So, I just wanted to start out with an apology for it taking me so long to write this post. As of sitting down to write out my final thoughts on my study abroad, it has been roughly a little over two weeks since my last update. To catch you up to speed, I am safely back in the States, at home in Charlotte, North Carolina. I have been home for about a week and a half now. My flight flew out of Singapore on December 3rd and thanks to changes in time zones I managed to arrive in Charlotte only 12 hours after taking off (even though I was actually in the air/in route for about 24 hours).
Airport hopping all the way home! Changi in Singapore to Narita in Tokyo to Washington-Dulles in D.C. to Home @ Charlotte-Douglas
The flight wasn’t too bad. As I mentioned in my first post (WOW that feels like forever ago!) I am easily satiated with in-flight movies. Thankfully the selection was pretty good so my complaints were few. Another blessing from the flight was that I did not get jet lagged! From my recent travels to Asia I have come up with a pretty successful technique for battling jet lag. I have only tried it out 4 times now (round trip flights) but so far it has a 100% success rate. To put it simply, while on the flight I don’t sleep…yeah, I don’t imagine too many of you will be adopting that strategy. It has worked out though. Whenever I land I always try to stay awake (no naps) until I would normally go to bed that way I will go right to sleep. I also try to make sure that I don’t sleep in. It’s always been surprisingly easy to get back on track with my sleep cycle. I guess I am very fortunate.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…eeeeeeverywhere you goooo!…WAIT, What!?
Yep…even in Singapore.
It’s that time of year again everyone! From the gathering of family, to decorations being displayed everywhere you look, there is a certain sense of joy that fills the air around this time of year. One of the best things that I have noticed while being in Singapore is that the same festivity which we experience in the United States can be found all over the world.
Christmas in Singapore is in town and its hard to ignore.
Being a multicultural nation, it was no surprise to me that Christmas was celebrated in Singapore. From what I have observed with other religious holidays, Singaporeans know how to throw some pretty fantastic religious celebrations. From the Muslim celebration of Hari Raya, to the Buddhist Hungry Ghost Festival, to the Hindu festival of Deepavali to Christmas, it has been a blast getting to see all of the different holidays and observe some of the differences and similarities both between the various festivals and comparing them to what I have experienced back in the States. Most of the holidays have been a completely new experience for me. Even though they are known by different names back home (Hari Raya is Eid, and Deepavali is Diwali) I had minimal knowledge about how the holidays were celebrated or even what they were about. Thankfully being abroad in a country as diverse as Singapore has provided me with ample opportunity to further my understanding of both the festivities and also the religions themselves.
Christmas decorations wouldn't be complete without some inflatable snow globes.
Now for Christmas, that is a very different story. Being a Christian from the States, I am very familiar with the holiday from both a religious and commercial standpoint. I can say that I whole-heartedly enjoy both aspects of the holiday. Being abroad in Singapore during this time of year, as decorations go up in anticipation of the Christmas season has been a thoroughly interesting experience for me.
So…fun fact about me. I am a senior about to graduate from NC State University (on time) with a bachelor of science in business administration-marketing. Now based on that small description one might assume that I am of an analytical nature, perhaps with an interest perusing the latest issues of Businessweek and Forbes. Haha, far from it. In truth, I would hardly describe myself as someone who fits the mold of the stereotypical business student. Now in all fairness, I do have a healthy interest in organizational operation and marketing, but I am proud to say that business does not dominate my interests and aspirations. Even more than that, business hasn’t always been my 1st choice in terms of majors or career paths either.
Over the course of my three and a half years at State I have changed my major at least once each year over the past three years. My freshman year I was a graphic design major, my second year I was a double major in communication-public relations and business administration, and finally, my third year I settled on my business administration major while electing to pursue a concentration in marketing and a minor in design studies. Now the funny part about all of this is that none of the 3 paths I just mentioned were a part of the dream I had for myself when I was in high school. While it may seem odd or random, the thing that I always wanted to be “when I grew up” was….a plant biologist.
I told you. Random.
Ever since I was a little kid, I have always been obsessed with the ride “Living with the Land” at Disney’s EPCOT. You read me correct when I say that it is my favorite ride across all of the parks at the Walt Disney World Resort. I am not exactly sure why (probably has something to do with overexposure to Captain Planet), but ever since riding it for the first time I have been enthralled.
