Valpo Voyager
Student Stories from Around the World
Page 48 of 125
To Ma Chanza, Mama Bene, Visau, Kali, Damien, Valvuca, !Othema, Watson, Mama Catherine, and all of the other individuals who lovingly opened their homes to a foreign stranger, to those who fed me (usually too much!), to he who took me driving late at night around the township, to those who waited up for me to come home, to she who taught me how to bake fat cakes in the sun, to the small boy who jumped into my bed at 6am ready to play, to those who were patient with my awkward nature and unintentionally offensive behavior: I owe you (another) big fat thank you.
The words “Xie xie,” “Vinaka vaka levu,” “Eio,” “Asante sana,” or “Tangi unene” do not express the immense gratitude I feel towards you for calling me daughter.
I loved how content each of you were. I loved that when the sky was clear, you were all together, running outside or relaxing under the shade of a tree. I loved that the land you live on is meant to be walked on with bare feet. I loved the boisterous sounds of the school children. I loved the fresh fruit – mangoes, bananas, avocadoes – best enjoyed in the company of others, fruit juice dripping down your forearms. I loved the fragrant frangipane you wove in your hair. I loved the fireworks you watched as a family after overindulging on dumplings.
I did NOT love the roosters’ early morning cock-a-doodle-doo’s, though I suppose nothing is perfect.
But above all else, the feeling that sticks with me in my heart of hearts, the 
lesson I’m continuing to unpack even years later is this: the tangible, thick sense of community that hung in every corner of your home, and the doors that were always open to company, including mine. This idea of togetherness transcended the borders that divided the families that welcomed me.
Studying abroad is for learning by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. It’s for being exposed to different ways of living. It’s for challenging your notions of self, for questioning our own culture, for growing your compassion. Thank you for giving me that and more.
Peace,
Megan, “Meihua,” “Luvequ,” “Meggie”
>> I anticipated learning a lot while studying abroad – but severely underestimated how much I would learn while doing my homestay. From the quiet pleasure of sitting in silence with my family to effective techniques for hand washing my clothes, no experience during my semester abroad was as impactful, confusing, uncomfortable, rewarding, or insightful as the few weeks living with my homestay family.
I won’t say that a homestay is a cake walk. It’s tough. It’s awkward. You feel FOMO from your other friends in their homestays. You milk goats (seriously, goats). You ride in donkey carts in the high noon heat. You are forced to eat first while your family members sit idly by and watch. You sit on the floor all the time. You run out of things to say. There are bugs, rats, cats, donkeys, puppies, chickens laying eggs in your bed.
It ain’t always pretty, but I’ll be darned if it wasn’t entirely worth it. Trust me: you’ll know what I’m talking about when you have your first “Is this my life?” moment when your family (and heart) grows despite being thousands of miles away from Valpo.
On Sunday, a group from the University had organized a day trip to El Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido in the Pyrenees Mountains (Los Pirineos) which is in the north part of Spain and borders France. This park has 22 different hiking routes and is the second largest national park in Spain. I quickly signed up for this opportunity to go on a hike and get out of the city! While I am learning to love the city, I needed a break from Zaragoza and have been eager to see the countryside and mountains which I had been told about before coming to Spain. For someone who has only ever lived in flatlands, this trip seemed like it would be a fun and memorable experience.
Our group of over 100 foreign students left at 9:00 am for Ordesa which is about 167 kilometers (103.7 miles) north of Zaragoza. After a few stops and wrong turns, we finally arrived to the start of our hike at 2 pm. It was a little scary looking out the window and seeing the steep cliffs below. The roads were narrow with bends, twists, and curves so we were happy to arrive and ready to start the hike.
