Valpo Voyager

Student Stories from Around the World

Page 15 of 124

Last Hurrahs

December 19, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Emma Hecht

Location: Oslo, Norway; Venice, Italy

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Over the past week, I’ve been to two more countries (trying to cram as many in as I can in my last days here in Europe). First was Oslo, Norway. For this trip, I splurged and stayed in one of the airport hotels. I ate dinner in the hotel restaurant and then went to my room to watch Law & Order. In the morning I got up and took the bus back to the airport where I took a train (probably the nicest train I’ve ever been on) to the city center. I had planned absolutely nothing for the trip, so I decided to walk around and see what I saw.

The first place I found was the Nobel Peace Prize Museum, which I had heard good things about from my program director, so I went in. The first floor consisted of groups of photos from current peace movements around the world. The second floor of the museum contained the history of all of the Nobel Peace Prize winners since the award began. Each little screen had the Prize winner of a particular year with a little synopsis of their work. (Here I felt extremely ignorant because I didn’t know that Barack Obama had won a Nobel Peace Prize.)

My next stop was the Akershus fortress. I didn’t go in, but there was a stellar view of the harbor from outside of it.

I walked through town a bit more and visited the Christmas market (a very big thing around this time of the year in Europe). I stumbled upon this castle as I was wandering around.

My next trip was to Venice, Italy with my friend Claire. I had three priorities: pasta, pizza, gelato. We had pizza twice, pasta twice, and gelato four times. It was all amazing. We mostly just walked around and went in little shops. There has been a lot of flooding in Venice recently. One morning the square in front of St. Michael’s Basilica was one big puddle.

Our view of the Grand Canal:

We also got on a boat and went to one of Venice’s neighboring islands, Burano. It’s a tiny place, made of colorful fisherman’s houses.

My study abroad experience has been amazing. I’m so glad that I was able to come—even after switching my major twice and I can still graduate on time. It’s unique to be able to live and be independent in another country and to take weekend trips to a completely different country. It’s bittersweet to think that I’m heading home in two days. But, the fun isn’t over yet. I have a day layover in Iceland and the airport is fifteen minutes away from the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa. Is it worth the $85/hour? We’ll find out.

Luxembourg City

December 18, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Liam Bodlak

Location: Luxembourg City

Pronouns: He/Him/His

I had one more travel weekend before finals, and I was struggling to come up with somewhere to go. I’d already been most places in Germany, and I wanted to go somewhere really worthwhile. However, one night after talking to my mom about my Luxembourgish heritage, I decided to look up how close Luxembourg City was. Surprisingly enough, it was close enough for a day trip. So, one Saturday, I decided to travel by myself to Luxembourg City for a day.

Luxembourg City, and the entire country in general, is interesting because of its history, and what its history shaped it into. It’s been colonized and ruled by many different countries, and shared borders with many more, thus making it somewhat of a combination of different cultures. I heard people speaking French, German, English, and Luxembourgish, and a tour guide told us that a substantial amount of people that work in Luxembourg City don’t even live in the country. This leads to a multicultural society of people that all share the same love for the city. There are beautiful views, a downtown area with lots to do, and friendly people wherever you go.

The people were what intrigued me the most about the trip. Two in particular. One was a US Air Force serviceman I met while taking a tour of the city. We wound up grabbing drinks and dinner and hanging out for a bit and talking about life back in the US and our travel experiences. It was the type of experience I could only have traveling alone, and it’s one that I was extremely grateful for. Then, on the way back, I sat next to a South Korean man who was living in a small German town. We had a long talk about Germany, travel, and what it really meant to call somewhere home. As with the previous encounter I had, I was extremely grateful to meet him. The day trip was relaxing, fun, and let me discover a part of my heritage that I hadn’t previously been that in touch with. I’d highly recommend Luxembourg City to anyone who finds themselves in Europe.

Thanksgiving

December 17, 2018 / / 2 Comments

Author: Liam Bodlak

Location: Germany

Pronouns: He/Him/His

I’ll admit to not knowing Germans didn’t celebrate thanksgiving until around mid September. It’s so ingrained in our culture, I figured everyone celebrated it in some facet, no matter how US centric it is. However, we didn’t get the day off for Thanksgiving, and most people I met here either knew about it but didn’t celebrate it, or had never even really heard about it. We did, however, have a Thanksgiving celebration put on by our university. It was interesting. All of the staple thanksgiving foods were there (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes), and the international students that came seemed very intrigued at this foreign (to them, at least) tradition.

