study abroad – Page 3 – #RamblersAbroad

My Internship in Rome (Week 5) – Midterm Post

By luctechco | October 28, 2017

This semester in Rome, I was fortunate enough to get hired as a marketing intern for a company called The Roman Guy. The Roman Guy specializes in various VIP tours of different tourist attractions all around Rome, as well as several local food tours in different areas. As an assignment for my class ROST 370, I am required to reflect on my experience of working as an intern for this company.

When I first started this internship, to be honest I did not know what to expect. I’ll admit that I was really excited but also scared over the thought of having an internship in a foreign country. Upon visiting the office for the first time, I expected it to be a huge office with a lot of workers. This surprised me when I first arrived, because the office is pretty small with only about 30 employees. It also surprised me how young the majority of my coworkers are. When I had my first meeting with my bosses Lorna and Sian, they told me that for my internship I would be doing a lot of research on different tourist destinations in Rome and a lot of writing. My internship so far has been filling this expectation, because every week I am given an assignment to finish a blog post about a tourist attraction. For example, this week I had the assignment of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican. I spent one of my work days researching the history of the chapel, the artists who painted there, their artwork, and specific rules the chapel has upon visiting. After gathering all of this information, I then have to write a blog post about it and send it to my other boss Francesca when i’m finished for revision. She then looks it over and asks me to change anything if it needs it, and then she sends it over to the graphic design team who then publishes my post to the company’s website. I also expected this internship to be strengthening my marketing skills, and so far having this internship has been filling that expectation. Part of my job is to run the companies instagram, and this previous week I had to read different articles on how to appeal more to your audience and gain more followers. From this, I began to create more aesthetically pleasing posts which helped target a specific audience and ultimately helped us gain more followers. So far, the most interesting part of my internship is when I create different tourism attraction posts for our company’s website. It is interesting to me because I am improving my writing skills drastically and also it is interesting to keep learning new things about different attractions in Rome that I never knew before. It is also awesome to see my finished blog post on our company’s website because it makes me proud of my work. So far, one of the tasks that I have to do that I find the least interesting is editing blog posts using the blog life cycle. For each blog post, there is a checklist that our company has to follow to make sure that the blog has each aspect in order to make a strong post. This is my least favorite task because it usually takes a while to change a specific blog post because some are harder to edit than other ones. Also, it can be frustrating when you have done everything that you thought you could have to make a blog better but WordPress says that the post is not good and still needs more editing. So far, this academic internship has been improving my understanding of concepts that I learned from other marketing courses in college, but in a different way. In my internship, we use aspects like having a target audience and using general marketing tactics to make our company more well known. It is different in a sense because most of my marketing courses focused on marketing a huge corporation or a product, and this internship focuses on marketing our brand as well as a photo, event, or a blog post. Some personal learning goals that I have for this internship are to expand my marketing skills, strengthen my writing, and improve my creativity. So far, I have been achieving my goal of expanding my marketing skills and strengthening my writing, but at this point in my internship I am focusing on being more creative with our content and being more independent with my work. So far, that is my complete reflection about my internship and so far I am really enjoying it. I can’t wait to see what the future holds and how I will change as a person once this internship is completed.

Thanks for reading and ciao amici!

My Internship in Rome (Week 4)

By luctechco | October 12, 2017

This week at the Roman Guy, I have completed several tasks that were fairly similar to my tasks from last week. I found reviews online about our tours and posted them to the company’s website, I researched and wrote two articles on the Colosseum arena floor and the third tier, I edited and revised five different blog articles using the rules of the blog lifecycle, and I interacted and posted on our instagram page called The Roman Foodie. Previous classroom knowledge has been helping me a lot with my internship because my job is very writing intensive, so my english classes that I have recently completed have been very useful. One of my learning objectives that I have is to improve my writing skills for blog posts, various social media apps, and articles by following the blog life cycle. I have been working to fully achieve this objective because the past weeks that I have been here I have been focusing on writing and following the blog life cycle. I see myself improving significantly, because the first couple of weeks I could only get a couple of posts done and now I can get a couple of them done in a day. Some challenges that I have been facing recently regarding my internship is balancing work and school with one another. It is midterm week, so I have been very busy with school and tests but on top of that I have to work as well. This week was hard because I stayed up pretty late after working in order to get school work done and it left me exhausted. For the future, I am going to try to get the majority of my school work and studying done on the weekends so that the school week isn’t as stressful. Something that has been impressing me a lot recently about my internship is how organized and professional the office is. All of the workers here are really good friends with one another, yet they still manage to get a lot of work done, be professional, and not let their friendships get in the way of their work. My expectations for the following weeks is that I am going to keep working on writing Rome’s key attraction pages. I am also expected to keep interacting and gain more followers on the Roman Foodie’s instagram. After fall break, I am going to be learning and taking over our The Roman Guys pinterest and posting on there. So far I love my internship and I cannot wait to see what the future holds. Arrivederci!