The view from the bus
At a stop before the hike
The hike was 17 kilometers (10.56 miles) total and had an elevation gain of about 500 meters (1640 feet). A majority of the time, we were walking along a stream which included waterfalls occasionally. The hike started out pretty flat, but that ended soon enough. Every corner and turn during the hike seemed more beautiful than the last one. When we were done with 2/3 of the way to the final waterfall, we stopped to have lunch by the stream. Some friends and I ate while sitting on top of the rocks in the water allowing our feet to take a break and feel the cold water. The rest was much needed and a great chance to take in the serenity of the land. After that, we set off to get to our destination before turning around to leave. The last 1/3 of the trail to the final point was definitely my favorite. After hiking some steep trails, the trail opened up to a huge valley with greens, streams, and more waterfalls. The scene was quite different from what we had been seeing the rest of the hike. This valley was very open and vast.
Where we stopped for lunch
The open valley
With friends from Germany and Italy
I have read that Spain is a pretty popular destination for hikers, and now having a bit of experience, I can absolutely agree. The hiking websites and books will tell you this, but I suggest hiking in the fall or spring. We went hiking on September 20 and it was the perfect day. It was warm, but there was a cool breeze throughout the day which did not make it hot. Any earlier in the summer probably would have had me complaining about the heat and the sun.
Our final spot before turning around was a grand waterfall at the edge of the valley. Many hikers continued on past this point, but it was very steep and for more experienced hikers. After some time spent here, we headed back. The way back took much less time because it was downhill. We got back to the buses at 8:30 and left shortly after. We returned to Zaragoza at midnight which was pretty tiring (it’s all ok though, I took a four hour siesta [nap] the next day). I’m so thankful I was given the opportunity to go hiking in Spain! If you are ever in Spain, please consider hiking a trail as there are many different trails with varying length and difficulty.
The waterfalls were gorgeous!
The final waterfall
Hey all,
So Wednesday through Friday is probably when I am going to be posting most of my blogs posts. The reason for the end of the week is because in the beginning of the week I have classes and schoolwork. I will be posting once a week to keep you all updated.
This past week I had my first full week of classes. Well a full week as in my normal Monday thru Wednesday class schedule. Like I said in my last post I am enjoying my classes so far and they are pretty interesting. I am already learning a lot in my design communications class. We learn about terms and art in lecture and get use to photoshop in the tutorial. I’ve already picked up some basic tools in photoshop and cannot wait to learn more in the next 11 weeks!
Last week on Saturday I went to Broadbeach with my Australian friend Georgia. The beach was pretty rough so we mainly just walked the beach while we were there and hung out. Georgia got in the water but she said the waves were very strong. I just dipped my feet in. We then took the bus back to campus which was only like a 15-20 minute bus ride away.
This past Sunday I visited the The Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. This trip was included in my program. So the bus picked us up at Bond and it took us like 15-20 minutes to get to there. The first thing most of the group did was get pictures with a koala. Wow, was that an experience! They were so cute!! They had one out that people were holding and taking pictures with but then they got a second one out. I do not understand how they pick which koala to bring out but they brought out the one that was sleeping. Maybe they think they are more calm. The koalas seem pretty laid back there though. All I know is that I got the one that they just woke up and it started pooping. The woman was showing me how to hold the koala ( you put your hands together as if you are going to lift someone in cheer) and it started pooping so before I held the koala I let go because it was pooping. The lady was said, “That’s what they do, they poop.” I knew that! It just wouldn’t stop pooping. Anyways she let me pet it on the back and then I held it. They are pretty soft but they are a tad smelly. They have this sour sort of smell to them that just lingers in the area which they live. 
After visiting the Koalas I went with a couple girls and looked at snakes and lizards. I’m not a huge fan of snakes so I didn’t take many pictures of them plus it was dark in that area. Side note, there are lizards everywhere which is kind of cool. After that we hopped on the train which can take people to many different stops. We got off at the third stop which was were the kangaroos were. MY FAVORITE! They were all just chilling in the grass when we got off the train. I saw some hopping but most of them were pretty mellow. So we got some pictures and selfies with them. They are soft and just the cutest creatures ever! We also ended up going in an area where they had more kangaroos it said they were red kangaroos. There was a cute little joey we got to see and one of the workers said it was about 8 months old. We also saw some other animals, even wombats! I’ll put some pictures below of them. Lastly we watched an aboriginal show which was cool. They performed a few dances and played the didgeridoo (most likely the world’s oldest instrument).
