Well…I can’t believe a whole month has already gone by here in Oviedo. It seems like just yesterday that I got here. This week mostly consisted of studying in various parks because our final was on Thursday.

Tuesday was the fiesta de San Juan which is basically a big party in the Cathedral square to welcome the summer solstice. At midnight they start a huge bonfire in the square and play music while people crowd around it. You are supposed to write down a wish or something you need closure on, on a piece of paper and throw it into the fire. This is supposed to bring you good luck. After the fire is over, many people jump over it because this brings you good luck for a year. Unfortunately the fire took forever to die down so I didn’t get to jump over it. It was pretty amazing seeing all these people gathering around to celebrate this tradition. They even had fire works and live music which was a pretty incredible thing to see. The only bad thing is that the fire didn’t end until around 2 in the morning and we all had class in the morning.

Wednesday was the day before our exam so I went with a friend to a nearby park and studied all day.I felt very prepared and the good thing is that he even gave us a sample test the day before of exactly the layout of the exam.

Thursday was the day! We took our exam which actually ended up to be easier than I thought. Afterword, for the second part of class we went on a “field trip”. Our professors took us to the market in the center of the city and separated us into teams. Each team had a list of things that we had to do in this market, basically like a scavenger hunt. We had to answer all these questions about typical Asturian things and come back with all the answers, which was different, but cool!

That night everyone decided to go out because all the Americans were leaving on Friday and Saturday. We ended up going to a few bars, but overall it was an early night for me as I was still extremely tired fro, Tuesday.

Friday was the last night for everyone! We all had to go out because it was our last night together, despite the fact that everyone had to leave early in the morning. Instead of going to sleep to wake up for their flights, a few of my friends decided to just stay up until five and then go to the airport to sleep on the plane. I’m not sure exactly how that worked out for them. It is super weird for me because I am here for another month, while everyone else is leaving. I am sad that I probably won’t ever see most of these people again. I’m hoping that the few people I met here that I have become good friends with will stay in touch and hopefully I will be able to see them in the future. 

This is my last week in Wellington and being in New Zealand. I am very sad to be leaving and my time here has gone by way too fast. It felt like yesterday being at home and feeling extremely nervous that I would be going abroad to New Zealand. I had no idea what I was getting myself into or who I would meet. My biggest worry was that I would be homesick and I would miss everyone, but luckily I have not had to deal with that during my time here. I was always to keep myself occupied through making friends and being involved with the university. This got my mind off the fact that I was far away from home and I would not be back home for a while. I also realized how lucky I was to be in New Zealand and that this would only happen once in my life, so it would a waste of time to think about home rather than take advantage of what is around me.

Since studying abroad I have learned a lot and I have changed. With living abroad I feel more comfortable living on my own and not having to worry about not being able to cook for myself. I feel comfortable with cooking and baking food on my own now. I also learned more about the world, which has allowed to develop a new perspective on the world, and also allowed myself to further my knowledge through my studies. I am excited to share my knowledge with my friends who have the same interests as me, and use it to better myself. Traveling abroad allows people to gain insight about the world and it lets them learn more about themselves.

Even though I will miss New Zealand I am greatly looking forward to being in summer at New York, since right now it is winter here. It is not like a New York winter with snow every week, instead it is just rain and wind, which beats snow. The weather here right now is the equivalent of an early Spring or late fall weather, but it feels nice to walk around and not be covered in sweat at the end of the day. Studying abroad was one of the best decisions I have made in my life.

Hello Reader,

Welcome to my blog. I am excited to share this experience with you. I am travelling to study abroad in Oviedo, Spain in about a week and I am extremely nervous. It is my first time abroad as a student. I went to the Middle East before as a soldier but never got to truly enjoy the beauty in those countries. In addition, I’ve dreamed of making this trip to study in Spain since 2003! (Although I had hoped to stay in Malaga, but who knows? Maybe I’ll get to visit there somehow).

