alcala
“At first I was shy and rarely came up with poignant comebacks
[to my five host brothers] at the right moments. Why did they respond
so often with “Never mind, she's American”? [Now that]
we've shared our opinions, pasts, and personal lives...I can proudly
say I've made every one of them go red in the face with a well-placed
joke...and made my voice soar in the most animated of high-decibel
Spanish conversation. ”
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wollongong
“I have tested and broken my limits. If someone asked me
a year ago if I could bungee jump 150 feet above a rainforest in
Cairns, climb a mountain by moonlight, or dive near the Great Barrier
Reef in a country known for its sharks, I would have laughed in
their face, but I did that and more...[Australia] gives you every
opportunity to challenge yourself. ”
“I feel stronger and more confident—that will stay
with me for the rest of my life. Suddenly, calculus doesn’t
seem so daunting...if I can swim with sharks, I can do anything. ”
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china
“[After two weeks] I asked [my Chinese roommate] to stop
speaking in English...which was both great and frustrating since
my vocabulary was the size of a kindergartner ’s.”
“She gave me an insider’s view on her life growing
up with familial pressure to succeed in school, friendships, boyfriends
(or lack thereof) and Chinese culture. I remember doing homework
next to her and knowing she must be extremely stressed about having
to write two theses since she did not want to lose the grace of
one of her professors by telling her she wanted to change majors. ”
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japan
“...in a single day, one can see a kimono-clad woman talking
on a cellular phone, an old man selling baked yams from his homemade
cart to “salarymen” in a crowded business district,
and a 200-year-old portable shrine carried through the streets on
the shoulders of young people. ”
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chile
“There are some parts [of the Atacama desert] where there
has never been any recorded rainfall. I read that every seven years
or so, certain areas receive higher amounts of rain...I looked out
at what is usually dry sand and saw a sea of purple, yellow, white,
and pink wildflowers. I was not prepared for how beautiful it was... ”