KANGAROO SELFIE!
JOEY 🙂
Talk to you soon,
Emily
We have completed three weeks of Spanish classes at the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica! To relax after these intense classes, we took a weekend trip to the cloud forest in Savegre.
The land there was absolutely beautiful, and it was a nice change of pace from the city.
We went with high school students from Sola Fe Lutheran Church, where our professors serve as pastor and music director.
It rains a lot in the cloud forest, so we passed the time by playing cards, which is quite the experience when only one person in the group is completely bilingual.
Getting to know each other was a great experience for all of us, and we had a lot of fun riding horses, bird watching, fishing, and playing soccer together.
Savegre is a beautiful place, but the people we shared it with made it even more beautiful!
The first full week of classes went well, but as you will see the weekend was even more fun. It was a very busy three-day weekend for me in Germany! Between the castle ruins and waterfall on Friday morning, Lake Constance and live bar music on Saturday, and then biking and boat ride on Sunday I was ready for bed that night!
Aaron found a great place to read a book for a few minutes at the castle ruins!
Finding our way around the ruins bright and early!
The incredible waterfall at Bad Urach that we saw after the castle ruins on Friday morning!
Just visiting Switzerland for the day, you know, it’s casual.
Nick being braver than the rest of us at Lake Constance on Saturday!
Nick got some great German practice in on the ferry ride across Lake Constance!
The Valpo Pin overlooking Lake Constance from the small city of Meersburg, Germany.
Mackenzie and Jordan enjoying the view of Lake Constance from Meersburg!
The ever-majestic Lauren trying her hand at punting on the river in Tübingen.
Reid posing with the Valpo flag on the end of the punting boat in Tübingen.
As I started to reflect on my past month in China, I started to realize how quickly time flies here. It was both nostalgic and relieving to know that I had “made it.” I was able to survive in China for a month already. Through all the language barriers and cultural differences I am still facing, I feel as though I have somewhat conquered it. Although I still have another 2 1/2 months to go, my confidence has grown while in China. Now, I am
not that ashamed to speak Chinese to people, afraid that they will hear my American accent. This short trip, thus far, has taught me that it is okay to mess up. It is okay to pronounce words incorrectly, order the wrong dishes in Chinese and only realize your mistake when the plate of duck head is sitting before you, and it is also okay to tell someone in Chinese “I don’t understand” when you blatantly do not understand. Why? Because that is ultimately how you learn.
This month in China has taught me a lot thus far and I have done so much already. I visited Xian, China’s old ancient capital and was able to bike ride along one of the oldest city walls in China, and visit some really famous warriors as well 
as travel to Beijing and not only see the notorious Tianmen square but also climb the Great Wall of China, something I had only knew of through elementary school text books. At Zhejiang University, where I currently reside, I have have met alot of people, those of which I would only have had the opportunity to meet, while abroad. I have met people from all over the world including Mexico, Africa, South Korea, and Europe. Some of which I call friends. 
This short period of time here has really put into perspective what it is like to be an international student in a foreign country. Thus, only increasing my respect for international students on Valpo’s campus, where students do not just stay for one semester, as I am doing here, but for all four years, seemingly away from friends, family and their culture. It did take a while to adjust but when I did everything fell into place. I’m in a country I love, with people I like and going places I could only dream of, all of which I am truly grateful for.
With that being said, I guess I can say “happy one month anniversary” to me and every other student studying abroad. Congratulations we made it!
