Valpo Voyager

Student Stories from Around the World

Page 16 of 124

People, Places, and Food – Paris, Lugano, Luzern, Milan, Rome, Venice, Amsterdam, Guggenhausen

December 11, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Mark Young

Location: Reutlingen, Germany

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Midway through October, I went to Paris for the weekend. I saw all the major sights and had a good time. This was a street performer who was singing and dancing on a slackline.

Of course, I saw the Eiffel Tower. I took the tram to the to the top and had a really good time. It was very hazy when I went up but still had a good view. I wasn’t too excited about the Eiffel Tower going to Paris. I thought it was going to be uninteresting; however, as soon as I saw it, and walked under it, I knew exactly what the appeal is about. It’s one of those things that, when it’s in your view, you almost can’t stop looking at it.

The Louvre was very pretty. However, I’m not much for looking at copious amounts of art so I got tired of it rather quickly. The main attraction at the Louvre, is, of course, the Mona Lisa. I took Word and Image with Professor Chelsea Wagenaar last semester, which is all about replications and images(take it if you can, it’s a great class!) and thought I’d try to capture the scene in a slightly more inspired way than just taking a snapshot of the painting. I also wanted to rebel against the hundreds of people shooting tons of photos of it…so instead I did a short photo series of all the people taking photos of the Mona Lisa. It was rather fun to shoot and makes me think about why people take photos of what they do. Here are a couple more from the series…



For Fall Break I went to a few different places. My first stop was Lugano with my roommate. It was a gorgeous city, even though the weather was slightly less than gorgeous…

But with beautiful pathways along the lake, and being able to see across said lake into Italy…who can complain about some rain?

We ended up backtracking a few hours by train because we found a free place to stay in Luzern. I’ve been using Couchsurfing (a free app where strangers let other strangers sleep on their couch) for years now and this was the first time I actually got someone to accept a request to stay at their home. So we got to Luzern and met a very nice guy named Sergio. He was fantastically nice and helped us with planning on next exploring the city. He even was okay with us staying with him a second night. I’d highly recommend trying Couchsurfing! This is the view from the 16th-century wall that guarded the city. If it wasn’t overcast, you’d see beautiful snowcapped mountains surrounding the city.

From Luzern, we headed down to Milan for one purpose: to see Damien Jurado, a favorite singer of mine perform. It was a fantastic performance and he played one of my favorite songs, ‘Working Titles’. Travelers tip: If you’re ever in Italy and want to see a concert or performance or whatnot you may see the price and think “what a steal” and you’ll get there and they’ll say “you have to buy a 15-30 euro membership to get in”. In Italy, they have these “clubs” where you have to be a member and it gets you into a lot of different stuff for relatively cheap…so if you’re planning to see a concert in Italy, expect to drop some more money for the membership fee even if you’re only seeing the one concert.

Italy was being barraged by vicious storms during our break, so we had to quickly change plans. We were intending to go to Cinque Terre, a beautiful town on the western coast of Italy. However, it was completely flooded and most of the town was shut down, so I texted another group that I knew was headed to Rome and we were headed to Rome two hours later. I hurt my ankle rather badly on the first night there and ended up having to use a cane the entire trip. So, as I hobbled around Vatican City, I saw the Pope.

The Colosseum was pretty neat. Like 60,000 birds flew out of it as the sun set.

We had planned on going to Venice for two nights and then directly to Amsterdam; however, every news source ever said Venice was two feet deep in water. So naturally, we wanted to check it out. So we get to Venice and turns out it was all fake news. There were maybe 2 days with flooding and then it all cleared up. Unfortunately, we had already canceled our AirBnB and booked reservations on a night train back to Reutlingen. So we hung around Reutlingen for a couple nights and then ventured up to Amsterdam, pictured above. Amsterdam was a very interesting city with nearly every single building looking like it was going to fall over into the nearest canal. Also, the Dutch language sounds and looks hilarious to Americans and Germans. It’s like if you took German and added a whole bunch of double vowels in random places.
Ants. This was taken at a museum called Micropia, in Amsterdam, that was all about microbes. Micropia was one of the coolest museums I’ve ever been to and my going to it was due to a set of crazy coincidences. I worked at Shedd Aquarium this summer, I made friends with one of the head doctors and a few days before the end of my internship, he gave me a book called “I Contain Multitudes,” which is all about microbes. I had a few other books on my to-read list so I finally got to reading it on the train ride to Rome. And in the first few chapters, the author writes about a Dutchman, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, the father of microbiology and then how because of his discoveries, how a museum, Micropia, was opened in Amsterdam(where I’d be in 6 days) to celebrate and allow people to discover and explore microbes! It sounds super nerdy but it turned out to be a super interactive and extremely fun and interesting museum. These ants were open air, no glass or covering at all, and we watched as they harvested the leaves from a plant.

