Valpo Voyager

Student Stories from Around the World

Month: January 2014 (page 2 of 2)

My First Week in Reutlingen: Part 2

January 21, 2014 / / 0 Comments

For some reason, I mistakenly thought that I’d have a ton of downtime here to not only to blog, but  to also keep a paper journal, to read for fun, and to catch up on missed TV shows. I was seriously concerned that I would get bored in my free time. Nope. That definitely won’t be a problem. Every day is filled with classes, homework, planned events, and unplanned adventures. So now I’ll do my best to sum up all the excitement of seven days into one post.

Sunday: On Sunday, we made our first of what will probably be many trips to the neighboring town of Tübingen. Unlike Reutlingen, Tübingen was not bombed during WWII, and therefore remains a perfectly preserved medieval town. It’s stereotypical Germany, where everything is at least 600 years old. Unfortunately, it was too foggy to get many good pictures of the town, but there was something creepily majestic about waking through a medieval castle in dense fog at twilight. Here’s the view from the top:

After our brief tour, we ate at the famous Neckermüller restaurant along with our professors and some other Valpo friends studying in Reutlingen and Tübingen.

Monday: Monday was the first day of classes. First, we had German, which for me, is a review, but also a welcome break from the advanced literature classes I’m used to at Valpo. Then, we had art history, which may sound less than thrilling to some, but the “living art” activity in which we act out paintings for Herr Springer to guess makes this class actually really fun. Last, we had economics with the man, the myth, the legend: Baldur Veit. The guy knows everyone in the state, has connections to numerous companies in the area, and apparently hangs out with the king of Malaysia. Fascinating.

Tuesdsay: Tuesdsay wasn’t terribly exciting, but I did get to experience the alleged “biggest schnitzel in the world,”that previous generations of Reutlingen students have recommended. The restaurant offers XXL and XL-sized schnitzel, and although I only got the XL, it was still bigger than the plate.

Wednesday: Wednesday was Mutscheltag, a Reutlingen-specific holiday where everybody gets together to play various dice games, in hopes of winning a Mutschel. Mutschel are star-shaped, handmade breads that come in several sizes, ranging from individual, to about 3 feet across. Herr Veit had organized a game night for all the international students, and there, I was surprisingly lucky enough to win 2 Mutschel. Sadly, I didn’t win this grand prize:

Thursday: On Thursday, we had the Luther and Bach class and Modern Germany, along with more German. The two history classes will definitely be the most challenging of the five, but they sound very interesting. That evening, we all ventured out to one of the pubs for karaoke. I didn’t participate this time around, but I think I’ll be ready next week!

Friday: Have I mentioned that we never have class on fridays? Sometimes we have events planned, and sometimes it’s just free time to travel. This week, we first had a historical tour of Reutlingen. This was interesting, and also another great opportunity for pictures.

The highlight of the tour was the narrowest street in the world, which is about a foot wide:
Later, we headed back to Tübingen, to visit our German professor and learn how to make Mutschel! I love that it’s totally normal here for professors to invite us to their homes…and provide baked goods. Soon, I’ll do a Spoonful of Zucker post for the Mutschel recipe.

Saturday: Finally, on Saturday, we made our first trip to Stuttgart to go to the Baden-Württemberg state museum. After a big dose of regional history, we had lunch at Vapiano, the greatest pasta restaurant in the world. (There’s one in Chicago too!) That evening, we explored downtown Reutlingen a little more, to bring a relaxing end to the week.

And that’s it in a nutshell! Check again next week for my latest adventures!

My First Week in Reutlingen: Part One

January 19, 2014 / / 0 Comments
It’s been a long and exciting week. (okay actually 10 days, but who’s counting?) Finally, I feel de-jetlagged and settled enough to reflect on everything, so this will be quite a long post. So I guess I’ll jump right in on arrival day.