One thing that caught my attention was the way the Thanksgiving story was told. We were treated to a presentation by some American students about Thanksgiving, and it was the standard story that every American is used to hearing, with the good feelings between pilgrims and natives. I was wondering whether or not a more critical version of the story would be told, as recently the colonialism of the holiday has been called into question, and many find it distasteful to celebrate a holiday started by heinous actions like this. None of this controversy was mentioned in the speech, however, and we went on with the meal. It was a good time with better people. I missed my family for sure, but I really enjoyed getting to enjoy the meal with people who I’ve become extremely close to recently. It’s well past Thanksgiving, but to everyone reading this, I hope you and yours had a great Thanksgiving, whether you’re in America or elsewhere.

Favorite Memories

December 17, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Olivia Dausch

Location: Osaka, Japan

Pronouns: They/them

Being anywhere for a few months is bound to make a person form amazing memories, especially in a foreign country. Even if they’re small, I’m going to treasure them

  1. Incheon Airport/The flight to Japan

My trip to Japan marks the first time I’ve been in a plane since I was a baby. I was proud of myself for being able to find my way around an airport on my own, especially with the threat of a typhoon on the other end of the trip.

Landing in Korea was stressful. Since there was a chance the flight from Incheon to Kansai would be cancelled, O’Hare only gave me the ticket to Korea. Fortunately, there were others heading to Kansai Gaidai in the same boat, so we were all able to get our tickets and relax.

We walked through the airport together, as we waited for our delayed flight.

I was fortunate enough to get a window seat, so I was able to see the ocean and Japan eventually coming into view. The second flight was much more enjoyable than the first, which was at midnight. While the flight into Japan was early, it was still easier to get through. While looking out the window, the thought hit me that some people saw the view over the ocean so often, it lost its wonder. It made me a bit sad, but I knew I would never forget how I felt that entire flight.

       2. Opening Ceremony

One of the last events of orientation week was the Opening Ceremony. All of the international students met in the library on Nakamiya Campus, where we were welcomed by the faculty of the Asian Studies Program. I was surprised by how emotional I felt. It came almost out of nowhere and for no reason. Seeing everyone’s flags on the wall and the realization that I was actually there really struck me in that moment.



3. Typhoon Jebi

The second day of classes, Typhoon Jebi struck Japan. Classes were cancelled, and we were all told to stay in the dorm. Since the area around the hallways was completely glass, I was a bit worried, especially because the trees in the courtyard were bending. The power went out a few times, but it turned out mostly alright. None of the buildings on campus had any damage, but there were some trees that fell. Fortunately, that was the extent of the damage on either campus. There were some buildings around the city that needed repairs, but they were fixed quickly.

       4. Tsuruhashi and CoCo Ichibanya

One of my favorite places to go in Osaka was one my friend showed me. Tsuruhashi, known as Korea Town, is a very interesting place. Once you step out of the station, you are thrown into an alley full of shops, some selling clothes, others selling food. It’s like a maze. Once you get out, the main street is lined with restaurants. My friend and I always went to a more remote part of the area. It was still just as crowded, since the stores on that side of town sold K-Pop merchandise, usually a bit cheaper than they can be found in other places.

Our first time there, once we were done, we went to a restaurant that quickly became our favorite. About halfway between the shops and the station, there was a little restaurant called CoCo Ichibanya. It’s a mildly famous curry restaurant that’s wildly customizable. You control the level of spice, the amount of rice, the toppings, and anything extra you put on it. Usually, I get curry with the standard amount of rice, regular spice, and topped with fried fish. My friend always got the standard amount of rice, mild spice, with chicken on top.

Once we found out there was one in Hirakata, we had to fight to keep from going there on our limited budgets.

There are a lot more memories I’d like to talk about, but some of them are too long to explain, or I’ve talked about in previous posts, like Osaka Castle, Arashiyama, and Nara. I would like to stay a bit longer (if only to find more places to make memories) but I’m satisfied with what memories I have.

 

Florence/Rome/Venice, Italy; Reutlingen, Germany; Amsterdam, Netherlands

December 13, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Shannon Ilg

Location: Florence/Rome/Venice, Italy; Reutlingen, Germany; Amsterdam, Netherlands

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

October 28, 2018

During Fall Break, we continued to travel across Europe. After we left Paris, we went to Florence. Upon arrival I see this magnificent building and am reminded how very, very much I love Italy. I mean, I think mountains are beautiful, but I think that Italian cities have been the most interesting to me.

October 29, 2018

It was a little bit rainy the first full day we were in Florence, but it was just so beautiful! We were staying in the city, but took a bit of a hike just outside the city and were able to see these stunning views.