Aeroponics, biotechnology labs, and plant molds; It was love at first sight.
Seriously, look at that picture. As a kid, how could you not think that was cool? A pumpkin in the shape of mickey mouse; it was genius. Well, at least it was for me anyway…But then again, around that same time I had an over zealous obsession for ZooBooks so it’s really no surprise.
But how does this relate to Singapore you might ask? Well, all of this is a back story for me to segue into an incredible (read: completely geeked-out) experience I recently had.
It should be no surprise to anyone thinking about studying abroad that the spending a semester internationally will enable you to be a part of a multitude of experiences that you just would not be able to do through your regular course track with the University. From cultural immersion to international study, there are a number of different opportunities along the way that will certainly define your study abroad and college experience. So far, I have really been impacted by my opportunities to travel around to the different parts of Southeast Asia and by the relationships I have formed through this exchange. However, the definition of my study abroad program has not stopped at just those two things.
As I have continued to allow myself to become immersed in this experience, one thing that I have noticed continually rising to the service is that a countless number of opportunities are made available to those who are willing to embrace them. Before I left for Singapore at the very beginning of August, I don’t think I would have ever been able to imagine swimming with elephants, eating barbecued stingray, or even simply maturing in the way that I have over these past couple of months. Another opportunity that I would not have been able to imagine, deals with the topic of this blog post. Back in North Carolina, I don’t think it ever occurred to me that while I was thousands of miles away on the other side of the world that I would have the opportunity to make a direct impact on those within my State and community. However, through the NC State Cultural Correspondents Program that is exactly what I have been given the chance to do.
The Cultural Correspondents Program is a program that is run through the Center for International Understanding in collaboration with NC State University and the Study Abroad Office. From their website, the Cultural Correspondents Program is defined as…
Cultural Correspondents is an innovative way of partnering university study abroad students with K-8 classrooms in North Carolina. Using 21st century communications technologies, university study abroad students are paired with K-8 classrooms to present lessons on their host country, culture, and experiences. The teachings that study abroad students and their classroom teacher design and share with K-8 classrooms are aligned to classroom concepts and curriculum, thus fulfilling State Board of Education mandates. This type of partnership is mutually beneficial because it allows study abroad students to gain valuable service-learning experience, while also allowing K-8 students to learn firsthand about another country’s cultures, climate, economy, geography, etc. Correspondent teachings are supervised and facilitated by the classroom teacher as additional parts of their lessons. Each participant receives training in web conferencing, a technology that combines familiar computer applications in a virtual online classroom designed for real-time communication and collaboration. All of these aspects combined help ensure the K-8 student has a complete education, well-rounded by an introduction to international education that can help prepare them to become 21st century graduates. – NCIWConnections
When I found out back in September that I had been invited and asked to be apart of this program I was very quick to respond with an enthusiastic YES! My first thought, was, “When would I ever have the opportunity to do this again?” and my second thought was “Why was this not around when I was a kid?!” Another reason I was excited about the program is that I knew it would give me the perfect opportunity to give kids back home, in my own State no less, the ability to expand their global focus and see that it really is a small world after all. I did not want them to grow up as closed-minded as many of my generation have.
No…more like, “ Captain Barbosa, Welcome to the Hollywood Backlottttttttt!”
To be honest, I am not afraid to admit that I didn’t know prior to the submission of my application to study abroad what Singapore would be like. Up until that point, my working knowledge of the country had been given to me mostly from brief references and the opening scenes of the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Fortunately, Singapore has defied my expectations and is a lot more than the stick-built fishing village you see in the movie (NOTE: That scene happens to be a point of hilarity among Singaporeans…glad to know that Hollywood is doing its homework before filming…or not haha). Additionally, Chow Yun Fat is no where to be found…which was a real bummer 😦
(FUN FACT: Jet Li was granted Singaporean citizenship in 2009. He chose to live in Singapore for its school system for his daughters.)
But jokes aside, it does appear that this is a significant issue that our generation needs to overcome. With Singapore quickly becoming a financial epicenter for not only Southeast Asia, but also for the world, it is important for our university graduates to be familiar with countries and regions where they may one day be conducting business. Though I can personally laugh when my friends ask me how life in China is, thinking that Singapore is a city within the country, a future employer, or even worse, future Singaporean clients, maaaaaaayyyyy not find it as humorous.
