Angels Abroad!

MD Gamma has a few sisters abroad this semester! Junior Emily D. is currently attending University College of London and shares her experiences so far.

This semester, I'm taking some time away from Hopkins and my MD Gamma sisters to study abroad at University College London.  I've been across the pond for almost three weeks now and so far it's been a great experience.  Studying abroad is giving me the opportunity to take courses that I wouldn't have had access to at home, such as Art History in London, in which class is held in galleries around the city, and Politics of the European Union. 
    In addition to my academics, I've had ample opportunity to explore the city and soak up the culture and history.  A few new American friends and I have adopted the tradition of Cultural Wednesdays.  Since class schedules tend to be particularly light on Wednesdays, we use the day to pick interesting sites around London to visit.  On the first "Cultural Wednesday" we climbed The Monument to the Great Fire of London, and last week we visited the Tower of London and Tower Bridge!
    Over the next few months I will continue to explore London, and I will also venture out to other places in Europe.  I already have plans in the works for trips to Spain, Scotland (where hopefully I will see MD Gamma members Pearl and Nicole, who are studying abroad at the University of Edinburgh), and Ireland.  I also have a couple of friends from Hopkins and my hometown visiting over their spring breaks, and my parents are visiting in April!  It will be nice to be able to show everyone around my temporary home as I become more and more familiar with the area.
    Thus far, most of the people I've met here are Americans also studying abroad.  Coming in mid-year makes meeting people challenging, but I'm looking forward to meeting more full-time British students as time goes on.  One thing is for sure, I miss my Pi Phi sisters!  I wish MD Gamma all the best during the upcoming Sisterhood Week and Spring Recruitment and I can't wait to meet our fabulous new member class when I return.

Oh the places you'll go!

Our angels at here at Maryland Gamma are well traveled! Check out some photos from the places our sisters visited this past winter break.

Vanessa in Israel

 

Devin, Sarah and Jess in Las Vegas.

Georgia in China!

Georgia talks a bit about her time in China:
Since I was studying abroad in China this fall, I decided to travel around the country during winter break. I spent three weeks traveling through China on planes, 24-hour trains, and overnight buses (on which you get stuck sleeping in a bed with strangers if you don't claim a bed early!). I went to incredibly modern cities whose skyscrapers light up in different colors and designs at night, countryside far enough removed that public long-distance buses are waved down like taxis by farmers, and industrial cities with smoke stacks interspersed between super tall apartment buildings. First, I went south to see the rice terraces in Yunnan Province. I ended up getting lost hiking through the terraces and got a lot of strange looks from local farmers. From there I went to see the unique karst landscape (strangely pointy little mountains) in Yangshuo. I went biking around the countryside and explored a cave. I spent Christmas in Macau, wandering through the colonial Portuguese-style buildings and Christmas lights. I visited a friend in Hong Kong for New Years where I saw the fireworks and ate my weight in dim sum. Next, I went back to Beijing, where I had been studying, and made friends with the owner of the dumpling shack for whom my friend is currently interning. Lastly, I went to Harbin, which is so far north that your camera battery will die from the cold. There I wandered through the ice festival and saw intricate snow sculptures and giant ice buildings with colorful lights in them. Even though I'm still I a little surprised I made it out alive what with the many mistakes I made (you can never get travel plans exactly right in China; it always take a little improv), it was an adventure of a lifetime and I'm really glad I took the initiative and went.