The Arrival:
This is probably going to be the most challenging day of the entire semester. Don’t worry, it’s not a horror story. It actually went much more smoothly than I expected, but for me personally, and I assume for many, the first day in a new place is hard. It’s a huge adjustment to make, especially when you haven’t slept in 36 hours. I always feel pretty out of it the day after a transatlantic flight, but I got through it by focusing on one task at a time. First, we landed and got our luggage, then we met Professor Ostoyich  and his family at the airport and took a bus to Reutlingen. I will forever be grateful to them for all of their help on the first day and throughout our orientation weeks. That day, they first took us to their apartment, which is on the same street as the dorms, and fed us, passed out our linens and cooking supplies, and explained the plan for the coming days.

The Dorms:
Then, we all moved into our rooms. I temporarily have one all to myself because there is an odd number of girls in this group, but I may be getting an international student roommate in the future. When I first found this out, I was really disappointed because I didn’t want to feel left out of things, but looking back on this week, maybe it was for the best. I’d hate to subject a stranger to my jet lag-induced temporary insanity. Don’t worry, I’m better now. I find it uncanny, how much the dorms here resemble the Valpo freshmen dorms. They are set up similarly, with 2 beds on either side, closets, a sink, and desks by the window.

And this is the view out of my window. It’s not spectacular, but I do get to see the mountains in the distance.

I think there are 3 or 4 dorms that Valpo kinds could potentially live in, but this semester, we’re split between Wurmhaus and Reichwein-Haus, which are pretty similar. I’m in Reichwein, which is more recently renovated, but this semester, Wurmhaus seems like the place to be. More international students live there, so it’s a little more lively, but I like the quiet on my floor. On each floor of both dorms, there are 2 halls of rooms and a shared kitchen and lounge in the middle.

**Helpful hints about moving in: Be sure to stop at the Valpo program storage locker where you can find all sorts of useful items donated by previous Valpo kids. There are phones, hair appliances, toiletries, blankets, cookware, clothes, and much more. It’s like a treasure hunt! Secondly, if you’re picky about pillows like me, bring a pillowcase/liner that zips. The European pillows here are like big, flat squares, but if you have an extra pillowcase, you can fold the pillow in half, and it’ll seem normal. Finally, BRING AN ETHERNET CORD. Some dorms do not have wifi, and I’m so glad I was prepared for that going in.

The first full day:
The next day was our first full day in Reutlingen. First we bought bus passes. (Be sure to have about 70 euros in cash for that.) We then had a brief tour of the campus and town, followed by a delicious lunch at a café. Most of us got the Maultaschen, a regional specialty similar to giant ravioli. I loved that the program paid for a few meals in the beginning, because we didn’t make it to the store for a few days.

After that, we spent some time exploring the city on our own and then ended up watching a movie/falling asleep in one of the lounges. The next day was a free day to settle in, and on Sunday, we had our first introduction to Tübingen, which I’ll get to in part 2 of this post.

Departure Day

January 16, 2014 / / 0 Comments

This is my last catch-up post, I promise. I wrote this on the morning of the day I left in order to get my thoughts out, and get ready to go. Departure/arrival day is probably a very different experience for different people, but for me, it wasn’t easy at all. I was a wreck all morning and convinced that I’d have a breakdown in the airport, but somehow, something changed somewhere around the metal detectors. At that point, I realized that getting upset was not going to do any good. Instead, I just had to tell myself to keep calm and carry on. And that’s why I’ve now been in Germany for a week and haven’t written about it yet. I’m still in that mindset as I try to get my bearings, but I’m getting there, and I plan to post about my first week by Sunday. But last week, this was what was running through my mind:

Surprisingly, I was actually pretty at peace with this whole thing until last night. I had expected the panic to set in much earlier, but in fact, in the weeks leading up to today, I managed to distract myself from fear with my very long to-do lists. Now that the lists are finished, I have too much time to think, but I have to find the peace again. That’s the only good way to do this.