However, the Center for International Understanding is working to right many of those wrongs and is making a significant impact in the North Carolina School Systems. Already the Cultural Correspondents program is receiving recognition for the work it’s doing at NC State and you can read about its recent place in the news HERE and HERE.
Fellow Cultural Correspondent, Emily Gray, and her First Grade Class.
Also, I have made available a link to a PDF about a fellow correspondent’s experiences with the program during her travels in Ireland. You can find the link HERE.
As for my experience with the program, it has truly been phenomenal.
A slide from my first presentation to my class of Second Graders.
I was partnered with a second grade class at Clyde Erwin Elementary Magnet School. My partner teacher for the program, Ms. Chivers, has been great to work with. She is incredibly supportive and helps me to interact with the class and come up with new topics for me to teach the class related to Singapore. So far I have taught two lessons to the class. In my first lesson I got to introduce myself to the class and talk to them a little bit about general knowledge of Singapore. For my second lesson I got to teach the class about the geography of Singapore which ties into the current topic they are covering in class. My next lesson will cover weather, which is perfect because I will get to talk about Monsoon season, a weather pattern we don’t experience in the States (and is relevant to the current time of year I am experiencing in Singapore at the moment).
Here I am teaching the class how to say "Goodbye" in Mandarin over the Adobe Connect software.
All in all, this program has been incredibly rewarding. To know that through the service-learning portions of this program I am empowering these students to develop a cultural curiosity and seek to learn about the world around them is awesome. I am very glad that I have been able to be a part of it. It has been just one of the things that has really made my study abroad experience one of the best experiences of my college career for sure!
One of the biggest factors for me in choosing to study abroad has always been the opportunity to enroll in some pretty unique courses. Talk of wine tasting in Italy and art appreciation in France are usually enough to make any person, let alone student, salivate. But beyond the more expected options are courses that are exciting to take just based on the university in which they are taught. It’s not something often considered, but simply based on NC State’s engineering/math/science focus there can be a lot of differences in taking a simple business course at State and taking that same course at a liberal arts focused university. Also, other factors like the professors, breadth of course options, and curriculum can really make the educational side of your study abroad all the more special. Noting these factors, it should be no surprise that when it came to select my courses for my exchange I was very excited.
In an earlier blog entry I shared a list of the courses I had enrolled in at SMU this semester. In the entry I talked about how two of the courses really interested me because of their unique curriculum and course content. For this post, I wanted to follow up you about one of the courses and talk about how things are going, projects that I have worked on and what I have been able to learn over this semester. In total, this course has allowed me to participate in some very cool projects and this is one that I am really happy to share.
COMM215-Digital Media Across Asia
CourseDescription-
From Wikipedia, to YouTube, Twitter, Baidu, Cyworld, and the iPhone, digital media is rapidly changing how corporations interact with constituents. Corporate communicators need to be digitally literate and organizations must respond to the flood of online information and responses. In COMM 215 you will learn how businesses across Asia are adopting and using digital channels to build relationships and meet business objectives.
You will learn about four challenges. The first is a personal challenge of adopting digital media and becoming a skilled knowledge worker. The second is a corporate challenge and how businesses can adopt digital channels to meet business goals and protect their reputation. The third challenge is social business and realtime communication. Finally, the last challenge is the broader Asian context and how we use these channels across Asia’s diverse and fragmented markets.
The course (which was recognized in the NY Times for unique course design) was setup up to look like any other class. Lessons were taught once a week on Mondays from 7:00pm to 10:00pm (not as bad as it sounds!) in a seminar style format. Each week we were taught about how Digital Media (read: new disruptive technologies like Facebook and Smartphones) has emerged as an important factor in global business and specifically, how digital media is currently being adopted in Asia. The curriculum was developed to give us key insights on how digital media could be successfully leveraged by businesses to do everything from generating marketing campaigns with high penetration to crowd-sourcing entire projects, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars on operating costs.
For those of you who might be concerned about the title, don’t worry lah! It’s nothing offensive. What you just read basically means “Very Fantastic!” It’s actually one of my favorite parts of the Singaporean culture, Singlish!
All ang mohs and foreigners will kena this culture shock lah!
