Study Abroad
Bradley's
Study Abroad homepage - contains some helpful information.
GoAbroad.com
- very comprehensive sight that lists many different study abroad opportunities.
Erin's Story:
Erin Wilk, a Health Science major, spent the summer of 1999 studying
in Central Europe with Bradley's Study Abroad Program. Your can read
about Erin's experience and email Erin your questions about the Study Abroad
Program at ewilk@bobcat.bradley.edu.
Erin in the Austrian Alps
This past summer I was lucky
enough to be able to participate in one of the greatest experiences of
my life. The Bradley University European Summer Semester turned out
to be more than I expected and a time of my life that I will never forget.
During the summer we stayed in four countries, United Kingdom, Malta, Germany,
and Austria. Although each of these places were very different from
each other, each one was incredibly unique and equally inspiring.
In London, where we stayed for two weeks,
I took THE 131, and I was able to see seven shows while I was there.
I saw, Rent, Miss Saigon, and a performance of The Comedy of Errors in
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, to name a few. There was great theatre,
fabulous, but incredibly expensive shopping, and some of the neatest people
I’ve ever met. I found everyone to be very kind in London to disprove
what I had heard about Londoner’s before going over there. The history
of London, as much as you prepare yourself for it, will blow you away.
It is almost unbelievable, especially coming from a country where 200 years
is old. My favorite church in London, St. Bartholomew’s the Great,
was first built in the 1100’s. It was then added onto in the 1400’s
and again in the 1700’s. Now, that’s old, but it was amazing!
After leaving London we went to Malta, which
is a small island country off the boot of Italy in the Mediterranean Sea.
Talk about a culture shock! Malta was 90 degrees, every building
was white, and the culture was much slower than that of London’s.
In London everyone knew where they were going and they were getting there
as fast as they could. In Malta, people would stroll up and down
the waterfront on these extremely narrow sidewalks, and you couldn’t get
lunch in less than two hours. It was a very relaxed culture, which
after adjusting to for a few days, turned out to be ok. I took U.S.
Foreign Policy while I was there, which was a class I ended up loving.
We were able to learn all about the Euro and how American embassies work
and what they do. It was a lot of reading, but with great weather
and lounge chairs by the pool, none of us found the reading to be too difficult.
We just got a great tan as well!
I took my tan with as we went to Germany.
We were only in Munich for 3 days and because all the classes had scheduled
their finals then, I didn’t see a whole lot of Munich. Living in
this city was harder though for the simple reason of the language barrier.
In both London and in Malta, English was spoken by nearly everyone.
In Munich this was not the case, and so even reading a menu to order dinner
is quite difficult. I remember our first night there we eventually
found “pizza” and ate there.
From Munich, we went to Igls, Austria, which
was a breathtaking and relaxing environment to end our trip in. Igls
is a little town up the mountains from Innsbruk, and it was awe-inspiring.
Here I took my 300 level English course and I as able to reflect back on
the rest of my trip throughout my journal writing, which was one of the
main components of the grade. We also wrote essays on culture differences
and the value of travel and things all related to traveling abroad.
It made me appreciate my experience even more. Besides that, by the
time I got to Austria, I had really gotten to know some people on the trip
with me from Bradley that I hadn’t known at the start of the trip.
Besides meeting them there were a couple other chance meetings in Malta
and in Austria. In Malta we were all able to meet David Beckham (Mr.
Posh Spice) of the Manchester United soccer team, as they were all vacationing
in Malta at the same time we were!
After this though, probably the most unique
experience of the trip is when we found out that Madeline Albright, the
U. S. Secretary of State, was staying in a hotel in Igls about 200 yards
away. Out last day in Europe was the fourth of July, and even though
I wasn’t in the country, I think it was one of the best Independence Days
I have ever had. After dinner all 50 of us on the trip, walked over
to Madeline Albright’s hotel. We got a little static walking onto
the property from the secret service men, however, eventually they let
us in. Out came Secretary Albright to stand 10 feet in front of us
so that we could sing the Star Spangled Banner, and she sang with us!
She then stood in the group doe a photo opportunity, and later that evening
we were able to watch fireworks that she had brought with her! For
being my last night in Europe, I don’t think that it could have been improved
on much at all! This was an incredible experience that also taught
me a lot. I would suggest this or any study abroad program to anyone—you’ll
love it!
