Category: 2017 Fall

2017 Fall, Academic Year

Jamie Agnew: Post 6

Jamie Agnew London School of Economics London, England Fall 2017 This semester has been going great! It has also been flying by. We are on spring break right now, which is much different than spring break in the United States. We have an entire month off for the break, which means we have manage our time efficiently because we have exams when we return from break. I have four exams, which are all going to be tough. There are no tests or quizzes over here, so the exam is your entire grade, which adds even more pressure. I plan on […]

2017 Fall

David Bushhouse: Post 4

David Bushhouse AIFS, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University St. Petersburg, Russia Fall 2017 I fly home from St. Petersburg today! And while I have really missed America—the English language, the following of traffic laws, the common courtesy of wearing deodorant—I thought I would write about how America is unavoidable while abroad. While most Americans have never thought of traveling to Russia, many American brands have; from food to movies to clothing, American products are unavoidable in Russia. American fast food dominates every food court and touristy street corner of downtown St. Petersburg. There are plenty of Russian chains […]

2017 Fall

David Bushhouse: Post 3

David Bushhouse AIFS, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University St. Petersburg, Russian Fall 2017 Only two weeks of my Russian study-abroad experience remain, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t missing home. I miss my family, my bed, and of course the rolling hills of Central Virginia. I miss the giant oaks and the fresh air and the rural night sky. Like any city, St. Petersburg is far from nature, covered in concrete, and shrouded in smog and light pollution (plenty of regular pollution too!). Some animals have learned to tough it out in the city. […]

2017 Fall

David Bushhouse: Post 2

David Bushhouse AIFS, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University St. Petersburg, Russia Fall 2017 Today was the first day I saw grass in Russia. Even though we’re halfway into March and celebrated the official start of spring two weeks ago, the daily temperatures here in St. Petersburg are in still the mid-twenties. Take it from me, everyone in Peter is eager to see when spring will actually arrive! This spring is special because on Sunday, March 18th, The Russian Presidential Election will be held. Election adverts are all over the place: bus stops, billboards, shop windows, the YouTube homepage, […]

2017 Fall

David Bushhouse: Post 1

David Bushhouse AIFS, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University St. Petersburg, Russia Fall 2017 I’ve been in St. Petersburg for less than a month, but have quickly noticed that шаверма, shaverma, is the most widespread and popular street-food in the city. In St. Petersburg, Shaverma stands are everywhere: next to every Metro Station, down nearly every alley, and in every clubbing district. Since shaverma stands are open 24 hours, it is the go-to drunk food for St. Petersburg locals, who call it ‘korm,’ which literally translates to “animal feed.” It’s unhealthy, always comes with a stomachache, and, as the […]

2017 Fall, Academic Year

Jamie Agnew: Post 4

Jamie Agnew London School of Economics London, England Fall 2017 I returned to London on January 2nd, 2018. The London School of Economics’s calendar is quite different from Hampden-Sydney’s as well as other colleges in the United States. You take four classes for the entire year all of which have a final exam in April or May. The only exception to this rule is if you take any Economics classes: they also have a midterm exam in the first week of January. I am not very fond of this setup because, unlike Hampden-Sydney, you enter winter break knowing that you […]

2017 Fall

Shemar Blakeney: Post 5

Shemar Blakeney Semester at Sea Fall 2017 Semester at Sea Experience First and foremost, I would like to say Thank You for providing me funding that allowed me to participate in the Semester at Sea Program. With the scholarship, I was able to obtain my passport, visas, and travel expenses. Semester at Sea was an extraordinary experience to say the least. Even though I was only in different countries for an average of 4 days, the experience I had is invaluable. From being able to visit the Taj Mahal to hiking the Great Wall and from trying different foods to, […]

2017 Fall, Academic Year

Jamie Agnew: Post 3

Jamie Agnew London School of Economics London, England Fall 2017 My study abroad experience was unbelievable. Between the things I saw, the friends I met, and the memories I made, the entire semester was all I could have asked for and then some. I had a rough idea of what the experience was going to be like because I talked to kids that had done the program already. But words can’t describe how much fun I had. London was a fantastic city to live in, and the easy ability to fly to other countries is something unheard of here in […]

2017 Fall

David Arias Hernandez: Post 4

David Arias Hernandez IFSA-Butler, University College London London, England Fall 2017 December was the last month of this amazing opportunity to study abroad, and I really took advantage of it. At the beginning of the month I went to Moscow, Russia, where, I was able to visit various iconic places. On the first day, I went to the Red Square, where I was able to visit The Iberian Gate, St. Basil’s Cathedral, Statue of Minin and Pozharsky, Kazan Cathedral, Kremlin Wall, Lenin Mausoleum, and GUM. The ones I liked the most were St. Basil’s Cathedral, Lenin Mausoleum, and the Kremlin […]

2017 Fall

Shemar Blakeney: Post 4

Shemar Blakeney Semester at Sea Fall 2017 I have learned so much on this voyage. My experience is different than what I expected in some ways because what I “thought” a country would be like was completely different; I stereotyped a country before I even visited it due to my “Single-Story Ideology.” I expected to meet astonishing people along the way; however, I did not expect to meet and see so many amazing people. I stereotyped that most of the people on the ship did not have to work as hard to get here, but in actuality, everyone made some […]