For those who are unfamiliar, Singlish is a unique language proudly spoken by the locals of Singapore. The language’s name is more or less just a shortened way of saying Singaporean English. Now, many of you back home are probably shocked to hear that English is one of the official languages of Singapore and is the primary business language. Almost all Singaporeans speak English fluently (and most are also bilingual) but that doesn’t stop them from putting their own interesting twist on the language.
Being that Singapore is a melting pot of cultures, it should be no surprise that the prominent cultures of the country have played a role in the development of the style of English spoken here. Over the years, different historical events have also shaped the way English is spoken. For example, Singapore used to be a part of Malaysia so the two countries share a lot of their words (like “lah”). Also, since Singapore is a Commonwealth nation, you find that many English words used here are similar to the ones used by the Auzzies and the Kiwis (Read: Australia and New Zealand). The biggest influencer though, is the fact that the greater majority of Singaporeans (>70% of the population) are able to trace their ancestry back to China. Because of this, Chinese has played a major role in the development of Singlish. Some Singlish sentences are almost translated directly from the Chinese language and many Singaporeans are very efficient in expressing entire sentences with just one or two words.
Want learn more meh? Can lah!
Another fun fact about Singlish is that it has also translated over into how the locals communicate online or through text messaging. For example, a sentence like “Remember, the Professor wants us to come at 3:30pm, so don’t be late” my be translated into Singlish as “Eh, rem ah, prof 1s us come at 330pm, don late ah.”
Feeling blur meh? Ah, don kan cheong!
Altogether, Singlish does take some getting used to, but as long as you are willing to be patient and listen carefully it is easy to pick it up. However, Singlish is not an official language so don’t expect to hear or use it in any professional setting. Singlish is only used in social communication and most schools here instruct students against the use of the language since they want their students to be universally understood.
...And the answer is "Can!"
My favorite Singlish word is “lah.” Lah is one of the most common (if not the most common) Singlish words that you will hear in Singapore. In my opinion, I would say that it is very similar to the Canadian “eh.” The difference being that “eh” is more commonly used when asking a question and “lah” is used more for when expressing emphasis or exclamation. It’s very fun to throw into your sentences and the locals get a kick out of it when they see you trying to use Singlish.
Here are some more common words that you will hear spoken in Singapore.
“Ang Moh” – (Chinese: Hokkien) literally means “red hair” in Hokkien (a Chinese dialect). It refers to Caucasians or Westerners.
“Boh Chup” – (Chinese: Hokkien) Couldn’t care less attitude.
“Blur” – Confused or confusing.
“Can” – Yes!
“Chope” – To lay claim to something, like reserving seats. Example: “Can you chope that seat for me?”
“Damn” – Usually used to mean “very” or “extremely.” Example: “It’s damn hot.”
“Die, die” – Imperative, absolutely, no matter what happens. Example: “I die, die must watch that movie by tomorrow.”
“Kan cheong” – (Chinese: Cantonese) To panic or be overly anxious.
“Kena” – (Malay) To get experience. Example: “Don’t drive above the speed limit. You might kena a fine by the traffic police.”
“Kiasu” – (Chinese: Hokkien) Afraid of being left out, failing or losing out to others.
“Lah (Leh/Lor)” – Usually heard at the end of a sentence. It has various meanings but is commonly used for emphasis. Example: “Good lah!”
“Malu” – (Malay) Embarrassed.
“Meh” – Usually added at the end of a sentence to denote a question being asked. Example: “It’s done like this meh?”
“Shiok” – Fantastic; very good. Usually used to describe food. “This steak is damn shiok.”
“Siao” – Crazy; out of one’s mind. Example: “You want to run a marathon under the afternoon sun? You siao ah?”
“Aunty/Uncle” – Affectionately used word to describe an elderly person, regardless of their relation to you. Usually used to address stall vendors and shop proprietors.
In addition to these very unique Singlish words, Singapore also has a wide array of words that it has borrowed from the Commonwealth. I laughed when I saw Andrew Sen’s post on the Kiwi’s twist on English because a lot of the same words are used here. One of the hardest words for me to adjust to is the use of the word toilet (which is all encompassing for bathroom). (Story time!: I experienced one very awkward moment when I first arrived in Singapore. I was meeting a local SMU student and went to shake her hand. After we shook hands and greeted each other with our names she apologized for having wets hands stating that she had “just come from the toilet”…o.0. Least to say, for the moment it took me to realize that she was talking about having washed her hands in the bathroom I am sure that I probably looked hilariously puzzled.)
