紅葉 (Kouyou)

One thing that is interesting (and convenient) about the Japanese language, is that there are words for very specific things. For example, 木漏れ日 komorebi, which means “The sunlight that filters through the trees”, or 積ん読 tsundoku, which means “buying books and not reading them.” Things that take a whole sentence to explain in English, becomes …

What I Love – Abroad!

I came to Japan with the spirit that I was going to find ways to dance here. I had very specific ideas about what that meant. I was going to join a dance club, make cool dance friends, and maybe show off some of my skills in the subway. My imagination and reality have been …

Post-Finals Activity: Commencing the Independent Study Project

(Bonus, my go-to study tunes are included below!) Alas, my final exams are finished!  But, what does that mean for the rest of the semester? If you think that the answer is that I have four free weeks to hang out with Swiss cows (though, I wish I could)… it’s actually quite the opposite.  While …

The Everyday Life in Athens

Being in a new place, let alone a new country, is a big change. A lot of things are different, such as the culture, but also what you see. One of the things that still surprises me even after being here for so long are the amazing sites I see almost every day. Seeing things …

What was Seine and done in Paris: SIT Study Trip (Part 2)

Day 4: On Wednesday, my cohort hopped on the train and made the short – yet beautiful – journey from Brussels to Paris. At this point, I hadn’t been to Paris (well…outside of a 4-hour stop on a cruise when I was 6).  But needless to say, I was excited to spend some time in …

The Irresistible Outdoors

Over the past two weeks, I have encountered some of the prettiest sights I believe I will ever see. The travels to them were not always delightful, but definitely worth all of the unknowns and difficulties. In this blog post, I will tell you of my travels to Royal National Park and Whitsunday Islands. They …

An Adventure in Shibuya

I had a friend message me for lunch, so I headed out to Shibuya to meet her. Rather than lunch we had an amazing matcha dessert parfait, and we spent three hours talking about our lives, our hopes, and our struggles (friendship is beautiful, no?). The three hours felt too short, but since I had …

Host Family

I have begun to find a rhythm for my daily life here in Japan. I have found ways to make my commute a bit more comfortable (the trains get very busy here), to get involved in my interests, and have settled in with my host family. Having a host family was one of the things …

Bruxelles, je t’aime: SIT Study Trip (Part 1)

This past week, my cohort went to Paris and Brussels as a part of a formal study trip. Here are some of the highlights from Brussels! Day 1: Sunday On Sunday, my cohort made the 6-hour train journey from Geneva to Brussels (with a brief stop in Paris along the way). One of the advantages …

What They Don’t Tell You

I have recently begun living with my host family after spending two weeks in a hotel room. I was shocked by the complete shift in my life. It is as if the two weeks I spent in that hotel room were some sort of strange dream, and I had forgotten what exactly this adventure entailed. …