October 30, 2018

Here is the view from our rooftop Airbnb. It felt like we were in an action movie and could just go run and jump across all the rooftops. I couldn’t get enough. Did I mention how much I love Italy?

October 31, 2018

Next stop? It’s where all roads lead. It’s where you do what the other people do, it’s Rome! The first full day we were there we got to… roam… around quite a bit. We saw the Vatican and all of the ruins, and everything was breathtaking. I really appreciated that anywhere you turned, another building you had seen a million pictures of was right there in front of you, and it’s then that you realize how little pictures actually capture. You can’t tell how beautiful or massive or intricate these places are without visiting them. It’s times like that where I really am just thrilled that I chose to study abroad. I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.

Ooh, I almost forgot! This night, we all decided that we wanted to make dinner and mac and cheese was what we came up with. So, we bought three random cheeses, and tried it out. It was by far the weirdest but most delicious mac and cheese I have had. This is because apparently those cheeses were not meant to melt into noodles. Instead it was a cheese block with noodles, but oh man was that cheese block good.

November 1, 2018

The second day in Rome was much less eventful. It was very rainy pretty much the whole day and within the ten or twenty minutes we were actually outside, we decided just to head back with a fresh pineapple and enjoy a day inside. I had to catch up on some homework and lecture videos that I had fallen behind on the previous several days. That and we watched Monty Python’s Life of Brian (What did the Romans ever do for us??). Despite being indoors, it was a great day. It was nice to just relax and also be productive, finishing some homework.

November 2, 2018

This is one of the coolest doors that I have seen abroad. I mean, mostly because of the artistic lighting and dense shadows, but it really caught my eye and I just had to share!

This was on the way back from Rome when we stopped in Venice. Which was beautiful. Originally, we had an Airbnb here for the night, but Venice had just been badly flooded, so we thought it would be best not to stay so we canceled our booking. Instead of finding another train, we kept our reservations and spent a couple hours in Venice anyway. For the record, there was no more flooding, and we totally could have stayed there. But in all honesty, it was nice to sleep in Reutlingen for free in my own bed for a night. (Not this night though.. this night we spent on an awesome overnight train where the seats stretched out into a bed that we somehow managed to fit 6 people on…)

November 3, 2018

Back in Reutlingen, I caught up on homework yet again and relaxed for the day. This was the fall view from a late afternoon walk.

November 4, 2018

Reutlingen with the fall colors truly is beautiful. I just love being able to look out the window and see mountains. It’s wonderful.

November 5, 2018

This is the last leg of our journey for Reutlingen’s fall break. Amsterdam was quite an interesting city to spend a couple days in. Here you see a street performer who used audience volunteers to tie him up in a straitjacket with chains wrapped all around him, and then proceeded to escape. It was quite the show! He was very funny and in general very engaging to his crowd.

November 6, 2018

Amsterdam has quite the collection of museums to choose from! I didn’t end up going into the Van Gogh museum, but I went into two pretty weird museums. One was a torture museum, where they have the history of Medieval torture devices and at the end, a very meaningful message that questions the reader about what we have in society today that is really just other means of torture.

The second museum was that which you see above. It’s from the only microbe museum in the world. It brought you through the history of, well, the world, on a molecular and biological level. It was very interactive, allowing you to look through various microscopes at different stages of growth for all sorts of microbes. All together a very engaging museum, and the coolest bit was the fact that they have a lab in the back of the museum where they grow all of the different organisms.

November 7, 2018

This was our last goodbye look on Amsterdam. Just one of the many pretty canals throughout the city.

Here I also say goodbye to the Valpo Voyager. As you can see by the date of the last photo, I still had over a month to the end of the semester, and I continued to take pictures every day. But by now, you have seen much of the wonders I explored throughout Europe, as well as the boredom of schoolwork, and the nuance of being in a new place. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my journey and that perhaps it has inspired you to make your own adventures.

Liechenstein, Slovenia

December 13, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Mark Young

Location: Liechenstein, Slovenia

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Two friends and I went to Liechtenstein.

We hiked up a mountain and might have accidentally crossed into Switzerland for a short time.

 

We passed many beautiful vistas such as this one.

 

The entire country is surrounded by mountains providing for good views in every direction.

 

This is Vaduz Castle where the Prince of Lichtenstein lives. Overall, Lichtenstein was, while being very small, one of the most beautiful countries I’ve ever seen.

