Ready for an Adventure!

So it has been while since I have posted, but school was literally taking over my life. I am so glad to finally have a break and ready have some summer fun! Tomorrow I leave for a month for my Marketing Study Abroad trip and words cannot describe my excitement!!! I will be traveling to seven different European Countries.  England, France, Monaco, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy are on our scheduled itinerary. 

I am so blessed and thankful to be going on this life changing adventure.  70 students from the business school will be going and lucky me, one of my best friends will be rooming with me.  This is the perfect way to obtain six hours of international course credit lol.  In each country we will be attending company tours such as Audi, Harrods, Bloomberg, wineries, and perfumeries.  This gives us a view of how business is conducted outside of the United States.  That will definitely be interesting to see exactly what European business is like . We are also required to keep daily journals, perform local interviews, do company write ups, and basically document our entire experience.  My favorite part of this course is creating a 40 page photo book.  I think this is a great idea because otherwise I probably would not actually remove my photos from my computer.  It will be nice to be able to have a detailed memory book and photo book of my summer abroad.  

A few things I am looking forward to...

England: Visiting Oxford University, Tour Harrods, High Tea at Kensington Palace, Ice Bar, Fat Tire Bike Tour of the City, Drinks at Oxo Tower, Shopping on Oxford Street, Tour of the Olympic Stadium, Wicked, Tour of the Harry Potter set

France:  Versailles (Hall of Mirrors), Moulin Rogue, Paris Seine River Cruise, Paris Opera House, Dinner by the Eiffel Tower, Laying on the Beach in Nice, and making perfume at the perfumery.

Italy: See the churches of Verona, Walk through the city, tour the winery

Austria: Take a Sound of Music picture, visit Swarovski crystal, explore Old Town, go canyoning, find a random festival

Germany: Tour Audi, Haufbrau House, Shopping, Hopefully see my friend Martin!

Switzerland:  King Luwig's Castle, Play in the alps

As far as packing, I think I pretty much have everything.  Surprisingly I did not pack as many clothes as I thought I would.  I tried to keep in mind that there will be plenty of souvenir opportunities.  My mom definitely saved me when it came to packing my life haha.  That woman can work wonders with a space bag.  There were times I became overwhelmed with the entire ordeal, but she kept me in line and focused on what needed to be done.  I think part of it was the fact that deep down I am a little bit nervous about traveling abroad.  I have ever been to Europe, and being out of my comfort zone can bring out the nerves.  My Aggie family will be with me along with amazing professors and classmates; everything will be fine.  But I think that this will teach me a lot about myself and overall  be a great learning experience creating memories I'll never forget.

xo

victoria