My Internship in Rome (Week 3)

By luctechco | October 4, 2017

This week at The Roman Guy, I had several tasks that I needed to complete. Some of the tasks that I completed include finding TripAdvisor reviews and posting them to our website, editing three different blog posts using the blog lifecycle rules, posting two pictures on our instagram page (The Roman Foodie) and interacting with followers, and writing an article about the Colosseum Arena Floor for our website. Classroom knowledge has helped me significantly so far, because I have been using a lot of the skills that I previously had been taught in my marketing classes for my internship. As an intern, I was required to create several learning objectives that I want to achieve by the end of the semester. One of my learning objectives is to improve my writing skills for blog posts, various social media apps, and articles by following the blog life cycle at The Roman Guy. I have been working to achieve this learning objective a lot recently, because these past couple of weeks all of my tasks have had me very involved in writing which is ultimately helping me improve my writing skills. There is a lot more than what meets the eye about blogging, and now I am finally getting used to how the structure is for specific writings that I have to complete as well as strengthening my writing skills in general. Some problems that I have been having recently regarding my internship is transportation and being late because of class. There were two different times in the past two weeks where I didn’t get to work on time, because I had an onsite class and it went a lot longer than expected. Also transportation here isn’t that reliable. One day I had to wait three different times for the 990 bus because it was so packed and other times the regional train was delayed 10 minutes which caused me to be even more late. Im resolving this for the future by making sure that I leave extra early so that I can guarantee that I will be on time. Something that has been impressing me so far about my internship is the graphic design team. They work very long hours and the teamwork that they have with one another is outstanding. Everytime I go to our company’s website, there is always something new added and it looks fantastic! Some of my expectations for the following weeks include interacting and gaining more followers on the company’s instagram page, working on editing more blog lifecycle pages, writing more articles about different key attractions in Rome, and creating/researching my own blog post for my company’s page. So far I have been loving my internship and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for me. Arrivederci!

My Internship in Rome (Week 2)

By luctechco | September 28, 2017

Specific Tasks

This week at the Roman Guy, I had almost the same tasks as last week. I found good reviews on trip advisor and posted them to our website, I continued to edit blog posts using the blog life cycle, brainstormed and researched ideas for my companies study abroad blog, posting on our company’s instagram, and I completed my Underground Colosseum essay for our website. Information from my marketing class that I took last semester has been helping me a lot so far with this internship, making certain marketing strategies a lot simpler for me to complete because my professor taught me this previous semester.

Learning Objectives

One of my learning objectives is to attract and communicate with travel bloggers in order to help market The Roman Guy tours and blogs. I have started to work towards achieving my learning objective because I have been interacting with some bloggers on instagram. I will find bloggers in the area and reach out to them, or bloggers that already know our company I will post their pictures and give them credit to our thousands of followers and they will do the same in return. Although this is just the start, by the end of my internship I hope that I could attract a wide variety of bloggers in order to help market The Roman Guy.

Challenges

Something that I have recently found very hard for me to do is to write for several hours without losing focus. I can easily lose focus if I am working on the same project for too long. My coworkers on the other hand can sit and write for the whole entire day without any breaks. Some efforts that I have been making to fix this is that I set a goal for how much I want to write and a certain amount of time, and when I achieve that goal I give myself a small break and go for a walk around the office. I also switch up my tasks frequently, so that I don’t get easily bored of doing the same thing.

What impresses me about my internship

Like I said last post, the main thing that still impresses me the most about my internship are my coworkers. It amazes me that in the marketing department, all of the girls will sit on their computer for several hours straight without any breaks and just write for that whole entire time. All of my coworkers experience in their field really impresses me and also how well everyone works together as a team in the small office to be successful.

Expectations for the Future

In the future, I am going to continue working towards improving my writing because next week I have my study abroad blog due. On this blog, I am researching the best places to see amazing street art in Rome. After writing about six places, I have to go to each of the places and take/edit pictures of the art on my own. After I finish this project, my next project will be working on a different Rome Key Attraction post for the Roman Guy’s website.

First Things First

By luctechco | September 6, 2017

Ciao!

On August 29, the group flight departed from Chicago, headed to Rome with a quick stop in Dublin. We arrived in Rome in the early afternoon, and the first thing I noticed was the heat. It was a little above 90 degrees, but luckily I was clad in my usual t-shirt and shorts. Other people were wearing sweatshirts, which were quickly shed, and jeans. We all had at least two giant bags with us, and 21 unlucky people lost their luggage (later located and returned).

