Clara Johansen – Journals from Abroad

January 12, 2024

Holidays In Europe

Merry Chicken!

Ok, I know it’s actually merry Christmas, but after this trip, to my family, it will forever be merry chicken. There’s a lot to unpack from these last two weeks, both from my suitcase, and in this blog update, so get ready for a lot of randomness and cool photos that i stole from the two photographers of the family to use here. I’ll go in order and dedicate a section to each city we went to, so hopefully it shouldn’t be too hard to follow along.

Our journey starts on December 18th when my family got to England. I met them at the bus station, and within 5 minutes, my mom had already gotten lost trying to navigate us to our hotel in Nottingham. We had a great dinner at a small pub right across the street from our hotel that had a dog. After 3 months with no dog, I finally got some puppy snuggles! We only spent approximately a day and a half in Nottingham, but I took my family around my University campus, to the Christmas market in the city centre, and to an experimental cocktail bar for dinner. Then on the 20th, we got up early to take a coach to London. By this point, everyone was pretty jet lagged and just a little bit snappy, so we tried to keep it as lowkey as possible.

Clara sitting at a table in a cozy British pub facing diagonally away from the camera petting a small black dog — Clara and Sparkle

A sign that says “The Peacock” on a curvy white wall. Hanging in front of it are strings of Christmas lights, and off to the left is a decorated Christmas tree — The view from our table at the Peacock

The entryway to the alchemist. The door sits at the bottom of the frame with the sign hanging above it, and a statue above the sign — The Alchemist for drinks and dinner on our last night in Nottingham

On to London! We arrived in the afternoon on the 20th, so it was already getting pretty dark. We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and took the tube into a more central spot in the city to walk around some Christmas markets and over a couple bridges. The next day was full of getting attacked by birds at Hyde Park and my mom, yet again, getting lost looking for landmarks. Then my sister and I split off from my parents because we went to two separate shows on the West End! My sister and I, like the true Americans we are, went to Hamilton, which was a truly amazing experience. The next day, my parents split off again to see all the tourist attractions they could while my sister and I took a more relaxed approach and went to Camden for the day to walk around the markets and have dinner. I found my London ring(s) at the Camden market, too. It is a really cool district within London and I’d highly recommend anyone who goes to London to stop over there for a little while. Our last day was basically spent waiting for our train to Paris. We stopped at a pub to have lunch. This is where merry chicken was born, but we were all so delirious that none of us can remember what the comment was for it. So, it will forever remain a mystery!

Photo from a vantage point along the river in London. In the distance, over the water, is a glowing bridge — Views from our walk on night 1 in London

The open doors of the London tube glow on the left, and a couple of people are walking along to get on on the right — Journey on the tube

View of the lake in Hyde Park with a swan swimming, leaving a trail in the water. The sun glows faintly from behind the clouds in the sky — Hyde Park

Laura, Clara’s mom walks in front of the camera, facing away. Mark, Clara’s dad, can be seen just ahead of her. They are walking in the theater district — Parents cruising through the streets of London

A photo collage. Top left is a plate of fish and chips, top right is the interior of a bar called the Shakespeare, bottom right is the interior of a pub in Camden, and the bottom right is two ciders cutting on a table in a dimly lit pub — Some of the places we went for food/drinks

Collage: top left is the stage before Hamilton started, top right is Clara and Emily smiling in their seats, and the bottom is the stage at intermission, now with a staircase in the middle — Hamilton Night

Two stalls at the Camden Market. The one taking up the majority of the photo has a variety of clothes handing at various heights on the walls of the stall — Camden Market

Collage of rings. Left is a silver leaf on Clara’s pinky finger, the middle is a black and solver striped ring, and the right is a silver ring with two rows of small diamonds glimmering — London rings

Next stop, Paris! We arrived in Paris really late on the 23rd after taking the Eurostar, so we crashed, but the next day was Christmas Eve! Christmas Eve was one of the coolest days of the trip. We walked up a street that had some amazing places to get pastries and cheeses, so we stopped there to pick up some food for Christmas morning, and then went on a Seine river cruise at sunset. Some of the most beautiful pictures from the trip came from my sister and dad on this boat, and that was one of the prettiest sunsets I’ve ever seen.. Before we knew it, we were clinking glasses and saying Merry Chicken the next day! We had a very chill day on Christmas because few places in Paris are open on Christmas, so we opted for a breakfast in our hotel room with the food we picked up the day before, a walk to the Eiffel Tower, and a relaxed dinner. It was definitely a different Christmas than what I’m used to, but one of the best I’ve ever had. The day after Christmas was one of my favorite days of the trip, because my sister and I took a class on creating our own perfumes at a perfumerie in Paris! The atmosphere of the room felt very regal and we had a full immersive lesson on different smells and how to mix and match ones to create a scent we really liked to take home with us. Definitely a great last full day in Paris.

