Japan | Bye Tokyo

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By Deran Chan

This quarter studying abroad was hands down one of the best quarters of my college career. As cliché as it sounds, I never imagined myself studying abroad because I didn’t want to miss out at UCLA, but I’m so thankful I did. After 3 months, I finally felt that I was getting into the groove of Japanese life and could successfully navigate myself around the city without taking the wrong train. However, right when I started to feel comfortable – it was time to leave! Leaving and moving were tabooed topics in our dorm since we never wanted to talk about the inevitable. Alas, we had to face reality and decided to make a calendar in our dorm study lounge with everyone’s name, along with specific dates with when each person was heading home so we could say our final goodbyes.

Moving out was rough. Packing all of my belongings into my suitcases and seeing nothing but a bare room was surreal. Before leaving, I had to get signatures from my supervisors and resident directors to make sure that they had record of me leaving both the university and the dormitory. On top of all of the school procedures, I was required to go to Mitaka City Hall to officially change my address and declare that I was no longer a Japanese resident, SO SAD.

On November 22 the dreaded day had arrived – I was leaving Japan. My flight was at 7 P.M. so I left ICU at around afternoon and said goodbye to all my fellow exchange students. I took the 91 bus from the school to Musashi-Sakai Station for the last time. Above are photos from my university – the left photo is the main entrance to our school and the ones are the right are from my EXTREMELY spacious dorm room.

This next photo is from the main courtyard of the university. Since I went to a Christian school, there was a church in the center of campus, and this is where our matriculation ceremony was held.

Members from Footloose were so nice and went with me to Haneda airport and I’m so grateful to have made friends so genuine and caring. Since we left the university so early, I had a bunch of time before my flight, so we had the opportunity to take photos and explore Haneda. The airport is really cool, there’s an observatory overlooking the entire airport where you can see planes taking off and landing. Saying goodbye was hard, but I am so appreciative of all the people I met and experiences I had. I also want to thank you (the reader) for taking the time to read through my blog posts, and I hope you have the chance to visit Japan one day.

Deran Chan studied in Tokyo, Japan in 2018:http://eap.ucop.edu/OurPrograms/japan/Pages/international_christian_univ.aspx

Japan | TeamLab

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BY DERAN CHAN

I have been to many art museums around the world but teamLab Borderless is unlike anything I have ever seen before. The light museum is located in the Mori Building Digital Art Museum in Odaiba, Tokyo, one of my favorite cities in Japan. The museum has five distinct zones, Borderless World, Athletics Forest, Future Park, Forest of Lamps, and EN Tea House. While I don’t want to give away too much about the many exhibits, I have a few tips so you can make the most out of your trip.

First, I would advise visiting teamLab after 4pm. Since the museum has had so much success, lots of people come right when it opens. Our group made the mistake of coming 2 hours before it closed (which you would think is enough time), but we could’ve certainly been there for another 2. In addition, the art around the museum is interactive, so I highly recommend wearing white/light colored clothing to make your experience more immersive. Light colored clothing will allow the light to float across your body, while dark colors will absorb most of the light. Trust me, if you’re an Instagram snob like me, your pictures will be that much better. However, when it comes to shoes make sure the ones you are wearing are extremely comfortable – some exhibits include trampolines, climbing through a jungle of swings, hills, and even slides!

Most museums are notorious for their “Do Not Touch” signs but not teamLab. Touch ANYTHING you want. Lots of the installations will change and react to your movements, making each visit unique it its own way. The museum definitely has a futuristic tone enhanced by Japanese music and effects, which adds to the “borderless” component of the whole experience. My favorite space was the endless rice field that was filled with lotus leaf pods, floating dandelions, and fireflies. For all of the high-tech equipment and modern décor, I appreciate how the artwork remained true to Japanese culture and aesthetics (cherry blossoms, rice fields, and calligraphic strokes).

The exhibits are set in real-time which you can imagine leads to a pretty pricey electricity bill, which is evident in the ticket prices. That being said, the entire museum is mind blowing to see the least, and without question worth the visit. There really are no words to describe what I saw, you just have to experience it for yourself.