View from the 3rd floor of the residence hall at the JFRC.

Upon arriving at JFRC, we had the next five days mapped out for us for orientation. We picked up our IDs, discovered where the IC, bathrooms, Rinaldo’s, and Mensa were located, settled into our rooms, and got lost countless times as we tried to navigate the layout of the building. The worst thing to discover was that our dorms didn’t have air conditioning! The rooms themselves are cute, with bunk beds, desks, a sink, and plenty of storage. I’m on the 3rd floor, and the first thing I did when I got in there was to open the windows. The 4th floor rooms have small balconies, I’ve been told, and all floors have communal-style bathrooms. As I lived in Simpson LLC for my freshman year, this was a change for me. The first night at JFRC was difficult, simply because all of our rooms felt like a sauna. Luckily, eight days in, the weather has cooled off considerably, and now the high averages 80 degrees.

Photo of the Castle of St. Angelo, taken on my first outing downtown.

Orientation consisted of a formal welcome by the Dean and other faculty members, survival Italian lessons, and sessions held by the SLA’s (like RA’s) to help us get acclimated to living in Rome. One of the first memorable activities was a scavenger hunt. The SLA’s gave each team a list of sites to visit and take pictures of with point values assigned to each, and set us loose downtown. That trip was a great leaning experience because it was the first time for me using the public bus system and being in downtown Rome. They also organized a trip to the beach in Maccarese, in which we all piled into three charter busses. That day was gorgeously sunny and windy, and the Mediterranean was quite warm. There was a buffet-style lunch, and I sat reading in a chair most of the time.

In addition, they took us to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Both sites summed up in one word: AMAZING. There really is nothing else like it. The Colosseum is huge, and you can’t really imagine it until you’re there. I could feel the history around me as I walked around the arena, imagining thousands of Romans crowding in. The Roman Forum was beautiful in its own way, and offered gorgeous views of the city.

JFRC itself is located in the beautiful, quiet neighborhood of Balduina. It is quite different than the touristy centers of Rome, and was not what I was expecting. Despite that, I’ve come to love it. The neighborhood is constantly up and down, and when going to the grocery store or out for a drink one encounters many hills. But hey, exercise! Most of the area is residential, which offers a great opportunity to interact with the locals and to really put our Italian to the test. When I first arrived, I wondered how in the world I would ever remember how to get anywhere, with the way the streets curve and aren’t on a “standard grid” like Chicago or St. Louis. Now, having walked around, I’m beginning to get a feel for the place (although Google Maps is still my best friend). I look forward to the next three months, and I know I’ll be sad to leave when the time comes.

Reflection Turns to Action

By luctechco | April 23, 2017

My time in a world far, far away is almost coming to a close. It’s impossible to believe that I’ve spent nearly four months in VIETNAM of all places in the world, and the lessons that I’ve learned here will last a lifetime. I’ve done more in one semester than I ever thought possible, and even still I felt like there was so much more to do. While I won’t be able to fully reflect on my time abroad until I’m home, I’ve started thinking about all of the things about Vietnam that I’ll miss (and trying not to think about the things that I won’t) and have even started making Pinterest boards of ways to incorporate Vietnamese food into my diet back home. I’ve been asked by every professor if I would consider coming back, and I would emphatically answer yes, although maybe not just to Vietnam or for an extended stay. I still have so much more of the world to go but I’m glad I started here!

Memories from the first trip to Malaysia!

The amount of markets I’ve been to this semester is nauseating, but I just can’t stop. It’s almost become an addiction wherever I travel in SE Asia. The scariest market experience I’ve ever had was in the famous Ben Thanh Market in Saigon. It’s the most touristy and also the most aggressive market. I went just to say that I went, with no real intention of buying anything here because there are several cheaper and more local markets around. However, when in Saigon, you must attend! As I walked through the numbing amount of aisles, I thoroughly enjoyed squeezing past crowded stalls and being poked and prodded to buy something, even to the point of being followed for several minutes to come back to one person’s stall. After I escaped I realized what a hilarious experience it is, and then proceeded to hit up some of my favorite local-business/hipster markets around town.

Kayaking in Halong Bay – The day before they shut it down completely

Another aspect of life here that I’ll miss is how cheap everything is. I know, I know, I’m a cheapskate. But when you can get by for $3 a day, it changes you. I have epically failed in sticking to such a budget just because the cheapness of everything tempts you to buy more, but I don’t regret any purchases I made or experiences I had because I’m coming away with so much more than monetary value. There are many frustrations that come with being a foreigner, most decidedly how an “authentic” experience is far from achievable. As a white female who doesn’t speak the language, I can get close but never be truly involved in the real lives of the Vietnamese. I struggle with this fight every day between my desire to be a part of the community and my recognition of my status as a foreigner who has few avenues to become involved. I have this never-ending feeling of not having done enough but I also have a long list of accomplishments from this semester. While the Vietnam Center was nothing like I unconsciously expected, I still learned so much.

