food, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Spaghetti, alfredo or gelato? While all of these are extremely popular dishes in Italy, the number one has to be pizza. Around every turn you could find a pizza shop. It did not…
Life lessons from abroad
By Anna W.
Published Aug. 29, 2017
The past six weeks that I have spent studying abroad in Seoul, South Korea, have been full of new friends, unique experiences and introspective realizations about my own cultural biases, as well as the role that myself and my peers play in a much greater global context. While my overall experience has been characterized by…