Berlin. The Capital city of Germany. What a weird, quirky, classy, oddball, and altogether extraordinary place. We spend Friday-Wednesday here (a week ago, actually), and we certainly had a blast.
Before I go on about Berlin, I have some corrections to make to my last entry. I mentioned last time that my parents would represent a majority of the people reading this. As it turns out, I apparently have far more parents than I had previously assumed. Thank you to all for taking the time to read my musings. And thanks to Rachel and my family for continuing to be my biggest fans.
The first night gave us a chance for some culinary confusion. Hofbraühaus (“HOFF-broy-house”) is a Munich standard, so we let at the opportunity to eat there, despite being nearly 600 km away from Munich. With it a mere block away from our hostel, how could we say no to an early start to Oktoberfest? (Spoiler alert: we couldn’t.)
Walking westward as the sun was setting, we had fun with some photography in the Lustgarten on Museuminsel (Museum Island), between Berliner Dom (cathedral) and Altes Museum (Old Museum – a very creative name). Rick Steves says that the Berliner Dom “is a protestant assertion of strength,” adding that it “seems to proclaim ‘a mighty fortress is our God…and he speaks German!'” Nineteen of the seven of us had a splendid time.
Reid in front of the Berliner Dom, making good use of the iPhone’s Panorama function.
Nineteen out of seven of us had a splendid time on our first evening in Berlin.
We finished our excursion walking through the Brandenburger Tor, marveling that this was not something our parents could have done when they visited Germany 30 years ago. The gigantic gate was near the Berliner Mauer (Berlin Wall). Older readers may recall President Reagan challenging Gorbachev to “tear down this wall,” or perhaps remember news clips of people celebrating as the wall fell two years later. Younger readers and tech-savvy people can relive these moments on YouTube.
Contrasts began early on Saturday morning. Several more trains than we had initially expected were needed to get to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, where 50000 people were murdered during the Holocaust.
I tried to imagine whether or not 50000 people would fit inside an area equal to that of the camp. This doesn’t reflect any piece of reality – I was simply trying to imagine the size of a 50000-person crowd. 50000 is one of those numbers that’s just big enough that it’s magnitude is difficult to understand. I’m not sure many people have interacted with 50000 of anything in any kind of tangible way.
As though to remind us that our laughter and joy from the previous day would not be appropriate in this sacred, broken place, it was windy and rainy. The sun kept to itself for most of the day, only revealing itself a few times in the afternoon. Yet in the midst of the clouds and dark memories, there was still hope. No matter how hard the wind blew, it could never erase the memories. The trees would sooner topple and the buildings would sooner be reduced to dust than the Holocaust be forgotten. Perhaps this is an ill-informed view of how civilizations rise and fall, but it certainly felt this way to me.
Statue in the building to mark the location of the Sachsenhausen furnaces.
Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp
We need monuments like Sachsenhausen to help us remember the horrible things that people did (and can do) to people. None of us perpetrated the Holocaust. Very few people know anybody whom it directly affected. Nobody really owes anybody else an apology for the past, nor do we need to assign blame to anybody alive today. But we do need to remember that these things happened so that we can do everything to keep them from happening again.
After Sachsenhausen, we had quite possibly the least concentration camp-ish meal possible. It was several huge plates of all kinds of meats, each with enough food to comfortably split it between four people. It was fantastically filling, far beyond what any Sachsenhausen meal could have been for the people detained there.
Plate of meat for four at Zillemarkt. This plate was about 50cm (20in) long at its widest.
Following the meal, we went to Kaufhaus des Westens – KaDeWe, the largest department store in Europe. There were somewhere on the order of six stories of everything from jewelry and perfumes to clothing to toys to food and much more. Everything there seemed to have a markup. Even Lego kits seemed to cost more than they should in a typical store. This is a rather gutsy move for the store, particularly given the easily-referenced and well-defined prices of Lego kits. We looked for Ritter Sport chocolate bars to use as a standard price reference point, but couldn’t find any. Neither Nick nor I could tell if this was because the place was simply too large (which it was), or if it was because Ritter Sport is not classy enough chocolate for the normal clientele of KaDeWe (it very well might not be).