A group picture before heading up Mt. Fansipan!

There’s going to be so much more that I’ll miss. What I do love is how robust the culture is here if you know where to look. On one Sunday morning, I was on the back of an uber bike and as we drove along the river, I saw a group of local people having a drawing and painting class. It was a beautiful moment, and sparked my interest in how the arts are used in Vietnam. On that same uber bike ride, I rode past a man biking with an open flame in his basket, an extremely hip couple dressed to the nines having a photo shoot, naked children running on the street, and one of my now favorite coffee shops. Thinking back on all these moments of absurd contradictions and times of confusion, you just have to laugh and go with it. There have been so many days that I’ve been tempted to give in to the cynicism that one can face when you are constantly challenged, and some days I have given in. More often than not, I’ve somehow found the courage to laugh. The blend and struggle between modern and traditional is as clear as day when you step outside the dorm gate. Back to the art, there’s also a huge influence of pottery and music on society here. As much as I sometimes despise it, karaoke is a monumental part of the daily life of a Vietnamese person. To see such a blend of art from painting workshops to poetry to song and dance (Vietnamese break-dancers are amazing) has been something that’s brought life to my study abroad experience. In a place that I didn’t have any specific expectations from, I had the time and inspiration to find my own creative voice.

Studying abroad has added so many more dimensions to my college career and even to me as a person. This semester I had time to grapple with who I, Kelly Ravenscraft, really am and what parts of me were just borrowed from other people or from definitions of who I thought I was supposed to be. If I were to do anything differently, I would have asked more questions, especially more difficult questions of other people, and would have tried to be more intentional with asking the Vietnamese partners. Even just taking someone out for coffee feels different here, but I wish that hadn’t stopped me from continuing trying throughout the rest of the semester. I struggled with community this semester as I was cut off from all of my normal communities and wasn’t exactly used to being thrown out of my comfort zone in this way. I wish that I hadn’t been afraid of awkward one-on-ones, as I never had been before back at home. Even with other big personalities, I wish I had been my “full” self the entire semester. It took a lot longer for me to get comfortable with the community here than I was used to, but I also think that it took longer to be my real self because this semester was dedicated to actually understanding who that real self is. Even if there are small things that I wish I could change, I don’t regret any part of my Vietnam experience. I’m so happy that I went to the Loyola Vietnam Center as my first study abroad program, and I’m hopeful to go abroad a second time, preferably to a direct enrollment program so that I can continued to be challenged! If you’re considering studying abroad, I urge you to pursue it, no matter the financial cost or the anxiety that may accompany your decision at first. I still have so much more to reflect on (and more blogs to post!), but overall I’m excited to see where the next step of my journey forward takes me. No matter where you are in your journey, I urge you to step outside of your comfort zone and get lost in the thrill of it all. Chase after fears with a goal of overcoming them, seek out love and community in places you’d never think to find them, and jump at any chance to see the world with a perspective you could never have without seeing another side of the world. Go forth and set the world on fire.

“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world”.

– Mary Ann Radmache

A Caffeinated Culture

By luctechco | April 10, 2017

If there’s one thing that people know about me, it’s my addiction to coffee. There’s no rescuing me because I’m way too far-gone, so I’ve gone ahead and embraced the addiction. If you think about technicalities, a cup a day is good for you! Anyways, something that I will miss when I leave Vietnam (IN LESS THAN THREE WEEKS) is the café culture. It’s everywhere that you turn! Even if I went to a different café for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for years on end I still wouldn’t make it to every café in Saigon. Throughout my semester I made it my goal to go to as many cafes as possible. My grand total is….. 38! I don’t have that much space in this blog though to list off each one, but here are my top 20 cafes in Saigon, ranked loosely in order.