When it comes to international travel, there’s an easy way and a hard way. I’ve experienced each once. The first time I went to Germany, I wasn’t technically alone, but it felt that way because I was traveling with 40 other students that I had never met before. The trip lasted about a month, and at seventeen, that was by far the longest I had ever been away from home. Back then, I had no idea what to expect, not only from the program itself, but also how my body and mind would react to travel. That particular flight on that particular day caused a perfect storm of factors that need up giving me the worst case of jet lag. First of all, I woke up that day almost too sick to get out of bed, and in addition to/because of that, I was not in the right mindset to do the hardest thing I had ever had to do. After I arrived, I unfortunately can barely remember the first week because I still felt physically and mentally awful. After spending a long time trying to figure out what went wrong that first week, I finally attributed it to about 70% jet lag, 20% heat exhaustion (Someone really should have told me there was no A/C in Germany) and 10% culture shock.
Luckily, This time I won’t have to deal with two of those three factors this time. In contrast to the -20 temperatures at home, Germany is currently a pleasant 55 degrees. As for the culture shock, I might sill have a little at some point, but I’m so thankful that this isn’t my first time to the metaphorical rodeo. I know a little bit of what to expect, and I know that I have felt at home in Germany before, so I can again. As for the jet lag, I’ve learned that that just comes down to luck. The first time I went to Germany, I was so out of whack that I didn’t sleep for 4 days. However, the second time I went to Germany, I was completely fine within a day. I think most of it is luck, but some of it has to do with your mindset going in. On the second trip, I was more confident. That time, I was flying completely alone, but I just didn’t panic because I knew that wouldn’t get me anywhere. When the mind is in a good place, it’s easier for the body to be too.
So this time around, I hope that I can use what experience has taught me. In fact, I wonder if it’s somehow possible to just skip the whole beginning part where I get upset and panicked. Can I just skip to the part where I start to feel comfortable and never want to go home? Because I know that part will come, and I don’t want to waste a single day feeling upset when I only get so many to begin with. What if I just don’t worry? Don’t cry? Don’t take it all so seriously? As of now, that’s my plan, to just let it all happen as it’s supposed to. We’ll see how that plan holds up when I get to the airport.
Like every soon-to-be study abroader, I’m scared and excited at the same time. Everyone says this will be the time of my life, and while I generally agree, I also think that adds a lot of pressure for me to make it that good. This experience is a gift, a blessing. But it’s hard. It’s once again the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Over the whole winter break, I’ve thought about it non-stop. In fact, my favorite little part of each day was the four seconds after I woke up each morning, and in my half-deeming state, didn’t remember yet that this challenge was approaching so soon. And then every morning, it hit me all over again. Finally, this morning, It’s time. Time to put one foot in front of the other and step into this blessing, this adventure, reminding myself that the things we fear most are the things most worth having.

Not Like Other Cities

January 14, 2014 / / 2 Comments

I’ve been here about a week and have come to the conclusion that four months is simultaneously a very long and very short span of time to spend here. England and I got off to a bit of a rocky (okay, boulder-y) start. Admittedly, by the time we had landed I was running on about .2 seconds of sleep, and the line for customs had us slowly serpentining through the room. An hour later, we were sitting on our luggage, waiting for our director Matt, who was stuck in traffic. I was ready to deem the arrival gate as my new bed when Bryn walked into the airport. Bryn, who has been gracing this site with her insightful blogs since last semester, is one of my closest friends at Valpo and Julia (my best friend who is studying abroad with me) and I almost tackled her with hugs. After our reunion, Bryn stayed to greet her cousin also studying abroad, while we hopped on a bus to Cambridge.

I’ve had the privilege of going overseas before, and most of the bigger European cities that I have encountered have become overwhelmingly modernized. Most would imagine Europe to possess a purely historical atmosphere, or at least that’s what I had always expected. Many of them though, Rome, Paris, Amsterdam, have been taken over by modernity. Obviously they still have certain marks of their history: Rome still has the Colosseum and the Ruins, Paris has Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. But they also have smoggy, clogged streets, a McDonald’s on every other corner, and huge steel buildings. I knew Europe was a victim of time like the rest of us, but it still disappointed me slightly every time I saw a poster advertising the McMuffin.

