Celebrate the Holidays With Us!

Chances are you’ve seen the decorations going up, heard the music and felt the holiday cheer on your campus. From the United States to New Zealand, December through the New Year is the most festive and wonderful time of the year.

Some returning expatriates call it reverse culture shock, while others can’t put into words the malaise they feel after an initial happy homecoming. While having had the time of your life living abroad, you likely expanded your values and habits to include those from your host country. In this way, settling into life back at home may have its challenges. Here are our tips for beating the repatriation blues.

1. Seek Closure Before You Go

Chances are if you're studying in the United States you can't escape the signs that let you know Thanksgiving is fast approaching. But if all you know about the holiday is that it’s a break from classes, then we're here to help. Of all autumn's most-loved national traditions – from pumpkin spice lattes to hayrides – Thanksgiving is the pinnacle. The holiday dates back to November 1621 when Pilgrims and Native Americans held a fall harvest festival. The earliest menus were comprised of venison, pumpkin, lobster (they were celebrating near the coast, after all) and, of course, corn.

I have prepared a lot of daily essentials and school supplies that I might use when I study abroad at the University of California, Berkeley, and there are interesting academic questions.

Polite, multicultural, beautiful… and bitterly cold! These are probably some of the first things that pop into your mind when you think about Canada. While it’s true that Canada’s subarctic location might cause it to be a tad chilly, especially during the coldest winter months of December through March, that doesn’t make it any less loveable a season for many Canadians. You just have to know the right ways to spend your time. Here are some of the best ways to get through a cold Canadian winter without going stir crazy.

1. Get Into Hockey

The experience I have with London is quite unusual, unique, and wonderful. It seems incredible that I have been in London for three weeks already, since it is the first time that I have traveled abroad alone.

London, as one of the world’s famous cities, has something for everyone: from history and culture to fine food and good times. There is no doubt that the time I spent here was full of delightful moments, which might be the most appealing thing for the students who have the prospects of studying in London one day.

In one of my classes at the Haas Business School, I thought it was going to be a relatively easy course, but to my surprise, the difficulty was much more than I thought. Many students rush to write notes written by the teacher on the chalkboard.. You definitely need to concentrate in class.

For sports-loving Americans, the month of March means one thing: March Madness. Although the name might sound scary, March Madness is simply a basketball tournament filled with excitement and it has become one of the most anticipated annual college sports traditions in the country.