Getting around in South Korea

Date January 27, 2020

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Lucas Clasen

All photos courtesy of Lucas Clasen

When I was in Korea and Japan, figuring out how to use public transport was a real challenge. Seoul, Korea had a pretty straight forward system, with the ticket machine and the location names being in English. In Wonju, where the university is located, the transit system is very different, and was very confusing to me. Nothing was in English, and there were no maps or guides to traversing the trains or buses around the city. Osaka and Kyoto were similar stories to Wonju, with hardly anything in English, especially with the ticket machines or transit maps, which very rarely used any English at all. As such, they needed to be translated.

Engineering Internship in China

Date January 14, 2020

Posted by Stephanie Trottier

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Engineering Internship in China

By: Casey Sanders

My name is Casey Sanders and I spent this summer in Shanghai, China as an application engineer intern at Emerson (Branson Ultrasonics) as a part of the COSE Internship SCSU offers. This experience was life changing for me, both personally and professionally. I am writing this blog post to share how I prepared beforehand and how I was able to make the most of my experience!

1 – Shanghai Tower, Shanghai, China
中国，上海，上海中心大厦

Professional Experience

We live in an international economy, there is no escaping this fact! If you know how to effectively collaborate across time zones you are a greater asset anywhere you go.

Presence

Date December 3, 2019

Posted by Stephanie Trottier

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Presence

Tessa Takash

On my fourth day abroad in Southeast Asia I left my phone on the beach while swimming and, surprise, it was stolen. After my initial mourning I adjusted to my technology-less life and found a silver lining: I learned how to be present.

Without my phone I:

Was able to make profound connections with my peers by tagging along on all of their adventures and asking them questions about their culture
Enjoyed sunsets on the Mekong River without feeling like I needed to capture the perfect picture (none could do it justice)
Took in my new surroundings – the vast arrays of fresh tropical fruits, the colorful knickknacks on every street corner, and tuk tuks blazing by
Put my control freak tendencies in check by letting go of planning every detail of my day
Got lost in the pure chaos of New Year’s Eve in Bangkok

To New Friends in Old Places

Date November 6, 2019

Posted by Stephanie Trottier

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Jacob Hurajt

Photos are courtesy of Jacob Hurajt

I started my education abroad journey almost three years ago. I was a first year student, studying abroad in my second semester. The few months I spent in Alnwick, England were some of the best of my life. There were so many things that made the time special, from living in a castle, to exploring amazing historical sites, to just getting to know the locals and their culture.

The most impactful part about studying abroad, however, was none of those things. For me, it was the relationships I developed with the people I traveled with. I currently live with two of the people I studied abroad with, and count them among my best friends. I still have a group chat with many of the people I traveled with, and we keep in touch with each other. In the three months I spent abroad, I considered many of them to be some of the best friends I have ever had.

It’s not all that surprising when you think about it, I guess. Think about if you joined a group of people who don’t know each other, lived with them for a few months, and took all the same classes that they did. Then, go and see the world with them. Get into a snowball fight with a random group of locals in Amsterdam with them. Get lost in Newcastle with them. Walk along Hadrian’s Wall with them. Go on trips and adventures almost every week, from London to the North Sea, visiting castles, monasteries and ancient churches with them. Of course we became close, how could we not?

I have so many memories of England and other places I have traveled to, but the best ones are not about the places I went, or the things I saw, but the people I saw them with.

How to See a City in a Day (and on a Budget)

Date October 29, 2019

Posted by Stephanie Trottier

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Sophie Torgerson

One of the things that has always been on my bucket list has been to travel to Europe. I was ecstatic when I made the decision to study abroad in Denmark in June of 2019. The majority of the trip would be spent in Aalborg, which is a smaller-sized city in the northern region of Denmark. The last couple days would be spent in Copenhagen, the capital and largest city of Denmark. The program was only three weeks, and although I was told we would have free time most evenings and weekends, I wasn’t expecting to have enough time to travel outside the country, although that was something I was interested in. However, in our second week abroad, a few of my classmates were researching things to do for the weekend and came across a $39 round-trip ticket to London for the following Saturday. I decided that I couldn’t let this incredible opportunity pass, as I wasn’t sure when the next time I would be in Europe would be, so a couple hours later, four of my classmates and I booked our flight.

All photos courtesy of Sophie Torgerson

The World is Your Oyster

Date October 14, 2019

Posted by Stephanie Trottier

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Ashlee Gibson

If I am being honest, I never thought that a person like me would end up having this incredible opportunity. Not only have I been able to travel to a whole new part of the world I have been fortunate enough to live for 3 months in a castle! I grew up in a single parent household living below the poverty line, yet here I am. I don’t want to take a single day in Europe for granted because this is an opportunity of a lifetime and I want to make the best of it. The world is your oyster after all.

Images in this post are courtesy of Ashlee Gibson

The few days of packing before leaving for Alnwick were exciting yet difficult if I am being honest. I remember stressing over what to bring because I wanted to bring everything yet nothing at the same time. I was excited but it just didn’t feel real to me yet. I was excited to start my semester abroad knowing I will be with other students who are in the same boat as me and that I will have professors and faculty from Minnesota going on this journey with me, but also to help me along the way. I am going for elementary education and I have completed my generals and so none of the classes that were offered at Alnwick were required or could apply to my major. I am however learning a lot from my British professors and Saint Cloud State professor about the UK and its history but also its current events such as BREXIT, the shutdown of the Thomas Cook Firm, the plans of renewable energy at Alnwick, and the future plans of Newcastle. I came to Alnwick for the experience and to develop more of a global perspective and the experience has been phenomenal so far!

Studying Abroad in South Korea

Date October 4, 2019

Posted by Stephanie Trottier

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IMG-20190930-jhh

When asked about the highlights of her time in South Korea, here are a few things Sabrin shared:

“They have the best fried chicken, and they deliver anytime, anywhere.”

“One of my highlights was traveling to Busan with my roommates.”

“When we got stressed, my friend would say, Let’s take a walk, and we’d end up at the karaoke places in town.”

We’ll let her photos do the rest of the talking.

Half of my heart is in Malaysia

Date September 27, 2019

Posted by Stephanie Trottier

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Half of my heart is in Malaysia

Written by: Anna Nelson, 2019

My semester abroad in Malaysia has been the most spectacular period of my life so far! Out of the nearly 60 exchange students at Taylor’s University, only two of us were from the United States. I think that set me up well to be able to branch out and get to know people from all over the world, since the exchange students tended to hang out with one another. There were a lot of international students who, while not exchange students, were welcoming and showed us around and they often took trips with us.

Before studying in Malaysia, I had never left the United States, but now I’ve been to a total of 8 countries! It’s been such an amazing experience. The world feels much smaller, now that I’ve been to the other side of it. I have friends on every inhabited continent, so I get to keep feeding the fire for more adventures throughout my life.