Work Saigon – This space saved me when I started feeling homesick. When you walk in, you see huge workshop style tables, beautiful food, a variety of creative expats, and a collective vibe that brings everyone all together. The only request is that you buy something to use the creative co-working space, which almost every time I’ve been there I’ve had the Salted Caramel French Toast with a caphe sua da, and I tell you that heaven on earth really does exist. This is a great place if you’re feeling homesick, want a space that’s big enough to spread out and do your work, or if you just want to meet some really cool expats! Also, there’s a pool. Enough said.
Vietcetera – This place roasts from the heart. There’s two parts to this collective, both the café and the website. The owners of both are incredible and have a passion for telling stories. Also, the food here is incredible! I love the fusion of locals and expats here, as well as the vision for the future that the shop and collective have. There’s also a really cool airbnb located upstairs (Sunday Studios).
The Workshop – There’s no ca phe sua da here, but there is GREAT European-style coffee. Once again. The huge work tables are a huge plus, and it’s a really awesome hidden space (although it’s not as hidden as it once was). Expect to find troves of Vietnamese business professionals in meetings or tinkering away on their laptops.
The Maker – Another creative collective (can you see the trend here?), this space offers a hipster oasis inside of the famous 42 Nguyen Hue building, which is an apartment building turned café/boutique haven. There are two shops, one that’s completely dedicated to fashion and one that’s half boutique shop and half coffee shop. Everything from the design work to the coffee is enough inspiration for a productive afternoon!
Oromia Coffee Lounge – One word: CATS. Not necessarily marketed as a cat café, there’s a secret population of cats on the second level, including day old kittens. The cats are treated very well and added the perfect bit of cuteness to an afternoon of productivity. Also, Oromia has an incredible branding strategy and ample workspace that’s fit for any project or group outing.
L’Usine – The crowning jewel of fashion meets café culture. There are two shops and are extending into a third space as well. Think Urban Outfitters meets hipster coffee shop/wine bar and you basically have been there. With the coolness comes more expensive taste, but definitely worth a couple of visits.
Shelter Coffee – Their coffee is strong and their cups are large, which means their typical coffee is enough to power a small town, let alone you for the day. You can get a coffee and a banh mi for the same price as one L’Usine coffee, and the shop has a ton of natural light on the upper two floors. It’s also located a block away from the Vietnam Center, so you can bet that it’s been frequented a lot by us!
The Loft Café – The Loft offers everything from an open workspace to the cool factor of being inside an old abandoned apartment building that housed employees for USAID and used to be a CIA safe house back in the day. This space is on the way to the Vietnam Center which adds in a level of convenience, too.
Mockingbird – Back in the 42 Nguyen Hue building, Mockingbird has some great food and drink options, and a ton of photo op opportunities. It’s a great space if you need a break from all of the great shopping on the other floors!
Things Café – This place was so cute! Also located in 42 Nguyen Hue, this humble shop had a great vibe and a sweet balcony. It wasn’t exactly the most impression-leaving spaces, but it had its quirks!
Monologues – Outside of the fact that we convinced our literature professor to have class here (we only had three students in our class) this is probably the most frequented spot of the semester, mostly out of convenience. Down an alley next to open, there’s usually a ton of space and really good wifi, so if you need a place for early-ish skype calls before class, this would be it.
Heart Coffee – Honestly this was some of the most unadultered espresso I’ve had here, and its only 25,000 (about a dollar). It’s also right next door to open. There’s not exactly a work-friendly environment though, so takeaway is your best option.
The Old Compass Café – Although I was a bit turned off by a strange smell in the shop at first, I was convinced to stay by the presence of good coffee (albeit a bit more on the expensive side), a quiet workspace, and nice waiters!
Le Saigonais – A combination of fashion and coffee, this shop is also on the route between Open University and The Vietnam Center office. You get to finish the process of making ca phe sua da yourself and the staff are attentive to every need! If you look around with even the slightest look of franticness they’ll come to your rescue. The main downside is the price of the clothes and how tempting they are.
Klasik Coffee Roasters – A sweet spot with a ton of local roasts, this place knows how to create a name for themselves. As a poor college student though, I couldn’t keep up.
Journal Coffee – Here you can get great blended coffee and a ton of space upstairs! Their takeaway coffee is super cheap, but the downside is the poor wifi and the music that blasts while you’re trying to get work done in the shop. If you’re down with loud Vietnamese ballads, though, be my guest!
Id Café – An interesting café, there’s a ton of cool décor and great smoothies and coffee. I highly recommend avoiding the food though, and the wifi can be spotty.
She Café – Filled with pictures of Angelina Jolie and musical hits by women, this café is full of female fatale. The downsides are a dark work environment and more on the US-level of pricing for coffee. It’s a hidden oasis though if your hope is to escape the heat and stay in district 1!
Heritage – Located on the edge of district 1, this café features its own mascot, a sassy bulldog who even got his own logo. There’s an interesting vibe here and more of a hangout space than a workspace. My greatest achievement was meeting said mascot and escaping the heat.
BK Coffeehouse – More out of convenience than anything, this shop is right next door to the dormitory and gives you a low price but also a low amount of ca phe sua da. For what it’s worth, you’re better off going with the smoothie lady across the street, but in moments of desperation, BK Coffeehouse comes through.