Deran Chan studied abroad in Tokyo, Japan in 2018: http://eap.ucop.edu/OurPrograms/japan/Pages/international_christian_univ.aspx

Peru | How I Ended Up in Peru

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BY MIKA NAGAMOTO

On the morning of our first day of class, everyone in our program met in the dining area of our hotel to enjoy breakfast together. I sat down to a breakfast of fresh fruit, mango juice, scrambled eggs, french toast, grilled sausage with vegetables, and a large cup of coffee. Our teaching assistants for the class met us in the lobby to show us the direction of the university. Brisk morning dew coated the streets as we made our 15-minute journey to the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, our new campus for the summer.

Our professors greeted us at the doors of the university before giving us an overview of the goals of their courses and the schedule for the next four weeks. Our first course would begin with an introduction to global health concepts, important themes of global health, a brief history of global health, and current strategies and actors in the field. The purpose of this course was to give us the context and language that would allow for a critical analysis of the global health interventions we would be seeing first-hand in Peru. The second course for the summer would focus on how diversity and disparities impact health in a global context. To create an in-depth and meaningful understanding of these topics, our group would also take visits to clinics in Lima and Iquitos. These excursions would allow us to apply what we learned in the classroom to the specific cases of health interventions in Peru.

While my professors explained their intentions for the class, I felt my excitement grow as I began to see how truly unique the opportunity before me was. I chose this program because I felt a need to see exactly what global health meant in action. Before my study abroad experience, I found that reading textbooks and learning about interventions in far-away places never satisfied my curiosity. I couldn’t ignore my desire to experience and see what I was learning about come to life in the real world. When I came across the Summer Travel Study Global Health Program, I immediately saw that this was my opportunity to gain unique and meaningful experiences in the field of global health. This was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.

Upon my arrival in Lima, I found that Peru far exceeded my expectations. Lima is rich with color, art, music, dancing, incredible food, and extensive opportunities to learn about the history and culture of this incredible country. I realized that this program was much more than just learning about global health. I was learning about a new culture, discovering new perspectives, and experiencing sights unique to the neighborhoods I was surrounded by. All of this gave breath and depth to the academic terms and themes I was learning about. Global health began to take on a new meaning for me as I conceptualized what it means to bring healthcare to individuals on a global scale.

Mika Nagamoto studied abroad in Lima and Iquitos, Peru, in summer 2018: https://ieo.ucla.edu/travelstudy/GlobalHealth-Lima/

Cyprus | Week 2: 4th of July Celebration, Day Trip to Troodos Mountains

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BY ARISA DHIENSIRI

We just completed our second week of physics and we’re gearing up to take our first midterm next week! It’s so crazy to think that after two weeks we’re at the halfway point for our first course. The physics is getting even more intense and fast paced than last week since we have 10 chapters to cover for the first midterm, but luckily the first two chapters are review from calculus.

4th of July

This week we celebrated the Fourth of July with a small pool party! After lecture we made a quick stop at the hotel before we all headed to a local pool about five minutes away. There were a couple of students on other Global Semester programs so it was nice to get to meet new faces and hear about their experiences in Cyprus. The pool was decked out with red white and blue décor, and they served us traditional American food for dinner, hamburgers and hot dogs. The pool party was a really convenient way to blow off some steam and cool off, since it gets crazy hot in Cyprus.

We’ve just gotten back to our hotel from a day trip we took to the Troodos Mountains. The troodos mountains are the largest mountain range on the island. At first I was very apprehensive since I hate hiking but fortunately they had a bus pick us up and drive us around. The mountains were about an hour away from the hotel. Even though the roads were small and windy the view on the way up was so gorgeous. We were able to gaze down on the top of Omodos Village, a small wine town nestled amongst the mountains.

The first stop we made was at the Troodos Geopark where we got to look around the Visitor Center and learn about the local vegetation and geographic background.

After stopping at the Geopark we made our way to Troodos Square, which is the highest point in all of Cyprus. In the square there were tons of kiosks set up selling local nuts, berries, and other souvenirs. The kiosks gave out small samples of their food, and I went home with a bag of honey-glazed almonds that I basically finished before the day was over.

Before getting lunch we visited Lambouri Winery, a winery that specialized in producing a Cyprus tradition: Commandaria wine. Commandaria wine is a sweet dessert wine that is made from the grapes that grow in the Troodos Mountains. The wine is nicknamed “Wine of the Kings” and is the oldest wine in the world. While at Lambouri Winery we indulged in a wine tasting that culminated in trying Commandaria. This was my favorite part of the day, mostly because of the wine, and also because the Winery was so beautiful and scenic.

