i'm not dead..

i'm just not blogging.

here's a vid for you pains.



nothing compares to those 22 days. i miss it all so much every day.

xo.

post sa thoughts.

here's the postest with the mostest.
i'm home and i've had time to soak this whole experience in. i've done the jet lag, the picture uploading, the laundry and unpacking.. really all that's left is my final paper for the class and then i could completely forget this entire experience.
to say the least that will not be happening.
people said that this experience would change my life. i knew that it would be something i would never forget, but i wasn't quite sure how the life changing would take place. but somewhere along the way, between london and beijing, good ol' me got tweaked a bit.
i don't remember many other times when i've been that happy. every bit of me was pleased.. i was with great people that i want to be friends with forever, i was in places experiencing things i'd only seen in movies or pictures, i was laughing, i was learning, and i was having those moments that i never wanted to forget.

here are some FAQs from my trip..

what was your favorite country?
thailand. i loved the mixture of tourism, real vacation, and culture. we stayed at a great resort, the people were so kind, the tourist attractions allowed you to learn more about the people and the culture.. they weren't just structures they were experiences.

can you say you've written an elephant in thailand? yeah didn't think so. save your money and go now because you need to!

what was the craziest thing you did?
i think this actually took place in thailand. we rode this somewhat ghetto boats to the floating markets. we had water splashing in our faces, which we were told to cover our mouths because it could make us sick. there were signs posted to watch out for crocodiles. then the whole floating markets experience was so unique and fun. floating around, getting pulled in my vendors, trying to make deals with them.. definitely something that's no eiffel tower or necessarily a glamorous shopping experience, but so fun!

not me, but some of my best friends at the floating markets!

what was your favorite business visit?
i think either microsoft or marriott. microsoft was fun and entertaining, and i left with more respect for the company. same with marriott. they both were companies that i would love to work for based off their presentations and want to support more after.

what was your "study abroad moment"/favorite day/ etc?
our last day in paris. our last day in thailand and in china were very close second and third, but everything about our last day in paris was perfectly imperfect. we started out by going to versilles. the line was super long, but we may or may not have found a way to the front. we went through the palace then rode bikes around the grounds. then i had a delicious ice cream cone. after that we attempted to go the the french open. i wouldn't give many more details because it didn't turn out too well and its a sore spot for some. then we did some more sightseeing plus two awesome art museums. ever heard of the lourve? yeah that was one of our stops. we ended the night watching the sunset and the eiffel tower sparkle on top of the arc de triumph, an amazing view of the city. we were all in somewhat goofy moods and we just messed around, laughed a lot, and took tons of pictures of course. it was light hearted and we weren't students- we were friends. then we headed to the eiffel tower one last time. we just layed on the grass, talked, and loved life. but seriously. not to mention in between many of these locations we were RUNNING. sprinting. we had to fit everything in and we always thought we were late. it made everywhere though, even home to the hotel :) i think i liked this night so much because it was maybe my first glimpse into what the rest of the trip held for me, and i started catching on to how awesome all these people i was traveling are.

boys?.. these questions came in every way possible :)
i am SO glad we had a surplus of boys as compared to other study abroads, most study abroads actually. i think i was with a guy 95% of the time we were out and about and i didn't know how much that would mean to me. i am a pretty independent person so i never thought having guys around would mean anything to me, but i'm really grateful they were there. they all were great guys. so far, no study abroad romances from anyone. crazy huh? but they all are guys i would hook my friends up with, they're seriously the best.

so, how did my life change? i think i'm finding the answer to this more and more every day. i appreciate the world as a whole more. i have respect for other's way of life. before i didn't really care much about life outside of my bubble. now i feel like i would rather spend my money on more experiences and travel like this as opposed to "things." it was also a testimony builder. everyone around the world needs the gospel, and that's why missionary work is so important. people most definitely have different attitudes towards other people in the world. i would much rather interact with the loving thai people than someone from paris. is that horrible to say? but i know that my impression from the few people i interacted with isn't one i should use to judge the people of that entire country. i also want to make sure i leave the right impression on people of other nationalities visiting america, and being willing to do what i can to make their visit enjoyable, despite language and culture barriers.

but it also just made me grateful for the good u s of a. we have freedoms that other countries don't. aka religion is a big one. i like all the different landscapes, people, cultures, and foods i enjoyed, but i really like what we have goin' here too :)

our first business visit, conoco phillips did not disappoint.

