Tunisian Hospitality
July 16, 2018
I don't think I've ever experienced such hospitality the way I did in the four days I spent visiting my friend Wissem Gamra and his family in Tunisia. To provide just a snapshot of their generosity: weeks before Nat (who also came to visit Wissem!) and I arrived, Wissem planned for us a packed itinerary from the ruins of Carthage to the Atlas Mountains to the Great Mosque in Sousse. He chauffeured us around the entire time, answering our... continue reading
TRAVEL TUNISIA HOSPITALITY AFRICA SOUSSE TUNIS DESERTA Reflection on my Semester Abroad
June 05, 2016
After four and a half months of traipsing around Europe (yet at the same time, saving thousands of dollars compared to paying a semester of Yale tuition), I'm back at the place I initially departed, in Stamford, Connecticut. The cliché things to say would be that "I can't believe it's over," and that "I had the time of my life," and who knows, I might even default to one of those responses when the 100th person asks me about Budapest and... continue reading
REFLECTION TRAVEL BUDAPEST ACADEMICS CLASSES AIT-BUDAPEST MOMENTS RANDOM YALE PHOTOSHostel Crisis in Berlin
May 25, 2016
I've dreamed about visiting Berlin since I was 14, sitting Herr Stark's German I class and being immersed in the loud, vibrant language that is Deutsch. In Frau Michalak's German II class, we even created presentations for a project called "Reise nach Deutschland," in which we planned a week long trip to Germany, complete with Jugendherberge (youth hostel) bookings and public transportation plans. A few weeks ago, that dream became a reality,... continue reading
HOSTEL BERLIN PHOTOS TRAVEL CRISISMy Quest to Join a Hungarian Soccer Team
April 27, 2016
About a month into my semester in Budapest, I felt that something was amiss. It'd been two weeks since I'd been immersed in Hungarian at the Babilon Language school, and my schedule had started to become… mundane. I'll write more in depth about the AIT-Budapest program in a future post, but my point is, I was taking computer science courses in English, attending classes with (almost all) Americans, and living with Americans. Moreover, I spent... continue reading
TRAVEL BUDAPEST SOCCER FUTBALL CONVERSATIONS LANGUAGE#sb2k16 #london #photodiary
April 11, 2016
While most of my Facebook and Instagram friends posted spring break pictures of scenes like this: My spring break looked more like this: Just kidding. Thanks to friends and family, not even occasional volley of hail could make a dent in what for me was the perfect spring break. My Wizz Air flight to London took off at 6 am on Saturday morning. Although the process was inconvenient and the service nonexistent, the roundtrip ticket only cost me... continue reading
LONDON BUDAPEST PHOTOS MOM FRIEND SPRING BREAK PLANES FLIGHT VISITING RECAPS TRAVEL EUROPEI Return to Zürich, 11 Years Later
March 19, 2016
There's something special about returning to a place that you visited long ago. Looking across a bridge and seeing Grossmünster, that massive stone church on a hill with two hulking towers. Seeing the white and blue striped storefronts that unexpectedly trigger a memory of exploring Zürich with mom and Carra while dad was in meetings, walking and re-walking the same route until we felt we could call it our own. Sipping hot chocolate in the... continue reading
ZÜRICH SWITZERLAND TRAVEL EUROPE HACKTHON AIRPORTDaily Recaps from Jen
February 29, 2016
My wonderful high school roommate Jen flew into Budapest last Monday and has been giving far higher quality and more consistent daily recaps on Instagram and Facebook than I could ever hope to provide. 1) She's a fantastic writer. 2) She takes incredibly artsy pictures. Thus, I've decided it'd simply be easiest to embed her posts here and update the links everyday! So far, we've spent a week journeying through Budapest and Krakow. Next... continue reading
JEN REN RECAPS BUDAPEST KRAKOW FRIEND VISITING TRAVELNever Again
February 28, 2016
From the outside, the building at 60 Andrássy Street doesn't appear too different from the rest of the elegant, stately houses along what's known as the "Champs-Élysées" of Budapest, with the exception of two massive metal stencils spelling out "TERROR" attached to the roof. Once past the ticket booth, however, I'm immediately greeted by the barrel of a Soviet tank, behind which are thousands of black and white portraits above a panel with... continue reading
HOUSE OF TERROR BUDAPEST APPLE SAN BERNARDINO POST-WWII HUNGARY OPINION TRAVELFour Tongues
February 08, 2016
Elnézest!Excuse me! Szia!Hello! Beszélsz angolul?Do you speak English? Nem.No. Umm… egy doboz és ket… postkarten?Umm… a box and two… postcards? (Not knowing how to say postcards in Hungarian, I gave German a shot) Ah, envelope elêg, nem dobozAh, an envelope is enough, no box (She was obviously trying to accommodate my English as well) To my relief, the elderly lady turned to the machine, tapped a few buttons, and handed me a small slip of... continue reading
BUDAPEST HUNGARIAN CHINESE GERMAN LANGUAGES INTERACTIONS CHINESE NEW YEAR TRAVELWhispers of Hungarian Yore
January 29, 2016
I've never lived in a city with as much history manifested as in Budapest. In China, almost everything was destroyed during the cultural revolution. In America, tour guides point to buildings and say, "In the 1980s…" In Budapest, the tour guides point to buildings and say, "In the 14th century…" As someone who once considered picking up a second major in history, I can't help but shiver (it's cold, okay?) every time I lay eyes on some relic... continue reading
HISTORY HUNGARY BUDAPEST ST. STEPHEN'S BASILICA HUNGARIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM COMMUNISM STATUES WALKING TOUR PHOTOS TRAVEL