Just for fun, here are some videos showing you just how the language is used.
It all happened during a one-kilometer stretch. As I started down a long stretch of pavement inching nearer and nearer to the finish line of my 10k run, a thought sparked in my head. I’ve been known to do this from time to time. My mind often drifts away from the task at hand during races (usually in a desperate attempt to help my body ignore its current exhaustion and air/fluid deprivation). However this time, the thought was more of an epiphany. It was a realization of how what I was doing in that moment related to a much bigger picture; one that I needed to share…
…But first, let me rewind for a moment.
Prior to my arrival in Singapore as a participant in the NCSU-SMU exchange program, I had decided that I was very interested in using this opportunity as a journey to focus on some personal challenges. I wanted to read more, write more, learn more, and perhaps most importantly for me, I wanted to be healthier. Now, I have never been unhealthy per se, but I definitely feel that my fitness level has deteriorated significantly since my time in high school. I am not sure if it was a shift in my priorities or a physical inability to find the time in the day, but I have definitely noticed that I have not been able to put in my desired level of effort towards staying fit. Physical activity has always been something that has made me happy so I have been determined to rekindle that passion.
Enter SMU.
As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, one of the opportunities I have found to be incredibly rewarding at SMU is the opportunity to participate in CCA’s (or Co-Curricular Activities). One CCA in particular, Aquathlon has become quite close to my heart. When I first roamed the campus and saw each CCA’s promotional posters, I was immediately intrigued by Aquathlon (more than likely because of their cool uniforms and the thought that I could stand to gain quite a bit back home if I could find a way to bottle their swagger.). For me, it has been a long time goal of mine to participate in a triathlon. I hoped to be able to one day get my fitness level to the point that I would feel comfortable competing in one. Noting this, and the fact that triathlon and aquathlon training are a part of the Aquathlon CCA’s core focus, I figured it was only natural that it would be a good fit. I am pleased to say that the CCA has exceeded all expectations.
The Incredible SMU Aquathlon Team. I love these guys! Go SMUrts!
At SMU, Aquathlon has provided me with a sense of belonging. The members, my teammates and peers, welcomed me to their organization and showed sincere interest in helping me to achieve my goals. Their passion to push themselves and to always try their hardest has really made an impact on how I view initiative and personal motivation. Seeing the intensity within each member as they train for their next event (whether it be a road race, triathlon, or Iron Man) has been an incredible source of motivation for me in achieving my personal goals. Over the course of the term so far, as I have trained with the Aquathlon team, I have noticed that I have strengthened my mental toughness and developed my will power. Where before I may have given up on certain running distances, I now have the strength to break through mental barriers and keep on fighting. The best part of all of this training is that I feel like the concepts that I am learning through my time with Aquathlon are beginning to bleed over into other aspects of my daily life. My developed senses of personal motivation, initiative, and awareness of potential have allowed me to reach new heights within my studies and other extracurricular activities. In truth, I honestly owe a lot to the perspective that Aquathlon has granted me during my time at SMU. It has definitely been an important part of the experience I have had in Singapore thus far.
…But what does this have to do with the first part of my post? Well, a whole lot actually. The main reason that I wanted to talk about my experiences with Aquathlon and my passion for running is that they have allowed me to identify an over-arching concept that is absolutely essential to study abroad; having the courage to try.
Me and my travel buddy, Kirsty Koopmans from the University of Exeter in the UK.
The Centre, which doubles as a sanctuary and is located north east of KL, operates in conjunction with the Malaysian government to provide homes to, or rehabilitate orphaned elephants. The sanctuary also helps in the relocation of elephants that have become a nuisance to farmers all throughout Malaysia. Though elephants are viewed as docile and gentle creatures, they still are incredibly powerful and dangerous. If an elephant feels that it or its herd is threatened it can and will charge in defense…Least to say, being in front of a charging elephant is not a place that you ever want to be.
Posing with the "baby" elephants.
