Japan | Fruits & Fast-Food

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By Deran Chan

I’ve been in Tokyo now for about 2 weeks. I moved into my dorm at International Christian University (ICU), started my classes, and played tennis indoors for the first time. This is my study abroad experience. Once I got to Japan, I needed to stock up on snacks (priorities) so I started at the local markets. If you didn’t already know, fruits and vegetables in Japan are SO EXPENSIVE. This mango peach costs 600 yen at the supermarket (roughly equivalent to $6 in the U.S.) and this is because Japan gets a lot of their fresh produce imported from around the world.

After my Japanese produce haul, I ventured into the world of fast-food. Just a 10 minute bus ride away from campus, Musashi-Sakai Station offers a wide range of restaurants and shops. So where did I go?

McDonald’s. Yep, that’s right. I travelled to the other side of the world to eat the most “American” restaurant known to man. In my defense, the menu is completely different, but more importantly it’s way better. The McNuggets taste like actual chicken and the whole experience feels like anything but fast-food. I also tried their grape float since their ice cream machine was actually working <shocker> and I was pretty satisfied overall.

A few days later, I went to a chain called “MOS Burger.” The burger was really flavorful and I could tell that MOS Burger was the In-n-Out of Japan. Unlike the United States, a lot of Japanese restaurants will have a second story for additional seating. When you’re done eating, make sure you put your dishes and trash in the appropriate area. In Japan, you are required to sort your trash into different categories: combustibles, non-combustibles, bottles, plastics, etc.

Norway | Arrival

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By Rose Forster

Arrival
I left for my UCEAP program from Sydney, Australia, because I like to shirk the status quo (and that’s also where I’m from). This was twenty-four combined hours of flying, including a layover in Dubai. Having just finished my sophomore year, I can safely say I’m used to doing fourteen hours on a plane given the similar distance between Sydney and LA. The extra ten hours of flying was the part that was difficult to enjoy. Regardless of the screaming children, the terrible food and the lack of sleep, (staples of any flight), I touched down in Oslo and tried to keep myself calm. I was terrified of the logistics of carving out a new life for myself in an unfamiliar city. I realize that I did exactly that at UCLA two years ago, but in LA I had family members and English. Oslo didn’t have the former, and I wasn’t sure of the extent to which it had the latter, so I was understandably nervous.

At the Airport

I was blessed with the fact that I could buy a SIM card with no difficulty at a kiosk at the airport. As it turns out, everyone I’ve met so far in Norway is a fluent English speaker. From there I bought a ticket on Flytoget, the express train from the airport, and went on my way. On the train, while trying to heave my enormous suitcase into the storage compartments there, I met a girl trying to do the exact same thing. We both discovered that we were from America (she’s from Colorado) and that we were both going to the University of Oslo. I didn’t realize how relieved I was that I now had a point of contact until I sat down on the train and allowed myself to breathe.

Housing

We had to pick up our keys for housing at the university campus, while the actual student villages we were living in were spread across the city. The only hassle I had with getting my house keys was rolling my suitcase over the cobbled street outside.

I’m living in a little studio apartment in Kringsjå.

It’s small and clean, and most importantly, properly heated for the winter months, although it’s been trapping the heat in summer anyway. Today I walked about ten minutes north of my village, and stumbled across the most beautiful lake. The Norwegians were making the most of the sunny summer day and were swimming in the water, laying out in the sun, and enjoying themselves. It’s no California heatwave, but it’s warm enough to merit bathing suits.

I only arrived yesterday, so my trip so far has been a whirlwind of logistics and jet lag. I’m trying to enjoy the 9:30pm sunset without the looming fear of the eternal darkness of the upcoming winter. My orientation program starts with a party tomorrow and then a week of activities, and I can’t wait to see what Norway has in store.

