Student Blog

Here’s an update on my study abroad experience so far: I’ve been here for almost 4 months, with only 2 months left until my journey is over. Spain is a beautiful country with a diverse landscape and culture. Between attending classes and studying, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to a few different major cities. Here are some places I’ve been to in Spain:

This semester I will be going on an international exchange through the University of Victoria to the Madrid, Spain where I will attend the University of Alcalá. I will live in the municipality of Alcalá de Henares for five months while I am attending school. I am so excited to embark on this amazing journey where I will experience a new culture, language and way of living.

Written in August 2013

As some of you already know, it’s been a pretty difficult week for me because I got a horrible cold that knocked me off my feet. I’ve been stuck in bed blowing my nose every few minutes and coughing up a storm.

On the plus side, I’ve been immersed in many different worlds from watching so many movies! While I haven’t had any energy to leave the house, I’ve had time to myself to just rest and relax. Considering that school starts on Monday I feel that this rest was something I needed to get mentally ready.

After seeing eight countries and eighteen different cities, I am finally back in Vancouver. I was quite sad to say goodbye to my apartment, friends, and my favorite city, Berlin. It was definitely a mixed feeling between excitement to see my family, especially my brother whom I had not seen for two years and his new wife; and sadness at leaving Berlin. 

Today I finished the last exam of my study abroad semester. I have three more weeks in the lovely city of Berlin and I can’t help but have all types of strong emotions. In Berlin, I found out who I really am, what I’m looking for, what I can’t stand, and what I wish to have. In Berlin, I found out what true happiness is. Most importantly, in Berlin, I found out how amazing it is to have a simple life.

The last few weeks of my trip were tiring and hard, but worth the effort for the work we were doing. For the last two weeks of the trip, we worked in schools with children in kindergarten to grade six mostly. These children have never had the opportunity to have their teeth cleaned. While we did not have the time or resources to clean each and every single child’s teeth, we were able to apply fluoride to help make their teeth stronger and decrease the chances of further decay from occurring. We also provided them with information on how to properly brush their teeth.

Travel days are sometimes so full of new sights, sounds, physical and emotional changes, that it's hard to imagine that the morning was part of the same day as the evening. Today was one of those.

It is hard to prepare yourself for a different culture because you never really know what you are going to get. Before travelling to the Philippines, I did research, but it did not come close to preparing me for the culture shock I was about to experience.

New York City. What an extraordinary city for art lovers. Art is everywhere, from museums to galleries, in the streets, subways and parks. It's a heady mix.

It has been a few days since I have returned home from my time abroad in Colombia and I can only use one word to describe the transition back; “surreal”. It feels surreal to be speaking English, to be wearing clean clothes, to have hot showers and Deet-free evenings. Less than a week ago, I was in the rainforest; unplugged from the Internet, taking short, cold showers; learning about myself, tasting the local cuisine and battling the evening bugs. I am sitting here fiddling with bracelets made by two little girls in a nearby Amazonian village and it heavies my heart.