Michigan Engineers Abroad

It’s hopeful to believe you’ll change drastically in two months, to be able to suddenly let go of worries of socializing, of figuring out how to adjust, of what adventure really means when you’re alone. It's realistic to accept that you will change, even to some extent. 

I’ve learned so much about the culture and history of Hong Kong– what food locals eat, what Cantonese sounds like, where locations in Hong Kong came from. I’ve learned what students, professors, and classes are like abroad. I’ve learned that everyone is willing to talk, willing to help, to hang out, you just have to ask, because there’s a good chance they want to. I’ve met so many people from all across the world, and found out what it’s like to live there, realizing how different everyone’s lives are. And I’m now far more independent, to live and explore a foreign country even on my own.

I’ve been able to see more. The mountains, the oceans, the freedom of life. There are so many paths, so many places to end up, and closing yourself off to any of them is keeping yourself in a box you can't see. I’ve learned to take things slow, adopt a mindset everything will work out, eventually, and to be at peace with any one of those outcomes. 

It seems dramatic for how long I’ve been here, or maybe just in general, but the more you talk to people who have made their way to the same place as you from completely different backgrounds and ages, you begin to understand just how many possibilities exist. I crave to visit as many places as possible, meet with as many people as possible, as I grow older, because every small conversation, every sight, tugs on your perspective. Understanding both society and the world is exactly how good engineers, good people, are made.

Life’s more exciting when you chase knowledge, and when you chase change. And, obviously, it’s more exciting when you chase adventure. For that, I beg anyone reading this, even if you have concerns, study abroad, go abroad, even if it’s not Hong Kong. There’s a good chance you’ll feel fulfilled, in yourself, in your choices, and in your new outlook towards the future.

For me, Hong Kong was the place. A perfect two-month trial of a place I have never been even close to and that I knew nothing about. Putting myself in a situation where I would have to adapt to a drastically different culture, was going to incite, I hoped, the biggest change in me. I really do believe that I’m better off now, for choosing Hong Kong. I just hope, one day, I’ll be able to come back here again. Eat some pineapple buns, some egg tarts, and have dim sum with my friends. 

I’ll miss this place in a way I wasn’t expecting. I’ve made the most of these past two months, and for everyone looking for a push to join this program, here it is, Hong Kong will not let you down. 

Ps. here’s the cute little free bear they give us when the program is over lol (his name is Kennedy short for Kennedy town a stop on the MTR)

Dvita Kini

Aerospace Engineering

It’s finally time for my final week, and I could not be more heartbroken. I wasn’t really anticipating the loss I was going to feel leaving Hong Kong, but I’m so glad I now feel this way because that means this study abroad, Hong Kong, and the people I’ve met have meant so, so much to me!

For the last week, I chose to go through my remaining bucket list items. On Saturday, we went back to Ngong Ping Village for the cable cars, which takes you so high above a section of the oceans, some super tall mountains, and has a view of the Big Buddha. The cable cars landed in the village and I was able to have a crazy “full circle” moment walking through that area and around the Big Buddha again, since that’s where HKUST first took us on our day tour! This was really pricey, around 35USD, but if you have time to kill, I’d recommend it.

Before that, actually, we stopped by Australia Diary again, so our friend could try it. I also wanted to try the peanut butter condensed milk toast that’s apparently also a staple for kids growing up in Hong Kong, so good by the way. We then went to a Michelin star mango mochi stand, called Bean Mountain, but it was just pretty decent. I think the one I had in Tai O was better. Here’s a photo of a stall nearby that was selling the opportunity to curse people. I saw these my first week as well, but I think I forgot to share it with you guys, but it’s hilarious. 

Later, we went and tried Din Tai Fung which has been on my bucket list for years now, since there’s some in the states, but it was very yummy, just pretty pricey for Hong Kong and not filling at all. We had to get another meal a few hours later which was wonton soup noodles. In between, we visited the Hong Kong space museum (shout out aerospace majors (because that’s me)) and it was small but super fun. And, probably for the third time, I went back to the art museum so my friend could visit. 

I’ve been seeing this place called Sushiro all over Hong Kong and Japan, so I finally got to try it for the first time. It’s this conveyor belt sushi, and it was pretty decent, but I think Kura is better. I also went to the American Diner one last time. And I’ve had so much mango sago in just this week alone, but it’s so incredibly delicious and definitely one of my favorite desserts, so I’m going to miss it being so widely accessible to me.

What I would 100% recommend is to go to the beach, whenever you find a nice sunny day. The sand is so incredibly soft, the water is clear,  just the perfect temperature, and shallow, and the views are just impossible to look away from. I wish I had gone more often, and I could’ve swam but I wasn’t expecting it to be so swimmable when I had visited. The one I went to is called Hong Kong Clear Water Second Beach or something like that.

Aw, it’s even hard to wrap up this blog. I want to share with you, though, the one thing that is going to make leaving the hardest: the spectacular views. I’m breathless every time I see the wide expanse of ocean and the islands of mountains. It’s nice to look at from the top of the library, which is where I took the selfie below, and the views from the room, especially, are to die for. I believe Hong Kong has the best views of all time, though I also haven’t been to a lot of places, but what could beat this??? The fact I have to return to Michigan where none of this exists makes me so, so sad.

Seriously, I’ve had the best possible time in Hong Kong, and I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. If you’re adventurous, and want a taste of something completely new, this is the right place for you. I promise you, you won’t regret it. Come spend your summer in Hong Kong, and I swear two months is not close to enough here!!

So, for the last time, I’m signing off!

Dvita Kini

Aerospace Engineering

My time in Rome is officially over, meaning my days walking past ancient ruins and structures, enjoying an aperitivo with my friends, and taking a gelato break are officially in the past. After 8 weeks of wandering through different streets and exploring different cities and countries, I can say that it most definitely fulfilled my expectations and left me with countless memories. One of my favorite things about the Rome program was that it was 8 weeks which is decently long for a summer program, because I genuinely wanted to feel like I was living somewhere else for a long period of time. I most definitely now have enough memories to last a lifetime, so my 8 weeks did me well, but personally I wouldn’t mind more even in the slightest. 

As I look back on what my main goals were going into this program, I am glad to see I pretty much achieved them. One of my main goals was to travel and explore different places and cultures as much as possible. I was only in Rome for 2 of the 8 weekends during my program, so I got around to say the least. Not only did I explore different parts of Italy such as Florence, the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, and Pisa, but I also went to different countries such as Greece, Spain, and England. As I went to multiple different locations, I was able to spot differences in cultures and practices whether it be in food, clothes, manner, or how they spend their time. I did new things such as jetskiing, snorkeling, and going to one of my favorite artists’ concerts. 

Doing a study abroad is a bit tricky and falls into a grey area in the sense that I am not simply a tourist because I am living there for an extended period of time, but I am most definitely not a local resident given that I can’t even speak the language and I was still exploring the different parts of the city. Therefore throughout my time there I prioritized being a respectful tourist. I tried to say things in Italian as much as possible, keeping my Google Translate pulled up to Italian on standby. If there is a cultural custom to eat some things at a certain time or do things a certain way, I tried my hardest to do so. I was open in trying new things and foods, and always listened to people that lived there if they had any advice or guidance. 