If you study abroad, make sure you make new friends! I purposefully try to sit by someone new every class period and sat by Julius, pictured, my second week of classes. We became good friends almost instantly, bonding over photography and a love of traveling. So, he invited me to his house near Lake Konstanz and I got to experience small village Germany. It was about as authentic as it gets. His grandmother, who only spoke German, made wonderful kaese spaetzle, potato salad, and apple cake. It was amazing. I like to do astrophotography so that night we shot some astro-portraits.

His brother, Janis, was very proud of his Simpson motorcycle — which he was too young to legally drive…so the next day I took some photos of him with his prized possession as well.

The night sky was beautiful in their village, Guggenhausen. You can’t see him, but their cat Charlie is in this tree.

Time in Windhoek

December 10, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Maddie Morehead

Location: Windhoek, Namibia

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

It has now been a little over a month since setting foot into our home here in Windhoek, Namibia, and two months since our journey in Southern Africa began back in August. As I reflect on everything I have experienced already, I am amazed at all the ways I have been challenged and changed; from meeting so many amazing people, to learning new ideas and unlearning programmed ideologies, to settling into the lifestyle of the people of Windhoek. I think the moment I realized that I had become settled into the community is when I was able to give directions to someone looking for the Roman Catholic Hospital, or maybe when I was able to tell the taxi driver where my destination was when he had no idea where to go, or maybe when local Namibians joined me and my friend on stage while we belted “Crazy in Love” by Beyonce at karaoke night. However it may look, over the past month, Windhoek has become home.

With each passing week new people, new opportunities and new experiences are presented to us, and I have learned throughout my time here to keep an open mind, say yes more times than no, and to be ever present with every experience. This past week, these experiences included attending Mr. Gay Namibia, a prestigious pageant show held for Windhoek’s gay community; live music at an ice cream shop downtown; and a tour of my friend’s township just outside Windhoek.

On Tuesday, my history class headed to Out-Right Namibia, a human rights based organization that works towards equality for the LGBTIQ community in Namibia. Namibia has a history of discrimination towards the LGBTIQ communiy. The first president of Namibia, Sam Nujoma who was president from 1990 to 2005, often gave hate speeches about this community, stating that lesbians and gays have no place in his country. There is also a current law in Namibia that prohibits men from having sex with other men and therefore denoting that gay activity is not welcome in Namibia. At Out-Right, we talked to the most gentle and kind-spirited human who is an advocate for the LGBTIQ community in Namibia and spends his time providing a welcoming environment and spreading awareness of sexual health for the community’s members. It was here that we heard about the annual pageant show that was happening later that week, Mr. Gay Namibia. After our trip to Out-Right, we were able to speak to the first ever Mr. Gay Namibia of 2012 who shared his experience of coming out to his family and continuing to represent the LGBTIQ community in Namibia. It was incredible to see such a welcoming and supportive environment on Friday night for the men in Namibia who were brave enough to fully express themselves through fashion and their own sexual identity. It was also an amazing experience to be able to support this community at a local level.

I was able to make many comparisons with the U.S. when talking to others about attending Mr. Gay Namibia. Some were supportive, but said that they themselves would not attend while others thought the idea of the pageant show to be funny. Although I was somewhat surprised, when thinking about it, these reactions do not seem too far off from some reactions I would receive back home. As an ally for this community I was able to support and have conversations with others that really opened my mind to the importance of supporting and defending a community that I, myself may not identify with and confront any misinformed ideologies that I myself may hold about that community.