As you can probably tell, coffee has been a very formative part of my study abroad experience. From meeting new friends to learning more about coffee, I will forever hold in my heart the experience of the coffee culture here in Vietnam. Here are some honorable mentions of coffee shops in other areas of Vietnam and SE Asia!

Hanoi, Vietnam:

Cong CaPhe
Always (HARRY POTTER CAFÉ ALERT)
The Maze
Café and Chat

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:

Mingle
Merchant’s Lane
LOKL Café

Cambodia:

Sister Srey

Here’s to more caffeinated adventures!

It’s Almost Thai-Me to Go

By luctechco | March 21, 2017

6 weeks left. I can’t believe my flight from Saigon back to Chicago leaves in exactly 6 weeks from now. Sometimes it feels like I have 6 more months to go, and sometimes it feels like I’m supposed to have left already. My outfits have consisted of colorful pants and too-sweaty t-shirts, I have a general disdain for anyone who drives their motorbike on the sidewalk, my wallet is emptier now than I thought it was going to be, and my playlists consist of a mix of travel-inspiring and homesickness songs (Rivers & Roads, anyone?).

I was having a low week a couple of weeks ago where I really didn’t want to be in Saigon anymore, not because of Saigon itself, but just being away from my support system, (first round study abroad homesickness y’all) so I made myself a list of accomplishments. So tacky, I know, but when I looked at all of the things that I’ve done so far, the ways I’ve grown as a traveler and as a person, it’s pretty incredible what can change in the course of a couple of months.

Everyone usually hates when I remind them how much time we have left because it’s a gentle reminder of the idea of returning home and the pressure of not missing out on anything while we’re still here. In honor of the limited time left, I took advantage of this past weekend to visit the southern half of Thailand before jetting back over to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a concert. Once again, I had a day where I was in three different countries in the course of 24 hours, which is unfathomable to me seeing as before I showed up to Vietnam, I had been in ONE other country other than the US. Many expats and Viet-Kieu (Vietnamese who grew up outside of Vietnam and have returned) that I’ve met are very surprised to hear that Vietnam was my second country. As I’ve found, Vietnam is not for the weak or the faint-hearted, let alone solo-traveling around SE Asia. In all, my trip to Thailand consisted of 24 hours in Bangkok, two and a half days in Krabi, Thailand, and 24 hours in Kuala Lumpur. Here are a few of the more interesting little moments I observed in my time in Thailand:

The Wai: The Thai greeting consists of a slight bow with palms pressed together in front of you. It’s similar to the Indian namaste and the Cambodian sampeah This in itself isn’t the most interesting thing I saw, but it was the fact that as people were driving their motorbikes, they would BOW to other people as they got into another lane, kind of like the wave we do in the US. If you’ve ever driven a motorbike, you understand how difficult this is to do. Most didn’t press their hands together, but still. Also this is completely different from the way that Vietnamese drive what with the intense beeping, constant cutting off of each other, and the skillful avoidance of accidents (for the most part).

Speaking of motorbikes, I finally had a female grab driver! Since being in Vietnam I’ve had one woman taxi driver and not a single woman grab driver. Needless to say, I did a little internal fist pump. I also watched someone flossing while driving their motorbike, and also saw someone driving with an open flame in their basket. Y’all, literally ANYTHING happens on a motorbike. If you can imagine it, it happens.

The death of the king: It’s been more than 100 days, but people are still paying their respects to the King at the Grand Palace and huge murals and pictures of him are everywhere. Never have I seen such deep respect for someone who’s passed away.

Evolution: As I pulled away from the Krabi airport, I noticed there were street signs with pictures of what Krabi used to look like… 3 million years ago?? After getting in at 9pm, I had some questions.

Cute couple things: Putting in eye drops for each other, but continuously missing. I don’t know why I found this hilarious, but I guess on your fourth flight in 6 days, anything outside of the safety instruction is comic relief.

Scales outside of every convenience store: Because who doesn’t want to know what they weigh after unashamedly stuffing themselves with three rolls of oreos and cheap drinks.

Other things of interest included motorized uni-wheels, a golden monk blessing a group of small children and a husky café.

Aside from the basically normal (but interesting to me) little moments, I saw beautiful cliffs and beaches in Krabi, rock climbed until my arms gave out on an outdoor 5.10 route, and had a life-changing night at the Bethel worship night in Kuala Lumpur. I’m extremely blessed to be here in Vietnam, and it does come with its challenges. On Thursday our group heads out for 12 days on the road through Central and North Vietnam where we’ll get to see a whole different side of the country. Homesickness can be hard, but letting it stop me from taking in all that I can while I’m here is not on the agenda. I’ve been pushed to find inspiration in places I never have before and have learned what it’s like to be truly independent and how to love alone time. The lessons I’m walking away with can’t fully be captured in words, but I hope I’ll be able to hold on to what I’ve learned here long past when I return home to the States. For now, I still have more cafes to discover, more mountains to climb, more papers to write, and more life to live. Catch you on the flipside!

