Semester Abroad, Global Correspondents Three ~ Super Original ~ Things I’ve Learned Studying Abroad

Gabrielle, one of the Semester Abroad Global Correspondents, shares her experience abroad during the Spring 2024 semester. Follow along with the group of correspondents on our blog and look out for their images on the @pennabroad Instagram feed.

Context: I am a third-year student at Penn studying abroad at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Experiencing a small, beautiful town in Scotland with a deep history has been very special. The academic culture at St. Andrews features a distinct approach to learning, as a significant portion of the workload is independently led, rather than conducted in a classroom setting. I came to St. Andrews excited to embrace a new work culture and also to meet new people; I moved into a flat with four full-time students who had already forged friendships with one another and am grateful to have developed friendships with them that will last long after I leave.

Without further ado, here are three of my insights:

1. To the untrained eye, the insides of my purse look like a recycling bin: Business cards, receipts, old bus/train tickets, and crumpled-up postcards that I will attempt to masterfully de-crumple. Let me convince you why this is a gold mine. These are my tangible memories. In an age where we keep all of our memories quite literally in the “clouds” on iCloud, I have found scrapbooking as a deeply reflective process of internalizing my abroad memories. Every so often, I take the items I’ve collected and tape them into a journal I bought in St. Andrews and write anything and everything about these memories. That is not to say my camera roll isn’t filled with pictures, but more my journal holds the key to re-living the physical and palpable moments during these special months. I have gotten creative with it and began to collect interesting pens, miniature printed tape rolls, and other mechanisms to help me vivify the relics of my semester abroad and reflect. Highly recommend you try it out sometime.

2. Notes App Checklists = Top Tier. Enough said. Write anything and everything, so when you feel disoriented you have a visual organization scheme.

3. As we might know 1920 Commons, Trader Joe’s, and Franklin’s Table do not have remote locations all around the world. Candidly, this is what I love most about travel. I love reading endless reviews of every restaurant in each city I visit and researching local food traditions. I am studying abroad at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland; if you’re wondering, yes, I have tried haggis, the national dish of Scotland. Now that I’ve introduced myself and my unparalleled love for food, my “super original thing I’ve learned studying abroad” lies in exploring how to adjust to a new environment with respect to food. What I mean by this is, at St. Andrews I am not on a meal plan. I have never claimed to be Martha Stewart, but I genuinely find joy in cooking myself dinner and exploring new recipes on websites such as Serious Eats. My tip is to learn about a place through the casual cafe scenes and cooking with local produce. Also, perfect a few easy meals that you feel comfortable preparing even when you might not be excited about the prospect of cooking.