One week left!

Hey! It’s Mallory, again. I can’t believe it is almost here! It is exactly one week until we leave the Atlanta airport and we are on our way to Germany. I feel like I have been planning this trip for months, and it is finally time to have fun! I have been so busy these past few weeks booking and planning our trips for the weekends. We get four full weekends to do whatever we want in Europe. We get out of classes every week on Thursday afternoons and we don’t have to be back for class until Monday mornings.

We are planning to go to Munich the first weekend, London the second weekend, Rome the third weekend, and Paris the fourth weekend. We have been using Ryan Air (www.ryanair.com) to book our flights to London and Rome. Ryan Air offers some really cheap flights! We booked our round trip tickets to London and Rome for about $100 a trip. We will be taking the Eurail (www.eurail.com) to get to Munich and Paris. We are allotted 8 days on our Eurail passes, which were included in our study abroad packages, so these trips won’t cost anything!

We have also already booked our hostels in each city. We will be staying at the Euro Youth Hostel in Munich, which was recommended to us by the study abroad group that went last year. They said they absolutely loved it! I hope we get the same experience they did! The hostel we booked in London I found on www.hostels.com. It’s called the “Bestplace in Waterloo.” It had very high approval ratings and the previous customer comments looked pretty good. When we go to Rome, we will be staying in another hostel that the group from last year recommended, the Alessandro Downtown Hostel. It is located in the downtown Rome. It is very close to all the major attractions we hope to visit while we are there. Dr. Ware and Dr. Droms booked the hostel we will be staying in while we are in Paris. It is called the Fiap hostel (www.fiap.com). Dr. Ware has been to Paris many, many times at knows the area like the back of his hands. He is such a knowledgeable person when it comes to Paris and I can’t wait to get there!

Well, the next time I “blog” will be when I am in Germany. Only one week left!

* Mallory is participating in a study abroad program in Karlsruhe, Germany, organized by Valdosta State University's Langdale College of Business Administration and International Programs.

Meet Mallory Harris

Hello everyone! My name is Mallory Harris and I am so excited to be leaving for Karlsruhe, Germany in less than a month! We leave Atlanta on June 21 and come back July 22.

I am currently a junior pursuing a degree at the Langdale College of Business Administration in finance. While studying abroad, I hope to become culturally aware of the many different societies that are in this world.

I plan to travel to Munich, London, Rome, and Paris. All of these cities are unique and diverse in their own special ways. I look forward to tasting the different foods, hearing the different languages, and experiencing the very different and diverse cultures. Karlsruhe, Germany is centrally located to all of these cities, which will provide me with an even bigger opportunity to experience Europe.

I also hope to be given the opportunity to learn some of the different language while I am abroad. Being able to communicate in different languages is a very important and a valuable asset to any person, particularly those in the business community. Studying abroad will not only be a trip of a lifetime, but an incredible learning experience. I plan to take full advantage of this educational opportunity!

* Mallory is participating in a study abroad program in Karlsruhe, Germany, organized by Valdosta State University's Langdale College of Business Administration and International Programs.

Meet Katelyn Toler

Hi, my name is Katie and this summer I will be studying abroad in the Peru program. I am an upcoming senior at VSU. I hope to graduate next May with a Spanish Degree and an ESL endorsement so that I can teach English as a second language. I am applying to the Peace Corps and hope to get placed teaching English in South or Central America.

I’m pretty stoked about this trip because it will be the first time I have been out of the country for such a long time. I have been to Costa Rica and Mexico. We will be living with host families while in Peru and I am excited to be experiencing another culture so closely. I hope to improve my Spanish greatly and to learn a ton about their customs, beliefs, etc. We will be going to see Machu Picchu and travel around to see the country.

* Katelyn is participating in a study abroad program in Lima, Peru, organized by Valdosta State University's International Programs and Modern and Classical Languages.

Meet Stephanie Brearley

Bienvenidos! Hi, my name is Stephanie and I’m a Junior here at Valdosta State University. I am majoring in Spanish and loving every minute of it! This past Spring I decided to finally sign up for the summer 2009 Study Abroad Program to Lima, Peru and surrounding areas. I am so excited to be able to explore the different cultural aspects of this wonderful country!

Our group will have the pleasure of studying at one of the oldest universities in the America’s (Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos) and staying with a local host family for three weeks. After that, it’s time to discover one of the seven wonders of the world (Machu Picchu), Cusco, The Sacred Valley, Pisac Indian Market, Puno and Lake Titicaca. Needless to say, we will be having one jam packed, adventure filled month. Although at times I really wish we would be staying longer, I plan of making the most out of every moment there. Until then, I must simply wait patiently until July 4 when our plane will at last leave Atlanta.

For anyone who may be following these postings throughout my trip, I will be writing weekly (most likely more). I will also be posting pictures so you too can have a small window into my world!

With much love…Stephanie

* Stephanie is participating in a study abroad program to Peru, organized by Valdosta State University's International Programs and Modern and Classical Languages.