The trip to the elephant sanctuary was marked with a number of learning opportunities. As part of the tour, we were taught about the life style of the Asian elephant in its natural habitat and then were given a many chances to interact with the elephants. It was really cool to feed them. It’s quite remarkable to see the dexterity that they have in their trunks. Though they are quite large, they were easily able to pick up the small peanuts we held in our hands for them. Another thing that I discovered at the sanctuary is that elephants have poor eyesight. It is not something that I would have assumed at first, but it makes sense given their superb hearing and smelling abilities. They don’t really need their eyes all that much.
If I had to describe my recent trip to Malaysia, that is the adjective that I would use to describe it. For one, some of the sights that I was able to the see and experience on the trip were truly breath-taking and two, it is literally unbelievable that I had this opportunity. While constantly reminding myself that the entirety of this study abroad experience wasn’t even thought to be a possibility last year around this time, I keep pinching myself routinely just to make sure it’s not all a dream.
To start off, first allow me to provide a brief introduction.
Singapore Management University has been on Recess this past week. Coincidentally, Recess fell around the same time as NC State’s Fall break, which I found to be quite comical. Recess at SMU is a week in length, and many students at SMU (specifically exchange students) use the opportunity as a chance to travel. Because of the length of the time off, many exchange students have chosen this week to travel to some of the more exotic destinations (I have heard a lot of talk about excursions to Australia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Japan!). Unfortunately though, recess week usually hides a double-edged sword…
Kiasu (Chinese: 驚輸; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kiaⁿ-su) is a Hokkien word that literally means “fear of losing.”
While classes are suspended during this week, many students are still not able to take a break from their studies. All week-long, students utilize the week to catch up with homework and assignments or to meet with their project groups to work on long-term assignments. Jokingly, many students refer to the utilization of Recess as part of their “kiasu” nature, where they don’t want to fall behind (or they want to get ahead) in their pursuit of the top grades in their classes. However, I can honestly say that this is not a joke. Having experienced the rigor of the courses at SMU, I have been using this week as well to get caught up in several of my classes. However, not wanting to let the opportunity pass me by, I was able to sneak away at the start of week to Malaysia to experience some of what the country had to offer. Here is what I got to see!
First Stop – Kuala Lumpur
Because of Singapore’s close proximity to Malaysia, many people (Singaporeans, Students, and Tourists alike) use the opportunity to travel to the country when they have the chance. From the heart of Singapore, it only takes roughly 45 minutes to crossover over the border into Malaysia by bus. My friend and fellow exchange student, Kirsty Koopmans, and I took a 5 hour bus ride from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. The ride was very comfortable and very affordable which was nice. It was rather late when we arrived, but we were able to get out and explore a little bit of the town before getting some sleep for our next day of sight-seeing.
Indian food like this is customarily eaten with your fingers....we still insisted on using a fork haha
The first item on our list of things to do in KL was to visit the Batu Caves. Located to the north of Kuala Lumpur, the Batu Caves are the site of a very famous hindu temple. KL, like Singapore, is highly accessible with its massive Light Rail system. To get to the caves we were able to hop on the train and be their in minutes. Once we arrived at the Caves we were met by the enormous Hindu statue that stands guard at the foot of the cave.
For this post I would like to take the opportunity to talk about an event I recently had the privilege to be able to take part in. Last week, Singapore Management University hosted its annual Week of Peace. The week, lasting from September 16th-September 23rd, is comprised of three main events that students participate in celebration of global peace awareness. The three events are the International Cultural Night, the International Day of Peace Ceremony, and RunAboutPeace. The event in particular that I would like to highlight is the International Day of Peace Ceremony. The ceremony, which is organized by SMU, is done in observation of the International Day of Peace, which takes place on the 21st of September each year. For this ceremony, SMU invites its students, both local and those from foreign exchange, to take part and represent their respective country for the event. For this event, I was proud to be able to represent the United States.
Before I get into more details about SMU’s event, first let me explain a little bit more about the International Day of Peace.
Me and and fellow SMU Exchanger, Cristina Gavrilă from Romania, proudly representing our countries
This site includes blog posts from NC State University students who are studying abroad, our #PackAbroad. The opinions and views expressed through this website are the opinions of the designated authors and do not reflect the opinions or views of NC State University.
Part of North Carolina State University, the Study Abroad Office offers hundreds of study abroad programs in around 70 different countries.
Notes from Abroad 