NOTTINGHAM — I love airports.  I love the fact that everyone has a place to go and a story to tell, and I admit it, I like Cinnabon quite a bit, too.  However, I hadn’t planned on spending 33 hours in the Prestwick Airport in Glasgow, Scotland, and before you ask, no, it actually had…

PARIS — Americans often talk about French exceptionalism, a term that, in its most general definition, means the French way of doing things.

PARIS — I set out on my year abroad with a lot of expectations, one of which was, of course, to become “multicultural.”  Little did I know just how personal this multicultural experience would become for me.  

My abroad year has been a little out of the ordinary in that I spent my first…

PARIS — Being abroad is many things. I can’t explain it because it’s such a fluid concept that changes daily and with every angle of perception. It’s normal. I live in an apartment, go to school, keep in touch with old friends, do homework and basically have my life here in Paris. I feel at home, yet I miss my home.

I left home for the first time, to go study abroad, when I was 16. Since then I have been moving from place to place, meeting new people, living new experiences, becoming part of new things. Every place is a new adventure, a new challenge, a new culture to understand and become a part of.…

ALEXANDRIA — Prior to traveling to Egypt, I had never been out of the United States (Canada doesn’t count), so I really wasn’t sure what to expect from a land as exotic as the Middle East. When I arrived, culture shock was my first reaction, but, like all who go abroad, I had expected this.

NELSPRUIT, South Africa—Being told that if you can’t find a tree when charged by a rhino you should lie flat on the ground because it won’t be able to reach you with its horn and will only be able to trample you does not inspire much confidence.

Amidst the snows of a Middlebury  J-term I…

POITIERS — “The immigration office really doesn’t appreciate it when people are late. It is absolutely essential that you don’t miss your appointment.”

CHANGCHUN — In November 2005, NaiNai (my grandmother) decided that she wanted to move to Changchun, China and in early March 2006, she finally made the move. I have spent the past four weeks living with her and YeYe (my grandfather) here in Changchun.

NaiNai is not your average waiguo laotaitai; she’s 83 years old…

BAMAKO — As driven Middlebury students, we spend a significant portion of our time thinking about the future. What are we going to write that paper on? Are you going to get that stellar internship next summer?