Semester
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I spent three months in Europe this summer. During the month of May I was on the Grand Tour, a study abroad experience focused on the gardens and art of Europe. During June and July I backpacked around Europe with another UGA student. I think it’s really easy to romanticize travel, and oftentimes we create…
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When preparing for a major trip, coming to terms with reality can be a fickle thing. It only really began to hit me as I packed my final belongings into my hiking backpack. I’ve got everything that I need for three months abroad in my pack, I hope. It’s really amazing how much you can…
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Culture shock is used to describe the sensation of leaving home to find yourself in uncomforted, new circumstances abroad. No one ever tells you that it is just as unnerving to return home. The main problem is the expectation of a return to normality when you get back home. The reality is that ‘home’ is…
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During the long journey home, I had plenty of time to reflect on my European experience and the impacts it would have in my day-to-day life. Obviously, I learned so much academic material from the lectures. I gained so much knowledge about history, art, and garden design that I had not known about before. But…
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During a free evening in Rome, two of us decided to trek to Gianicolo Hill, where you could see a magnificent view of the city. It was challenging to find this hill, though, using GoogleMaps. We kept running into dead ends but eventually we came to this garden, from which we thought we would be…
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Waiting at the gate to board my flight across the Atlantic to Rome was filled with the anticipation of the coming European adventure. My mind was racing with thoughts of things I may have forgotten, and questions like, “Did I pack enough underwear?”, “Do I have the right adapters?” and double, er, triple-checking to make…
Posted in: Europe, Faculty-led, Maymester, Program type, Reflection, The Grand Tour: Art and Gardens, Uncategorized -
This trip has been AMAZING and life changing. By spending almost a month in Europe it made me realize that I want my first job to require a lot of travel. The classes were very interesting. Even if they were very long, I succeeded learning French agriculture and culture. The food was delicious and a…
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Being surrounded by thousands of people, I still felt alone sometimes. I had no idea what anyone was saying. Language barrier was very difficult to deal with, but I seemed to manage. We took a French language class every other day and it seemed to help a lot with casual conversation and directions. I absolutely…
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When I boarded my plane in Rome, set to arrive in the States in less than 10 hours, I already knew that it would be weird to go back home. I felt that, over the past three and a half weeks, I had changed dramatically. Italy had given me an opportunity to see what the…
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If you’ve never been to or heard of Cinque Terre, read on and be prepared for this tiny slice of heaven. If you have been to Cinque Terre, you already know just how magical of a place it is. I had never heard of Cinque Terre before one night at Lion’s Well, the favorite late-night…