Downtown Cambridge

Cambridge is not like these cities. The sidewalks are cobblestone or a jagged puzzle of small cement rectangles. The buildings, connected and rising a few stories on either side of the narrow streets, are centuries old. Spires and towers poke through the town, marking the countless churches and colleges. I felt as though I had been transported back in time, if I turned a blind eye to the H&M. It was beautiful, surprisingly sunny, and unmistakably British.

Our house, too, is not without its English idiosyncrasies. For example, the pipes run outside the walls. Some run next to my bed, so I always know when someone is taking a late-night shower. Also, the bathroom on my side of the house (the house is actually two houses that the Valpo people connected. I live on the “Alpha side”) is located on floor 1.5. Halfway up the stairs to Julia’s and my room, which is on the second floor, the stairs fork, one heading upstairs, the other jutting off to the bathroom and showers. So, if I want to use the bathroom, I have to go down the stairs and back up in a little arc. I’m just saying, the architect may have had one too many beers at the pub before designing this beauty. There are also no screens on the windows because apparently there are not any bugs here, though Julia and I disagree since we saw a huge (okay, relatively small) spider dangling from the knob of our room’s radiator our first day here.

All in all, though, this place is amazing. Julia and I love our cozy room (number 9 ¾) and the monster-size movie collection in the living room. It’s a short walk to downtown, just down the hill and over the bridge (I feel like I’m in a nursery rhyme sometimes when I give directions). Thankfully, fortunately, luckily, we have Bryn. She has already been here for four months, so she knows everything about Cambridge, the house, traveling, etc. She was even incredibly helpful when I, exhausted and already homesick, had a mini breakdown after not being able to properly cover my duvet.

Bridge over the river Cam

This past week has been a great learning experience in multiple ways. We took a tour of Cambridge as a group and found out about the vast history behind Cambridge and the 31 colleges that make up Cambridge University. Fun Fact: former kings of England used to dub themselves kings of France as well, even though they weren’t, and even put the French flower fleur-de-lis on the national flag. Talk about massive egos. Bryn took Julia and me around her favorite parts of Cambridge and helped us navigate through the town. I learned when I went to the pub Baron of Beef that I sadly fall into the feminine stereotype of liking fruity drinks. We all grew up and went to

view of Cambridge from Castle Hill at sunset

Aldi’s to buy groceries sans parental guidance. On the plus side, I can buy whatever I want here, which means chocolate bars and mini pizzas. I figured out when we went to a pantomime of Robin Hood, mainly for kids, that British humor can be pretty raunchy even with a 10 and younger crowd. We also discovered how to plan our own travels, which was slightly liberating but mostly terrifying. Finally, I learned that Julia talks in her sleep in a high-pitched voice, which is really scary at 3:30 in the morning.

This weekend we are going to London, which should be a lot of fun. Julia keeps randomly going, “Ahhh, we are going to London, wooooo!” Which is fine when she’s not doing it in the adjacent bathroom stall. Just a quick aside, my computer is currently not connecting to the internet, which is why I haven’t been posting (I’m on Julia’s laptop). Hopefully that will be fixed soon, so I can post more frequently and won’t have to cram a week’s worth of events into one blog.

 

So, pip pip, cheerio,

Danielle

PS: I forgot to mention we also started classes this week. My theology professor used to be a punk rocker and my history professor firmly believes that the British “let the American colonies go” during the Revolutionary War because they were “too much of a nuisance.” Decent start.

Me, Bryn, and Julia on our Cambridge adventure!