At Mr. Gay Namibia, my friend talked to one of the performers who invited us to one of her shows later that weekend at Cramer’s, a local ice cream shop in downtown Windhoek. The arts have been such a huge part of our experience since arriving in Windhoek. Almost everyone that we have met participates in some form of expression through art, whether it be through instruments, painting, sculpture, or song. As a musician myself I am able to really connect with people through their artistic expression. Music thrives in the young city of Windhoek, Namibia and it truly brings people together.

On Saturday, one of the friends I have made since coming to Windhoek invited me to his home in Katutura where he showed me his everyday life. Katutura is a large township of Windhoek with an interesting history behind it that might not be talked about in daily life. Katutura itself literally means ‘the place where people do not want to live’ in Herero, one of the native languages. In class we learned that many black people were forced out of their homes during the colonization period and placed in an underdeveloped, inaccessible part of Windhoek, further away from the center of the city. My classmates and I have heard many things about this specific township from the local people. People in Windhoek repeat a stereotype that Katutura is dangerous and that we should not go there. I have even heard people derogatorily refer to it as the ‘ghetto’, but as I spent time there with my friend I felt very safe and met many friendly people as he showed me around the town. We even stopped to buy hotdogs at a local hotdog place and I later got to meet the owner. Through my experiences, I have been able to establish my own perspective by spending time with local people and seeing how they live, and to me that is much more important than listening to another person’s interpretation of a place. If I had listened to others’ interpretations of specific places, such as many peoples’ interpretation of Africa from the United States perspective, I may not have decided to study abroad in Namibia and I would have missed out on an amazing opportunity. I have loved every second of my time here.

I believe that one of the most important things to do when studying abroad is establishing a home by building a community in the place where you will be staying for the next four months, and that is exactly what I have attempted to do during my time in Windhoek. Making friends with local people, spending time with them, and attending events held in town has really helped me to feel at home and gain a better understanding of what life in Windhoek, Namibia is like. It has also allowed me to expand my learning of what we have been discussing in the classroom and gain a ground view of Windhoek, and how the history of colonization and political progress from independence are still evident and having effect today. With a little over a month left of my study abroad experience, I am excited to continue to build relationships with people and experience new opportunities that will broaden my horizons even more and expand my interpretation of life as a part of the Windhoek community.

A Typical Tuesday in Cambridge

December 10, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Ulises E. Hernandez

Location: Cambridge, England

Pronouns: He/Him/His

As we approach the end of our study abroad program, I feel that it’s time to reflect on what goes on in my life on a typical Tuesday in Cambridge. You might wonder, why Tuesday? Well, the Valparaiso University is partnered with the Westfield house which is part of the Theological Federation of Cambridge University. Every Tuesday, it is customary for all Valparaiso and Concordia students to meet for a social tea gathering that ends with an evening prayer service. That event takes place in the evening, so first, let’s backtrack and cover my entire day from the moment I wake up.

After my alarm goes off, I get up without hitting the snooze button at exactly 7 am. I get dressed and I make my way down to the bathroom to shave and brush my teeth. After that, I go to the kitchen and prepare myself three eggs, a cup of Greek yogurt and ½ of a cup of oatmeal. After I have prepared and eaten my first meal, I go back to my room to grab my backpack and clothes in order to later take a shower at the gym. By 8 am, I grab my backpack and bicycle keys and ride to a fitness center called Kelsey Kerridge, which is located about 15-20 minutes away from the Valparaiso study center. On Tuesday’s, I focus on deadlifting and the upper back muscle groups which take me about 2-3 hours depending on the day and my level of energy. After my workout, I cool down for 15-20 minutes by eating my second meal of the day which consists of a protein shake, rice, vegetables, and a piece of chicken breast. After my meal, I take either an ice bath, I get on the hot tub or I sit in the sauna for 12-20 minutes. My decision will be based upon the day and the intensity level of my workout, once I finish on those things I take a regular shower and I get dressed.