Most importantly, I made connections and relationships with people in my neighborhood. After greeting the doorman to our apartment building multiple times a day I finally talked to him. I made acquaintances with the baristas at the coffee bar on my street, greeted and talked to the owners of a restaurant on our street, and was on a smiling basis with the local fruit vendor. I never really got too home sick because I didn’t treat it as an 8 week vacation, I tried to feel like I was living there, and I adapted to make myself feel at home. Over these last 8 weeks, I can confidently say that Rome became home. I knew the way around my neighborhood, which bridges to take across the Tiber River depending on where we wanted to go, which crosswalks would be most convenient to cross, where there were water fountains to refill my water, and where to go for my favorite gelato or pizza al taglio. In a bustling city full of tourism and people coming in and out, I found my way to settle in the background and enjoy the parts of Rome that are always there: the people, parks, piazzas, and simply the atmosphere. 

Here are some random things that people did in Rome that stood out/I enjoyed:

Italians are windowshoppers; they always stood outside stores for a long time pointing at an item that they liked

The corporate bike/vespa rush; the use of bikes/vespas is extremely common in Rome so especially at around 5 pm when people were coming back from work you would see countless people in their corporate clothing riding a bike which would always amuse me

At around lunch time I would see many people taking a break from their corporate jobs sitting outside enjoying a snack and drink, getting a gelato, or walking around the block

Prego.

Rome is a very walkable city with everything you need on every street of corner, so older people are more able to live independently and go grocery shopping or walking around by themselves

Coffee culture; going into a bar for two minutes to get a caffè at the bar counter, sip/drink it, and leave

If I had any regrets or were to do anything differently, I would have been even more outgoing and talked to more random people and locals. My favorite moments were talking to people about how life was growing up in the U.S. compared to how they grew up. I wish I fostered a bit more of connections so I would have people to visit or talk to. However, the fact that CEA CAPA was not a real university and was a study abroad program full of American students, it was a bit hard to talk to Italians my age. If I had any advice for anyone going into a study abroad program, it would be to be the most outgoing version of yourself possible. Talk to random people in the grocery stores, at a coffee bar, in a restaurant, anywhere. Just put yourself out there, and enjoy and embrace where you are. At the end of the day I made a lot of new friends, traveled the world in places I always wanted to go, and made more relationships and memories than I could ask for. 

A presto Roma, thank you for everything. Ciao grazie.

Rassa Abedinpour

Biomedical Engineering

Looking back at what I hoped to accomplish by studying abroad, I am happy to report I did what I set out to do. I learned so much about myself and other cultures, I got to try new foods, experience different customs, and I got to see Lorde in Milan so it was definitely all worth it. Although the “primary” purpose of studying abroad is getting to take classes, it is so much more than that. I learned how to handle stressful situations in a foreign country, navigate communicating with people who not only come from different backgrounds, but also speak a different language from me, and made so many connections with people that I will cherish for the rest of my life. With studying abroad, the learning never ceases. Looking back at how accustomed to life here in Sorrento I have become, it makes me realize how much I have learned and grown as a person, and I cannot wait to take that back with me when I arrive home.

Some of my favorite photos from Sorrento!

As for some unexpected aspects of my time here, I got to travel way more than I had originally anticipated which was incredible. I also found a new level of appreciation for the US. I think oftentimes we look at patriotism in the US as almost controversial given all the current events of today. However, getting to experience how other people live on the other side of the world, it allowed me to appreciate all of the things I missed from America so much more. One of those being air conditioning I must admit, but truly there is much more we often overlook. Especially being abroad during the world cup, seeing everyone’s support and joy for their own country made me admire that type of pride for one’s culture.

Reflecting on some of the lessons I learned, I figured I would give you a bullet point list of some of my best tips for everything study abroad related:

Do not book travel with 3rd party companies, especially if you are booking flights with layovers

Packing cubes are your best friend–I don’t think I would be able to take everything back home without them

Make an effort to always try new things, whether it's a new dish or recipe, flavor of gelato, or talking to someone you do not know

If you are able to, TRAVEL! Traveling was one of my most favorite parts of being abroad, and it is very doable even if you are on a tight budget it just takes careful planning

Do not stress too much about the school work/working, everyone here just wants you to enjoy the limited time you have being abroad

Try to always say yes. Side quests make for great stories, and they will end up being some of your favorite memories to look back on

Take care of yourself. It is easy to lose track of sleep with odd travel hours or long days working, but in order to enjoy the fun things, your body needs time to rest and recover also

Finally, try to go in with zero expectations. Everyone’s study abroad experience is different, and you will have the most fun if you go into it with an open mindset

Thank you guys again for following along with me for these past 10 weeks, it has been an honor and a privilege. If I could stay for another 10 weeks I would jump at the opportunity, so if you do end up getting the chance to study abroad, enjoy every second of it. It truly goes by in a blink of an eye, and soon enough you already are heading back home as a more experienced and insightful human being. I cannot believe I am saying this, but ciao for the very last time!

Ava Sillars

Data Science Engineering

Ciao! I cannot believe I am actually writing my last weekly blog–it genuinely feels surreal. Unlike the rest of my time here in Sorrento, this week has been full of “lasts.” I got gelato from Raki for the last time (the peach flavor and cookies flavor are decidedly my favorite), I went to the beach for the last time, and have been doing the last of my shopping for myself, friends, and family. I also visited the city of Positano for a total of 3 hours and I must admit, I think 2.5 of them were just going up and down stairs. Those stairs are not for the weak just a fair warning. The city was gorgeous though and like any city on the southern Italian coast, it had cute shops to talk through and a lovely beach.

Bagni Regina Giovanna again (left) and the peach gelato from Raki (right)

Positano! It was so pretty from the upper part of the city

End of Classes

Since our last day of classes was on Thursday, we had our final exam in physics, and I had a final presentation in my human rights class. The physics final was cumulative, and since our last midterm was only a couple weeks ago, there wasn’t a bunch of new content we had to learn so it wasn't too bad. Hopefully we will hear back soon about our final grades, however, we have been told that the process can sometimes take a while since they have to go through Jacksonville University before we can actually receive our transcripts. For my human rights final presentation, I chose to talk about the “Airpocalypse” which was when the air pollution was extremely bad in Beijing, China, in 2013. I had to describe the case, how it related to the human rights subjects we spoke about in class, and how the problem has been/should be addressed. Everyone had such unique and interesting topics so I really enjoyed listening to all of them. Honestly, I loved taking a second class during my second session at Sant’Anna. I loved my professor, the content was engaging, and I got to know so many other people from different schools, which I felt like I had not been able to do as much when I was doing the practical work experience.