The Eiffel Tower sits in front of a glowing pink/purple sunset — The view of the Eiffel Tower from our sunset cruise on the Seine

The windows of a cruise boat on the left, reflecting a pink sunset that is shown on the right — Our cruise boat reflecting the beautiful sunset.

Collage: top is Clara and her sister in the foreground and their parents in the background all sitting at a small table for Christmas in their hotel room, bottom left is Laura holding up a piece of chicken, and bottom right is the Christmas Day spread, complete with chocolate brioche, apples, cheese, chicken, oranges, grapes, and wine

The view of the arc from underneath — Christmas Day walk to the arc

Collage of the perfume making class: top is a plate with a bunch of perfume testers around it, a bottle of a singular scent sits next to the plate on the left. Bottom left is Emily and Clara holding their perfumes, and the bottom right is a photo of Emily’s perfume bottle — Perfume making class

Brussels was next on our trip, and this was definitely an experience. We stayed in an area off the center of the city, so we were all definitely a bit more cautious as we were walking around that area, but when we arrived in the city, we were able to visit some really fun areas.

Our first full day was full of chocolate. We attended a Belgian chocolate making class where we made a chocolate bar, some traditional Belgian chocolate circles, and truffles. As a baker, this was like a dream to me, and I had so much fun learning how to work with chocolate in a commercial space. My mom, however, was a little newer to the experience of working with chocolate and may have “killed” a few of her truffles.

Once we were done with that, we walked around one of the Christmas markets in the city center and I found two Brussels rings as well as a beautiful treble clef necklace. We also caught a light display of native art projected on buildings in the city center which was incredibly beautiful, especially as the sun began to set more. Our final day in Brussels, we went to the Atomium and had a bird’s eye view of Brussels along with another display of lights inside the museum. As a blind girl, colored light displays are one of my favorite things ever, because they’re like glowing, moving art that I can experience as much as a sighted person could experience a normal art museum. That was a great way to end our visit to Brussels.

Collage: some of the coole light displays on the streets of Brussels. Top left is diagonal strings of lighted ornaments, top right is a pair of angel wings, bottom left is a cross between a wave and a flag, and bottom right is a set of three fireworks — Some of the cool light displays in Brussels

One of the buildings in the city centre that has lights projected on it, so it is displaying walls and windows of color — Lighted building in the city centre

The view of the center square. A Christmas tree sits directly in the middle of the square with a couple lighted buildings loosely surrounding it — Brussels city centre square decorated for christmas

Our chocolate making class, featuring my chocolate bar and Laura’s “killed” truffles

Collage of Clara’s Brussels rings: the left is a sterling silver ring made of intricately woven thin silver strands, and the right is a silver ring that looks a bit like and infinity symbol with diamonds throughout it — Brussels rings

Our final stop was Amsterdam. Amsterdam is a really cool city and our hotel was right on one of the canals. This hotel was also the most livable space for 4 people of all the places we stayed on our trip. Our first day in Amsterdam, we went to the Van Gogh museum. I know, I know, I just got done saying how I like light shows more than traditional art museums, but this was a great museum, and even though I couldn’t see as much detail as a fully sighted person would, I could still see the paintings and have a member of my family read the description/backstory of the art to me. It was like my own personal audio tour!
My sister, who is a very gifted artist herself, was really in her element at this museum and it was fun to watch her just wandering around taking it all in.

Then, before we knew it, it was New Year’s Eve! My mom and sister went to the Heineken experience while my dad and I explored The 9 Streets, which are a collection of streets that have a lot of local Dutch shops showcasing the culture of Amsterdam. We went into a couple of stores including one vintage store where I got my Amsterdam ring! My mom and sister met back up with us and we went to get some dinner before going back to our hotel to play cards and “enjoy” some fireworks for the rest of the night. Why air quotes you ask? Because they were being lit off right next to our window and scared my mom half to death. And they lasted a full 2 and a half hours until about at least 1:30 in the morning. New Year’s Day felt a little like Christmas in that a decent amount of places were closed and we ended up just wandering a bit and looking at the Amsterdam light festival before going to get some dinner. Our last day was more of the same except this time it was pouring down rain, so by the time we went to collect our suitcases and go to the airport to fly back to London, we were absolutely soaked. But we made it back to London and my parents flew out to go home the next morning.

Photo of a painting of Van Gogh’s, a vase of flowers in a wooden frame — Painting hung in the Van Gogh museum

A digitally projected image of flowers covering two walls in the main hall of the Van Gogh museum — Digital projection at the Van Gogh museum

A canal in Amsterdam at sunset with bikes lining each fence along either side. Buildings line either side of the canal — Amsterdam canal

An art installation of a man with a VR headset suspended in the air above a platform or portal that sits on the water of one of the canals — An art installation at the Amsterdam festival of lights

Window with a table full of cookies — Cookie store in Amsterdam’s 9 Streets

A silver ring made of woven strips that make the ring look like a chain on Clara’s pinky finger — Amsterdam ring

I feel incredibly blessed that I was able to go on this trip and my family was able to come over and spend the holidays with me in so many wonderful places. I was a bit nervous that we would be at each other’s throats or absolutely exhausted at about the halfway point, but we wasted a full 18 days without any major arguments, and had a good amount of downtime and a LOT of laughs. Now, I have about 3 and a half weeks until I go home, which feels both like a really long time and not much time at all. I have a couple essays to write but for the most part I just get to exist in the culture for a little while until I go home.