Tuesdays are usually my easiest day of the week because I only have a Marketing class that starts at 1 pm. This class is two-hours longs and the class is set up to be a more project-based learning instead of a conventional lecture. We will do some type of activity for the first hour which is usually market research based. For the second portion of the class, we usually tend to discuss our findings followed by a small lecture presentation done by the professor. After class, I will go back to Kelsey Kerridge to pick up my gym bag and I ride my bicycle back to the study center.

Once I get to the study center, I will prepare my third meal of the day which consists of the exact same thing as my second meal. After I eat my meal, I usually take about an hour to read for my next day classes. At 4:30 pm, we all meet at the Chapel for tea and that takes about an hour. We usually talk about events during the week that are usually planned by Cambridge University or about upcoming trips we plan on our own. After tea, we all go to the evening prayer that is most of the time organized by students. Last week I had the chance to play tuba for the first time since High School during service and it was a great experience! After Evening prayer, we all usually go back to the study center and some of us work on homework for a few hours in the living room. Usually, I’ll have my fourth meal at 7 pm which consists of the exact same thing as my second and third meal! After eating my dinner, I’ll go to my room and I usually do about 2-3 hours of reading for my next day classes. After the reading, I usually work on my final papers until 1 in the morning. This paper is typically very long and the entire course grade depends on them. After working on my papers and reading, I usually go downstairs to the kitchen to drink a protein shake and to brush my teeth in the bathroom. After that, I change and I get ready for bed. That’s my typical Tuesdays and I have two more Tuesdays remaining!

City Analysis- Osaka

December 7, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Olivia Dausch

Location: Osaka, Japan

Pronouns: They/them

Osaka is definitely the city I’ve visited the most since I’ve been here. I haven’t necessarily done all of the tourist things I’ve wanted to yet, but I’ve been around the Osaka Loop a few times.

Osaka is known as “Japan’s Kitchen”, as it’s home to several famous restaurants and birthplace of popular foods. You would be hard-pressed to find somewhere in Osaka that doesn’t sell okonomiyaki or takoyaki.

Osaka-style okonomiyaki

Takoyaki topped with bonito flakes

One of the places in Osaka my friends and I go to a lot is Tsuruhashi, Korea Town. There are a lot of K-pop stores selling both official and fan merchandise.  We’ve gone a few times and we’ve never come out empty handed.

Picture showing the web of stores outside Tsuruhashi Station

All the albums and loose photo cards I received over my time in Japan

Another place we like to go is Tower Records. Japan has a booming music industry, mostly due to the fact that most music is sold as physical CDs. There are two Tower Records around Osaka Station, one in front, and on behind. Both are equally impressive and have a wide variety of local and foreign music.

The one place I regrettably haven’t been to is Dotonbori, the food street. I heard it has a wide variety of food choices and delicacies that I would love to try while I’m here.

Dotonbori Canal

Going around Osaka immediately reminded me of Chicago. There are small suburban areas like Tsuruhashi much like Chicago’s Andersonville and Boy’s Town. There are small restaurants and stores lining the street leading to the station, as well as restaurants within the station.

View of Osaka from Osaka Castle

Osaka is definitely within the realm of what would be comfortable to American tourists, especially if you’re only staying for a few days. It has a lot of great food to offer if you’re willing to try it.

 

Fall Break

December 6, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Liam Bodlak

Location: Paris, London, Dublin, Rome

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Fall Break at Valpo is usually pretty short. It’s a time to go home for a bit, recharge, see people, and come back to school to finish out the time until Thanksgiving break. Thanksgiving isn’t as widely celebrated in Europe, so Reutlingen University doesn’t give us a break for it. That makes our weeklong fall break the longest one of the year, and my friends and I took advantage of it. Over the course of the break I traveled to Paris, London, Dublin, and then Rome.

First off was Paris. We left Thursday afternoon, and arrived that night. Paris was slightly different than I’d expected. I’d heard about Paris syndrome, which is an extreme reaction from tourists when Paris doesn’t live up to their expectations, and so my expectations wavered between excited and nervous. Paris was not what I expected, but I liked it. It was somewhat crowded and dirty, but in an endearing way. I appreciated the grittiness of the downtown area. It just felt so alive and exciting. Granted, it was a little annoying to be crammed in with everyone on the metro, but I really appreciated the vibe of the city. The nightlife was great, the tourist attractions (we saw the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and Notre Dame Cathedral) were everything they’re cracked up to be, and we somehow found a Steak and Shake in the middle of the city. No complaints about Paris.