Final Events

Besides wrapping up our classes, we also have had two farewell dinners during this past week. One of them was hosted by CIS, and the other by Sant’Anna. Both of them provided food and were hosted in locations other than Sant’Anna which was nice. The CIS dinner was at Masseria Sorrentino which had such a nice atmosphere, and the open pizza bar was amazing. The Sant’Anna dinner was hosted at the beach club which is right on the water so it had such a pretty view in the evening as the sun was setting. They served us a bunch of aperitivos, and then provided pasta at the end of the night. Both meals were so good, and definitely made me realize how much I am going to miss the food here once I return home.

Masseria Sorrentino (left) and the Sant'Anna Beach Club (right)

Sunset photos!

Saying Goodbyes

Again, this week has felt unreal. Having to say bye to all of the friends I have made over the past 10 weeks here was so much harder than I thought it would be. We have been doing so many last meals, gelato runs, and late nights together that it really makes me sad to leave.

I heart Sorrento! (left) and our last brunch at the Radical which was so good (right)

Of course another gelato run (left) and a balcony rainbow for the last day! (right)

Even so, I am definitely ready to see all my loved ones back at home, and get some of the foods I have been craving since being abroad. Overall, I am so grateful for having the chance to live in Sorrento, Italy for 10 wonderful weeks of my life, and I could not recommend it more than enough. Thank you for following along with me for some of the best memories I will ever have, and I will see you once more before I am done with this blog for good so don't worry just yet :)

Addio,

Ava Sillars

Data Science Engineering

Ciao ragazzi! It is with disbelief and bittersweetness that week 8 of 8 and therefore my journey in Rome has come to an end. It feels like it was just a couple weeks ago when I was awestruck staring at the street and building I would call home for the summer. Without further ado, I present to you my last week in Rome. 

Unfortunately the last week of a school program means finals :| Although they were not necessarily difficult, my art & archaeology class assigned a bit of end of program assignments. We had to do a presentation (mine was about food in ancient Rome), a final paper about the topic in our presentation, and then we had a final. Unfortunately this required me to lock myself in a chair until I finished the assignments because they were all on separate days (Mon, Tues, Wed). I also had my fluid mechanics final on Thursday, yay! Therefore, I was trying to be as efficient as possible so I could do good enough on the assignments and finals while being able to spend as much time outside enjoying my environment for my last week and knocking out anything I wanted to do while I was there. For my paper and presentation I was unfortunately a bit stationary in my apartment, but on the day of my exam I made sure to go to Villa Borghese one last time and prepare for my exam outside in the shade that the beautiful park provides. 

Villa Borghese

I then ventured to a sandwich shop that has been on my list this entire summer, La Vita e Un Mozzico. Although it is very popular, the owners have not let that alter their quality as they take their time making the sandwiches and talking to the customers. Therefore the line does take very long, but wow was it worth it. I got porchetta, stracciatella, and their pesto on pizza bianca, and it was probably one of the best sandwiches I have ever had. 

La Vita e Un Mozzico; the owners + the sandwich

All my assignments and exams for art & archaeology went well and they were nothing crazy, so don’t be scared into spending hours studying and preparing for them. I then had my fluid mechanics final, which I was a little more nervous about. Frankly, I just reviewed the practice exam he gave us and it was enough for what I needed. 

CEA Capa hosted a farewell event for us which consisted of a scavenger hunt where we went around the city trying to find specific things. We headed over to Vatican City as a few of the tasks were there. One of my favorite tasks was to take a picture with a nun, which gave me the chance to practice asking her to take a photo with us in Italian. One of the things that is definitely different and I just find funny/enjoyable to see is seeing a whole group of nuns or priests going out and getting a gelato. Also walking past clothing stores specific for priests is unique for me to see, and is most definitely an ode to the different culture I am experiencing in Rome. Following the scavenger hunt, CEA Capa also took us out for a pizza dinner.

Scavenger Hunt

As it is our last week, my friends and I hit up our spots one last time. Therefore on Tuesday, we went to our Taco Tuesday place and dressed up in our “I love Roma” shirts. We also explored around to the cafes/bars we regularly visit, and as always it was a great time.

Our last Taco Tuesday

Throughout the week I went walking and shopping around as I wanted to get some souvenirs. One of my first stops was to a gourmet food shop for food souvenirs, and I have honestly never been more overwhelmed in my life. There were different pastas, jams, biscuits, chocolates, spices, sauces, the list goes on. I got a cool multicolored bag of pasta and ran out of there planning to come back with an actual game plan. Honestly what was much easier, most definitely cost effective, and probably even more authentic, I simply went to my grocery store and picked out a few items and biscuits that I wanted to take home. 

My local grocery store, Pewex

This part was pretty fun though because after my classes and finals my friends and I were able to walk around, shop, and get a good bite to eat. I barely did any cooking this last week, so I was very much enjoying my last few bowls of pasta. Additionally we wanted to have a last couple group dinners, so went to a couple new places on our last few nights. On one of the nights we were standing outside the restaurant waiting for a table, when a tiny entourage surrounding a petite woman donning a sparkly blue dress and pitch black sunglasses (at 9 pm) that covered the top half of her face walked out of the restaurant and right by us. For me, the sunglasses very much stood out to me, so I stared right at them and her. My friend said that it was a certain famous woman but I was so focused on the sunglasses that I didn’t actually take in her face, so I didn’t think it was her. Later in the restaurant when we told the owner we are from the U.S., he said “Oh, my friend who was just in here was also from the U.S., New York. My friend, Sarah Jessica Parker.”

While we were eating, people then saw on their phones that Zendaya and Tom Holland were at Castel Sant’Angelo where the spiderman logo was projected onto the structure as they were promoting the new Spiderman film. Castel Sant’Angelo is a five minute walk from my apartment. Rome is a bit surreal. 

I hit a couple mini goals this week. One day I was walking around the city alone carrying a few different bags. Therefore I guess it did kind of look like I lived there and wasn’t on vacation (which I mean technically is true). I was walking in the middle of an empty road/alley in front of a couple when the guy who was debating whether to walk on the sidewalk or not said “I think she’s a local and she’s walking in the middle, so I think it’s ok.” 😝

Cappuccino update: Well it is safe to say I hit another one of my goals. This week when I walked into Bar Sant’Angelo, instead of being asked what I wanted, the guy that usually rings me up asked me which pastry, and then the barista confirmed, “cappucino?” I have officially reached regular status. I also worked up the courage to use a tiny bit of Italian that I looked up and asked the baristas and workers what their names were, and I introduced myself. For my last day as I went a bit later and wasn’t in a rush to get to class, I enjoyed my last Italian breakfast sitting outside on the patio as I took in the environment one last time, emotional while eating a croissant. On my way out, the workers gave me a keychain. It looks like I found a place, grazie Bar Sant’Angelo.

My last cappucino + cornetta con crema from Bar Sant'Angelo

The barista, Sara, who made my cappucino every morning

my Bar Sant'Angelo keychain; check it out if you're in Rome :)

The last 24 hours of the program were honestly extremely depressing, and mostly bittersweet. On the last full day of the program we had our “last supper” together, went out together one last time, went back to our apartments to enjoy our last late night McDonalds glovo (their ubereats/DoorDash) while many girls needed to pack to catch their early morning flights. There were tear-filled goodbyes and recounting of memories as we helped people pack, and I watched the sunrise from our window. 

the first and last sunrise I saw in Rome

After a quick power nap I got up early to start and finish my packing. To my surprise I had a decent amount of room left in my bags. I finished early, so I went out with my friends that were still there and did last minute souvenir shopping. I enjoyed my last meal in Rome, which was a very delicious pizza with mozzarella, sausage, and potatoes. 

