France

By Alice Wang, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, winner of the 2017 Stories from Abroad Scholarship and a member of the BC Study Abroad Writer in Residence Team

Image credit: Vancouver artist Kenneth Yuan in front of Yves Klein’s IKB (image courtesy of Yuen)

My piece of advice as a Writer-in-Residence is this: wherever you go, visit the local art institutions and expect to be confused by the works. Art is a piece of history crystalized in an object. It is not supposed to be easily understood. And if it is, it’s probably very bad art.

By Mariam Ali, Simon Fraser University, winner of the 2017 Stories from Abroad Scholarship.

By Alice Wang, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, winner of the 2017 Stories from Abroad Scholarship and a member of the BC Study Abroad Writer in Residence Team

By Alice Wang, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, winner of the 2017 Stories from Abroad Scholarship and a member of the BC Study Abroad Writer in Residence Team

By Alice Wang, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, winner of the 2017 Stories from Abroad Scholarship and member of the BC Study Abroad Writer in Residence Team

My Chinese heritage became very salient to me during my study-abroad. At every city I went, I had someone, often a man, shout out greetings to me in Mandarin on the street. Why they would even think that to be an appropriate behavior is beyond me. And yet these borderline discriminatory remarks enticed me to reflect on what it felt like to wear my ethnicity so visibly around me.

By Mariam Ali, Simon Fraser University, winner of the 2017 Stories from Abroad Scholarship.

By Mariam Ali, Simon Fraser University, winner of the 2017 Stories from Abroad Scholarship.

Last summer before my exchange to IEP de Strasbourg, I remember being so nervous about my exchange, asking myself how I would fare abroad. One year later I’ve changed in so many ways, growing as a person while improving my French and my knowledge of the world.

Continued from It’s all about adjusting - Part 1...

I’ve been abroad for just over two months now, and after a 3-week reading break filled with travelling across Spain and France, I’m finally starting to get into the actual studying aspect of my studies abroad.

I’ll be embarking on my journey overseas in less than a month now, and things are starting to feel a lot more real. I’ve been planning for this exchange for over six months now, and these plans are all finally coming to fruition.