Expectations, Elations, and Alliteration

January 14, 2014 / / 2 Comments

Although I have already arrived here in Cambridge, I thought I would put something I wrote before I left as my first post. This basically tells you a little bit about me as well as explains what I was hoping to get out of my study abroad experience:

Within the cushiony confines of my mind, I always like to entertain the idea that I’m brave. I would skydive, trek through mountains, scale down buildings, get sorted into Gryffindor, slay a dragon— I submit my daydreams as evidence. But inevitably I remember the truth. I’ll see a spider dangling from the ceiling or something and remember that panicking and I are on a first-name basis. I’m scared of storms (at least I’m situated in the Midwest, a stone’s throw from tornado alley..), flying, insects that look like they could eat small animals, and Quentin Tarantino to a certain extent. Far from courageous, I tend to spend my downtime snuggled up with my roommate watching New Girl.

Thankfully, author John Maxwell in all his wisdom offers some consolation: “Courage isn’t an absence of fear. It’s doing what you are afraid to do. It’s having the power to let go of the familiar and forge ahead into new territory.” And so I applied to study abroad: let the forging begin. I don’t mean to paint myself as a hermit who’s too scared to experience life. I’ve travelled a lot before, mostly to Europe, at different ages and with different people. I have hiked and zip-lined and traveled via dogsled. But all my trips have been no more than two weeks in length. They’ve been escapes, temporary departures from my customary life and self. My time in Cambridge won’t be an escape or a visit; I will be living in England for four months, buying groceries and going to school. If studying is involved, it can hardly be called an escape. I know that there will be moments when I will be nervous, frustrated, and homesick. But the mindset is that there will be infinitely more moments of excitement, contentment, and growth that only a place like England can give me.

This is a travel journal Bryn got me for Christmas!

As a (wannabe) writer, I seem to be perpetually in pursuit of a too elusive prize: inspiration. I feel like a villain in those old cartoons where I’m sprinting to the point of exhaustion while the scene behind me keeps repeating itself, and still I come out unsuccessful. Again and again I try to articulate the jumbled ideas in my mind through beautifully-crafted sentences. But the words don’t come. The inspiration and motivation to write what and how I want is not always present in a musty dorm room. But countless poets and novelists have made England their muse. From breathtaking nature to cobblestone streets of small towns to London’s unique mix of history and modernity, England offers inspiration at every corner. I need this jolt from my familiar Valpo life to a place immortalized in poetry and literature. Although I know that I will still need focus and willpower in England to succeed in my writing endeavors, I believe that either inspiration will finally stop running from me or I will gain the motivation to speed up and catch it.

Apart from honing my personal writing skills, I want to meet new people and learn about their cultures. I don’t like being stereotyped as the typical American who doesn’t know that there is more going on outside of her smartphone or friend group, let alone beyond the oceans surrounding her. I admit that being an American makes me short-sighted sometimes, and there is honestly so much about politics that I fail to grasp. But by leaving home and experiencing and understanding the cultures and lifestyles of other countries, I learn more about the world around me, both its suffering and triumphs, as well as better form my own beliefs. It’s important to befriend people who have different values and opinions than yourself. They challenge you to defend your beliefs and give you bits of their wisdom and insight in the process. It turns out humans can be pretty symbiotic when they want to.

I know during this journey, I will make mistakes, cry for my mommy, and just have those miserable days. I am bound to lose something valuable, and I know the weather won’t exactly be a pick-me-up. But I am willingly exchanging the sun-kissed trend for the sun-snubbed look (and if that isn’t firm proof of my dedication, I don’t know what is). I want to learn and grow and make friends. I want to explore and laugh and be spontaneous..even if it means death-gripping my best friend’s hand the entire flight to Heathrow.

 

Danielle

Packing for 4 Months: My Attempt at Minimalism

January 14, 2014 / / 0 Comments

When I was first applying to study abroad, one of the most daunting challenges I faced was figuring out how to pack. A quick google search on this topic will yield some valid, but generic advice. I was able to piece this together into what I thought was a more appropriate list for me and other study abroaders. I wanted to dedicate a post to the great challenge that is packing for a long-term trip. Because that’s the kind of travel blog I want this to be. Not just a list of all the places I go and things I do, but rather a source of practical tips, honest observations, and general guidance for future study abroaders.

