Hello my name is Daisy Romero I am in Korea right now and the time is 2:39 on a Sunday. I was so caught up on getting all stuff together as well as hanging out with friends in family before I left, that I completely spaced about the blog. However, I do have a journal that I write in so I can tell you exactly what I was feeling before I left to Korea. Here it goes.
It is Wednesday, a day before I leave. I am still in like lala land, I feel like nothing is really going on. I just feel like I am on a mini vacation from work and tomorrow I have to go back. Yesenia (my friend since middle school) keeps telling me, “It’s like we are in High school again. Hanging out with no worries about work and just doing what we want.” I was like this is going to end soon and I am going to be on my way to Korea, but for some reason I don’t feel any different. There is no anxiety attacks, or worries right now. Maybe once I get there I will feel the culture shock and all that, but right now I am just like “meh”. Last week I was worrying about my departure, what am I going to do with no work?, what about the language barrier? will my roommate like me? what if I don’t like her? this is going to be hard. However, as the days went by my worries went away. Daisy you are going to be fine, you will make friends to help you with the language barrier, you can turn on that customer service (i work retail so I can be really customer friendly when it is needed) when you meet your roommate, and you will go into clubs for that extra time you have on your hands or exercise. Let’s do this Daisy! you have been waiting three months for this you are ready.
Yes, even in writing I talk myself, just for motivational purposes. So that was what I was feeling before I left I will post something new on Thursday my time to let you guys know about my experiences this week. Until then Annyong!

My fifth week here was spent starting my essays. Here, instead of having assignments throughout the term, you just go to lectures and take notes for ten weeks and then the last week you write an essay that makes up 100% of your grade. So there’s a lot of pressure toward the end of the term. This is why I’ve decided to start now! I also visited the science museum and Hyde park. It was actually sunny this weekend which made London so beautiful! It finally felt like home!

This week I went with a group of international students on a tour of the Hampton Court Palace. We had a great time touring the gardens and apartments of the Tudors. It was a lot of fun but I hope to go back in the spring when the gardens are in bloom. Also it would be much more enjoyable when it’s not freezing outside. It was great to go outside of London and see so much history. Next will be a tour of the North of England and York, which should be really cool.
I’m pretty much completely adjusted to the culture and differences here and just settling in.

I’m now in my second week at Roehampton and other than scheduling issues and equivalency questions, I am doing much better. I have settled in quite a bit and am learning to enjoy life here on campus. I was able to visit central London and experience being a tourist in this beautiful city. I have to walk 25 minutes to class which is hugely different from at western Oregon where I’d walk 5 minutes to class. The classes here are much bigger and much more intimidating but I thinknill be alright. Now that I’ve settled, staying here seems much more doable. I’m looking forward to all of the experiences I will have here in the next few months.

I’ve been in London for two days now but it feels like I’ve been here for weeks already. The first day was great! I toured around campus and the roehampton area. I was very excited and happy to be here but I didn’t get much sleep. Then today, I had a really hard time dealing with what I’m assuming was culture shock. It’s probably also because I’m very tired, but I was so overwhelmed when trying to pick out groceries it was unreal. Everything is just so dif

Touring Roehampton

ferent and I don’t recognize brands or what is a good deal or not. So I gave up and went to a cafe to grab a bite to eat. I looked on the menu for anything that sounded familiar. I realized that this was me shutting out the other culture. I used to think that I wouldn’t have culture shock in London because it’s not that different from America, but I was so wrong. It’s completely different in so many ways. And when I realized that, I freaked out a bit. So I called my mom, took a nap, and feel much better. I also feel that I’m paranoid about American stereotypes and being treated poorly but so far it hasn’t been a problem. I think by next week I’ll be settled in much better and be coping with the culture shock well.

Hello, my name is Madelyn Hay and tomorrow I’ll be boarding my flight to London, England. The weeks leading up to my departure have been pretty crazy. One moment, I’m excited and the next I’m crying and wondering why I am doing this. I know that once I get there, that question will be answered and I’ll immediately be glad that I chose to travel abroad but until then, I’ll be somewhere between ecstatic and tearful. I’m mainly nervous about the flight because I’ve never traveled internationally or independently. But both are wonderful experiences that I will be glad to accomplish.  Leaving my hometown of camas, Washington and going in to such a huge city will surely be a bit of a struggle at first but I look forward to this experience as I hope to grow from it and embrace independence.

The title says it all. I arrived home from London over four months ago, and yet I’m still set in the ways of the UK. About 90% of the time, I look right-left-right when crossing the road, and can only do it the American way if I remind myself to do it. This is just one of the many things that has stuck with me since I’ve left London. The other things that have stuck with me are the memories of the food, experiences, and friendships of my time abroad. I’ll never forget what it was like to travel to a foreign country and experience life as a Londoner. Living in London gave me more confidence and allowed me to explore the person that I am, and since coming back, I have become a much more independent person, and I’m grateful for my opportunities of travel and study.

Now that I am back home, I have noticed about how convenient everything is here. Of course there is cell and network service in Costa Rica, but I didn’t have a phone there so it is amazing how convenient everything is here. Not only that, but I wasn’t scared for my life when I was driving. The road laws here are very much enforced here and not so much there. Apart from seeing my friends and family, I am not too excited to be back. I still had so much more to see and experience before I came back. However, I can hopefully come back and see all that I missed and see people that I have met in Costa Rica.

Since my time here in Costa Rica is winding down and coming to an end I am trying to spend as much time as I can seeing more of San Jose. This week I visited the precolonial gold museum and the national stadium. Luckily, there just happened to be an international track competition that was free. I also visited the national art museum that is in the old national airport for Costa Rica, which was really cool and worth seeing itself.

This week I went with a few friends to Panama. The process of crossing the boarder into Panama was very tedious. I did not have a flight itinerary that they would except so I had to run around the boarder shops to try and get internet to enter Panama. However, I got it resolved and we stayed in a Hostel along a river in Bocas del Torro. We went on a dolphin and sloth tour and we also went snorkeling.That was a great experience and I got to see a glimpse of what Panama has to offer.