Fall Travels in Japan

I originally planned to study abroad next semester in the spring, but as this semester comes to an end, I couldn’t be happier I chose the fall semester. Autumn in Japan is beautiful. I’m accustomed to Midwest falls that start in September, followed by a temperature drop in October. Here in Japan, until around mid-to-late …

Student Life, Cats, and Small Victories

I’m a couple weeks past the halfway point in my semester at Nanzan University here in Nagoya. Since it began, my semester has been full of exciting, new, and immersive experiences, but most days I’m just an ordinary student: attending classes, grabbing lunch with friends, finishing up a reading for class, and heading home to …

Temples, Terai, and Tranquility

On paper, a month can sound like a long time, but based on how fast my time in Morocco flew, I was determined to squeeze every last drop out of my month ahead in Nepal right from the moment our plane landed, and fortunately our orientation gave us an exciting insight for just how much …

Life in Japan, so far

Inuyama, orientation week, dorm or homestay?, & Kanazawa こんにちは!Since you last heard from me, I’d made it into Nagoya. IES orientation week went great; I was able to meet everyone in the program, do some sightseeing, and had the incredible privilege of a nice hotel room to myself for the duration of orientation. Inuyama. On …

Speedrunning Tokyo

36 hours in Tokyo & how we spent it At the end of September, my friend and I set off for a weekend in Tokyo. To get there, I booked us overnight bus seats. It’s a cheaper, though lengthier and less scenic, convenient alternative to taking the Shinkansen (bullet train). We boarded at 11PM on …

Off to Japan!

why nagoya, confronting challenge, and konbini こんにちは!Hello! Three weeks from today I officially landed in Japan and began my semester study abroad in Nagoya! Leading up to it, there was an endless list of to-do’s and to-buy’s. From buying the right power converter, to researching restaurant etiquette, to making multiple trips to the nearest consulate …

Rest and Reconnect: A Lesson About Kiasu

It’s reading week and that means lots of studying! I have so much to catch up on but am starting with talking about rest. I am wishing I was this temple cat that I saw in Chiangmai, Thailand. Something valuable I learned during my time studying abroad is that if you don’t rest and reset, …

A Week in Istanbul

When I was learning about Constantinople in my tenth-grade world history class, I never in a million years thought that I would actually step foot in this incredibly historic city. And yet somehow I ended up there last week! I think it was only slightly less shocking than if I had landed in an actual …

Trip to Pulau Ubin

Hi all! It is past midterms and I have so many stories to tell about my time here in Singapore! I will start with one of the first trips we took! On the 4th day in Singapore, we had a trip to an island off of Singapore called Pulau Ubin. We had a tour guide …

Christmas in Japan

It has been awhile since my last post, but the adventures keep on coming! It is already halfway through January, but Christmas in Japan has left quite an impression on me. While Christmas is a big deal in the United States, in Japan it’s a much more (extremely) commercial, just-for-fun kind of holiday. Class is …