I arrived in my flat around 11pm on August 22nd. I only stayed for 30 minutes to shower and pack all my things. I had met up with Jenna Jones and Daniel Ong; we were set to leave for Barcelona the next morning at 5am. I had met Jenna and Daniel on Facebook; a group was started and we planned a trip to Barcelona and La Tomatina over three different time zones.
I entered my flat in awe; the rooms were large and each with the exception of mine had a small rusty balcony. Our kitchen was modest with aging wood and furniture that was slowly dying. A random long couch sat in our narrow hallway; there isn’t a living room.
The bathroom is tiny. The bathroom is really tiny. The shower is a tiny box with the length of one of my arm.
But it is okay, because I am set to leave for Barcelona in 6 hours.
Once I arrived in Jenna’s flat, I passed out immediately. My nap was too short for soon enough, we were on the tram and then on a bus on the way to Bergarmo airport to take Ryanair over to Barcelona. Nausea was a strong 
presence during my take off and the bright yellow and blue cabinets that adorned the interior of the plane did not help calm my mood. When we arrived, the entire plane clapped. I don’t know whether or not to be happy or terrified at the fact the entire plane clapped that we actually landed.
After arrival, we took an hour long bus ride from the airport all the way to Barcelona. I sat next to a man who spoke in Spanish to me most of the time. I liked him. I liked him because I got to practice my Spanish. It was pretty sweet, he actually understood me.
The first night at Barcelona we attended a FC Barcelona game. The stadium was packed with screaming fans going crazy for their team. The game and experience was so epic, thousands among thousands going crazy for futbol. It’s comparable to a husky football game but with 10 times more the spirited fans.
The next day we headed down to Las Ramblas. It was very very very hot, in the 90’s. There were a ton of street vendors selling los flores y los regalos y mas. In addition, there
were moving statues; there was one dressed as Jason who came up to me and tried to scare me away. I love Barcelona. The entire city is breathtaking and if I could live here, I would be happy forever.
We took a two hour tour around Barcelona. I went shopping and got completely lost but managed to find a specific plaza where there was this Gaudi tour. I got to see three of Gaudi’s masterpieces. It was during this tour I fell in love with Gauid’s artwork. Looking up at his architectural masterpieces was incredible. My favorite part was the Gaudi Park with the famous mosaics.
No words can ever do justice in describing the brilliancy of this man therefore I leave you with these photographs.
In addition to the FC Barcelona game, all the sigh seeing, we also went to The Mediterranean. I got to swim in the clear turquoise water that tasted like it had a 5 to 1 ratio (salt 5 cups for every 1 cup water). I actually experienced my first sun burnt. I’m Filipino….I don’t get burn. But here I did.
After 4 nights in Barcelona, it was time to head back to Milano.
I’m not good at soccer by any means, but I’m getting the hang of it. I scored a few unorthodox goals, and my teammates have been really nice about being patient with me and have actually taught me some techniques. We often times go to the pub across the street and watch soccer on the big screen. It’s a good past time and bonding experience with the other guy exchange students.
Right now I am sitting in Anne Marie’s cabin on the outskirts (the woods!) of Warsaw, Poland in the afternoon. We knew Anne Marie from UW’s Global Case Competition last spring as she and 3 others represented the Business School over here in Warsaw. From the very beginning, Anne Marie has been the most amazing hostess. She has graciously let us stay at her Mom’s beautiful house in a nearby suburb of the city center. We really couldn’t ask for anything more, and don’t know what we did to deserve such great treatment, but we are so appreciative and hope that we can return the favor somehow in the future. After we arrived and dropped our stuff off at Anne Marie’s house we headed for the City Center and walked along Anne Marie’s favorite streets. Spontaneously we decided to have a food extravaganza in Poland and to try out all the best restaurants and cafés in the city center. Thus far, the best and most successful food run (with sushi, croissants, drinks, and polish food) I’ve had in Europe, and that says a lot since I’m living in Italy.
because of the great friends we’re surrounded with here. One thing that you must get used to in Italy, besides the fact that no one speaks English, is how many things are so inefficient and unorganized. It’s Italy though, and you just have to accept it. Stores just don’t like to open on Sundays or Mondays. There are no dryers for your clothes. Cars drive on the sidewalk. One thing that is always very organized here though are the parties put together by Bocconi. Bocconi never fails us, and you can’t help but have fun and be happy here. Bocconi just doesn’t allow you to be bored and not have fun. They do a great job of organizing parties and events to meet people, eat free food, and get the best deals to the most prestigious places in town. Because we are from Bocconi, we never wait in line anywhere and our always treated as VIP. The group of friends we’ve established so far has been such a blessing. I am so thankful to have met such a great and diverse set of friends. Finland, Portugal, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, London, France, Mexico, Norway… basically the EU.. etc. Such a great group of people who I would already miss so much, if I were to leave now. I hope to stay in touch with all of these people and to have a lot of them visit me in Seattle so I can show them around.