The following weekend I went to Slovenia. I started out by arriving at Lake Bled at 4am. It was pitch black when I arrived and I began walking around the lake. The boats take you to the island in the middle of the lake, which is home to a church that dates back to before the 15th century.

 

This is the church with the beautiful mountainous backdrop.

 

Here is the view of the entire city. Definitely one my of favorite views I’ve had while studying abroad.

 

This is another, and main, type of boat they use to go between the island and the surrounding land. It is called a pletna and its design dates back to the 16th century.

Osaka Castle

December 13, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Olivia Dausch

Location: Osaka, Japan

Pronouns: They/them

My most recent experience in Osaka was one of the most memorable. A nice lunch in Osaka Castle Park followed by a trip up to the castle surrounded by the city is something that simply can’t be experienced anywhere else.

I signed up for this event as part of Kansai Gaidai’s Experience Japan program, where local students host various events throughout the year to showcase some of Japan’s unique culture. There were events showing foreign students how to make takoyaki and okonomiyaki, taking a bike tour around Osaka, and much more.

I signed up for this event because I thought it would be a good opportunity to see other parts of Japan I may not have been interested in seeing in my short time here. Most of my plans revolved around going to primarily urban places, like Dotonbori, a famous street in Osaka lined with different food stalls. I knew the castles in Japan are interesting, but only hearing about them made them feel very remote or out of the way. When I went to Osaka Castle, I realized that the area around the castle is almost untouched by the city surrounding it.


My group ate our lunch outside the castle, near the outer moat. It was extremely beautiful and lively. There were people walking their dogs, children playing, and people just enjoying the weekend. We ended up playing badminton for a little bit, then headed up to the castle


The walk up to the castle was long and winding, as expected from a castle from the Warring States Era. There were countless trees lining the path, as well as stones with engravings. Eventually, we made it up to the castle, which was much more grand up close.



The castle itself was impressive. The entire inside was converted into a museum. We were not allowed to take pictures on some of the floors but having access to the top floor was more than worth it. The view was fantastic.


We stayed until the sun started setting, casting a nice glow on the moat. The lights within the castle gave it a nice glow before the spotlights were able to turn on.


Weekend Trip to Norway, Oslo

December 12, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Ulises E. Hernandez

Location: Oslo, Norway

Pronouns: He/Him/His

On December 8th , as my last trip in Europe, my best friend and I went to Oslo, Norway for the weekend. From Stansted International Airport in London, we flew to Oslo early in the morning in hopes to catch just a few hours of sunlight. During the winter months, Oslo only has six hours of daylight and what to me seemed like extremely cold winters. The first thing we did as soon we arrived was to find our Air B&B which was conveniently located in the heart of the city. After checking with our very lovely host, we explored the magnificent city that was full of lights, Christmas decorations, carnival rides, and other tourists who were looking to experience a unique Christmas season.

As we wandered through the cold streets of London, we came across what looked like an Ice bar. As we got closer to the establishment, we paid a small admission fee and we entered what looked like a giant commercial freezer. Inside, we saw many ice sculptures that were cut from huge pieces of actual glacier ice that was brought from the northern parts of Norway. Once we walked around for a few hours, we decided to go and explore a Christmas market that was located a few blocks from the Ice bar. Once we got there, we had the opportunity to try many local delicacies like reindeer, elk, whale, and a variety of different cheeses.

On our second day, we visited two different museums. We first visited the Oslo Historic Museum which focused a lot about the nomad history of the Norway and how ancestors of that land survived through the use of many unique skills that have now been lost due to the development of technology. After we finished walking through Historic museum, we took a bus to the Viking museum located 20 minutes away. The Oslo Viking Museum is home to about 5 different actual Viking ships that were found in the burial grounds of important Viking figures. Some of the ships had been restored, but others remained intact for historical preservation purposes.

After spending our day visiting museums, Ben and I decided to spend our last few hours near the pier in order to admire the beautiful winter scenery and the well-preserved sail ships. Before taking the train back to the airport, we eat dinner a Mexican restaurant, which are very popular in Norway. After spending many hours in the airport and having to wait for our delayed flight, we made it back to London Stansted. Unfortunately, we missed the last train to Cambridge and we were forced to take the bus back home. After a very long day of traveling, we made it back to Cambridge very early Monday morning just in time for our last week of classes. Overall, we had a very good experience and it was an absolute pleasure to be able to meet the Norwegian people.

