Learning Abroad

Cairo is wonderfully aggravating, with daily protests against the regime’s constitutional amendments, snarling traffic, frequent elevator malfunctions, vernal blossoms on the trees in Zamalek (the rest of the city doesn’t have trees), days both miraculously clear of pollution and others choked with it, Cairoians still wrapped in scarves and sweaters against the chimerical chill in the air, endlessly bemusing cab stories (our driver today had an air freshener advertising Viagra), afternoons lolling in the courtyard at American University–Cairo drinking in the sunlight as if we had just survived a Minnesota winter. On Thursday, I awaited the end of classes with more eagerness than usual, as a friend and I planned on riding horses at the pyramids to catch the sunset. . . . Laura S.

I didn’t believe for a second that my dream of seeing how Japan in all its vastness and complexity measured up to my glowing, day-dreamed, book-fed image would ever happen. I still didn’t believe it as I boarded the plane and watched the video screen that marked our progress over Alaska and the restless Pacific thousands of feet below. Nor did I as I wound my way through customs and had a Visa error sorted out. Not until I was sitting on the bus (not at all like the buses of New York or San Francisco or Minneapolis or Iowa City) with the other bemused kids (I was a kid again) who had just come half a turn around the globe did I realize it had really happened. Through the English department, I had received the Donald V. Hawkins and Jessie M. Comstock scholarships as well as recommendations that paved the way to other scholarships—all so I could be the luckiest kid on that bus. Tim C.

I have met some amazing people overseas and have been presented with travel opportunities I only dreamed of. I spent the Christmas season in Scandinavia with a friend I had met in England, allowing me to spend time in Copenhagen and Stockholm. I have also learned to travel alone, having been to Barcelona, Edinburgh and Glasgow within the past two months. I have scheduled trips to Berlin, Krakow, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, and Dublin. I still want to visit the Netherlands and Italy if time and money allow. Suffice to say, travel is one of my passions along with writing. Studying abroad is the best thing I ever did for myself. Rachel K.

Studying in Durban, South Africa, I cherished the many opportunities to challenge myself as a student, a woman, a member of a family, a traveler, a friend and a world citizen. I was able to really integrate into the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College Campus, and made many friends. During an independent study period, I researched the reading patterns of people in two communities in Durban. I surprised myself with the length and depth of my final project. Learning to research and use unfamiliar resources has been such an asset to my education, and I feel more and more confident in my abilities as a member of the greater academic community. I still struggle to realize that I am back in Minnesota permanently as I feel, strangely, that I am home for a visit and will return to Durban sometime soon. Anna K.