We didn’t stay very long at KaDeWe. There was simply too much to take in, and we had had a long day. The excess and materialism was simply too much for either of us, so we went home for some much needed rest. In an interesting symmetry to our morning and afternoon at Sachsenhausen, about 40 to 50 thousand people visit KaDeWe daily (per Wikipedia).
Sunday gave us a walking tour of the city. We covered some of the same route we had taken on Friday, but the added historical context was much appreciated. Berlin has had the interesting misfortune of being almost – but not quite – totally destroyed. There’s a mix of old buildings and new. The old ones embrace the grandeur of the emperors and kings of the past, the new ones celebrate rebirth and modernity, and everything in between serves as a reminder of the tumult of the 20th century. The juxtaposition of old and new, of destroyed sites and recent modern development, and even of former East and West – these are all things of which Berlin is very proud. Berlin is such a bizarre place because of all of these contrasts that define it, but these are the same contrasts that also make it the uniquely wonderful place that it is.
Almost as though an echo of Berlin, our group also let some of its contrasts show over the last few days – particularly with regards to travel style and planning. A great many of us are seasoned adventurers. We know how to deliberately get lost for the sake of new experiences, but we don’t stay lost for very long – there’s always a plan in place. Sure, we can recognize the fluidity of our short-term plans, but this doesn’t prevent us from living in the moment.
Other members of the group, well, don’t seem to be that great at traveling. The planning is there, but a combination of poor luck and incomplete follow-through has created some setbacks for them. Fornutely for them (and for the rest of us who live and work with them), it seems difficult to really upset their equilibria. If there is an edge over which they might be pushed, they sure seem to be far away from it.
We had the opportunity to do and see some more “touristy things,” or perhaps watch other tourists do touristy things. I try not to be an excessive travel hipster (just a little bit), but it can be fun and informative to watch tourists at popular sites. The crowds can sometimes be just as impressive as the thing at which they’re looking.
The “American Soldiers” at Checkpoint Charlie are neither Americans nor soldiers, and they barely speak English. A tour guide informed us that these men work as strippers after they’re done being soldiers. I did not investigate the veracity of this claim. I also do not know whether their alleged evening performance involves the removal of their fake uniforms. Hopefully not.
Nick and I had good fun exploring the history of engineering at the Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin. This wasn’t any specific exhibit – we just went around looking at planes, trains, and boats, all while considering the engineering that went into making them go (or the failures that made them stop going). We’re told that this museum also has cars, but we didn’t get a chance to check those out. Siemens was scattered everywhere in this museum. Having completed an internship at a Siemens plant in Cincinnati last summer, I had to get some pictures of Siemens artifacts that we came across.
Siemens and Halske Electric Locomotive (a world first) at Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin.
Werner von Siemens bust at Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin. This guy adorned my ID badge this past summer.
Nick stands in front of a steam locomotive at the Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin. Steam engines are basically giant heat transfer demonstrations, which appeals to us engineers.
A fancy-dancy thrust-reversing jet engine, modeled by the ever-patient Nicks Sondag.
The below video is an example of something neither of my parents would have been able to do when they studied in Germany 30 years ago. Doing this gave me chills, which doesn’t happen particularly often.
This past week I moved into Bond University (they call it Uni here)! The campus is gorgeous and even has a lake that comes through a part of the campus. The lake is said to have bull sharks in it but many of us Americans still aren’t sure if the Aussies are lying to us. Aussies do have a sense of humor here so it can be hard to know when they are being sarcastic or not.