Here’s some more musings:

“The man on top of the mountain didn’t fall there” – Vince Lombardi

Novaturient (adj): A desire to change and alter your life.

Coddiwomple (v): To travel purposefully towards a vague destination.

What It’s Really Like: Life in District 10

By luctechco | February 27, 2017

Not District 10 of the Hunger Games, but district 10 of HCMC. Before I left for Vietnam, I had no expectations, few prior judgments, and honestly no clue of what I would find upon my arrival. While I want to give an accurate picture of what the Vietnam program is like, at least from what I know six weeks in, the mystery of it all is almost half of the adventure. Overall, without spoiling some of the more meaningful details, here are some of the very basic, larger aspects of the program that make it what it is.

Awesome Core Staff.

Currently, there are three main people who run this program: our Director, Chris Albright, our Assistant Director, Wilson Potts, and our Student Life Advisor, Audrey Kelly. These three make the program what it is and offer incredible support, restaurant recommendations, and a professional yet down-to-earth program. From the time that they pick you up at the airport to coordinating service learning projects to working creatively with you to build your best time abroad, they’re willing to both challenge and support you through all of the ups and downs.

Vietnamese Partners.

This part of the program is unique and so helpful. Each Loyola student in the program is paired with a partner, although not limited to them. They are there as a connection to the local culture, a guide through learning the very difficult language, and as a friend. I have started to get to know several of the partners and they all have very unique perspectives. I had the chance to go home with one of the partners during the Tet holiday and meet her family and stay in her home, which was an incredible experience! While my visit got cut short and I may have been the only foreigner for miles, I was blessed with the chance to see what home life looks like for one of the partners, eat great food, and dip my toes in the sea. I also had the chance to go “camping” with many of the partners and members of BKDEC, the dorm’s English club. It was one of the most high-energy, non-conforming times I’ve ever had in my lifetime, but it was so fulfilling to see another side of these students. These students have helped with everything from catching Grab bikes after getting phones taken to getting ice after a pulled muscle from a soccer game to just solid friendship.

Small Program.

The Loyola Vietnam Center is the least populated program of Loyola Chicago’s three global centers. With 16, we’re an average sized group of students attending, although semesters have varied from 3 students to upwards of 20. This creates a great experience in many regards because it allows greater flexibility of the program, more individualized support, and the opportunity for deep connections. It also allows for an awesome orientation week, which included a visit to the AO Cultural Acrobatic Show, which was by far one of the best shows I’ve ever been to. What’s great is that we live in District 10, which is the equivalent of Rogers Park to District 1’s downtown loop, and we study in both Districts 1 and 3. Our core staff all live in District 1 and having everything so spaced out allows for continuous adventure and not getting stuck in one place.

Food. Everywhere.

You can’t turn the corner without being in sight of some sort of food, or motorbikes for that matter. There’s food for every budget and set of taste buds, ranging from $1 pho to upscale Indian food. Beer is cheap and everything from octopus to ostrich to funky desserts are available throughout the city. Now you just have to search!

Great Travel Opportunities.

The Vietnam program offers a combination of planned excursions and free travel weekends. We also have two weeks vacation during the Tet holiday, which happened early this year. Our semester in particular had one week of free travel, with most of us heading to Malaysia, and spending the second week all together for a planned excursion to Cambodia. With the cheapness of SE Asia combined with the close vicinity of many countries, it’s a perfect program if you want to experience several SE Asian cultures, intentionally explore, and up your country count (not that it’s a competition).

Language Barrier.

Being a tonal language, Vietnamese is much harder than learning Spanish, which I’ve been learning since 6^th grade. Everywhere I go, I attempt to use my (limited) Vietnamese knowledge and have to rely on the fact that almost everyone I come into contact with knows more English than I do of Vietnamese, which is hard because I feel like I’m forcing them to sacrifice their comfort just so I can order food. Even within the country, locals have a hard time understanding each other because of the different accents. When I was home with one of the partners, she explained that her parents had the central accent, but when they came to the south of Vietnam no one could understand what they were trying to say. The time I felt most confident with my Vietnamese was during one UberBike ride where the driver and I only talked in Vietnamese the whole time (I literally used every single word I know). While I will keep attempting to learn more Vietnamese, I’m learning to accept the small victories rather than expect fluency in three and a half months.

The Challenge.

