For Valentine’s Day weekend, my friends and I jumped on a train to Rome, the Eternal City (*cue the Lizzie McGuire soundtrack*). As soon as we arrived, we headed across the river and up the hill to the Vatican City — home of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel and Pieta, St. Peter’s Basilica, Stanze di Raffaello, and […]

When you think weather in the Middle East, you think hot, dry and eternally sunny, right? Wrong. This week, Amman has been very cold — especially by Los Angeles standards — a chilly 45 degrees most days, and with winds up to 30 miles per hour, making doing absolutely anything outside extremely unpleasant. Worse yet, this […]

Around two weeks ago, the international students at Waseda University finished their last round of finals and clawed their way out of a fast-collapsing pit of deadlines, study-guides, and quiet panic. The end of the semester meant freedom for all of us, but for some of us — single-semester exchange students — it also meant […]

Along with program planned trips and “survival Japanese” lessons, my time in Tokyo so far has been divided between getting to know the Keio University students joining us for the Keio Future Leaders Program (KFLP) and learning about how to immerse oneself in deep culture. Without much consideration, “deep culture” can seem like a wishy-washy, […]

In London, the cost of being cultured is relatively cheap. In my three weeks studying in the heart of the British Empire, I’ve explored a wide range of the free museums, churches and art galleries. Among the museums I’ve visited are the Museum of London, the British Museum and the National Gallery. By visiting these […]