A month and a half has never flown by so fast in my life, and yet I still feel like I have so much of the city to explore. I would never be bored here. Living in Beijing, I came to realize that even if I went to see ten historical sites a day, I would still not be able to see everything within my semester here in the capital of China. The city is a mixture of the modern and the ancient. Of new-ideals and strong traditions. When talking to the younger generation of China, I noticed that their thinking contrasts so much with that of the older Mao-generation.
the government closed off all of the city center and recommended all families to stay home. My roommate and I tried exploring the city, and it was uncomfortably quite. Not a single car driving past, no street vendors within eye sight, and nobody out on the street. We tried to go to Tiananmen Square where the huge parade was going on, but everywhere security guards stood across the street to block every intersection into city center. Later that day I heard that the Chinese government also canceled all flights in and out of Beijing’s capital airport. That was crazy to imagine. In total, they spent over 60 billion rmb on the parades, which equals to about 9 billion usd. On TV I watched the parades that lasted all day- from when I woke up 9am until midnight. Every public transportation I took, they were playing songs about the “great Motherland” and “I love China”. I couldn’t but help wonder how much of this was just for show.
Hi everyone! My name is Andrew Swanson, and I am here in Pamplona, Spain for the quarter studying at the University of Navarra along with Sohroosh, Yvonne, and Daraun from the UW. So far my time here in Spain has been a blast. Last weekend I went to Alicante with my roommate because he was from there, and I got to see the Mediterranean for the first time and visit the local hotspots of the city.
Hey my name is Kimi, and I am currently a Junior studying abroad in Manchester this quarter. I have officially been living here for a month already, and the time has simply flown by.
As I said, there are always things to do in Manchester. So far I have been to several concerts (Manchester has two great music venues), enjoyed experiencing different English Pubs and even managed to get tickets to a Manchester United football game. Soccer is EVERYWHERE here! But I miss American football…
The cultural differences between the US and England are subtle but everywhere. Different phrases and ways of asking things always catch me off guard and sometimes I don’t know how to respond. Some people can be rude when I tell them I’m from the states, but for the most part people here are really nice and are always interested about hearing about which part of the States I’m from and ask me about my time abroad in Manchester.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the first week of October, I was supposed to go to Tibet. However, for security reasons, the Government decided to have a quota on how many foreigners can enter Tibet during the national holiday. Unfortunately, we did make it in to the list. I was very disappointed because I’ve always wanted to go to Tibet, to walk around the Potala Palace, to see Mt. Everest’s with my bare eyes.
Capital city of China, so it is rich with cultural relics. The following days we visited Hangzhou and Suzhou, which are known for their beautiful lake and river.
Tired and sore, but also preparing for midterm exams, I just returned from a two day stretch of the Camino de Santiago. The Camino de Santiago, or Way of St. James, is a pilgrimage that tens of thousands of people from all over the world make throughout the year. There are many paths, but one of the most common starts at Saint Jean Pied de Port, in southern France, and winds it’s way across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. This route normally takes more than 30 days to complete on foot. A student from Honduras and another exchange student from Taiwan accompanied me from the small town of Roncesvalles, on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees, back to Pamplona. The bus ride to Roncesvalles took one and half hours, but the walk through small villages, highways, and hilly farmland took us about sixteen hours spread over two days. We shared sleeping quarters and the path with a diverse group of pilgrims: Aussies who were out for an adventure, a man from Barcelona who had a “compromiso” or a moral obligation to make the pilgrimage, as well as a trio from Valencia who were also taking the Camino a few days at a time.
Surfer’s Paradise, Gold Coast
brutal – the waves did not have mercy on the beginners. I got into the swing of things after several hours and was able to stand up….every so often! Note: 1) Since a child, I’ve ALWAYS wanted to go surfing; 2) I did not know how to swim prior to coming to Australia. I knew that I wanted to surf during mid-semester break, so I took swimming lessons at a nearby pool; and 3) after this experience, I decided that I would sacrifice eating for 5 weeks in order to invest in a surfboard that I could take home to Seattle. 
Airlie Beach/Whitsundays/Great Barrier Reef
Beach – it is beautiful, secluded, and seems untouched by humans. The Habibi had 26 people on board (including the 3 staff). There was a mix of students, backpackers, and abroad workers on break.
Nantes, France is famous for LU Biscuits and rain (although the weather has been very nice thus far). The city itself is easy to navigate. It is not overwhelmingly large, and you can master the tramway system on your first ride. There are beautiful gardens like le jardin des plantes and Beaujoire, historic hotspots like le Château des Ducs de Bretagne and an abundance of restaurants and bars.
English, German and Spanish being spoken around the bar. It was quite an experience!