One of the biggest inspirations I found in my online search for packing tips was a video posted by a woman who travelled around Asia for a year with just a normal-sized backpack. She’s a real minimalist, and while I surely wouldn’t advise packing that light for a study abroad semester, she proved to me that we don’t actually need anywhere near the amount of stuff we think we need to not only survive, but to have a great time.You can wear most clothes more than once per wash, you don’t need to pack for every “what if,” and you will, in fact, be happier if you don’t have to carry your weight in luggage. This philosophy helped me take a hard look at each item I wanted to pack and honestly assess whether or not I really needed it. Miraculously, I neither over- or underestimated the amount of stuff to take (from what I can tell at this point). The stuff that I decided to put in the “yes” pile was the exact amount that would fit in my suitcase later. Now, I don’t claim to be an actual minimalist. I did fill the absolute maximum amount of free luggage, but I’m proud of myself because a few years ago, that’s the amount I would have packed for one month. In fact, that’s the amount I did pack for one month and it was way too much. This time, I really think it’s gonna last four months.
So I think I’ll start my packing advice with a few examples of what not to pack, most of which stem from my shock and horror at what some of the study abroaders of YouTube suggested. Most of this is more applicable to women, but hey, we’re the ones who usually need help with this kind of thing.

Things not to pack:
Hair dryers/curling irons/straighteners—That’s an obvious one, you don’t want to light your hair on fire. Personally, I decided to avoid this issue by re-perming my hair. Bringing the 80s back! And of course, they sell hair appliances abroad too.

Full-sized soaps/shampoos—It really bugs me how people can’t live without their very specific brands. Don’t waste space and weight in your luggage with this stuff. Just pack travel-sized bottles to last a week, and after that, be adventurous and try the local products. One exception to this is all prescription and OTC medication, which may be unavailable in many areas.

Season specific clothing—Know the climate before you go, and don’t pack a bunch of heavy sweaters or a bunch of short shorts if you won’t need them several times.

Too much clothing/accessories—Don’t bring your entire jewelry collection. I packed one necklace, one bracelet, one ring, and 2 pairs of earrings. Tangent time: I saw some girl giving packing advice on YouTube who had about 15 bras in her suitcase! I can’t imagine why that would be necessary.

Feminine products—This one really gets me, at least if you’re going to Europe. Several girls have
advised bringing your own, but before you waste space on that, just take a second to ask yourself how millions of European women manage to get by with what’s available in their countries. Another YouTube nut actually packed 2 giant Costco-sized boxes of tampons for her trip and acted like that was a good tip. I don’t want to judge others and I know that we all have things we won’t budge on, but I actually laughed out loud at that video and the size of those boxes. Becoming adaptable to new environments is a life skill. Come on girls, let’s learn it!

Too many shoes/heels—The final YouTube nut advised brining about 8 pairs of shoes, 3 of which were heavy boots. Believe me, I wish I could do that, but with no room left in my one suitcase, I had to pick just 4 to pack in carry-on and the heaviest to wear on the plane. Also, you really, really, really don’t want to bring heels to Europe. Heels + cobblestones = pain and embarrassment.

And finally, the worst offense of them all…
American junk food—IF I HEAR ONE MORE PERSON TELL ME TO PACK PEANUT BUTTER AND/OR KRAFT MAC & CHEESE, I’M GONNA LOSE IT! And it’s not just because I don’t particularly like these 2 foods. It’s the principle of it. First, I wish people knew how easy it is to make real mac & cheese that’s infinitely better than the box. In fact, I think I’ll make that my first abroad recipe post! Secondly, I hate the idea of clinging to comfort junk food instead of trying local foods. You have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try some really yummy stuff that you’re gonna miss when you go home. Embrace it and enjoy it!

And now for what you should pack:
Disclaimer: I don’t know if I made all the right decisions, but I did my best, and I feel confident that I’ll have what I need. Sometime during my semester, I’ll do an update post to talk about what I wish I would have packed or left at home.

