How do you get to the point where you can call a place your home? I believe one of the factors is finding your favorite spots around the city. Cork is home to around 120,000 people, but it does not feel like it. It was not hard to be able to carve out a home for myself in this new place. One of the best things about moving to a new place is being able to explore it. It is very easy to walk or bike all over Cork. As I reflect on all the great things about my time abroad, I can’t help but think about the places that I will miss the most.

I know that I just posted a couple of days ago, but given the recent attack in Brussels, Belgium, I thought it would be worthwhile to compose my thoughts into another blog entry.

In light of recent terrorist attacks in Brussels which targeted the Brussels International Airport and metro system, the Study Abroad office has confirmed that there are no UI students studying in Belgium at this time. The Study Abroad office has reached out to all UI students currently studying Europe to offer support and to ask them to confirm their well-being. UI students in Europe are advised to suspend any independent travel to Brussels and to confirm their registry with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) for timely security updates about all locations in any travel itinerary. Additionally, UI students are encouraged to check all travel plans and transportation availability if traveling in Europe. Students should allow extra time to clear security at airports, railway stations, and border crossings.

For UI students planning to travel abroad, the office for study abroad will hold a variety of in-person information sessions the week of April 18, 2016. In addition to the required training online, every student going abroad must sign up to attend at least one of these sessions.

If you would’ve asked me six months ago if I was going to spend a weekend scaling one of the highest mountains in Scotland, I would have looked at you like you were crazy. If you would ask me to do it today, I would jump at the opportunity to go again.

The Fulbright Lunch & Learn series continues with "Negotiating Cultural Boundaries: Teaching Clinical Medicine in Jordan." Featuring guest speaker Dr. George Bergus, professor in the department of Family Medicine at the UI, this event will take place on April 8 from 12:30-1:20 p.m. in 1117 UCC.

Are you prepared to sell your study abroad experience in a job interview? Learn techniques to tie together your stories and experiences abroad with the skill sets employers are looking for at a hands-on career prep workshop with UI Study Abroad on Monday, March 21, from 6:00-7:30 p.m. in 1117 University Capitol Centre.

For most students at the University of Iowa, winter break is a time to unwind, visit with family and indulge in a well-deserved Netflix binge while curled up with a cup of hot cocoa. But for others like Victor Diaz, it was an opportunity to make a difference – to embark on a journey to Pondicherry, India for a three-week study abroad course, “Serving Children with Disabilities, Empowering Local Women, Assisting Older Adults.” As part of the course, he observed the physical therapy and special education initiatives many non-profit organizations have implemented in order for these otherwise unwelcome individuals to develop academically or vocationally so that they can integrate into society more able-bodied and prepared. Through these interactions and observations, he learned more about the importance of communication - especially cross-culturally and cross linguistically.

Built on East Art Gallery Street in 1996, the 24-hour bookstore is known by many readers as their “spiritual home” and a place in which to soak for an entire day. A bubble bath of 90,000 books stacked in a space of 1400 square meters. There are at least twenty different annotated versions of Journey to the West, one of the four great classical novels of China. A 513-page guide to polyphonic Mandarin characters can be found in an aisle devoted to dictionaries. Copies of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant are tucked away in random nooks. Books with titles like The Story of Art and The Story of Time convey the immense ambition in this place.

The UI South Asian Studies Program (SASP) will host an upcoming lecture featuring artist and art historian, Seema Srivastava. This event is free and open to the public, and will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 24, 2016, in room 116 of Art Building West.