I have made about 7 checklists in order to prepare for this trip and have about half of everything done so far. Helpful tip if you are a planner like me: most of the checklist(s) is not that important; Enjoy life and this wonderful moment of pre-departure excitement. Also, download the Tourist Eye App (awesome for travelers), and the Currency Converter app (extremely helpful for finances abroad).

You know that feeling when you’ve left your house and feel like you forgot something? Maybe left the coffeemaker on or forgot to lock the door? Yeah, that’s about how it feels right now except that I can’t stop smiling whenever I think of how insignificant the coffeemaker and locked door are next to the road that lies ahead.

While I am extremely nervous to be going alone to Spain and to have to speak Spanish everywhere (Dear God, please let Google Translate function wherever I go), I am trying to keep grounded. I am enjoying the nature in Hudson Valley and time with my two young sons (6 and 8 years old) before I leave. I find that if I look around me and pretend I am a foreigner in my own home town around the Hudson Valley, everything immediately becomes more beautiful. I love it here. I think it’s important to see the beauty everywhere. I can’t wait to bring these foreign eyes across the Atlantic, strengthen my Spanish skills, and learn all I can about how the Spanish culture operates (and hopefully other cultures too).

Till next time,

Tessa

I’m leaving pictures and videos of my last trip in the Hudson Valley to highlight differences between here and abroad. Thanks for reading!

Enjoying a bit of Home in Upstate New York before Leaving

Cheonan Campus: Do I like it more than Jukjeon Campus? Other disappointments. First Day of Teaching.

After spending a day here at Cheonan campus I have to say the biggest difference between Cheonan and Jukjeon is the environment. Cheonan is more flat, and more “countryside” ish. Jukjeon is built up while Cheonan campus is spread out – similar to how the country/suburbs vs. urban places are in America. Cheonan campus has a huge lake, which my students told me that if I bring a friend-boy there, we would end up being a couple … of course there would be a legend like this here, it is K O R E A.

I can’t say if I like Jukjeon or Cheonan campus more. I think I have to stay longer and learn more about Cheonan campus to really judge. I think my only problem with Cheonan campus is not knowing how to get to the town/city, and how to get to Seoul from here. Though people say that getting to Seoul from Cheonan campus will only take one hour – it takes two hours to get to Seoul from Jukjeon campus.

Another small difference is the laundry room. They require that you buy a card. You would purchase the card for 1,000 ₩ ~ $1.00. After purchasing the card, then you can fill it up with credit. Luckily for me, there was a card left on one of the washers so I just used that card and did my laundry. I have also heard mixed reviews about the dryers. Some say that the dryers are not good and will not do its job. So, me being a cheap person, I did not pay the extra 1,000₩. So I now have wet clothes, hoping that I will not run out of dry clothes before the next time I will need to be doing laundry.

From my friends that came to Cheonan campus last year, they said that we would be living with 3 other people, the air conditioner will work at all times, and that overall the dorms would be better. However, the format of the dorm is the same as in Jukjeon campus for Woongbi Hall. I believe I live in Danwoo Hall in Cheonan – I’ll correct this if I find out that I am wrong.
In Danwoo hall, the girls live on one side and the guys live on another side. This is the same in Woongbi Hall, however, in Woongbi Hall the Global Village females live in the same side as the males despite having a female side of the dormitory. This makes it easier for us not to visit each other in each other dormitory at Danwoo Hall.