I came to Vietnam in search of a challenge and adventure, and I was met with more than I could imagine, all in a good way. It’s forced me to observe without judgment, make decisions based solely on my own inner compass (which if you know me is incredibly difficult), and face feelings I never have before. At the same time, I’ve already gained so much from my short time here, and I only expect that to continue to shape me as a person and my experience at Loyola. I traveled to the farthest part of the world from Loyola and picked probably the hardest program for me personally. If you’re desiring to be pushed out of your comfort zone of the Western world and are getting antsy for change like I was, this very well could be the program for you.

All in All.

While I still have two months to go, I already feel like I’m going to be changed for the better through this program. I’m excited to accept the challenge of making study abroad what I want it to be, whatever that ends up looking like.

This One’s for Sufjan

By luctechco | February 12, 2017

Walking on the beach of Phu Quoc Island, looking distantly into the horizon of the South China Sea while listening to Oceans is an incredible experience. Less incredible was walking behind an older woman who’s bikini top was at her waist and her bottom piece was more nonexistent than existent, if you know what I mean. Over the weekend I spent 48 hours in retirement paradise amongst mostly people old enough to be my grandparents. I met up with a new friend, Kate from Canada, and shared laughs over the fact that we were the “young chicks” as one sweet older couple called us.

As she headed off to motorbike around the island, I headed off in search of clean beaches and time to reflect over the last 4 weeks of my life. As I walked, I strolled through street markets, to local areas, to dirt roads, to talking with local children just getting out of school, to accidentally stumbling upon and deliberately sneaking into a 5-star resort with a beautiful beach. Here’s the thing though: it worked. As I walked onto the beach and set up camp, I wasn’t questioned. I blended in, sitting there amongst the small crowd of variably tan white people, and was never questioned whether or not I belonged there. It was then that I realized that the privilege I have in the US as a white female is just as real here and everywhere else in the world. The whiteness of my skin is a ticket to not being questioned of my authority or belonging. So what do I do with that? How do I treat my privilege here or anywhere? These are the questions I’ve had for much of college and studying abroad continues to confront me with this, especially living in a district mostly populated by local Vietnamese. I still don’t have answers. I do my best to acknowledge my privilege and bias but I fail all too often. One important lesson I learned from an international experiential education conference I attended a couple of years ago is that there is a 100% chance that you will offend others at least one point in your life when trying to make cross-cultural connections and confront your own privilege. However, now more than ever you have to make room for brave space. Be okay with the fact that you will fail and try anyway. I’ve learned the most through conversations with others, and I’ve already had several eye-opening conversations here about race and what it means to be a foreigner in Vietnam.

So switching gears a bit, I’m a month in and have been blessed enough to have done a ton of traveling and bouncing around within SE Asia. However, I’ve been yearning for something more, something more immersive. And yet, I’m the only one getting in my way. There are moments of motivation where I reach out to service organizations that are mostly Vietnamese run or have conversations with locals who don’t have English as their first language that push me outside of my comfort zone. And then there are moments that have me running to my cà phê sữa đá in English-speaking cafés and my bed with Netflix. I want to be happy enough with the progress I’ve made so far, the small victories, the lessons I’ve learned, but I can’t help but think that there’s more to this. Should I just throw my computer out the window, cut off all ties to the US and walk out my front door in search of solely Vietnamese company? Should I keep enjoying my status quo of classes, cafes, banh mi, and short interactions with locals? As I struggle through what it means to be in search of an immersive study abroad experience, any advice can be directed to 497 hoa hao, Phuong 4, Quan 10, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. At the beginning of the year I made a list of 17 for ’17 achievable goals for the year that would challenge me to open up my perspective of the world and enjoy each moment as it comes. While I’m happy that I’ve started to make progress on many of them, I’m realizing more and more how little I know and have experienced so far.

Fisherman off the coast of the South China Sea

So by now you’re probably wondering why I titled this post the way I did. For reading this far, I’m granting you the answer. So one thing that’s great about all of the flights around SE Asia is that they all play music while boarding and getting off. On my solo flight to Phu Quoc, excited for the weekend ahead, I knew it was going to be a good time because as soon as we landed, they started playing an anthem by the great hero, Sufjan Stevens. And not just any song, but “Chicago” of all possibilities. I took this as a sign that not only is it going to be okay, but I need to see each moment for what it is and accept each emotion as they come. Between signing myself up for an adventure race in April, joining a local church, and continuing to make a name for myself here in Vietnam, I’m slowly but surely learning who I really am and want to be, all the while experiencing things I never could have dreamed of before coming here.

Here’s my motto for the rest of the semester:

Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry. – Jack Kerouac

Catch you on the flip side.

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