Next up was London. It was really nice to have a city without any language barriers, and be able to communicate without difficulty with everyone I met in the city. The weather was nice, and we got to explore a lot. It was interesting to see the different immigrant cultures that are bigger in the UK than other places. There was a Jamaican restaurant next to our hostel, and being able to have authentic Jamaican food and drink was a cultural experience I don’t often get to experience. It didn’t hurt that it was open 24 hours (speaking from experience, jerk chicken is better at 4 AM). London was similar to Paris in the sense of all the tourist attractions, but the people were a lot more interesting than any sort of tourist landmark. The energy of the city makes it what it is, and it’s something that wasn’t lost on me.

We stopped in Dublin for two days after that, and even though we weren’t there for long it was probably my favorite place we went on Fall Break. It was a beautiful city, the people were conversational and friendly, and the Guinness Factory lived up to the hype (the highlight was the sky bar on the top floor, which overlooked the whole city of Dublin). We went out on Halloween night, and the atmosphere was incredible. The people we met were excited to talk about all sorts of things with us, and we met a variety of interesting people as we made our way through the nightlife of College Green. Dublin was an incredible city, and I hope to be back someday.

Our final destination on break was Rome. As with the other cities, it was everything it’s hyped up to be. The food was amazing, the Roman ruins were fascinating, and I got to meet up with a friend from home who showed us around the city our second night there. The highlight was probably the Vatican. I’d seen so many pictures of it before, and it more than lived up to my expectations. It was an incredible, deeply moving experience.

All in all, Fall Break was a great time spent with great people. I got to see some of the most important cities in all of Western Civilization and some of the most beautiful sights in all of Europe, all within the span of a week. I could not be happier with how my Fall Break went.

City Analysis- Nara

December 5, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Olivia Dausch

Location: Nara, Japan

Pronouns: They/them

Nara is one of the cities I’ve had the least experience with. I went with a group of international students and high school students. We went to a couple different places and got to experience the Heian era first hand.

Nara was also a capital of Japan, long before Kyoto. Now, it’s well known for its deer park in front of Toudaiji, which houses one of Japan’s largest Buddha statues. The deer are in integral part of Nara’s culture and history, and now they boost tourism as well. The deer are famous enough to become Nara’s mascot.

A keychain of Nara’s mascot

Deer eating the deer crackers

During my trip, my group went to a historical museum dedicated to the Heian era. We got to dress in traditional robes and explore the grounds freely. There was also a museum on the grounds that we were able to explore. We saw the grounds as it was during the Heian period, foods and music, and even how buildings were structured at the time. It was all very impressive.

A picture of me in Heian era clothes

The Toori gate on the grounds

A model of the grounds

Statues of two nobles eating

After that, we went to Toudaiji, one of Japan’s most famous Buddhist temples. In front of the temple gates was the deer park. The deer are fairly docile, until they see you have shika senbei, the deer crackers. They are relentless, even after you give them all of the senbei. They calm down after a little bit to find the next person with food.

The temple itself is very impressive. The sheer size of the temple is awe-inspiring. Once inside, you’re greeted by one of the largest Buddha statues in Japan. The crowd pushes you clockwise around the statues, showing off other statues and relics, and miniature models of the temple through the years. At the very end, near the exit, there is a line of gift shops, selling fortunes, deer statues, and keychains.

Todaiji

An octagonal lantern outside the main temple

The Daibutsu

Statue of Tamonten

A model of the Great Buddha Hall

The view from the exit of the Great Buddha Hall

Again, I don’t think Nara has an equivalent in America either. There really isn’t a place where wild animals freely interact with humans like in the deer park. It’s a city with a rich history based on the deer surrounding the temple. I would love to see other parts of the city as well.

 

The Road to a Decolonized Mind: A Deeper Reflection

December 3, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Rae Erickson

Location: Wolwedans

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

This is an excerpt form Rae’s last blog post that we felt could be addressed on its own.  