Once the wine tasting concluded we headed to Omodos Village for lunch and to explore. Omodos Village is cradled within the mountain ranges and is mainly known for producing wine. The village was so beautiful and quaint with really delicate cobblestone streets and rugged stone buildings. For lunch my friends and I stopped at Makrinari, which was a little bit further down from the main center. The streets were mostly empty and except for some shops, local artwork, and lots of cats.

We’ve just arrived at the hotel and most of us are already setting up in the lobby and prepping for our midterm. Wish us luck!

Arisa Dhiensiri studied abroad in Nicosia, Cyprus, in summer 2018: http://eap.ucop.edu/OurPrograms/Cyprus/Pages/univ-of-nicosia-summer-science.aspx

Scotland | Snow

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BY CAITLYN PICKARD

It has a snowed once or twice in Edinburgh since I’ve been here. Each time, it has been magical. Like what is this white, beautiful pureness fluttering around me. As you can see, I don’t get out of Los Angeles too much. I’ve always loved snow and the chill. But last Thursday kind of changed my perspective. I got caught in what has been named THE BEAST FROM THE EAST.

This beast was not very friendly. It caused Edinburgh to go into a red weather alert. It was the first time I had seen actual traffic in Edinburgh. Buses were getting full and not allowing any new passengers. The University closed for the day. People were completely covered in snow, looking like a hoard of abominable snowmen/women. At first I thought, “Wow this is so cool. First snow day!”. Then I got home, looked at the remains of my fridge (a carton of eggs and a bag of tomatoes), and realized I needed groceries. Good thing the grocery store didn’t close ‘til 10pm. Obviously, my naïve self went to the grocery store, only to find out they had sent all their employees home because of the storm. So, eggs was the entrée for dinner that night.

The storm proceeded to continue to the next day. There were no buses running. Unfortunately, David Horn House is one of the furthest places from city center and also in a residential area. Not much to do or see. So, I spent a majority of the day studying… I said to myself as I opened up a Netflix tab. Honestly, the cold causes me to become a vegetable who drinks a lot of tea and snuggles into my duvets. Later that day, I got a message from my friend saying “Let’s build a snowman in the Meadows!”. Um, yes! I have never built a snowman before. Plus, I thought it would be good to leave bed and socialize. Mistakes … just kidding but building a snowman is HARD, dude. If Ana woke me up in the middle of the night to build a snowman, my answer would have been, heck no.

After a mini snowball war, my friends and I started rolling snowballs in the snow to get them bigger. By the end of it, I felt like my biceps tripled in size because we had made boulders at that point. My hair was icicles and I couldn’t feel my face or lips anymore. But, goal was accomplished. We built a snowman. His name was Gerald, who had the most personality out of all the snowmen in the Meadow.

I decided to call an Uber because I was a popsicle at this point. Of course, no Ubers. Anywhere. So, I proceeded to make the 30-minute trek back home in the snow. At the moment, I could not wait to get back to the warmth of my house and a hot cup of tea. But, I wouldn’t have traded a minute of those snowy days. Snow can be painful and scary, but I still love it. I just know to fear it a little more. Also, I miss California so much. I thought I always wanted to live in a place where it had real seasons, but this event has caused me to reconsider and appreciate the lack of winter weather in Los Angeles. Vacations in snow, yes. Living in snowy places, I think I’ll pass.

Caitlyn Pickard studied abroad in Edinbugh, Scotland, in Spring 2018: http://eap.ucop.edu/OurPrograms/United_Kingdom_Scotland/Pages/host_EdinburghUKImmersion.aspx 

France | En Route to Paris

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BY SHERRY WANG

It’s 6:54AM in New York City where my plane is currently stationed, which means it’s 3:54AM in California. My flight crew decided to let off a disruptive passenger mid-flight, so my non-stop flight from Los Angeles to Paris was delayed with a pit stop in New York. They said one hour, but it’s been about three already, so I figured I’d take this time document all the little things I love about flying besides the thrill of the take-off and landing.

The greatest thing about flying is that it’s different each time—the food, the seat, the entertainment. New strangers with their own stories, a crew with a different dynamic. During this flight, the crew has been incredibly attentive and fun (a few of them are currently singing and dancing to Party in the USA in their plaid blazers and Norwegian accents).

One of the best things to do while traveling is to strike up a conversation with strangers. There’s a lot to be learned through another person’s perspective. Currently sitting next to me is the sweetest old lady who’s originally from Paris and now living in Orange County, California. She’s flying back to visit family and friends. In the row in front of me sits the most adorable, energetic French father-daughter pair.