My last Roman meal

I then went to my favorite gelato spot, Gelateria La Romana, and had my last gelato to close out my trip.

Gelateria la Romana

I was the last person in my apartment, so walking around it empty was a hit to my heart. (I do highly recommend taking a last walk around though because I almost left my comb there). I hadn’t really been that emotional prior to this, but after seeing everything empty and looking out to my street one last time, it finally hit.

Me in front of my apartment door :)

It was even worse when I said goodbye to my friends as I got into my taxi. However, nothing will compare to when I was in the back of my taxi driving around the beautiful neighborhood that I called home for the last 8 weeks one last time. As I drove past the storefronts and restaurants I walked past everyday, saw the storeowners and workers I have come to recognize, and heard the familiar clanking of espresso glasses coming from the coffee bars during the lunch rush, I looked at the small community I hopped into for the summer and felt nothing but gratitude and love for the beautiful culture, city, and people I experienced. A presto, Roma, grazie mille.

Thank you for following along with me this summer as I explored the beautiful ancient city of Rome, arrivederci.

Rassa Abedinpour

Biomedical Engineering

Ciao! I must admit this past week has not been terribly eventful here in Sorrento compared to some other weeks, but it has been a nice break from all the hecticness. That said, there were still many fun things that happened this past week, so lets get into them!

Pizza Making

One thing that I did get to do was pizza making class provided by Sant’Anna! It was so much fun and I highly recommend if you get the chance to do it. It was at O' Masto Sorrento which had such a charming and welcoming atmosphere. We were shown the area where they grow all their fresh produce for the pizzas, and then we got started on working our dough into pizza shapes. Once they were large enough, we put sauce and mozzarella on it, and then we got to use the giant looking spatula to put them into the oven. After they were done cooking, we got to put our desired toppings on and eat our hard earned creations! It was so good, I couldn't believe I actually made it myself.

The before and after of our pizzas!

Sant’Anna Provided Resources

To tell you a bit more about some of the perks at studying abroad at Sant’Anna, I figured I could talk a bit about some of the services and things they provide to all students! For starters, they have an on-campus doctor that visits a few times every week, and you can schedule a quick, easy appointment free of charge. This definitely comes in handy if you do not want to deal with trying to find a local doctor's office to visit. Plus, if they think you need any medication to help with treatment, they can write you a prescription and then you simply take it to any local pharmacy and they can fill it for you. Another service they offer is mental health counseling. Similarly, to the doctor's appointment, you can easily make an appointment through the Sant’Anna app which is really convenient. The app also holds your class schedule, event sign ups, and several other very helpful resources. These include links to public transportation, local businesses, and places where you can receive a discount as a student which is really nice. All of these resources are in an effort to make your transition into living abroad that much easier, and all of the Sant'Anna staff is more than willing to help you with any issue or question you might have!

One of many pharmacies–look for the green cross (left), and the Sant'Anna app (right)

Croatia

Now that I’ve imparted my weekly study abroad wisdom, I am going to tell you about my trip to Croatia! We left on Wednesday evening because I once again had online classes on Thursday. We flew into Split which was only an hour flight which is crazy, and made our way to the hostel from the airport. On Friday, we explored all around the city, we saw the Kliss Fortress, Diocletian's Palace, and hiked to the viewpoint in the Marjan Forest Park.

View from the Kliss Fortress (left) and outside of the Diocletian's Palace (right)

Perspective from the viewpoint in the Marjan Forest Park!

On Saturday morning, we woke up early to take a Flixbus to Dubrovnik. If you couldn't tell by now, in both Split and Dubrovnik the views were just absolutely breathtaking. Being right on the water and looking out on all of these old towns was such a gorgeous sight, and such a nice change of pace from the rest of my trips I have been taking. We started by taking the cable car up the side of the mountain to get a view of the old city. After we came back down, we saw the Jesuit Stairs, Church of St. Ignatius, and went inside the Lovrijenac Fortress to name a few places.

The Jesuit Stairs–game of thrones reference (left) and Church of St. Ignatius (right)

View from the Lovrijenac Fortress!

Overall, I really enjoyed my time in Croatia–it was such a unique place to visit, and I loved all the food I had. Also for any Game of Thrones fans, many of the scenes were filmed there (I have not watched it just as a preface).

Well, that's all I have for this week! I cannot believe there is only 1 more week left in this program, it feels like it all went by so quickly. Alas, I am excited to update you on all the final week’s happenings, and I cannot believe our time together has almost come to an end! 

Arrivederci,

Ava Sillars

Data Science Engineering

When I wrote my pre-departure reflection, I had so many goals for this summer. I wanted to explore Spain, be more intentional with my budget, experience research for the first time, hike, collect postcards, and immerse myself in San Sebastián as much as possible. Now that the program is over, I can honestly say that this summer gave me everything I hoped for and more.

Leaving San Sebastián feels so strange. It somehow feels like I just arrived, but also like I lived there for months. By the end of the program, the city felt so familiar. I knew the bus routes, the walk to the beach, the streets in Old Town, my favorite places for pintxos, good gelato spots, and the routes back to Livensa after a long night out. Somewhere between research days, beach volleyball, movie nights, pintxopote, hikes, and weekend trips, San Sebastián started to feel like home.

Academically, this summer was such a valuable experience. Before this program, I had never done research before, and I was not fully sure what to expect. My project focused on FPGA programming and embedded systems, and it pushed me in ways that were very different from my coursework at Michigan. Instead of following a structured lab handout with clear instructions, I had to work through real problems with much more independence. I spent a lot of time reading schematics, going through manuals, debugging code, testing different approaches, and trying to understand how all the pieces of the system connected.

There were definitely moments where I felt stressed, especially when the code was not working and deadlines were getting closer. At one point, I was genuinely worried that we would not be able to complete the project in time. But that made it even more rewarding when my partner and I were finally able to present a working final project.

One of my biggest goals before leaving was to explore Spain as much as possible, and I definitely feel like I accomplished that. I visited places like Bilbao, Valencia, Sevilla, Granada, Madrid, Pamplona, Zumaia, and Getaria, and each place gave me a different view of Spain. I got to watch Spain win the World Cup while standing in a crowd in Granada, surrounded by flares, fireworks, water being tossed into the crowd, and people celebrating in the streets. I got to experience San Fermín in Pamplona, wander through the streets of Sevilla, visit the Alhambra in Granada, take an overnight bus to Valencia, and walk part of the Camino from Zumaia to Getaria. I also made it outside of Spain for trips to London, Chamonix, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Biarritz, and Hendaye.