yay for using this blog for something useful :) more to come about it all!

a little collection.

my pictures come by the hundreds per country.. but i've collected some similiarities amongst the countries. here's my favorite, i'm now known for my hair whipping :) sweden, russia, and china. 

what you can do with 24 hours

start in st. petersburg at a palace.

business visit at coke. 

pit stop in dubai. freakin' sweet .

get to thailand. see some sweet views.

hang out with some sweet people.

three countries in one day. all of them amazing. but i'm LOVING thailand. 

 yummmmmy thai food. so good.

 our lush hotel. look it up.

 business meetings aren't so bad when we get fed left and right.

getting hustled by some vendors.

i simply love these people.

 celebrating julia's 20th birthday at midnight in copenhagen! some people had these awesome, massive corner rooms. a party was necessary, obviously.

 that awkward moment when you try and take a picture on my phone and it's on video...

 top of the effiel tower say what?

first day! it seems like so long ago.

today at the vasa museum. 

oh the first day. seems like so long ago, but its so short and i love them all so much already.

tomorrow morning.. in six hours.. off to russia! sleep might be necessary.

Happy Birthday Julia!

 

 

I've loved sharing this study abroad experience with you. Happy 20! You're the best.

fast forward

ignore that i haven't blogged about london or paris, and let's focus on copenhagen. we leave tomorrow morning, but i love it here! the people are beauiful and so kind. we found the best place for waffles/crepes/ice cream and honestly i have had half my meals there and definitely most my calories. it was top notch and we were frequent customers as a group, all of us, so the guy knew us and started even giving discounts. holla! today we had our business visits and also a temple trip, but other wise we've just been exploring. it has been so fun, and a lot more laid back than paris or london, which is a great change.

the last couple nights we've been getting in a TON earlier and just hanging out in the hotel. i really have loved it. we even got each other's numbers one night. weird huh? we spend almost every moment together but don't have each other's numbers because phones don't matter here.

 the first night we had dinner at the institute building with some local YSAs (young single adults) and played a favorite game from freshmen year of mine- spaz. let's just say i was the runner up. and it was pretty exciting.

i honestly didn't preview the following, so beware.

then we ended up at this random turkish concert. so random. so fun. we just danced and went with the crowd.

the original Christus is here so of course we hit that up at Our Lady's Church.. or so it translates.

boar ride, so chill and fun way to see the city. 

hot dogs.. trying something local and new! lots of toppings, and pretty dang good!

business visits always have swanky things, like chocolate milk in glass bottles. thanks microsoft!

totes did this ride in trivoli gardens. so fun! and high. 

 the highlight of this trip will most likely be the temple trip. usually it is closed on monday's so we had it to ourselves and it was a really special experience.

but i will always love copenhagen for its chill nights.. and these random corner rooms in the hotel that are way big and nice that some luckies scored :) 

 

soooo tired. night.

why?

do i suck at blogging when my life is at it's peak?
today marked one week since we took off from salt lake, and since we're now in copenhagen that means four countries in one week. HOLLA! i've loved it all. and i'm loving the new, slower, less touristy pace in copenhagen. but we cranked through paris and london and got everything in we needed to.

here are some highlights:

eating mcdonalds (mcdo) two dinners in a row. #classy

bike ride through hyde park. so awesome. 

having freakin' awesome company visits. 

riding a double decker bus with no clue where we were going or where we wanted to get off. one of the few times we had time to be spontaneous. 

covent gardens. 

walking out of the metro and bam. there's the effiel tower. 

being on top of the ET at night. then racing down all the stairs from the top to make it in time for curfew. 

watching the sun set and ET sparkle on top of arc de triumph. 

lourve. duh.

running like five miles last night to make it everywhere, including back to the hotel before the metro closed.

getting to copenhagen! so refreshing. 

finding out some random festival is going on. then rocking out at the turkish concert. 

more soon. hopefully! yay for wifi now!

xo.

sights from the first day.

 of course i have so so much more to show and tell, but this shows the start of this amazing journey! i love these people and i love all the opportunities. the plane ride was great. didn't sleep much but it wasn't as bad as i thought! i haven't done a long ride like that since hawaii in sixth grade. so so much more to update later. good night from paris!

study abroad bucket list

i found these gems on pinterest.. some of which i had already pinned to my bucket list board. how lucky am i? can't wait to share all my adventures with you all!

peace out from slc airport!