By Brianna Gunter, Part 3

I can’t say that I never thought my trip would come to an end (because I adhere to the laws of time and common sense), but I can say that it appeared to come to an end much faster than expected. Looking back on my semester abroad however, I do find it pleasantly astonishing that I’ve learned and done so much.

I’ve been back in New Jersey for some time now. While I honestly didn’t feel too “culture shocked” upon arrival in Costa Rica, I did feel that way almost as soon as my plane landed back at Newark Liberty International.

It is summer now (thank goodness), but when I first came back Jersey was still in spring, a very cold spring! At least, I felt very cold after having spent all winter in a tropical country where the sun is out on most days. I’m much happier now that the weather has warmed up, but there have been a lot of other things that have made it not so easy to re-adapt to my former life. Continue reading →

By Brianna Gunter, part 2.

Costa Rica is widely known as one of the world’s happiest nations. Actually, it is the happiest in the world. Just last year, the World Database of Happiness (yes, it exists) ranked this tiny Central American country first out of happiest nations with a score of 8.5 on a scale of one to 10. The U.S. ranked 20th with a score of 7.4.

While I lived in the capital of happy — a place more than 10 points happier than my homeland — I decided to examine just what it is that makes Costa Rica so darn full of smiles. After all, studying abroad has the tendency to turn a person into a great cultural examiner. There are of course the obvious reasons for happiness there: nice beaches, access to both the Caribbean and Pacific oceans, awesome forests and waterfalls, good weather, democracy, ice cream places on every corner, etc. Nevertheless my semester abroad led me to believe the true reasons for Tican happiness are a little more complex than palm trees and blue skies. Continue reading →

One of our friend’s took this picture while she was studying abroad in Australia. What do you think, should we all pitch in and get this little guy a stroller? Perhaps we should give them the benefit of the doubt, I’m sure all morning he was begging his mother to let him be a dog for the day! We want to hear your comments 🙂

I am spending my summer in Annecy and Talloires, France with the Tufts in Talloires program. During these 6 weeks, I will be taking two classes and soaking up as much French culture (food, wine, etc) as possible! I will be writing once a week or so about a small aspect of my study abroad experience. This is my last post of this series.


And suddenly it was over. Six weeks gone in the blink of an eye. Someone asked me how I felt about that and I was having trouble explaining. The best way to describe how I feel is to use a Harry Potter Metaphor (there’s one for every situation in life isn’t there?) Bare with me: my six weeks in France is like the secret Order of the Phoenix meeting apartment. When you first glance at the set of apartments, the doorway seems to be a narrow blip, barely noticeable and almost forgettable. It hides itself away and blends in with the rest of the doors (that is to say the time that is passing in my life.) But when you really focus on it, that door expands into a large apartment full of stories and memories and experiences. There are secrets and learning moments and suddenly all you can see is that apartment, while everything else seems to fade away. Continue reading →