To start the process, I spread out a big sheet on my floor and pulled things out of my closet, organizing them first into “yes” and “maybe” piles and then into item categories. This is all the clothing I ended up packing:

     Some people may find this boring, but I want to list everything I packed because I found it extremely helpful when other people posted their packing lists on their travel blogs. Just in general, I tried to pack mix and match clothiers in mostly neutrals with a few pops of color. I opted for comfort, layering, and versatility above all. If a particular item didn’t match with at least 2 other things, I wouldn’t bring it. I didn’t pack clothes I don’t like, but I also didn’t pack my favorite/nicest things either. Many pieces are hand-me-downs, thrift shop gems, or just sort of on their last leg. That way, if I need to throw things out at the end of the semester to make room for accumulated junk, I won’t have a problem doing that. Finally, remember to wear your heaviest clothes and shoes on the plane. In my case, that’s jeans, my snow-proof walking shoes, and my winter parka.

In the big suitcase:
8 t-shirts/everyday shirts (all short sleeves for layering with cardigans)
3 either casual or dressy tops
1 dressy top
4 cardigans
2 pairs of jeans
1 pair of khakis
1 black dress pant
1 casual khaki skirt
1 pair of longer khaki shorts
1 pair of black leggings
1 pair of yoga pants (that double as pajamas)
2 workout/sleep t-shirts
1 lounge/sleep short
2 versatile black dresses, 1 printed
2 pairs of black tights (because 1 will rip)
5 tank tops/layering camis
1 swimsuit
1 swim coverup/PJ
1 dressy coat
1 spring windbreaker
5 printed scarves (plus a warm one with hat and gloves)
socks, underwear, and bras (but not 15 of them, see above)
minimal toiletries and makeup

To actually pack the suitcase, I first used all of my roll-up space bags, and then packed things by category in gallon ziplock bags. Those are like the poor man’s space bag because you can squish all the extra air out. Every piece of clothing (except jeans) is in an airtight bag, tightly rolled, not folded. I’m really not usually so OCD, I got the bag idea from YouTube too, and it’s brilliant. There’s no way I would have fit everything with any other method.

Carry-on baggage:
My airline allows one carry-on and one “personal item.” Because I would probably go nuts if I didn’t have a guitar for 4 months, I bought a really cheap as-is, travel-sized one that counts as my carry-on. Then i stuffed the case with all of my paperback books. It’s probably not great for the guitar, but I’m not wasting any space. And isn’t it pretty?

So that meant that I only had the “personal item” left in my luggage allowance. Usually, they say this is supposed to be a purse or laptop bag, but I’ve never been stopped in all my years of using my regular-sized school backpack and calling that my “personal item.” That way, I can fit my laptop, my entire purse, plus some other stuff in it. These are the other miscellaneous items I recommend bringing:

Shoes—because there’s no real weight restriction for carry-ons, or at least, they don’t check it. I will wear my good walking shoes and I packed a pair of black flats, converse sneakers, comfortable walking sandals, and shower flip-flops. If it was summer, I would have bought flip flops there but unfortunately, it’s January.

laptop, camera, smartphone at least for wifi use, plus all the cords and chargers, and an adapter
laptop lock
regular lock (for hostel lockers)
ethernet cord (unless you’re confident in the wifi wherever you’re going)
small umbrella
a folder with important documents
one notebook (This is study abroad after all.)
medication/contacts/glasses
sunglasses
minimal jewelry
a bunch of ziplock bags–I heard that they don’t have them in Germany, but I guess I’ll find out.
American measuring cups—For me, that’s a necessity.

Except for a few other little things, that’s pretty much it. Of course I’m afraid that I forgot something, but in the end, the most important thing to remember is that I can’t be prepared for everything, but I will figure it out when I need to.

“Just Like a Tourist” (Costa Rica)

January 13, 2014 / / 0 Comments

“Yesterday, our first Saturday here in Costa Rica, the Valpo group met up bright and early for a tour of the National Monument.  Thus, we loaded up a van and took a trip to Guayabo de Turrialba, which is an archaeological site.