Okay, now to the fun part. The first day of teaching. WOW, despite doing this last year, the anxiety and the nervousness was real. I mean, meeting any one for the first time is pretty nerve wrecking for me. But the first day was awesome. I have an intermediate class in the morning and a beginner class in the afternoon. At first I thought that the two levels would be similar, but there is a difference. Intermediate definitely makes more of an effort to talk in English – not saying that my beginners were not willing, it is just that the intermediate, despite having a difficult time trying to phrase things, were able to come up with something to say eventually.
I think for my beginner class I should speak slower. I know when I was teaching last year, they told me that for beginner class, you would be speaking most of the time, which is true. I feel that the English seems to overwhelm them though – having mix feelings on whether I should speak less or more.
I’m not sure if my students liked me but I guess I will see when they decide to come to class or not tomorrow. -_-

Next mission: Get to Seoul this weekend!
Till Then.
안녕~

With my grandmother being born in New Zealand and growing up here I have a lot of family here in New Zealand that I want to meet. My grandmother had eight other siblings and there are a total 27 cousins from all of the children she and her siblings had. Unfortunately due to old age my grandmother and most of her siblings have passed away. There is one who still alive that I was able to meet. I was lucky to be able to meet my great aunt because this might be the only time I see her with her health is not good, and she is losing her hearing and her sight. Meeting my great aunt allowed me to learn more about my grandmother and the history of my Kiwi family.

I was also able to meet some of my cousins and see the farm my grandmother grew up on. My cousins were very warm and welcoming and they must have known I love to eat because when I came they made pumpkin soup and scones. When I saw the farm my grandmother grew up on it was very interesting for me because I can’t imagine what it must have been like to be on a big farm with eight other siblings. I also got to see my grandmother’s grave in New Zealand, which was a very emotional moment for me, since I was close with her. Her tombstone read “home at last,” which was very fitting with how she belonged in New Zealand.

The last few weeks my parents came back to New Zealand after not coming here for thirty years. It was different for them since the population grew and it wasn’t build up when they lived down here. I was able to travel with them to New Plymouth and to 90 Mile Beach. I had a great time with them and I was very happy to spend my last few weeks here with them, before I spend my last weeks giving out my goodbyes to all of the friends I have made here.

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” -Saint Augustine

In just 8 short days, I will be boarding an airplane for the third time in my life in preparation for a month long, 6 credit summer session at Kingston University in London, England. As a commuter to SUNY New Paltz, I have never lived on campus, but I’m so thrilled that my first time doing so will be in a city as vivacious and glamorous as London! I have yet to locate a suitcase to pack a month’s worth of clothing (which, knowing myself to be the chronic over-packer that I am, will end up being a three month’s supply of clothing) so I am beginning to feel a tad bit apprehensive about the trip, as I am also still waiting on credit cards and cord adapters to be delivered! I have a couple friends that have studied in London who have been able to answer my (many) questions about going there, but with each answered question, I have more unanswered that come to mind!

1. Will navigating around the city be as difficult as everyone has made it seem?
2. Will people really be able to spot Americans from “a mile away”?
3. Is there going to be a language barrier as difficult to navigate as the students in (for example) a Spanish speaking country?

My list of questions is ever growing, but it is dominated with the desire to embark on a journey quite unlike anything that I have ever done before. I’m looking forward to being inspired by a life so different from mine. I currently have a very idealistic picture of what this trip is like—though I am conscious I will be working through the classes the entirety of my stay. Taking a class on Shakespeare and being able to visit the Globe Theatre is something I did not think possible until looking into abroad programs, and I cannot believe that soon it will be my reality!!

I’m feeling many different emotions as my departure date for London gets closer. I leave in exactly one week and a day! I haven’t started packing yet because why not do everything last minute…however, I have started getting the essentials ready. I’ve gotten last minute things like a couple extra t-shirts, I ordered a power adapter from Amazon. I also have to teach my parents how to FaceTime so that I can talk to them when I’m gone. I’m still working this week (I work at a pizzeria), but my last shift is Friday so that I have a few days before I leave to myself.

I don’t even feel like I’m leaving in a week. I feel like I have done so much to prepare for this trip (filling out forms, reading information, etc), but it doesn’t feel like I’m actually going! I’m so unbelievably excited, but at the same time I’m a little nervous! I have never really been outside America (with the exception of Bermuda) so I don’t know what to expect. I’m really looking forward to experiencing lifestyles and cultures that I am not accustomed to, and haven’t even really been exposed to.