During the flight thus far, I’ve learned that the lady sitting next to me studied chemical engineering at a graduate institution in Paris and recently retired from a multinational conglomerate. She’s lived in Canada and France as well as California, but she still prefers the Golden State and would not likely return to living in France. One of the main reasons was simple, France’s technology was just not as up to date as California’s, and it was catching up too slowly. The situation made living in France inconvenient. In regards to my trip, she advised me to focus on the food and the sights of France, not the shopping like many tourists do.

Even with random, unexpected delays, I can’t be upset. It’s always possible to fill the time with something enjoyable or productive, and in the end, it’s all a part of the flying experience.

So here I am, stationed and delayed in New York City, feeling grateful for this experience and not at all feeling like I’m going to be in Paris in ~7 hours (7 hours!!). The fact that I’m studying abroad STILL hasn’t hit me, and I suppose it won’t until I’m sitting in class tomorrow morning, a bright and early 9 a.m.

Until next time,

Sherry

P.S. While passing through French customs—which is a quick process unlike in the U.S.—I met some other students in my program. I also met a street photographer with an older model of the camera I recently bought for the trip, and he taught me some new camera tricks. How cool is talking to strangers?

Sherry Wang studied abroad in Paris and Strasbourg, France, in summer 2017: https://ieo.ucla.edu/travelstudy/intlbuslaw/ 

Ireland | A Weekend in Galway

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By GRACE HEART

Galway was without a doubt my favorite place in Ireland. It’s a very small city that I wouldn’t want to live in long-term, but it is an incredible city to visit for a weekend. I’ll take you along for my weekend trip to Galway with three of my best friends.

GETTING THERE

In terms of transportation, the Irish Rail is the easiest and cheapest method. It was the equivalent of $30 round trip for last minute train tickets to Galway. The train is very nice and really easy to use. You can take the 145 Bus from UCD to the train station. I would leave about an hour and a half to get to the train station and print your tickets so you don’t risk missing it.

ACCOMODATION

I would highly recommend staying in a hostel while traveling anywhere abroad. Hostels are super cheap compared to hotels and while they are not extremely luxurious, they give you a bed to sleep in and that’s really all you need. You’ll be out exploring the town while you’re awake so don’t worry about finding luxurious hotels to stay in or anything. Also, you meet amazing people at hostels from all over the world. We met people from Switzerland, France, and Chile at our hostel and had really cool conversations with all of them!

NIGHT LIFE

The night life in Galway is incredible. There is live music everywhere and the town is so small that you can literally walk everywhere. I never felt unsafe in the small city. It’s very well-lit and there are people everywhere. Our favorite pubs were The Quays, King’s Head, and The Front Door. Walk home whenever you’re ready for bed for the night.

CONNEMARA

Having arrived Friday afternoon and experienced nightlife on Friday night, we decided to do a bus tour on Saturday! We used Lally Tours to see Connemara National Park on Saturday. I would highly recommend this company! We had a fantastic experience and all agreed it was one of our favorite things we had done in the month we had been in Ireland. The park is absolutely stunning and the tour takes frequent stops for photo opportunities, snack breaks, and/or stretch breaks. The main stop was at Kylemore Abbey which was stunning. We had time to hike around the property on the lake and see the stunning gardens as well as the mansion itself. Don’t worry about being tired from the night before because while you have to wake up early, you can always sleep on the bus (although I’d recommend trying to stay awake because the scenery is beautiful).

EXPLORING THE CITY

On Sunday, we wandered the streets of Galway in the daylight. There were at least ten different street performers. We would stop for twenty or thirty minutes to watch some of the artists before moving onto our next destination. If you won’t have time to see the Cliffs of Moher another weekend, I would recommend doing that on Sunday. You can use the same tour company which will drive you to the cliffs for a few hours and bring you back to Galway. The tours are usually about the equivalent of $50 or $60 per person so a pretty good deal considering all the sites you get to see.

That concludes our weekend in Galway! Thanks for coming along and I hope you set aside a weekend to see the beautiful city!