Before embarking on this journey, I felt passionate about creating equality for every person, but I was somewhat ill equipped with the tools that are necessary in order to truly advocate or stand up for marginalized populations. Although I understood that there is still a significant presence of racism that is prevalent today, I often struggled with how to identify it, or even successfully initiate a conversation around the unfair things that are happening around the world, especially to people of color. While I cannot pretend like I know all of the answers and solutions to this problem now, I feel infinitely better about how to critically analyze what happens around me. About four days ago, we traveled to NaDEET, a center that has the mission of educating youth and adults about how to live sustainably. During our time there, we also took an excursion to Wolwedans, another desert resort just a 45 minute drive away. What we saw there, however, left us with heavy hearts. One of the managers directed the tour, and left us all unsettled.

Unfortunately, Wolwedans exemplified many of the weaknesses that can occur in companies that are not regulated by the government. Even though nature conservation is a popular topic for many diverse groups of people, it is easy to forget that human rights violations can happen even amidst sustainable efforts. There was a significantly unequal distribution of money between the manager of the reserve and his workers, and there seemed also to be a lack of any kind of positive relationship between his employees and him as well. His attitude towards the people working there was poor at best, and his language often became extremely sexist and condescending. While this experience was upsetting and disturbing to many of the students, myself included, it was also somewhat rewarding and surprising to hear ourselves critically analyze the situation in the way we did, as our perceptions of the tour definitely would have been different had we never had this journey of going through the program and trying to decolonize our minds.

City Analysis- Kyoto

December 3, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Olivia Dausch

Location: Kyoto, Japan

Pronouns: They/Them

It took me a while to decide what I wanted to write about for these blog posts. I’ve decided to start simply by describing the cities I have easy access to. The first, and one of the most well-known, is Kyoto.

Kyoto was Japan’s capital city before Tokyo. It is a city steeped in history, and it’s easy to see in everyday life. It’s not uncommon to see people walking around in yukata even in the most modern parts of the city.

I’ve been to Kyoto twice, both as school trips. The first time was during orientation week. It was used as a chance to show us Hirakatashi Station and how trains worked. My group went to a mall for lunch first. After that, we went to a large temple not too far from the mall. We spent a lot of time wandering around the city and finding different shops, including a dessert shop that only sold matcha flavored treats and a little souvenir shop with handcrafted figures and coin purses.

A coin purse modeled after a boar

The urban side of Kyoto

Kamo River running through Gion

Yasaka Shrine entrance

Hokanji Temple Pagoda

The second time was for my Zen Buddhism class. We went to meditate at Tenryuuji. It was an interesting trip there, as we had to get on a small two way train from beginning to end. The last stop was Arashiyama, where the temple sat at the base of the mountain. We meditated there for about an hour, and then we were able to roam around the garden and the area around the station as we pleased. There was another handcraft store there, as well as several food stands in front of the trains.

Lego model of Arashiyama Station and the shops outside

View leading up to Arashiyama

Lake in Tenryuji Garden

View from the path above the temple

Bamboo forest behind temple

Statue of Bodhi Sattva Kannon

    Kyoto doesn’t really have an American parallel, in my opinion. It’s easy to compare Tokyo to New York, or Osaka to Chicago, but Kyoto doesn’t have that kind of parallel. It is a place that perfectly combines past and present, creating a feeling that can’t be experienced anywhere else. I would like to go again, especially with the leaves changing soon.

The Road to a Decolonized Mind

November 30, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Rae Erickson

Location: Namibia

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

When I decided to go to Namibia for my study abroad experience, I really did not have a full understanding of what “Globalization, Nation Building, and Decolonizing the Mind” actually meant. All I can say after going through this program is that I have been changed forever, and I could not be more grateful that I was lead to the Center for Global Education and Experience,  and to the unbelievable people that I have been able to meet here. From going to buy a suitcase under a rainbow, to preparing for my flight home under another, I have transformed in ways I couldn’t have imagined I would.

