I am so excited to go to Korea and begin my student teaching! I’m really hoping to learn a lot about the Korean language and to have a unique experience within a school. Because I will be teaching in an elementary school, I am excited to gain more experience and pick up some new skills in working with students who are English language learners! I am also excited to learn about Korean culture and how it is both different from and similar to my own culture.

Thailand: Arrival: “Greetings from Thailand” by Alexandra Rose

February 7, 2017November 2, 2018wwuedabroad

Greetings from Thailand!

After falling ill last week, I have a little catching up to do with my blog.Because my study abroad is a more non-traditional internship abroad, there’s no university life to talk about.

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Thailand: Internship: Pre-Departure: “So Much to Do, So Little Time” by Alexandra Rose

December 29, 2016November 2, 2018wwuedabroad

I landed in Seattle only a month ago, and today I started packing to leave again on Friday. It has been a whirlwind of just over thirty days. Landing the night before Thanksgiving after almost three months in Madagascar with Stony Brook University‘s biodiversity and culture study abroad program, I have just begun adjusting to the cold and rain here in the Pacific Northwest. After four weeks of unpacking, writing a research paper, catching up with friends at holiday parties, and spending time with my family, it is time for my next adventure!

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Japan: Arrival: “Icebreakers” by Erica Virata

August 31, 2016November 2, 2018wwuedabroad

Day 1: Icebreakers

Several things became immediately apparent to me upon moving to Akita, Japan: the washrooms are far superior in Japan (the whole world should have these showers), I am obscenely spoiled by my bed in America (I truly take for granted the ability to spread eagle on a temperpedic mattress), and I do in fact possess perfectly healthy sweat glands (despite some twenty-four years of not really using them until just this morning, when I stepped out into the humid air and promptly lost half my water weight).

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Japan: “Day 4: The Heart That – Rightly” by Erica Virata

August 30, 2016November 2, 2018wwuedabroad

Day 4: The Heart That -Rightly-

Today was the AIUlympics, a sporting event held by the RA’s on campus! The turn-out was much larger than I’d expected, which was lovely. It began with adorable warm-ups ala Radio Taiso, which truly put into perspective how uncoordinated we all are, then mozied along to a three-legged race, a scavenger hunt, Japanese “red light green light” (Daruma-san falls down), a chopstick relay, and extreme charades. Everyone involved got hilariously competitive in true sporting event fashion; friendships were ruined by the impassable divide between red shirts and white shirts.

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South Korea “My Adventures in Daegu” by Taiya Brown

August 18, 2016November 2, 2018wwuedabroad

My Adventures in Daegu!

This past weekend was so much fun!! After a busy Friday running around, I took the train to Daegu to visit Hansol and her parents! It was so awesome to stay with a Korean family and see what life is like is Daegu. Daegu is a city about 4 hours away from Seoul in the South-Eastern part of Korea. I really loved it there! It’s still a city but much more manageable than Seoul. Since Seoul is so big, it feels overwhelming to me. I’ve never lived in a huge city, so it’s certainly a new experience. It was so awesome going somewhere else in Korea though. I loved it. Not only was it my first trip outside of Seoul, I went on my own too which was scary and also really exciting for me.

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