But as amazing as the travel was, some of my favorite memories were the smaller, everyday moments in San Sebastián. I will miss the beach, the sunsets, the pintxos, the movie nights, the late-night kebabs, the long bus rides, the research room, the walks back to Livensa, and every random plan that turned into a memory. I will miss playing volleyball on the beach, walking around Old Town, doing pintxopote, and sitting in common spaces with everyone at the end of the day.

The people in this program are what made the experience so special. Over the course of 10, almost 11, weeks, we became so close. We traveled together, cooked together, hiked together, got lost together, debugged code together, watched movies together, and somehow turned every random plan into a group activity. By the end, it really did feel like we had created a little family. I am so grateful for the people I met through this program, and I cannot wait to see everyone again back in Ann Arbor.

Looking back, San Sebastián was not just somewhere I studied abroad. It became a place where I had favorite spots, inside jokes, weekly traditions, and people I loved spending time with. I am so grateful for this program, for San Sebastián, and for the summer I got to have. I will miss it so much.

Agur, San Sebastián!

Last week. Wow.

Time has truly flown by, and I cannot believe this is my final weekly post from San Sebastián. The people in this program have made this summer so memorable, and I already cannot wait to see everyone again back in Ann Arbor in the fall.

First things first: FINAL PRESENTATIONS!!!

We are officially done with research. We all submitted our final papers and gave our final presentations, and it still feels a little unreal. I was so happy to finally have my project complete because, at one point about three weeks ago, I was stressed about the possibility of our project crashing and burning. Nothing seemed to be going right with the code, and I was starting to worry that we would not be able to get everything working in time.

Being able to stand up there and present our final working project felt incredible. I learned so much this summer, and the exposure that my project gave me was very different from what I am used to in my coursework at Michigan. Working on a real-world research project required so much independence, patience, debugging, and problem-solving, and even though it was stressful at times, it was also extremely rewarding. I also really enjoyed the working atmosphere that came with our project, and I am so grateful to my supervisor for helping guide us through the process.

Now, let’s get into how we spent our last week.

I would say we had a pretty chill final weekend. We finally went to Bilbao for the first time, which is kind of crazy considering it is so close to San Sebastián and is also where the airport is. We went with the goal of visiting San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, a filming location for Game of Thrones. It is a historic clifftop hermitage with a 241-step climb, and the views are supposed to be beautiful.

Unfortunately, we did not have reserved entry slots, so we had to try to go outside the 9:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. ticketing hours. That set us up for a pretty exhausting travel day because it is not the most convenient location to get to and from, especially at those hours. Then, because of course, it started raining while we were still in Bilbao’s city center. We decided it was probably best to head back to San Sebastián since the trail would likely be closed anyway due to the rain. On the bright side, we still got pintxos and cheesecake before leaving, so the day was not a total loss.

On Sunday, I went hiking in San Sebastián and did a loop around Mount Ulia. It was not a difficult hike overall, and the views toward the end were gorgeous. I am glad I got to fit in a more local hike before leaving. Afterward, we got invited to visit The Champions Burger, which is a national competition that travels around Spain to find the best burger. It was held near the mall, and we spent the evening there trying different burgers, for free might I add. It was such a fun way to spend time together, and it reminded me of the organized events we had during the first two weeks of the program.

Continuing with the hiking theme, we also did the short hike up to the Jesus statue that sits above Old Town. I am surprised it took us so long to finally do it, but regardless, the view was worth it. It was such a nice way to see San Sebastián and Old Town from a different perspective, especially during our final week.

Of course, we also had to end with one more long beach day. On Tuesday afternoon, right after research, we got to the beach pretty early and stayed there until after sundown. We were lucky enough to see one of the most perfect sunsets we have seen in San Sebastián. The sky was gorgeous, and after the sun had set, we went into the water and just enjoyed the quiet and peace of the still ocean. I floated on my back for a while, staring up at the night sky, trying to fully take in the moment.

We played more volleyball together and we also had three different movie nights as a group. We watched The Hangover Part III, since we had already watched the first two, White Chicks, and Murder Mystery. Our movie nights have become one of the little routines I am really going to miss.

For our last full night together, we went to a cider restaurant right next to Livensa. It was a chance for all of us to dress up nicely and have one final meal together before the rest of our time became consumed by last-minute packing. It was definitely bittersweet, but I was so happy to be surrounded by people who so quickly became my friends and, eventually, my little family throughout the summer.

And just like that, our last week in San Sebastián came to an end. Between final presentations, one last beach sunset, one last group dinner, and lots of last-minute packing, it was a week full of endings. I am not fully ready to say goodbye, but I am so grateful for the memories I’ve made this summer.

Presentation day ft. the lunch they set up for us outside the presentation room

Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (I'm not a big modern art fan so I didn't take many pictures)

Cheesecake in Bilbao, so good and so cheap (99 cents for a plain cheesecake)

Burgers! ft. a pretty sunset

Hike around Mount Ulia

View from Jesus status hike

Steak from the cider restaurant (I forgot to take more pictures this night whoops)

Some of our last pintxos in Old Town

This week started off with a trip to Costco with some friends. We were curious if the Costco in China was any different than the ones in America, specifically the food court. We found out that it was, in fact, quite different. They had a couple different options, such as a Bulgogi bake, a Hawaii beef burger, a Japanese pizza, and pork buns.

We also found these giant green dinosaurs in the Costco, as well as protein drinks and beer flavored chips.

After the quick Costco trip, I set out for Zhangjiajie. I ended up staying up all night, since I had been going to bed around 3 am for a while, and my flight was early and we were leaving around 5 am. It ended up being a pretty good decision, as I just slept on the flight and in the Didi and I felt pretty rested. When we arrived in Zhangjiajie, the scenery immediately caught my eye, the mountains around us were a stunning landscape that I didn't expect to see as soon as I got off the plane. I had been missing mountains since I had got to China.

Before exploring, we had to stash our luggage at the hotel that we were staying it. It was by far the strangest hotel that I have stayed at so far, it felt like a bank vault opening with a large metal door and futuristic lock. It also had a Japanese style interior, and limited air conditioning usage. However, it made up for that with an automatic mahjong table in the main room that we ended up playing later. Additionally, since we came early, they gave us an upgraded room with an extra bed and 3 separate rooms which was very nice. Finally, we left and set out for Tianmenshan National Forest Park, where we would go see the 999 steps to heaven.

Then we went to the 999 steps to heaven—a giant staircase that led into a hole in between the mountains. It was quite tiring, so me and my friends made an agreement to do the entire staircase in one go without resting, or we would have to do it all over again from the bottom. We took on the challenge and fortunately completed it without stopping or slowing down the entire time—sweating buckets by the end of the staircase as it was over 100 degrees out.

When we reached the top, we found a small reflecting pool that was filled by water dripping down from the mountains above. We stayed here for a while and took pictures, as it provided a beautiful view of the scenery around us, and allowed us to look back on all the stairs we had just climbed and the other people still attempting it.

Next, we took an extremely long escalator up to the top of the mountain. It was by far the longest escalator I had ever been on—actually containing more than 15 escalators with a few steps of flat ground in between each one. Each elevator was several minutes long, and the entire ride up took more than 45 minutes. We could feel our ears popping as we went up each escalator.

