Mind races without any reason
First day of school, no problem. I have done that well over 15 times in my life. What does one bring to school? Notebook, check. Pen, check. Backpack, check. Colored…
Study Abroad: Europe the experience of a lifetime
Flipping through the worn pages of a four month Euro-trip journal, some with metro tickets glued memorably and some stained with peach from a mishap in the satchel from the…
Demonstration reveals foreign patriotism
Belgian waffles and a pit stop before Amsterdam was all Brussels was supposed to be. A couple of English blokes in Cologne, Germany informed me of a nation wide event…
Reunion offers chance to reflect
“But for now we are young, let us lay in the sun and count every beautiful thing that we see. Love to be in the arms of all that I’m…
Backpacking poses challenges for college student
My knickers are hanging from the window. They are hanging from the bedpost. They are dangling from the hooks pushed into the crumbling walls. No it wasn’t strip night in…
Spain proves unwelcoming
Ah, Spain. Where the atmosphere is relaxed, the women have mullets and siestas are a mandatory routine for all citizens. Flying into Bilbao, Spain, from my sweet London home, my…
Friendships survive across distance, time
Hugs are shared. Cheek kissing, luggage carrying, email exchanging—goodbyes don’t have to be this dramatic. A good friend visited me in London for the weekend. After being separated by post-high…
Television defines U.S.
The clerk asked “Where are you from?” “The States,” I replied sheepishly. “Ah-maaay-reeka! The Superpower.” That brief and instant statement came at me forcefully. Coming from the country that calls…
Public surveillance exposes personal privacy as less than necessary
When you live the hostel life, you sacrifice nearly 95 percent of your privacy to people whom you do not know and probably should not trust. Even sleep is disturbed…
Language creates, dissolves differences
In high school Spanish class we were taught how to conjugate verbs. Because we live in America and will generally be confronted with Mexicans rather than Spaniards, we dismissed the…