By Tressa Versteeg

Japan. “I never had a moment when I realized I was in Japan, even though I was speaking Japanese on a regular basis, living with a Japanese family, reading books and watching TV in Japanese. I was the only one amongst my friends who never felt like they’d left home.” Joanna Clark ’10Austria. “It was overwhelming to be in an entirely different culture where I didn’t speak the language…It felt like my first semester of college all over again, meeting so many new people that were just as excited as me to be there.” Mark Smedley ’10

Egypt. In the Black and White Desert in Egypt we climbed dunes, ate fantastic feasts, shared stories and danced around the fire with our new Bedouin friends. We slept under the stars and the moon was so bright you didn’t even need any extra light. You get the feeling like you are on the surface of the moon or in a Star Wars movie. My ears were ringing it was so quiet. Elena Slavin ’10

Bolivia. “At the end of my experience, It was so hard to believe I had been there for four months, but also hard to believe I hadn’t been there forever.” Sarah Van Etten ’10

England. “For the first time since the age of about eight, I was able to relax and enjoy myself and my surroundings without feeling guilty for not being stressed out. Learning the importance of loosening up makes me feel like my semester was actually a complete success.” Huong Nguyen ’10

India and Nepal. “I think my favorite part of the whole program was, we did a three week trek to the Tibet border and back. We had a lot of Sherpas our age come with us. They were used to German and French truckers. It was the first time getting to know people their age and we taught them dirty American card games.” Sally Dijkerman ’10