Change Your Life

"I have been told that an adventure is part of a human's living spirit - the thrill comes from new experiences, encounters with different faces. I have finally conquered my thirst for adventure by coming to an exciting new place rich in culture. I now understand what students mean when they say studying abroad will change your life."
~Danielle Pramick

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Super Cool Youtube Vid

This is a really neat video I found awhile ago...

Apparently the guy in the video was tired of his job as a software engineer and decided to use some of the money he saved up to travel the world. He states on his website that he is not rich and has travelled cheaply everywhere he has gone. After his first video (this one), stride gum decided to sponsor him on another trip around the world and another video

I'm jealous.


/Brad Fraser -Palma de Mallorca, Summer 2007

Thursday, February 14, 2008

The Story of the Art Monster

It was the last week of our program in Todi, Italy, and we were going to have an art exhibition for our art class. We had been asked to invite our local friends and (host) family members to it. So the day before the exhibition, I decided to remind my host mom about it. But, since my host mom didn’t speak any English and my Italian was really bad, too, I asked my Italian teacher to teach me how to say it. Now, art exhibition in Italian is mostra (with an "a") de arte, but by the time I got home, I had already forgotten half of the sentence. So I went up to my host mom and I said, in my broken Italian, “Don’t forget, mostro (with an "o") de arte tomorrow.” Even before I could finish my sentence, my host mom was laughing hysterically. I knew I had said something wrong, but I didn’t know what. So she quickly ran to the other room, got a dictionary and showed me the meaning of mostro...and, honestly, I couldn’t help laughing either. Mostro in Italian means monster, and what I had been saying was, “Don’t forget, Art Monster tomorrow!”

Posted by Vrinda, Todi, Italy

Euro Techno...Music

While in Dublin, Ireland this past fall semester, I developed a fondness for European techno-esque music. I know what you're thinking: how could I?! Well, I could, and I did, but it was a slow, sneaky, and gradual process. It started when I purchased my "mobile" at the Vodafone store on Grafton Street. I walked in and asked for the least expensive phone available, much to the chagrin of the salesman helping. He indicated a mobile on the wall, and explained that it's only defining feature were the ten AM/FM radio presets. I said I'd take it.

My mobile FM radio presets became my constant companion (seeing as I am probably one of the last students in existence without an ipod): I listened to the local Dublin stations on my way to class (a 20 minute walk from my host family's house), I listened to the radio while riding the Dublin Bus into the city centre, and I listened to the radio while I jumped on my 9-year old host brother's monster trampoline. So, while I had always claimed an aversion to techno music, I found myself rather enjoying some of the Top 40 techno singles; many of them were perfect for setting a brisk walking pace, which in turn ensured that I arrived at class in time. Below I have listed a few of my favorite songs to walk to, sing to, and (sort of) move to. Along with addictive beats, these techno singles have some entertaining music videos...

"Let me think about it," by Fedde Le Grand and Ida Corr


"Freaks," by The Creeps


"Like this like that," by SE:SA


"Love is gone," by David Guetta


"San Diego Song," by The Coronas (this one is not so much techno, but it is a local Dublin band's first single, and it was just getting air-time while I was in Dublin, and it grew on me)


I hope you enjoy these songs/music videos as much as I do!

~Jessie, Dublin, Ireland, Fall 2007

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

English Weather: Upliftingly Dreary

As I look out the window of the office today in State College, PA, to the freezing almost-sleet, almost-rain, sort-of-snow, I am immediately transported back to the University of Kent in Canterbury, England. For all the negative images that the word “stereotypes” bring up, I discovered that some of them are really and truly based in reality; England’s weather is one of these. To be frank, it really is dismal.

But I don’t mean dismal in a negative way at all. I spent 6 months on the wonderful island that is England, and I loved every freezing, rainy, cloudy-skied second of it. It took many months before I even realized that I could count on one hand the days that I had seen the sun. The people, pubs, cities, restaurants, accents, and coach bus trips into London took my attention far and away from the weather – but, upon noticing it, I really couldn’t look away.

It snowed once, overnight, leaving about 6 inches of slushy snow in the morning. By late afternoon it had nearly all melted, leaving me freezing, soaking wet, and coming down with the flu. English weather is one of stark contrasts: one second it was raining, the next it was snow, and the next it was mild and, if you were lucky, even a touch sunny. Spring came like a bullet train in March – temperatures rocketed to 50 degrees Fahrenheit and even a little above, the rain and breeze turned warm, and there was a veritable explosion of baby animals all over the rural little Kent Uni campus.

While I was never lucky enough to have beach weather, and while I found myself still wearing my winter coat in May from time to time, it was almost comforting to find at least one thing in England exactly as I had expected it. Predictably and comfortingly dreary, a little bipolar, and in beautiful contrast to a very jolly culture – that’s what the English weather said to me.



Posted By: Marian Hamilton, University of Kent in Canterbury, England in Spring 2007

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Breakfast in Germany

I love cereal. I really love it. I’ve had cereal for breakfast almost every day for my entire life. So when I went to the Lebensmittelgeschaft (grocery store) for the first time, I was excited to scope out the cereal stock. I went through quite a few boxes, but here are some of my favorites. Unfortunately I couldn’t find pictures for each of them.