Ghana | First Impressions of Ghana

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By Ashley Young

              Akwaaba! Welcome! It is the end of my first week in Ghana, and WOW it has been an adventure! Since arriving, I have been taking part in the UCEAP Ghana Orientation Class, a class that introduces students to the culture, history, economy, and politics of Ghana. Our UCEAP program staff, two Ghanaian student assistants, and a handful of professors from the University of Ghana, have been leading us through this practical and experiential course, which is a mixture of lectures, field trips, and personal interactions with the Ghanaian culture and people. Thus far, we have toured the University campus, acquainted ourselves with its surrounding neighborhoods, tasted many new foods, learned about Ghanaian culture, including the importance of dance and music, and explored the historical, social, and political contexts of the country we are living in.
              While I have only been here one week, it is clear that studying in Ghana will be an eye-opening experience. One thought that has captured my attention so far is the fact that Ghana, and Africa as a whole, does not lack resources. Before I came here, I was of the opinion that Africa was without: without the basic materials and items needed to sustain a flourishing continent. My first impression of Ghana confirmed this opinion – from the impoverished street hawkers, who walk between cars at intersections selling goods like plantain chips, laundry soap, water, and eggs, to open sewage systems on the sides of roads, to begging children who follow and hold on to you as you walk to your destination, to the inconsistent flow of running water in the University dorms – all of these sights seemed to confirm that Ghana lacks the important resources needed to serve its people.
              But this is not the case. AFRICA DOES NOT LACK RESOURCES. Ghana, in particular, is rich in fertile land for agriculture and cattle rearing, gold, diamonds, bauxite, timber, and even oil. Alack of resources is not the issue. The issue is access, and the efficient assemblage of resources to most benefit the country. One example of this issue was discussed in the orientation class: Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire (the country neighboring Ghana to the West) produce between them 60% of the cocoa in the world market. However, they only make 5.7% of the market profit share. This is an extreme inequity, and unfortunately, not an anomaly in Ghana or the greater African continent.While at times, it has been difficult to be a personal witness to so many political and economic development issues, the Ghanaian culture is rich and there is much beauty to be found!Below, I have attached some photos of the places we have gone:
The Diaspora African Forum
              All of these excursions have been facilitated by our UCEAP Program staff – Auntie Rose, Auntie Sharon, and Auntie Dorcas – as well as two Ghanaian students – Araba and JoJo. We call our staff our Aunties because in Ghanaian culture, the family extends far beyond the nuclear family that we generally acknowledge in the United States, and individuals call those older than themselves either “Auntie” or “Uncle” to show respect and/or signify a relationship. Additionally, the student assistants, Araba and JoJo, have received their names based on the day of the week they were born on. This is a traditional Ghanaian practice – Ghanaians believe that each day has a spirit associated with it, and that this plays into the character of the individual.
              In fact, the integration of traditional Ghanaian culture into the more modern Ghanaian society is quite interesting! There are many practices and customs alive in Accra that I have never heard of before, many revolving around important milestones in life such as birth, puberty, marriage, and death. Already, we have been invited to both a traditional Ghanaian wedding and a naming ceremony for a new baby; I am sure I will get to experience many new traditional customs at these events!
There are many practices and customs alive iI am excited to learn more about Ghana, and excited to share it with you as I go along. Enjoy reading!
Best,
Ekua (MyGhanaian name!)

France | An Idiot Abroad: Antsy for Annecy

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By Barry Yang

Exiting from Brexit

This past week on Thursday I took my first final exam in the country of France. The exam was for my Brexit class which only lasted for five weeks (technically four because the teacher canceled class the first week). As I mentioned in my previous blog, the class itself is quite different from classes at UCLA. The professor is much more opinionated, and there is an air of bias that I feel should be reduced in an academic setting. The exam was two hours long and composed of five short answer essay-style questions. The questions alluded to a primary document from the British government outlining its plan for the official execution of Brexit, and we were suppose to incorporate the document in our answers. The nature of the exam, much like the class, was quite different from the ones I am accustomed to at UCLA. The professor’s questions were incredibly broad. While essay questions demand a degree of flexibility to allow students to propose diverse ideas and information, the questions we received were too broad that I struggled to establish a structure for my answers. The questions were also very opinionated in that they were inherently pro-remain. The questions did not really inspire a great amount of debate or analysis. They were more asking us to recount information than to make an argument. After the test, all of us UC kids discussed the exam and many of us shared the same thoughts. It will be interesting to see how the professor grades the exam. The class is incredibly diverse and composed of kids from various countries with various levels of English. It will be interesting to see how the Professor distinguishes the quality of someone’s answer from the quality of his or her English. This class was by far the shortest class I have ever attended. Although it was interesting to learn about Brexit in an academic setting and from a native British individual, I wish the class was longer and that the professor presented some information on the other side that went beyond what has been already talked about somewhat thoroughly in popular media. I am excited to see what my other classes’ finals will be like given that they are semester long classes unlike the Brexit one.