Grace Heart studied abroad in Dublin, Ireland, in Summer 2017: http://eap.ucop.edu/OurPrograms/ireland/Pages/science_engineering_summer_uc_dublin.aspx

Spain | My New Spanish Family: Living in a Homestay

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By NINA CHIKANOV

With the aim of improving my Spanish and getting the most out of my abroad experience, I jumped at the chance to stay with a Spanish family. I didn’t really know what to expect coming into it, besides the fact that I didn’t have to buy my own shower towel and that breakfast and dinner would be provided for me every day. In fact, we had no idea who our host family was or what area of Madrid we’d be living in until program orientation once we arrived in Spain.

Turns out I’d be living with a family of four – Pura, David, and their kids Sofia and Pedro, aged 16 and 19 respectively. Another American student from New York named Jasmine was also staying with us in the other free room in the apartment. The location of my homestay ended up being really convenient for exploring the city as well as commuting to school or other areas of Madrid every day. I lived right off of a metro stop on the blue line and about a 10- minute walk from Sol – the center of Madrid – and a 20-25 minute metro ride from the study center in Chamberí. This was the neighborhood of Lavapiés, which I soon grew to know and love.

On the top, flower stands outside of the metro stop closest to my homestay. On the bottom, flowers I got for my host mom and her daughter on their birthdays.

As soon as I arrived, my host mom showed me to my room at the end of the hall. The whole unit consisted of 4 bedrooms, 1 master bedroom, a living space, a kitchen, and two bathrooms. While the apartment wasn’t super big, it made good use of space and was a nice place to live in the middle of the city.

My room came with a wardrobe with two drawers, hangers, and a top shelf as well as a desk, twin bed, and place to store extra blankets. The amount of storage was comparable to what I had in my dorm room at UCLA with slightly less drawer space. There was also space under the bedside table with shelving for books and space for a couple pairs of shoes. All in all, I had plenty of storage space for my things :-).

The best part of my room was that the window opened right out into the street – I definitely took advantage of this during the warmer months when the weather was absolutely spectacular.

I soon also found out that Madrid never sleeps, and being in an apartment in a rather trendy area close to the center of the city meant dealing with some rowdy (but goodhearted) people at night who thought they were destined to be on the next Spanish Idol – good thing I can fall asleep easily☺

I also had access to the bathroom next to the main entrance. It was smaller than the one I was used to at home and in the dorms, with enough room for a toilet under the sink, two storage cabinets, and some bins pinned to the wall, as well as a shower (box).

I’ve never really seen a shower box before, and this one came with a shower-head that was in no way attached to the wall, meaning I had to hold it with one hand while washing with the other. There was enough space for my body, but it was a bit difficult to move fully around with the allotted space. But again — there was space for everything I needed…it was just a tighter squeeze than usual 😛

I also had to be more mindful of my water usage, turning off the tap whenever I didn’t absolutely need it, since water is apparently more expensive in the city (as is electricity – this means turning off lights in rooms when not necessary and unplugging chargers from outlets when leaving the house). However, Madrid tap water is some of the freshest water I’ve ever had, so filling up my reusable water bottle was never a problem.

In terms of kitchen-use, getting tap water from the sink was basically the only thing I could do in the kitchen by myself. Since my host family prepared meals for me (even though breakfast was typically very minimalistic and included tea/coffee with a pastry, toast, or cereal), I wasn’t allowed to store food in the fridge or use the oven or stove.

For the most part, I didn’t really need to use the kitchen anyways since I ate lunch outside of the house in between classes, but I felt restricted since I couldn’t make myself tea as regularly as I normally do and lunch had to be bought the day of instead of prepared the day before. I wasn’t completely restricted from tea, but I had to ask my host family to boil water for me instead of doing it myself, which seemed a little unnecessary for such a trivial task.

Otherwise, I was expected to make myself part of the family and abide by already-set household rules. This meant laundry day was set on Fridays and all dirty laundry was to be placed in a bin and left out before I left the house for the day or for the weekend. Dinner was also set for 9 PM for me and Jasmine and would always be provided unless we notified our host mom that we wouldn’t be eating at home that night.

The set time – while late by American standards – was very typically Spanish and fit my schedule well, giving me enough time to run errands or explore after classes.

While it would vary day by day, dinners were also the most social part of my day with my host family. I found myself having long chats with Pura or David (my host parents) over meals and catching up with Sofia and Pedro (my host siblings) at times also. It was nice to interact with Spaniards my age since I could pick up certain slang from them and learn about relevant things that teenagers talked about nowadays in Madrid. They were also interested in my life at home and would ask me questions about California and my lifestyle, for example.