After finally reaching the top, we found out that the theory that we heard was true—there was a Burger King at the very top of the mountain. Taking a second to eat, we ventured on to visit a temple, more viewing spots, and a long walk around the side of the mountain.

Coming down from the climb, we ate dinner and watched the staircase light up with neon lights.

On the second day on Zhangjiajie, we went to another national park in a different spot in Zhangjiajie—it was actually the place where the movie "Avatar" was filmed, pillars of rock and forest that looked unique in a way that I had never seen before. We also saw several monkeys.

On the third day, we visited the Grand Canyon of Zhangjiajie, where they had a glass bridge, zipline across the canyon, and a river walk. The glass bridge was pretty scary, but somehow the zipline was super fun and not scary at all.

The river walk was really nice and relaxing, and it was much cooler temperature too which was an added bonus.

During the final day with the entire group, we visited Furong ancient town, which was a beautiful lake town that lit up at night. We walked around all of the viewing angles, bought some food, and had a great time walking underneath a waterfall. We even got to see a performance from some dancers.

On the final day, most of the group left and me and one of my friends stayed to do a climb on the side of the mountain. I agreed without really knowing what I was getting myself into, but I'm glad that I did. It was one of the craziest experiences that I've ever had, but was completely worth it. We climbed along the side of a mountain with only a clip attached to a harness that we clipped and unclipped ourself, while dangling above an infinite expanse that stretched out into clouds below.

There were sections where we could only use our arms, sections where we had to walk on a tight rope, and the most difficult of them all was a ladder at the very end that was over an hour long, where the only place you could stand on was one very thin bar ladder that shook and moved in the wind.

It really was one of the most amazing things I've ever done, and I strongly recommend it to anyone who visits Zhangjiajie, even if you have a bit of a fear of heights like me.

We finished off the day by exploring a nearby street, where we found some cool areas. However, we didn't find anything super interesting, and just ended up leaving for our flight back to Shanghai around midnight.

This week was a pretty crazy week and I had a really fun time, thanks for listening along to my journey so far, and see you next week!

Connor Madriago

Mechanical Engineering

Hey what’s up guys, welcome to my last post from Iceland! I’m currently sitting at the airport waiting for my flight, and man has this been an amazing experience. These past seven weeks have been so much fun, and I have learned so much about myself and the country of Iceland. I have made so many great bonds with the other 10 people in my program, and I hope to see them around campus for my next few years of college. I could not wish for a better program, and I truly believe this is something everyone should be able to experience. Even though this program didn’t really feel like a vacation most of the time, I still had just as much fun as I would on a vacation to another country, if not more.

Writing this blog while I wait for my plane

Now that I have taken my trip to the airport, and I am officially leaving the country, I feel a little bit sad to see it go. I feel very conflicted, since I cannot wait to get back home and see all of my friends and family, but I also really don’t want to let go of this place. I have so many amazing memories that I can bring home and share, and these memories have really helped me see a different side of myself I didn’t know was there. Coming to the airport was the simple part, as I just had to get on a bus that took me straight here. The hard part of that trip (excluding the part where both of my bags got flagged) was leaving Reykjavík and realising that it would be the last time for what quite possibly could be the rest of my life.

Waiting for my bus

Trip to Keflavík Airport

Final time at KEF!

Made it through check-in!

Now it’s time to get out of here, so I’ll leave you with this: if you ever get the chance to travel to a different country for an extended period of time–take it. I know it seems like an extremely hard thing to even think about, but I promise it is worth it. I had plenty of doubts coming into this program, but I can’t even imagine a world where I hadn’t come here. These experiences have been so incredible for me and the rest of my program. Although I’m now done posting, I hope these blogs have helped my readers learn what it’s like to live in a different country, and maybe I’ve swayed a few of you into wanting to come to Iceland. For the final time, in the words of Chris: “You don’t see this every day, but I do!” And now, you can too.

Camden Milnamow

Computer Engineering

Now that it’s hit week seven, it’s also hit me that I don't have a lot of time left in Hong Kong. That’s why week seven was a week of firsts, among other things.

This past weekend, I attended one of my friend’s birthday parties. We went to an arcade and played a few games for a bit, then we had some super fancy Korean inspired pizza, mozzarella sticks, and fried chicken, which was all so delicious. Lastly, we went to a bar (where I drank overpriced orange juice) to play some games and cut her Harry Potter themed cake!

On Monday, my roommate, whose family is from Hong Kong, took me to a cafe called Australia Dairy in Jordan, which serves lots of traditional, homey, Hong Kong goods. We got both their milk pudding and the egg pudding, and I would recommend their milk pudding. It had the most amazing, smooth texture, and was so sweet and delicious. We also had super fluffy egg sandwiches, a fried egg macaroni noodle soup, and Hong Kong milk tea. My absolute favorite was their french toast with butter and lathered in syrup– honestly the best french toast I’ve ever had. I’m craving it right now :(

Tuesday was a super interesting day because all of us Michigan students got the honor to meet the dean of Michigan engineering, Mingyan Liu, and a UMich alumni from 1963, Roger King. We went to Roger King’s huge family home (and got a tour), overlooking a deep water bay, and had a large dinner and, my favorite, dessert which was mango pavlova, cake, and golden kiwi. Dean Mingyan Liu was very kind, and incredibly knowledgeable about both the school and electrical engineering, including being passionate about game theory. I was so grateful to speak with her, especially since she was so willing to hear about student experiences, along with our experiences in Hong Kong.

The following day, I finally was able to go up Victoria Peak, which is insane that  I haven’t been even though  it’s been a month and a half…I would recommend, if you want to hike it, go before it becomes dark. We hiked up in the dark, in the humid heat, almost running into dangerous wild animals, too many stairs, and inclined paths that tested my athletic ability (I don’t have any). I made it alive, though, and it was definitely an incredible experience, and well worth the view (and the shake shack and Bakehouse egg tart). You can take either the bus or tram up, though, but the tram is significantly more expensive because it has some good views.

On Thursday, I had a completely free day. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to go on my first solo adventure in Hong Kong. My favorite part of my day, and my first stop, was the Hong Kong Maritime Museum, which went super in-depth into ancient maritime history, ex: Opium wars and piracy, and had so many models and artifacts. It also had great views of Victoria harbor, with all the boats. I then found a restaurant for shrimp wonton noodle soup because I was craving it. I also just explored random stops, walked around The LOHAS in LOHAS Park, and got my favorite mango sago drink from Wanpo in Hang Hau. For dinner, I returned to UST for Ebeneezers, which is my favorite restaurant on campus, purely for their chicken gyro kebab wrap. The restaurant is pretty far, though. 

I want to note that Hong Kong is incredibly safe, and the MTR/public transport system is so easy to follow, so it feels great to go out by yourself. Everyone is very kind, and will help you if you need, but you might need google translate. Also, don’t wait until it stops raining, because it probably won’t, so be prepared!