Once there, we decided to take the tour in Spanish even though they offered to do it in English.  What would you have done? 😉

A mini re-creation of how the village would have likely looked.

What is actually present – only the raised bases of the homes, which are actually taller than you think.

After touring Guayabo, we visited the Iglesia de San José de Orosi, which is the oldest church in Costa Rica still used for worship.  A larger, more modern church is under construction next door.
The final stop was the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles, which is dedicated to the “Lady of Angels.”  She has a very unique back-story, in case any readers have a taste for the unusual.
We made a quick coffee stop between church visits, briefly watched a soccer match, and finally worked our way back into San José.

The garden outside the Iglesia de San José de Orosi. ¡Qué lindo!

This weekend trip was the first time I truly felt like a tourist, whipping out my camera at every place we stopped and several times in the van too.  However, it was completely worth the while because being a tourist meant learning more about how the history shaped modern culture, and thus how to better understand life here.
There are more weekend adventures to come…beware! :)” -Nola

We’re Capable of More Than We Think

January 12, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Hi! I’m Kaitlyn Carzoli, a junior German major and French minor studying in Reutlingen, Germany this spring. You can follow my adventures on this page as I dive into the life and culture of Germany and hopefully many other places across Europe! For now, I have a bit of catching up to do, so I’ll start by posting the three entries I wrote before arriving. This first one should give you a little bit of background on why I chose to study in Germany and my hopes for the semester:

     As of today, I have about a month left before I leave to spend the spring semester in Reutlingen, Germany, and I couldn’t be more excited! Still, it goes without saying that I’m nervous too. Some of my biggest passions in life are travel, foreign languages, and foreign cultures, but even so, my decision to study abroad was not an easy one. I always knew I wanted to study in Germany at some point, but my fear of the unknown kept making me feel like I wasn’t ready yet. There were so many questions to answer, lists to make, and problems to solve, but if only I had just a few more months, maybe I would be ready by then. And then I realized something. I’m never going to feel ready, so I just have to get on the plane and figure it out as I go along. I’m never going to have all the answers or know exactly what to expect. There will be unforeseen challenges, and I have to make peace with the fact that not every decision I make will be the right one.  But learning to meet those challenges is how I’ll grow and learn to trust myself. I know I’ll be a different person when I come back, and I’m excited for that transformation.

            Luckily, underneath all my nervousness lies a stronger peace. I know that everything will be okay, because on a smaller scale, I’ve experienced this sort of transformation before. In high school, I studied German for four years, and for some strange reason, I really had a knack for it. During the summer before my senior year, I was blessed with the opportunity to spend a month living with a German host family and travelling around Germany with other students. On the first day, I was so terrified that I almost didn’t get on the plane, but by the last day, I would have given anything to stay just a little longer. On my last morning there, I sat down to breakfast, and my host dad told me something that I’ll never forget. Roughly translated, he said that we’re always capable of more than we think. I’ve decided, that’s going to be my mantra in Reutlingen. It sounds cliché, but that summer profoundly changed my entire way of thinking about myself and the world, and somehow, I felt more at home in Germany than I ever have anywhere else. So in a way, I’m thinking of my semester in Reutlingen as a homecoming of sorts. I’m going back to a place that I love, and I’ll get to rediscover all the things that I’ve missed about it.

 Like the breathtaking landmarks:              

And 500-year-old buildings that look like this:

  And this:

And of course, the amazing food!

      So that’s just some of what I’m looking forward to this semester. Next, I’ll post my general study abroad packing tips and some pre-departure thoughts. Then, I’ll be all settled in and ready to add new content about my first week in Reutlingen. If you are at all interested in studying abroad at Valpo, keep up with this blog, and if you want to know even more, check out my travel/food blog at spoonfulofzucker.blogspot.com .

Bis morgen!

–Kaitlyn

Newer posts

© 2026 Valpo Voyager

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