Metros on Metros

Living in Los Angeles and San Diego all my childhood, I have not experienced true public transportation. Although buses and now the metro-link exist in Los Angeles, both of these pale in comparison to the public transit in Lyon and even just Europe. Lyon’s public transit is run by the company TCL. TCL has four subway lines, four tramway lines, and over one hundred bus lines. You can essentially get anywhere in the city with the public transit system. I use to only take two tramways because those were the only ones I knew and I really did not want to deviate, get lost, and be an hour late to class. However, after I got the TCL iPhone application my life completely changed. The app outlines the quickest modes of transportation for you at the time and ensures that you will arrive at your destination by a time you specify. It is also advisable to get a TCL metro card which is about thirty euros a month for students but allows you unlimited rides. A normal ticket costs 1.8 euros and lasts only an hour from the time of first scan. However, many Lyon locals do not even buy a ticket when they are traveling one or two stops because ticket enforcement is incredibly lax. This may soon change though; my host brother just informed me that TCL has employed undercover agents and will be more strict on enforcement.

Antsy for Annecy

The city of Annecy appears on essentially every list when you look up “best small towns in France.” The town is situated by a huge lake as well as the Rhone-Alps. There’s also a river that runs straight through the center of town and quaint old buildings are built around it. When we visited Annecy, we got there on a Friday which just happened to be a market day. We got to try some very local food and was stuffed for about 10 euros a person. We had some potatoes and cheese with baguette, smoked ham, traditional French sausage, local baguette sandwich, as well as a good amount of fresh ice cream (yes all for 10 euros). This trip to Annecy was also the first time we used BlaBlaCar (a European ride sharing service). We usually opt for busses with Ouibus or Flixbus when traveling to locations close to Lyon because tickets are only around 10 euros. However, this time, BlaBlaCar worked out to be a better deal and more suiting for our schedule. While the ride was not horrible, I definitely would not recommend sitting in a standard French car for more than a hour. Firstly, the cars here just physically feel smaller than American cars. The drivers also try and pack as many people as legal possible into said small cars so one can kiss goodbye to leg room or shoulder room. Driving in France also feels more reckless and dangerous than in the US (this may be a biased opinion though considering I do not understand French driving laws). Even though the ride is not all that great, BlaBlaCar is still an amazing budget-friendly way to travel and allows you to meet some French locals and really drive through the French countryside familyesque style.

Spain | A Very Spanish Weekend: Sevilla

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by Celia Cody-Carrese
A Very Spanish Weekend: Sevilla
Animated chatter morphs into hushed murmurs as the staff pushes out a hearty “shhh” across the room. It’s starting. Sevillanos and tourists alike are still searching forany bit of open space where they can sit and watch the show. The guitar starts, before the room gets quiet enough to hear it clearly. Next comes the clapping, soft and quiet at first. The singer lets out a long, high cry, his voice weaving in and out of the handclaps and guitar. There is pain and passion in his voice, that hooks into your ears and won’t let go. Seated next to him is the dancer, a woman wearing a red top, long purple ruffled skirt, and a red scarf tied around her waist. Her lips are red and she wears red and white flowers in her hair, parted down the middle and worn in a low bun. She is the picture of flamenco. Her white shoes begin to tap on the floor, along with the rhythm of the hand claps. Something beyond my understanding occurs which signals her to stand and take her spot in the center of the small wooden tablon, or stage, laid out on the floor. Maybe it’s a line in the song, or maybe it was just the feeling of the moment.She is larger than life – her feet strike the floor at a speed that seems inhuman, her arms twist and sweep across her body, her hips ground all her movements. But her face, her face is what says it all. She doesn’t ever flash us a dancer’s smile –instead,her face shows the effort behind everything. The pain and joy of the music, the sheer difficulty of what she is doing. By the end of the second song, a sheen of sweat covers her face. She’s not here to look pretty. She’s here to emote, to dance, and to do something really difficult, really well. This is true for the guitarist and singer as well–they don’t put up a front, it’s just raw emotion and effort. And that’s what made my first time seeing flamenco so incredible.

