2018 Summer, May Term

Ryan Tomlin: Post 1

Ryan Tomlin H-SC May Term Abroad Alcalá de Henares, Spain Summer 2018 Arriving in Spain Everyone always says, “There is a first time for everything.” While I am not sure if that is entirely true, my trip to Spain has been filled with multiple new experiences. Before the flight on May 27th, I had never flown on a plane and I had never left the country. I had never lived with a host family, nor had I studied at any other university. With that being said, the trip has already given me experiences that I will never forget. But, why […]

2018 Summer, May Term

Donald Barry: Post 1

Don Barry H-SC May Term Abroad Münster, Germany Summer 2018 I chose the Muenster Program because of the opportunity it offered for an immersive cultural experience in a city that is far older than our country. I am double majoring in Foreign Affairs and German at Hampden-Sydney College and I believe to truly understand how foreign countries operate you must experience these countries first hand. I was very pleased with the level of hospitality given by my host family. I feel like I am becoming more and more a part of the German society daily by riding on public transport, […]

2018 Spring

Nate Dracon: Post 3

Nate Dracon AIFS Charles University Praque, Czech Republic Spring 2018 Can’t believe that it is already that time for me to come back to the states! I went to Vienna with another friend of mine from Hampden-Sydney. Vienna was one of the greatest cities that I have been to thus far. It was amazing to see the power of the Hapsburg monarchy. It seemed that every direction that I turned, there was another fantastic building. When I arrived back from Vienna, there were only three weeks left in the semester! I had to focus and complete my finals for Charles […]

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. […]

2018 Spring

Nate Dracon: Post 2

Nate Dracon AIFS Charles University Prague,Czech Republic Spring 2018 Hello again from Praha! It’s been almost two months now since I left the states. Everything seems to be going well, and I have finally started to travel to places that are outside the Czech Republic. St. Patrick’s Day is not a very big holiday in Europe. From what I have seen, the partying and drinking is an American construct. That weekend I decided to visit a friend in Salzburg, Austria. First thing I noticed was how cordial the people were, and more advanced the country was verses the Czech Republic. […]

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, […]

2018 Spring

Nate Dracon: Post 1

Nate Dracon AIFS Charles University Prague, Czech Republic Spring 2018 dobrý den from the city of Prague, Czech Republic! I have been in the Czech Republic for almost a month now, and the differences between here and the U.S. are striking. Getting over wasn’t a problem, even for a 6’4 student. I would just say that I am accustomed to never having enough leg room. We first stopped for two days in London before taking a short flight to the Czech Republic. The first thing that made me appreciate that I was in a very foreign place was arriving at […]

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 […]