I’m already dreading leaving, but I have so many last week plans with my friends I’m so excited for. I love Hong Kong: the city, the views, the food, and the people, and I know you will too! Please, please, seriously consider going on this study abroad, because I guarantee you, you will not regret it.

ps. All of us engineering majors were right and business kids do learn shapes and colors here's proof:

Dvita Kini

Aerospace Engineering

Hey what’s up guys, welcome back to another post from Iceland! This is the last week of my program, so this one is coming out a bit early. As we all leave tomorrow, we all spent these last few days going to all the places we haven’t had the chance to, and I spent a lot of time buying souvenirs for my friends and family. But before all of that came our EECS exam, which took place on Monday. Thankfully, all of us passed without having to retake it, which made the rest of this week much easier. After finishing the exam at noon, a few of us took a bus to Hveragerði and trekked 3km to a hot spring river. We spent the better part of the day there, then headed back to get some well needed rest.

The rest of the week we went to a few other places. These include Smáralind Mall, Tres Locos Tacos for Taco Tuesday, Iceland’s National Museum, Laugardalslaug Public Pool, and last but not least, The Icelandic Phallological Museum. All of these places were very fun and very interesting, I just hadn’t had the chance to go to any of them yet. It really felt like a vacation this week rather than a study abroad trip.

Taking a break midway through the hike

Taco Tuesday at Tres Locos

The rest of the time this week was spent shopping. I had to go far and wide to find some of these gifts (which I will not disclose because my family reads this blog) but I think everyone will be very happy with what they got. I had a lot of fun picking things out, and my adventure took me to some parts of the city I hadn’t been to yet.

As much fun as I’ve had here, I feel just about ready to go back home. I spent this morning  packing most of my things, and I somehow managed to fit all of my souvenirs into the little space I had left. As this program comes to a close, seeing everything left in such a short time has been tiring, but I now feel like I have seen everything I wanted to, and I can’t complain about that. As always, from Chris: You don’t see this every day, but I do!”

Getting started with my packing

Camden Milnamow

Computer Engineering

Guys you’ll never believe what happened this week… I got sickkk 😖. A study abroad student’s worst nightmare, am I right? Luckily, there are several easily accessible pharmacies scattered across Seoul with VERY symptom specific medications available for use! The pharmacists were extremely helpful, and I began feeling better before I knew it!

However, because of my illness, I did have to miss a day of school; and unfortunately for me school got REAL this week so I 100% have some locking in to do. I definitely took it easier this week overall as well, so I didn’t get many pictures. I fear there won’t be a “fits of the week” at the end of this post either 😬,  but I promise to make up for all of this later!! Essentially, I’m saying all this to say that I will be keeping this week’s post short and sweet! 😂

CAMPUS: I believe now would be a good time to discuss Sogang’s campus a bit. I will leave a map of campus, as well as a link to Sogang’s English virtual campus tour below. The campus is pretty small compared to Michigan’s campus. It is approximately a 20 minute commute from Local Stitch via public transportation, and is located not too far outside of Hongdae. You’ll likely only have to occupy one to two buildings for your classes depending on which courses you opt to take. (both of my classes were in the same building) There is a plaza near the campus dormitories where students can go to access different restaurants, Starbucks, the dining hall, and a convenience store to grab food and refreshments for lunch or before/after class. There are many off-campus restaurants within a walkable distance as well that students could go to instead. The campus also includes a gym (not a workout gym, it’s essentially just a big indoor basketball court), a soccer field, tennis courts, and an outdoor basketball court as well! Overall, the campus is very pretty and I admire the floral additions to certain parts of the campus. WARNING: Campus, as well as all of Seoul, is very hilly in some parts!! Be prepared to hit leg day everyday. 💀

Sogang University Campus Map

Sogang University Campus Tour!

As stated previously, I took it easy this week for the most part. However, on Monday I was able to make it to the buddy activity! We went to a gun shooting simulator and got to play games that were really fun! My partner and I even ended up winning one of the rounds. I truly love going out on these excursions and making deeper connections with the buddies and other students in my program!

Shooting Simulator Outing!

We also went on a field trip to Sokcho over the weekend! We went hiking, visited a Buddhist temple, went to the beach, and went to a market. My favorite part was definitely hiking. (besides the bugs lol) I just love being enveloped in nature and taking in the natural beauty this world has to offer! 

Buddhist Temple & Hiking!

Sokcho Beach!

Market! (Side tangent: don't you guys think the crabs deserve better living conditions for their last moments of life??? If they're going to die, I feel like they at LEAST deserve to spend their last hours/days living in a comfortable area. I'm not vegetarian or vegan but seeing these tanks overly filled with crabs genuinely made me so sad 😭. They just look so miserable. #SaveTheCrabs✊)

That’s all from me this week guys! I’ll do my best to come back with more pictures and fun things to share next week! As always, stay safe and be blessed. 🙏🤍

Savanna Evans

Robotics Engineering

¡Viva España! Spain won the World Cup while we were studying here, which was such a cool atmosphere to experience. I spent the weekend in Granada, and that is where I got to watch the game outdoors on a huge screen with a crowd of people. The energy was so lively, and honestly, it reminded me a lot of the student section during football games at Michigan, especially high-energy games like MSU and OSU. People were setting off flares and fireworks, tossing water into the crowd, cheering nonstop, and fully celebrating in the streets. It made me weirdly excited to go back in the fall, go to football and hockey games again, and sing Mr. Brightside with the rest of the crowd.

During our time in Granada, we also got to see the Alhambra, which was absolutely gorgeous and had such an interesting history. We did a three-hour guided tour, and it was so beautiful to walk through the palaces, gardens, and courtyards while learning more about the different rulers and cultures that shaped the site. Granada itself was also really pretty, and we spent a lot of time walking around, watching the sunset, and eating lots of TKO Tacos once again. 

Back in San Sebastián, we spent a lot more time at the beach this week. One night, we hung out on the beach, played volleyball, took a dinner break for pintxos, and then ended the night with more beach volleyball in the dark. Later in the week, we went paddleboarding, and it definitely went a lot better than surfing did during our first week. We were even able to paddleboard out to Santa Clara Island, which was such a fun way to spend time on the water and see the city from a different perspective. We also did another pintxopote this week, which was super fun. We headed back to some of our favorite spots and I had around five different pintxos.

Since we are getting so close to the end of the program, we really wanted to spend as much time together this week as possible. We went out for food at a Mexican place we had tried before, had another game night, and just tried to soak up the time we have left. One of the girls in our group is Spanish, so she taught us a Spanish card game called Mus. It is a partner bluffing game with a lot of rules and, from what I could tell, a lot of very arbitrary numbers. That being said, it was really fun to play late into the night before we eventually switched to Cards Against Humanity for a bit.

In terms of research, my partner and I spent the week finalizing our code and making any last edits that were needed. We also started working on our final research paper since our final presentations and papers are both due next week. It is honestly crazy how fast time has flown. It somehow feels like I have been here forever, but also like I have not been here nearly long enough.