Nougat Bits – the greatest cereal ever. Better than Cap’n Crunch with Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms marshmallows. The cereal pieces are chocolate flavored, but each one has an air pocket inside filled with hazelnut nougat. It’s kind of like eating chunks of chocolate infused with Nutella. I killed about 12 boxes of this stuff during the semester. The grocery store was out of stock of it for about 2 weeks at one point, and I felt as if I were dying inside a little more each day that I was without Nougat Bits.

Mini-Zimtos – The German word for “cinnamon” is “Zimt.” These were kind of like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, only they seemed to have found a way to get more cinnamon sugar to stick to the cereal pieces. Although trumped by Nougat Bits, Mini Zimtos held a close second in my book.

Fruchte-Müsli – Müsli is a mix of oats and other stuff (in this case, fruit pieces). While it isn’t loaded with sugar like Nougat Bits and Mini-Zimtos, Müsli is really tasty, and is even better for you.

Schoko-Müsli – Same concept as the previous one, but replace the fruit with chocolate pieces.

There also were equivalents of American cereals, such as Frosted Flakes and Smacks knockoffs. They weren’t too bad.

That’s mostly what I ate for breakfast. Europeans don’t value breakfast as much as Americans do, so while I was having my cereal-fest, my roommates would usually have cold cuts on a few pieces of bread.

Weekends meant no class, and thus sleeping in and having the time to make a big breakfast. If I was feeling particularly cereal’d out, I’d make eggs, sausage and cheese. The Germans make great sausage (Bratwurst, Bockwurst, Weisswurst, Würstchen, Currywurst…and the list goes on).

Now I’ve gone and make myself hungry…bah…

--Posted by Dave Hardison, IES EU Program, Fall 2007

Thursday, February 7, 2008

The Furthest East I've Ever Been

During my semester abroad, we traveled to many places. We hiked in the Swiss Alps, sampled wine in Alsace, ate waffles in Brussels. However, I was a little taken aback by a little country called Estonia.

Estonia’s capital city, Tallinn, is about 3 hours away by car from the border with Russia and about 2 hours away by boat from Helsinki, Finland. I was expecting a cold, barren place (think Bratislava as depicted in “EuroTrip”) when we traveled to Tallinn, Estonia, but what I found a neat, quirky little city.


I was very impressed with Tallinn. We stayed in the “up-town,” the older section. The city’s medieval walls and town hall still stand. There is a town square with neat little alleyways and streets jutting off of it. The downtown area was just as modern as any other major city though. Sure enough, there were McDonalds’ and 5-story shopping malls. What impressed me most about Tallinn, however, was how many people spoke English and how well they spoke it. I was quite glad that they did, because I could not understand Estonian at all. Imagine a few common English words, then double up on the vowels and add a few extra syllables, and you’ve got something that resembles Estonian. For example, a souvenir store is called “suuveniiridid.” Streets bore names such as “Toompea” and “Rahukohtu,” while signs advertised things such as “Kohvik-Restoran Merevaikus Patkuli Vaateplats.” Don’t ask me what it means. You’d think “Pood” would mean “food,” but it doesn’t.

The country made the news most recently when it knocked down a Soviet memorial from one of Tallinn’s parks. There’s also a museum of communism, featuring lots of memorabilia from the Soviet era. Some friends and I went to a palace that formerly belonged to Peter the Great. What was once one of his summer palaces was turned into an art museum. Right next door, however, we discovered the official residence of the Estonian president. On account of the building’s color scheme, we named it the Pink House. Oh, those wacky Estonians...

Estonia is not a backwards country. Their foreign ministry is housed in an ultra-modern building, and the club scene is comparable to those of other European countries (complete with lasers and smoke machines). However, the country maintains a certain degree of charm.

So, taenan for stopping by!

- Posted by Dave Hardison, IES EU Program, Fall 2007

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Todo bom

While studying in Salvador, Brazil, my favorite hangout was a place called Mercado do Peixe; or in English, the Fish Market. It is a very cheap outdoor collection of bars and restaurants that fills a parking lot with plastic tables and chairs. It sits next to the beach, and when cars aren't blasting Brazilian music from their stereos, you can hear the waves crashing against the rocks that separate the market from the sand. Almost every night ended at the Fish Market, and because of our constant presence, our group of American students and Brazilian locals became close with our favorite waiter, DC. When I think back about Brazil, I always wind up reminiscing about the Fish Market, and all the great memories that were made there.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

American-style football club


Among the many popular cultural exports of America in Japan, which are so vast and include things from Pizza Hut to Mustang convertibles, I found it odd that American Football hadn't quite been popularized yet. The differences between a big 10 school to a private foreign language university are stark and revealing when it comes to intercollegiate athletics.
At school, I would see the "American Football Club" practicing on the dirt field behind the student services center almost every day after class, but I never once heard if or when they were playing a game.
So I asked my host mother, seemingly unaware of Kansai Gaidai's football club, who speculated that maybe they weren't very good and they didn't want anyone coming to their games.
This puzzled me. Who wouldn't want to go and cheer on their school's football team? Maybe Penn State Football culture and being at a division 1 school had made me unwaware to the fact that there are some people in this world to whom football is not life.
So, I never did find out if the Kansai Gaidai American Football Club ever played games with other schools. Being a "club" I assumed that they did compete, but on their own time and money. It was refreshing to be at a school that actually had a non-existent athletic program, but instead, a large body of self-supporting student organized clubs and circles, that benefited the students academically and socially.
I really kind of ended up enjoying life minus big-time collegiate athletics, and I learned way more Japanese without football hoopla getting in the way.