But for now, I am just going to enjoy the last week by spending it with my family and friends 🙂

So I haven’t been able to write this week which means I have to put it all into this entry. I have been very busy this week doing many different kinds of things. As this is my second to last week, my classes now are seeming to get harder. We are learning new grammar material and I am realizing that my final exam is now only a week away. Where has the time gone!

On Monday we again went to the same field to play soccer. Although I am not very good at it I decided to go anyways because I had fun last time. It is nice that this group of people really don’t judge on ability and we are all there to have fun.

On Wednesday nights in Oviedo, there is a conversation exchange where you got o have wine and tapas and practice Spanish. Whenever it is a nice day here everyone goes to the park and tans. My friend asked if I wanted to go, so we ended up going to the park and hanging out which was nice. The crazy thing about studying abroad is how different everyone you meet is. Even though my friend was american, he had lived such a different life than me and has so many different perspectives. Coming here really showed how stuck in New York I am and how I really haven’t seen the world. Later on that night, we met up with some others that were going to the conversation table and walked there. Surprisingly, there were actually a lot of people there. The interesting this was that there was many Americans learning Spanish, but all Spanish people learning English. It was fun to talk to them and see how their English was and just have a chance to practice and talk to people you ordinarily wouldn’t.

On Thursday the weather was actually really nice so we all decided to go to the beach. Gijon is very close to Oviedo and it is very cheap to get there by bus. We ended up meeting at the bus station and going from there. It was so crazy how many people were at this beach. We were all pretty shocked. The last time I came to Gijon it was rainy and very cold. On this day it was so much nicer and I’m so happy I decided to come to the beach.

On Friday night we ended up going out with some of the Chinese people from our class. We went to this big carnival that was outside of Oviedo. There were rides everywhere and two stages with bands playing all night.

Its just starting to hit me that this first month of classes is already over and my final exam is this week. Because I am staying for two months, I’m basically doing the program twice. So next month I will have all new classes and all new people. I’m sad that the friends I have made here are leaving this week. I have met so many people from all over the world that I would have never met if I hadn’t come, but I am grateful for the experience

So this weekend we went on our second excursion of the program which was a trip to Astorga and Leon. These are two towns that are about two hours from Oviedo. On Friday night we all ended up going out and drinking a lot of Sidra which is just so good. Everyone went home relatively early so that we could wake up the next morning.

The bus left at 9:30 and we started our two hour bus ride to Astorga. This was a small little town that was filled with a lot of history. Of course there was a huge cathedral that we all had to check out along with a museum inside the cathedral. You can really see all the history in this building and it is truly amazing. Afterword we went to a palace that Gaudi designed. He was a famous Spanish architect with a very unique style. This palace looked like it was from a movie and I feel like I couldn’t even capture it’s beauty in a picture.

The last place on our list was the Museo de Chocolate. This was a museum dedicated to the foundations of chocolate. Probably my favorite part was the sampling that you got to do at the end. The chocolate tasted so natural and unlike anything else.

After getting back on the bus to go to Leon, the ride when really quick. Luckily, everything that we were going to see in Leon was pretty close, so we didn’t have to do as much walking. On this particular weekend there was a market going on with many little tents. They were selling everything from food, to clothes, to jewelry. It was so fun to go around and see all these things that were mostly hand crafted. We even got to try some of a big dish of paella that they were making and it was DELICIOUS! We got to see another one of Gaudi’s buildings and another cathedral as well. This cathedral was famous for its stained glass that was throughout the structure. Everything had so much detail, it was crazy to think about all the work that went into these buildings.

Later that night we decided to go out even though we were all very tired from the excursion. I thought I knew the bus system by now, but apparently not. Needless to say, It took me two hours to get where I was going. I suppose it was a good learning experience because I did eventually find my way around. We ended up at Copas Rotas again and even got Kabobs which were the best tasting food in the world!

I can’t believe how fast the time is going!