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Exploring the City You’re In
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One of the wonderful things about studying abroad in London is that its location gives me access to the entire European continent. From the UK trips to Paris, Rome, Copenhagen, Barcelona, and Vienna can be inexpensive weekend getaways. However, I have found that in my quest to leverage the amazing travel opportunities London has provided…
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Study Abroad is More than Stamps on a Passport – A Digital Story
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In Argentina, friendship is enigmatically cherished. Real friends are friends for life, and Friends’ Day, July 20th, is as important for Argentinians as Valentine’s Day is in the United States. Without access to a camera, Samantha rented a camcorder from the IFSA-Butler office and took brief videos of her experience abroad. After watching the videos again, she…
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Sights and Society: Remembering the History as a Tourist
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A perk of studying abroad with IFSA-Butler: the excursions that are included in the cost. Last week, IFSA organized a trip to the Highlands for all the students on the Scotland program—that’s around 100 of us from four cities, on four buses on a four-hour drive. (I don’t know why but four seems to be the magic…
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Understanding Reverse Culture Shock: When Home Feels Foreign
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Having to look the opposite way before crossing the street. Referring to ketchup as “tomato sauce” and to fries as “chips.” Realizing that “going to the chemist” does not, in fact, mean that you’re paying a visit to a scientist’s lab. Instead, it’s the same as going to a drugstore in the US. All of these cultural…
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The Final Push – A Digital Story
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If I had gone on a getaway to Fiji instead of roughing it that weekend, I would’ve missed out on some truly breathtaking sights. With 5 miles left to go on their longest day of hiking the Abel Tasman Coastal Track, Lily and her friends really needed a morale boost. What they got was that…
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Navigating Faith in a Post-Faith Society
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Colleges are widely acknowledged as the place where young people go to broaden their worldview, grow their minds, and challenge their beliefs; changes which often result in students straying from religion. However, over the course of my first two years of college, my Christian faith became more a part of my identity than it ever…
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Why I Chose to Make Friends Outside Edinburgh’s Queer Community
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As an asexual person, I live a very quiet life in the LGBTQ community. I identify as queer, so it’s hardly surprising that I have a lot of friends who also identify as queer. Well, I do back home that is. I didn’t regularly attend any LGBTQ clubs or groups or anything like that on…
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Let Study Abroad Push Your Limits – A Digital Story
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You may have preconceived notions about what you will find in your host country, or what you’re capable of achieving, but you should never let that limit yourself. As she prepared to study abroad, Marianna worried she wasn’t outdoorsy enough for South America. But by the end she conquered all her fears, and came home…
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Panic Attacks and How to Stay on Track
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Picture this: you’re hanging out with a group of your friends when suddenly you feel as though you can’t breathe. A minute ago you were perfectly fine, but something small set you off and now your chest is being crushed by the weight of your anxiety. You don’t want to draw attention to yourself, but you…
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A Homesick Student’s Guide to Spending the Holiday Season Abroad
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For me, November is always a hard month. By November, I’ve passed out of midterm hell and I wade through the month as a sort of holiday purgatory; it’s when I feel the most homesick. Normally, I don’t go home for Thanksgiving—the break is too short, the plane tickets too expensive—but as the air gets chillier and I…