Stockholm, Sweden; Reutlingen, Germany; Paris, France

December 12, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Shannon Ilg

Location: Stockholm, Sweden; Reutlingen, Germany; Paris, France

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

October 20, 2018

Stockholm, Sweden. A beautiful city! Although, it was rather chilly to walk around all day (40,000+ steps, if anyone is counting…) so I ended up purchasing a coat from a second hand shop and a touristy winter hat. Both of them have since then been wonderful additions to my travel wardrobe. Side note… my silly self decided that I wouldn’t need a winter coat so I had originally just brought a jean jacket and a slightly insulated raincoat. I think I would have been okay just in Reutlingen, but with all of the traveling I am certainly glad to have bought the coat and the hat.

October 21, 2018

To save time on traveling by train I secured a cheap flight back from Sweden. It was certainly a great choice, as I got to see the beautiful sunrise over the wing of the airplane (and also saved myself from a 24 hour journey…). Upon flying back into Hamburg, we significantly lowered travel time, and also were able to stop briefly in Berlin again, where we attempted to buy currywurst where we had previously (a delicious sausage street food). Unfortunately, the vendor was not open yet as it was 9 am, so we settled for a chain restaurant.

October 22, 2018

The next morning, Reutlingen greeted us with the first frost. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?

October 23, 2018

Another day, spent completely in the walls of the study room, working endlessly on homework. I mean, this is *study* abroad… we can’t just travel all the time! (Although I have done a fair job of traveling every spare moment)

October 24, 2018

I just have to say kudos to the chef of this wonderfully magical mac and cheese that breathed the life back into me at 2 am. It was delicious. Thank you, Lauren.

October 25, 2018


Here you see the contents of approximately 73% of the meals I eat when I’m traveling. A) it’s cheap. B) it’s quite delicious. C) it’s easy to pack upwards of 5 meals for two people at the same time. D) It’s relatively light and packable. E) You can easily carry peanut butter and jam, Nutella and honey, or a number of other combinations so it doesn’t get boring. F) I mean, I could go on, but I think you get the gist…

Oh, by the way, this is the start of Fall Break for classes in Reutlingen (although I still had to keep up with my 3 classes from Valpo), and this countertop is in Paris.

October 26, 2018

Oh, look at that! The Eiffel tower! In all honesty, I was not expecting a whole lot from it at all. My thoughts were approximately ‘it is an overrated hunk of metal that everyone likes taking pictures of’. But it was actually really cool to see in person! It was a lot taller than I was expecting, and you could see it from very far away. Although I don’t think I need to go back any time soon, it was certainly worth the time to go see.

October 27, 2018

So as you can see, I had a pigeon on my arm. This was in front of Notre Dame, and there were a bajillion of these birds out there. There were some men selling bird food that you could attract them with, some people having ten or twenty birds on them at the same time. I happened to have a bunch of stale granola with me, so we used that and had the time of our lives waiting for our tour to begin.

Miscellaneous Travels

December 12, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Liam Bodlak

Location: Amsterdam, Zurich, Prague

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Over the course of this semester I’ve taken a few short weekend trips to various places in Europe. Here are stories about some of them.

Amsterdam: In October, a stranger I talked to in Munich told me that Amsterdam was a “theme park for American tourists.” Having been there, I can confirm that it pretty much is. It’s a beautiful city, filled with canals, art, and amazing views nearly every block. It’s very obvious that the city makes a substantial amount of money off of tourism. Walking past coffee shops and bars, I could hear very clear American accents, and the people we had short conversations with all seemed to be from somewhere other than the Netherlands. It was an interesting multicultural experience, and I appreciated the opportunity to interact with fellow travelers.

Zurich: Zurich was…nice. Not sure how much was legitimately unique about the city, but it was a really nice place to spend a Saturday. The waterfront was amazing and the people in Zurich were extremely friendly (save for one angry bouncer who yelled at me in German until I gave up trying to understand him and left. Language barriers are hard). Switzerland in general is sort of culturally split between German, French, and Italian, and we saw signs in every language while walking through the city.

Prague: Prague has interested me for a long time. My parents talked about traveling there all the time, how beautiful it was, and how much fun they had there. They strongly encouraged me to see Prague, and said that out of all the cities in Europe, that was the one I need to see. It was with that in mind that I set out to see the city I’d heard to much about. I can honestly say Prague lived up to the hype. It’s a beautiful city, filled with landmarks, nightlife, great food, and great people. We saw the John Lennon Wall, the Infant of Prague, St. Vitus Cathedral, and Wenceslas Square. Prague might be the nicest city I’ve visited in Europe, and I will absolutely be back one day. My parents were excited about it for a reason. Prague was everything I’ve heard about it and more.

 

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 Valpo Voyager

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