As the program comes to an end, everything is starting to feel like a “last.” Last pintxopote, last beach volleyball nights, last big group dinners, last Bataplan trip, last full week of research. I am definitely excited to go home and see my family and friends, but I am also realizing how much I am going to miss San Sebastián and the little routine we have built here.

World Cup watch party in Granada!

Paddleboarding at Ondarreta beach

Pintxos

More pintxos for pintxopote in Gros

Trip back to Ciao Mammá for more pizza

Some photos from Granada

Nightlife in Granada

Lots of TKO Tacos in Granada

More eats in Granada

Continuing from my previous post on my Beijing trip in China, we took a trip up to Jingshan park, overlooking the Forbidden city. It actually ended up being a cooler temperature up here, which was nice. It also gave us a beautiful view of the entire city and the Forbidden city.

Next up was the trip to the Great Wall—one of the things that I was looking forward to most during this trip. After a very long car drive (almost 2 hours), and a couple wrong turns, we finally made it to the wall. It was very thin, but impossibly long. It was set in a nice forest scenery, as we were at the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. There's another section of the wall that is more popular, however, we decided to go to this one because the other section tends to be much more crowded and we decided that a large crowd would take away from the experience.

We walked along the wall for a while, as we talked to one of the tour guides that finished his tour, he told us about the history of the wall and why it was built. We watched the sunset and explored one of the buildings/towers along the wall. Some of the buildings had a strange underwater scene playing on the walls from a projector which was interesting.

At night, lights turned on and lit up the whole wall and surrounding mountains, there were even characters illuminated on the mountain

After we walked along the wall again in the dark for a while, we headed back via the cable car, where although it was difficult to get a good picture due to the darkness—it was still a beautiful view of the city below.

We then visited the summer palace, which was cool and had a lot of steps. My favorite part was the forest area behind it, which was very interesting and had many other temples and cool areas. One such area was a lake with lily pads that we stayed at for a while and rested. We saw many fish and talked to a lot of people there. This was one of the times where I was able to learn and practice my Chinese a lot.

On the other side of the palace, there was a lake that had an "American" restaurant where they just sold hotdogs and burgers—although it was admittedly pretty good.

After the summer palace, our next and final stop was Tiananmen Square before dinner. We got lost during the bike ride after our Beijing duck lunch, but we eventually found out how to cross the street and get in line. Luckily, we were somehow able to skip almost the entire line because we were foreigners and they couldn't scan our passports (instead of a Chinese ID). After we got into the Square, we watched the flag lowering during sunset.

Afterwards, we walked through an underground tunnel to get to a large, lit up egg shaped building.

For dinner, we visited a fancy local restaurant that was pretty hard to find. We thought we found the entrance right on the Main Street, which was a very small building. But after we told them how many people we had, a guy in a suit led us behind the building, and we were walking down an alleyway for a few minutes. Finally, we reach a building far away the Main Street that was huge, which 3 or 4 floors. We entered and found out that this was the real restaurant. The main course was Beijing duck again, a classic local dish of Beijing, and it was set in our own private room with a spinning table.

The final day was very short, we explored a couple more streets, did a VR interactive tour of Beijing where we flew over the city, explored a mall and played an arcade, and finally got on the plane in the afternoon.

After we left the airport, we waited a long time for a didi but finally got one, immediately going back to our dorm and going to sleep.

Not much else happened the rest of this week—we celebrated a birthday and had a cake, however we had no forks or plates. I also had more dumplings and began the next stage of a personal engineering project I was working on, and took my midterm exam.

We also found this really delicious pizza place, that was, unlike most of the pizza in China that has no tomato sauce and has durian on it, pretty good Italian pizza.

This week was another amazing week in Shanghai, and the Beijing trip was definitely a highlight of my study abroad experience so far.

See you next week!

我要冷水

Connor Madriago

Mechanical Engineering

This week we were planning to go to Beijing, which was very exciting, and we were going to take an overnight train to get there. However, since we were leaving on Wednesday night, that meant that I had to finish all my assignments and homework early, before we left. After I did that, I had a bit of extra time to explore some of the restaurants near my dorm that I hadn't gotten to yet.

I also got to play pool at a 24 hour pool place with some friends. Pool is a very popular game to play in China, so these 24 hour pool places are very common. The lights were also maize and blue colored later in the night.

That night, it rained very hard, the most rain I've ever seen since being in Shanghai. It reminded me of my hometown, Portland, Oregon a lot.

We set out for Beijing the afternoon after. After waiting in line for a while, we finally got on our train and I was astonished by how long it was—much longer than the normal high speed trains. It was also much slower than the high speed trains, but traveled overnight. Everyone got their own beds (bunks of 3 beds stacked on top of each other, and 6 beds per room). Unfortunately me and my friends weren't able to be in the same room and were separated, but I got lucky in that the people in my room were pretty quiet. However, we weren't prepared for how early Chinese people wake up. We stayed up decently late—around 2 am—well after everyone went to sleep, but some of my friends were woken up by people in their room waking up around 4:30-5 am and talking. I slept pretty well, so I woke up 3 minutes before the train stop, but others weren't so lucky. We will definitely remember that people wake up really early next time we take an overnight train.

For our first day in Beijing, we visited the temple of heaven. We got to see beautiful ancient Chinese architecture and temples as we went through several gates that each led to a bigger and bigger temple area.

We also had this delicious ice cream that was in the shape of the temple, that, although pretty expensive (25 yuan), it gave us a much needed break from the swelteringly hot day. Throughout the whole day, I had a UV umbrella, both a hand and neck fan, and ice cream and yet I was still hot due to the 103 degrees and high UV. My friends also weren't as prepared so I ended up giving them some of my stuff. Fortunately there were spots with air-conditioning and ice cream along the way.

We weren't allowed to take photos inside of several of the temples, however we could still take some of the outside. There were others were you were allowed to go inside of, and some where you weren't. Another thing that we noticed was that the temples were kept almost exactly the same as they were originally, but some of them had hidden modern additions such as fans in the ceiling or security cameras blended into the outside.

After the temple of heaven I was a bit tired, so I took a nap while others got Mixue, but eventually we took a 40 minute didi to the national film museum of China. This was important, not only because it is the largest and most famous film museum in China, but also because it was a good place to document for our assignment in our Chinese culture class.

They had this large area where the entire room was covered in a screen that would show various sceneries and videos.

We then went to Zizhuyuan park, which was very beautiful but the craziest thing happened where we joined some ladies in dancing to a song and making a TikTok. They had us join and taught us the dance—where I was admittedly pretty bad at it. However, it was still a great time and we were dancing with them for almost an hour.

The next day, we visited the palace museum, where we actually didn't have any tickets for—but we luckily were able to acquire tickets in person at the gate—even getting a student discount in the process for attending SJTU. The heat wasn't much better today, as Beijing is known for its hot weather and high UV.

We learned that this was just the first part of the palace museum! However, the rest of the Beijing trip will have to wait until later, as this blog is already getting pretty long and I have a lot more to talk about. So il finish this trip next week!

再见！

Connor Madriago

Mechanical Engineering