My cohort traveled to the Namib desert this past weekend, which is the oldest desert on Earth and was the place we stayed at the longest. Driving through the dry terrain with mountains on the horizon and oryx roaming the land beside the truck made me feel like I was inside National Geographic, or a virtual reality. The beauty of the land took my breath away, and brought me back to God in a way I had forgotten about amidst all of the stress and chaos of the end of a semester.

I would be lying if I said that being in another country has not been very, very difficult at times. I am so excited to go back home, experience the cold weather again, and see my family, but I know I am not the same person that left to go to Southern Africa in August. The four months have flown by, but they have taught me more about myself and standing up for what is right than I have learned possibly in my entire life. Along with all of the lessons I received, I also was able to go white water rafting on the Zambezi river, visit Swakopmund, Lüderitz, Cape Town, and many other places, and make some lifelong friends.

If you can choose to go anywhere to study abroad, I recommend you come to Namibia, because it has helped me solidify my values just as much as it enhanced my education!

Experience in Japan

November 29, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Author: Olivia Dausch

Location: Japan

Pronouns: They/Them

I’ve lived in Japan for about a month now. I’ve had a blast every second, but I’ve also noticed some glaring differences compared to America. One of the most important cultural identities of Japan comes from the seasons. Japan is beautiful during every season, and they know it. There are seasonal
foods, snacks, and drinks, more than in America.

Since the seasons are changing now, there are many new seasonal drinks and snacks releasing in convenience stores across the nation. In America, there are themed packaging, but the product mostly remains the same. The only seasonal food I can think of is the spooky cereal brands that show up every year. However, in Japan, there are new flavors released all season long for every season. In my local drug store, I saw Halloween candies and snacks on the shelves half-way through September. In 7-Eleven, there was a new flavor of Fanta available (Blood Orange flavor), as well as a new flavor of water (Japanese Pear flavor). Since the season officially changed today, I can’t wait to see what else becomes available.

Another important part of Japanese culture is festivals. A few days after I arrived, there was a small, local festival held near city hall. There were children’s games, food stalls, and a concert. One of the first things I bought there was a staple of Japanese summer: Kakigori (shaved ice with sweetened condensed milk). It is sold everywhere during summer and is usually made apparent by the blue flag with the red kanji for ice. Another popular street food is kushi (skewers). They either have cooked meat or deep-fried meat and vegetables, depending on where you go. At the festival, I bought a grilled beef skewer (gyu-kushi), which was amazingly tender and flavorful, even though they only put salt and pepper on it. I saw both again when I went to a temple in Kyoto.

Since Kansai Gaidai University is next to a station, students have access to three major cities, all about an hour away: Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara. There are several festivals hosted in these cities throughout the year, especially in Kyoto and Nara. Since both were Japan’s capitals before, there are a
lot of cultural and historical events available.

Among these events includes both flower and leaf viewing festivals in April and October, respectively. One of the events the local students planned this semester includes going to Kyoto to see the red leaves. Another event local students plan is the University Festival, held in late October or early November. It kicks of fall break, one of the only breaks we have this semester. Since the schedule for exchange students is intentionally easy, with a minimum of 4 classes being highly recommended by staff, this break fits in as a well-needed break.

Speaking of classes, since I couldn’t find anything about it before I came here, I’d like to mention how classes are structured here. Classes are divided into five blocks. Each class is an hour and a half long, fitting into these blocks. The first two blocks start at 9 am and 10:45 am, respectively, on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday are set aside for Japanese classes since there are four sections per level. After block two, there is an hour for lunch that is very reminiscent of Valpo’s chapel break. The next block starts at 1:15 pm, and then there are two more blocks after that, ending at 6:10 pm. Since Japanese has to be before lunch, and there are probably no more than four other classes to fill the other spots, it is fairly easy to find free time.

That free time can be used to go around the city. Hirakata is a unique city since it is the meeting point among three major cities. Even on the walk to Nakamiya campus, there are a lot of interesting shops. There is a traditional Japanese sweets shop, a grocery store, several hair salons, and even more doctors offices. Closer to the station, there is an entire mall. I have only been there once, but I plan to go again soon. It has books, CDs, movies, and clothes, all things great for gifts. There are a lot of places nearby that I haven’t been to yet. Once I get settled into my schedule here, I’ll definitely become more adventurous.

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