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 …

A Quick Trip to the Peloponnese

This past week was almost a dream as it was one of the last program trips of the semester. For this adventure, we packed a week’s worth of items and traveled from the bustling city of Athens to the Peloponnese Region. Let me just say, this was one of my favorite trips while being in …

Worlds Collide

Aussie Slang Lesson Week 10: Long Black = Americano (for the coffee drinkers out there) Aussie Slang Lesson Week 11: Tomato Sauce = Ketchup My family arrived this week! My cousin, Allie, and my mom arrived a week ago to the Goldie. This week has been about showing them what my life looks like 9,000 …

Foreign Travel and Study Abroad: What’s the catch?

Switzerland is conveniently located in the center of Europe, allowing access to a multitude of sub-regions within the European continent….and I may or may not have taken advantage of this characteristic already. Let’s recap:  Where I have traveled to, since the beginning of the semester? Bern, Switzerland Munich, Germany Paris, France Brussels, Belgium Grindelwald, Switzerland …

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 …

Sabbath Solo Trip to Grindelwald

As I have mentioned in some of my other posts, I enjoy taking solo trips. Inspired by my successful outing to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, I decided to take the Sabbath to rest and recuperate (from the full week of classes and an academic trip that were now behind me).  But what did this …

Mid Terms Aren’t Fun in Australia Either

Aussie Slang Lesson Week 8: Singlet = Tank top Midterms week has arrived, and I am feeling the stress. As the hours in front of my laptop increase, I have been making sure that I enjoy some outings as well to keep my mental health up. Sadly, the weather has been rainy, cloudy, and generally …

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 …