The week consisted of relaxing, exploring, and settling in. This past week I made a few trips to the mall. This mall here is huge! It is so frustrating because the layout of the stores is all over the place and everyone really just wants to get in and out of there. I did not buy an insane amount of things it was just essentials like laundry detergent (nothing too fun to buy). I made another stop at the mall to buy a SIM card for my phone. Basically what a SIM card is, is it has your carrier in it (like Verizon). So I got a new SIM card at Vodofone which is an Australian carrier. They have a packaged discount for students at Bond University. That deal allowed me to get unlimited calling and texting to Australian numbers as well as international numbers. I also got more data (internet) for being a student. I will have plenty of data which will be nice when traveling.
A group of us took the bus to Burleigh Heads to visit the national park and the beach. Another great thing about being a student is that I get a discount for the bus. So I got a card that I load money onto and it can take me to several beaches, a train station, and many other places. Anyways, we first went to the national park which is on the edge of the beach. Entering the park, the trail starts to go up on an incline that leads you up to beautiful lookouts. On the way up to the lookouts we spotted turkeys and lizards. The turkeys were a little different looking so we asked a worker in the park what they were called and he said they are called brush turkeys. When we reached the top lookout you could see the edge of the water and farther down where cities were along the coastline. My group were rebels and jumped the fence to be on the rocks to take some cool pictures and to soak in the sights of Australia.
We then headed back to the beach. Going up the trail in the park we got pretty hot so we thought getting in the water would be refreshing. I thought it might be cold but it was like the lake. I just eased in the water and it felt great! We wanted to go and ride the waves, so we did! The only bad thing is when you get out to the waves the current takes you with it. They have flags where the swimming area is so I just made sure I stayed in that area. I was having trouble getting out to where the rest of my friends were but they told me that I just had to get a little farther out to not get taken by the current as much. After swimming I went to lay on the beach but the weather was starting to get cold and we were all hungry so we stopped at a local restaurant and took the bus home.
This week there were events going on for O-Week (orientation week). I went to a themed party called Tight and Bright at Don’s Tavern on campus. I had an outfit in mind but then my roommate gave me these tie dye pants to wear and it was perfect! The party was nice because I was able to talk to a few Australians which is always nice.
Something about Australia to note is that they are for the most part pretty chill. The service here though isn’t as rushed as it is in America. They aren’t rushing around trying to get everyone’s order out if there is a line. Like I said earlier a lot of them have a good sense of humor. For the most part our service at restaurants has been good. Two things to note about when going out to a restaurant: do not tip and food is not brought out all together. In Australia they are getting paid however much the restaurant is paying them. That can obviously have its pros and cons but that is just how it is here. Many places I have been to in Australia the food doesn’t all necessarily come out at the same time. For instance, in America they usually wait until all the entrees are ready to be served to the table. Those are just some things I have noticed since I have been in Australia. I’m sure I will have more to tell you in the future.
This week is my first week of classes. I am taking Public Relations, Australian history, Crime and Deviance in Australia, and Design Communications (Adobe software using Photoshop and Illustrator). I have classes Monday, Tuesday, Wedensday, and do not have classes on Thursday and Friday. So far the classes have been very interesting. All my professors are Australian and have great backgrounds of the field of which they are teaching. I can’t wait to see what this semester brings!
Talk to you later,
Emily
Costa Rica is known for its beautiful beaches and volcanos, so while we are here studying we decided to make the most of our free time by traveling around the country and visiting some of the more famous sights.
Yesterday we went to Volcán Poás, an active volcano located just a few hours away from our home city. The large leafy plant in the foreground of the above photograph is called a “poor man’s umbrella,” which would have come in handy in the afternoon. These gorgeous views disappeared quickly when the clouds came rolling in!
Needless to say, we stayed there longer than 20 minutes.
The National Park also has a short hike to Lake Bogos, which used to be the secondary crater of the volcano. It is currently inactive, so the water is cold but very acidic.
Our quick trip up the mountain made for a nice break from studying. The views were simply spectacular and we hope to visit more volcanos before the semester comes to an end!
© 2026 Valpo Voyager
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