They also tried to help me out with my Spanish-speaking abilities and would answer any random questions I had. While we weren’t the best of friends, we definitely had some good laughs and bonded over mutual experiences.

I also really appreciated living with another American in the same homestay. Since starting college, I’ve always lived with roommates – so this was a similar situation. It was nice to have an English-speaker to share all the moments that I couldn’t yet properly explain in Spanish.

Jasmine was also there for the spontaneous midnight runs to the nearby alimentación when I was craving Oreos as well as the slightly more planned menu del día weekend meals.

We also bonded over the shared experience of getting locked out of the apartment because of the fidgety door, and we definitely lost socks to each other over the 4 months of living together.

While the homestay definitely exposed me to Spanish culture and helped me with my language development (not to mention saved me the meal prep time for dinner and let me explore traditional Spanish foods), the immediate sense of community that those living at apartments experienced was not initially present here. This isn’t to say I never hung out with those in the apartments, but I did have to coordinate meetups more often than I would have if I lived closer to them.

Regardless, I don’t regret my homestay experience at all. I don’t think my independence was in any way compromised by living with a family either. In fact, they encouraged me to go enjoy Madrid nightlife and explore other parts of the country, Europe, and surrounding areas (my host mom loved Morocco and gave me very excited recommendations when I visited).

Being with a family also helped create a cozy atmosphere. Of course I felt homesick at times, but having someone around to chat with made me feel more at home. ☺

All in all, I think homestay is a unique experience that all those going abroad should highly consider, especially for purposes of language development and forcing themselves out of their comfort zone. Living in a city apartment gave me an excuse to really get to know my neighborhood and do a lot of solo-exploring. The same element that made it difficult to hang out super often with those in apartments also made me more independent and fueled many of my solo adventures.

Lavapiés and Madrid have my heart, and I now have a family to keep in touch with abroad as well as a new American friend from New York to visit, whom I wouldn’t have met or bonded as much with otherwise.

David, me, Pedro, pura, and Sofía in the kitchen of my homestay☺

Gracias a mi familia Española por todo, y gracias Madrid. There are difficulties and nuances that come with a homestay, but the benefits far outweigh the strains.

Nina Chikanov studied abroad in Madrid, Spain in fall 2017: http://eap.ucop.edu/OurPrograms/spain/Pages/contemporary_spain_madrid.aspx

South Africa | Why South Africa?

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By KELLI HAMILTON

Back in 2013, my dad told me he was going to South Africa and invited me to come along. I grew up in Los Angeles, California, rarely learning or venturing outside of North America. I knew virtually nothing about Africa, and from what I had heard in the news and various media sources, I was a bit uneasy about it. However, I am adventurous spirit, and so I decided to head to Johannesburg, South Africa, with my dad, at the tender age of 16. What I didn’t know at the time of my arrival, was that it would be my favorite trip I have ever taken, up until recently (because another African country has replaced it of course).

The reasons I loved South Africa when I was here in 2013 were numerous. For starters, I was able to see Soweto, which is a township with a vibrant culture and it is also home to Mandela House. Additionally, I went ATV racing in the mountains and saw zebras, visited Sun City, which is an action-packed getaway spot, and saw Sandton, Johannesburg, which is the richest square mile in all of Africa. What I loved most about South Africa, however, was the people. Everyone was so nice, friendly, and willing to lend a helping hand. South Africa had captured my heart and I knew I had to return.

In college, the opportunity to revisit South Africa emerged. While UCLA does not have a program that allows you to study in Johannesburg, they have a partnership with the University of Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa. In contrast to my knowledge of Africa in 2013, by 2017 I had learned a lot about Africa, specifically South Africa, and its success, struggles, failures, and beauty. I have always wanted to learn more about South Africa and its rich, yet complex history, which includes Apartheid, Nelson Mandela, and Trevor Noah.

I had read and heard that Cape Town was stunning and that it had a modern wonder of nature in Table Mountain, so I needed little convincing that this was the right decision for me. Additionally, since my last year of university was approaching, I knew I had to strike while the iron was hot. About a year ago, I applied to study abroad in Cape Town, and was accepted into the program. My South African journey awaited and I couldn’t wait to settle into my new life abroad.

Kelli Hamilton studied abroad in Cape Town, South Africa, in fall 2018: http://eap.ucop.edu/OurPrograms/south_africa/Pages/univ_of_cape_town.aspx