Flamenco at La Carbonería in Sevilla

Sevilla is the capital of Andalucía, and maybe rightfully so (but don’t tell anyone in Córdoba I said that!). It’s home to some of the best flamenco, best gastronomy, and biggest displays of Spanish architecture. My favorite place in Sevilla is the Plaza de España, a grandiose building and plaza designed by Sevillan architect Aníbal González Álvarez-Ossorio, constructed for the Iberian-American Exposition in 1929.Walking up to the Plaza is pretty breathtaking there are so many elements and details that I couldn’t decide what to look at first.

Aníbal González’s architectural genius is matched only by his fantastic mustache

Plaza de España, Sevilla

The Plaza de España is made up of a huge plaza, obviously, and an equally huge building that curves around the outside of the Plaza. Along the front of the building are murals made of intricate hand painted tiles, which represent different cities and regions in Spain.Within the plaza is a moat-like body of water, where ducks floating between rowboats. Over the water are four bridges, featuring brightly painted balustrades (theside part of the bridge). The whole thing is pretty stunning. We spent about an hour just walking around and staring at everything, and then rented row boats for half an hour. Fun fact! The Plaza de España was used as a set in Attack of the Clones,  the second film in the Star Wars prequels. Anakin and Padmé can be seen walking through the Plaza, which in the film is on the Planet Naboo.

Córdoba’s mural at the Plaza de España

Next to the Plaza de España is another impressive display of something Spain does really well-parks.Walking through the Maria Luisa park takes you through tropical landscaping, beautiful fountains, and ponds filled with birds, including two large andfriendly swans. (Feed them grass, they won’t bite!) Scattered throughout the park are various structures, including a dome topped gazebo and a beautiful building which houses the Museum of Arts and Traditions. Every corner holds something different, and simultaneously the whole park fits together beautifully. It’s historical, lush, and whimsical.

Parquede María Luisa

What’s a weekend in Spain without delicious food? Sevilla is home to a lot of great restaurants, and in total has over 3,000 tapas bars and restaurants! 3,000! My favorite place we went to was an old bar called Casa Morales, complete with giant barrels of vino and huge legs of jamón hanging over the bar. I don’t eat meat and the pig legs kind of weird me out, but they also feel so Spanish! I had espinacas Andaluz stew of spinach and garbanzo beans served with bread. It was delicious and so filling for only a small tapa! We also had amazing gelato right next to the Cathedral -my flavors included basil-lime, coconut, and almond.We sat in the plaza enjoying our gelato, watching horse drawn carriages pass by. Nearby a young woman warmed up for a street performance, where she danced hip hop and contemporary.

Tapas at Casa Morales

Something I have grown to love about Spain is the street performers. Many cities I have been to, including cities in America, have some pretty hokey street performers. Often they are talented, but there is too much schtick thrown on top of whatever art form they are doing. However, in Spain the street performers are a bit humbler and more original. In Madrid I saw roller skaters dance like they were on ice and jump over a row of about 8 people lying on the ground. In Córdo bayou can often see a man who plays saxophone on thePuente Romano, as well as various guitarists in the center. In Toledo outside a church, flamenco rhythms from a man’s guitar softly filled the air. The young dancer we saw in Sevilla left out candies in a box next to the hat she used to collect donations. Other notable sights in Sevilla include the Real Alcazar, a palace complex with Mudéjar (Moorish), Renaissance, and Baroque architectural styles.Within the Alcazar rare beautiful and extensive gardens,which a raised, covered walkway runs along.The Alcazar, along with the Plaza de España, are still in use today for royal and government purposes, respectively. And as with any Andalucían city, meandering throughout the narrow and winding streets is never a waste of the afternoon.

Mudéjar architecture in the Alcazar

Sevilla truly has a place in my heart, along with every other beautiful place I have been able to see during my time here in España!