Tomorrow is the 28th of November and it marks the two-month anniversary of my departure from the U.S. I wish I could say that in that amount of time I’ve traveled to seven different countries, tasted crazy foods, tried dozens of new activities, and made friends that will last a lifetime, but I really can’t. These first two months have been an immense struggle for me, and I fear that the water up ahead may be just as rocky. I have had good days and bad, but the good ones are [...]

One of my American friends here grew up on the east coast and is attending a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania studying business.  Some weeks ago a few of us were out for drinks when he asked us what cities he should try beginning his career in after graduation.  Naturally, I suggested Minneapolis – I’ve always seen it as a great place to be a young professional thanks to a good local economy and several Fortune 500 companies.  Beyond that, the city literally sparkles.  There’s a distinct Midwesterness about it.  Lakes [...]

Up until today, I really haven’t been happy for more than a few minutes at a time. It’s been so hard to convince myself that coming to Berlin was the right decision because all I could feel was loneliness and all I could think about was everything I might’ve been missing back in West Bend and Minneapolis. I mean, thinking logically, a person should stay in the same city (or at the very least the same country) as the people they love. But here I am – 4,000 miles away [...]

Today was a hard day. I can’t really even explain why, but it was just one of those days when everything seemed to remind me of the things I miss most back home. And the hardest part is that after the first wave of home sickness hits me, it becomes like a case of hiccups that I just can’t kick. The kind of hiccups that hurts in your throat, too. All I want to do is crawl into a loved one’s arms and talk to them about it so that [...]

I am not sure this is the best time for me to write my first post in Barcelona because the truth of the matter is that I am one hundred and fifty percent homesick. There are so many things that frustrate me–the language barrier, moving in with a new family that has different views than me, living in a place that is hot and humid but none of the buildings have air conditioning. (See! I sound like a complete downer right now!) Study abroad materials say that homesickness is natural [...]

Wow it has been a whirlwind of two weeks! I feel like I am starting to get the hang of London…kind of. Though they speak English and there are a lot of things that are similar to life in the US, I feel lost here. Not the lost that requires directions, because to be honest, I am quite good with directions and finding my way. I feel lost in a different sense. To just go to class I have to think twice as hard to do normal, everyday activities. I [...]

Story from a few weekends ago: We (a group of 8 ) were at a club/bar on Saturday night where we were dancing and celebrating the birthdays of Toby and me. We were enjoying ourselves and looking like an obvious group of gringos who can’t latin dance when a male and female stripper appeared on the stage in front of the club. They each twirled around solo for a while and then started pulling people from the audience to, um, entertain. In several minutes, all layers expect the skimpy undies [...]

I haven’t posted anything the past few weeks. I found myself in a strange state of mind where I didn’t know HOW to write what I felt, experienced, saw… mostly because I wasn’t sure of what I thought. My apologies!!!! But I still have stories I want to share. SO this post will consist of a few play-by-plays or bullet points of the past couple of weeks spent in Mombasa. The overview being: Homesickness hit HARD when we first arrived, eased into contentedness to full on travellers HIGH, and back [...]

Before lunch today some of my classmates and I discussed the things that are making our stomachs homesick and, unsurprisingly, many were the same. We all appear to be jonesin’ for some kind of fast food (many for more than one type) as well as a few regional or unusual blends. Here is my personal list (and yes, most are horrible): Brownies Sweet ‘n’ Spicy Chili Doritos Taco Bell Chalupa Supreme Taco Bell Crunchwrap Supreme Blue & Grey Café buffalo chicken meal deal Waffles Lunch meat sandwiches Hummus Lehigh Pizza [...]

***I do not have a post for everyday (some days were nothing but school and research. And it is safe to say during the process of this time frame I got my first dose of “home-sickness” Which I discovered was not in fact missing my actual home, but instead a HUGE frustration with simple things. Blah… I’ll write about that later*** September 14: So the past couple of days have been in the Gray, and it wasn’t until today that I realized it. I had a headache and just felt [...]

I’m sorry for not writing for so long, but I promises I have some good reasons. The week after I wrote last I was pretty sick. I had a sore throat and flu-like symptoms. It was no fun. I drank a lot of hot lemonade and this medicine called Lemsip, which is a powder you dissolve in hot water and drink. It also had a lemony flavor. At the end of my last week of break I also started battling a strong case of home sickness. I’m at the half-way [...]

So midterms are finally over!! I didn’t do half as bad as I thought I did on my Japanese midterm, so that gives me motivation to keep trying to do well in the class. The class material and quizzes are comparable to the Japanese class I took last semester, but the exams are SO HARD! I’ll just keep studying… I had gotten into the bad habit of bumming around in my room rather than going out, with homework and the expense of going anywhere else my excuse. But instead of [...]

Since I didn’t really do anything particularly interesting today, I thought I would just recount my day and write about something else. I went to the post office to send Googly to Fargo, North Dakota to another friend, and it took a lot longer than it should. First of all, I wanted to buy a box to put Googly in, but I couldn’t find one. Then I spotted a stand in the lobby of the post office, so I went to ask the lady there for a box (in Italian… [...]