Reporter’s Note

This semester, I was presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. I spent three months visiting five different countries through a study abroad program at my university. It would be impossible to describe all of the sights, sounds and sensations I experienced on this journey, but these are a few of my favorite moments from the adventure.

Our semester began with 10 days in Iceland. This photo was taken inside a glacier on my first full day in this beautiful country. We rode snowmobiles through the mountains to the mouth of this man-made glacial tunnel, strapped on some special shoes, and charged straight inside “Langjokull,” the second largest glacier in Iceland. Most of Iceland was ironically pretty green and lush, with towering mountains and tumbling waterfalls around every corner. But in snowy places like Langjokull, Iceland lived up to its name (and I was thankful for my thick coat and gloves).

The majority of my semester was spent in London, England. We lived right down the street from the British Museum, at the very heart of the city. Since we stayed in London for about nine weeks, I had plenty of opportunities to do lots of exploring. This photo was taken while wandering beside an old church on one of our free days. In the right hand corner, you can see a bright red double decker bus peeking out from behind the trees.

Being the avid Harry Potter enthusiast that I am, I made sure to take a tour of Warner Brother’s Harry Potter Studios while I was in England. I spent five hours meandering through all of the sets and props on display, and I could have easily stayed even longer. In this photo, I’m standing beside pieces of the gigantic wizards chess set from the first film.

I took several weekend trips to France over the course of the semester, and it quickly became one of my favorite countries. We visited the beaches of Normandy and the American Cemetery as a group, and I later visited Paris with a friend. This photo was taken in front of the island castle Le Mont Saint Michel during our Normandy trip. Some say that it inspired the design for Rapunzel’s castle in the movie “Tangled.”

To finish off our semester, we spent our last week traveling in Scotland and Ireland. Ireland captured my heart with its sprawling emerald countryside and fascinating history. In this photo I am standing on top of basalt columns at Giant’s Causeway, one of the most famous natural formations in Ireland.

By Julie Anne White, Blue Ribbon News reporter. Check out Julie’s blog documenting her adventures overseas at juliejourneyblog.wordpress.com/.