Yes, this was long, but, it was also a long trip, and I didn’t include half the experiences we had as a family for the sake of your time. For those who made it to the end, though, I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into how my family travels, and to my mom, dad, and sister, who I know are reading this, thank you for making my holidays amazing and I love you.

That’s it for now! I’m finished with my class essays, and now I just have a bit of my own work to do before one of my friends arrives and we spend my last week traveling one last time before I go home. I hope everyone had a very merry chicken and happy new year!

Cheers!
-Clara

December 18, 2023

Glowing White Roses and Thorns

It’s that time of year when everyone is simultaneously getting all festive for the holidays and also feeling like everything is going wrong, and I am definitely no exception to that. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of good and bad, busy and slow.

Let’s start with the negatives so we can end on a positive note. Most of the negatives came from, essentially, a game of whack-a-mole with problems in my room. This all started about a month ago when my entire hall lost heat. We thought it was just going to be a couple days, but it turned out to be 3 weeks! The weather was a range with the highest reaching only about 45 degrees (f), and the low being below freezing at about 25 degrees with snow (beautiful, but when you have no heat it makes it a bit harder to enjoy to the fullest extent).

A light dusting of snow on a hill. A shorter, barren tree sits off to the right with some larger trees in the distance — View of snow from my window

Needless to say, one day I went to the city centre to stock up on blankets, gloves, and scarves to try to keep myself warm, and big shout out to one of my friends for graciously gifting me her hot water bottle to keep myself warm. Anyway, that was finally last week, but we’re not done! I then found mold in my shower (not ideal), so luckily my welcome point was quick to get someone out the same day to get rid of it. Then I had an issue where my fridge door wouldn’t close because there was too much ice buildup in the freezer section. Again, my welcome point was quick to get someone out to chisel some of the ice off for the door to close, but just my luck that all of these problems were happening basically all at once.

Most of these last few weeks have been filled with schoolwork and other work. These past two weeks were the last two weeks of classes!. I finished my last in-person seminar on Thursday, the 14th of December, and all I have left is my final essay for each module I’m taking. I’ve already completed 2! One to go, but that will have to wait until after the holiday break (I have some big plans for the next two weeks, updates on that in a bit). It feels good to have most of my work for my modules done before the holidays as I won’t be thinking as much about the amount of work waiting for me on the other side of the break. I still have one essay, but that’s a lot less daunting than 3.

Some other random updates, I went to see a movie with my friend Aki on Sunday, the 10th of December. Yes, this is the second time I’m reviewing a movie on this blog; maybe I should just turn this into a movie review blog ;). Anyway, we went to see Saltburn, and it was one of the weirdest movies I think I’ve ever seen, but it was really well done and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who likes psychological thrillers or movies that have some sort of societal commentary in them. After the movie, I finally picked up my Nottingham ring!

Also, on Wednesday, I had my last lecture for one of my modules, Producing Film and Television, with one of my friends, Angela. She is from Taiwan and wanted to introduce me to hot pot after I told her I had never had it before. So, once the lecture was done, we made a quick trip to a couple different stores to pick up some ingredients and then she graciously made me a delicious hot pot to celebrate the end of that module. On the subject of me thinking about what is going to happen when I come back in January, I found out where I’ll be living for spring term! I’ll be sharing an on-campus apartment with my good friend, Lizzie Arnold (she just finished her study abroad in Austria and blogged about it, so check out her posts if you’re interested). I can’t wait to be back on the Linfield campus and to be living with one of the best people I know.

Clara (left) and Aki (right) smiling for a selfie with a blurry Christmas market in the background. — Aki and I after the movie

Close up of Clara’s right hand with a silver braided ring on her pinky finger — Nottingham ring

I also received a fun surprise – one of my cousins and her husband were, on short notice, coming to London for a few days! So, on Friday, I woke up at 4:45am and took a 6am coach down to London to meet up with them. It was mainly just my cousin and I, and we walked all around Hyde park and the Princess Diana fountain before heading to a couple of smaller Christmas markets. Once it started to get dark, we went to this pop-up called the Ever After Garden with glowing white roses and it felt like a fairy tale. We topped it off with a delicious dinner with gochujang chicken lettuce wraps, dumplings, peanut chicken skewers, and duck curry. I’ll be thinking about that meal for a while and the restaurant ambiance was so cool.

Then, I said goodbye to my cousin and her husband and hopped on a coach back up to Nottingham; 12.5 miles (27,500 steps) later, and I absolutely crashed right when I returned to my hall. It was so great to see them though, and it makes me excited when people who are visiting have the same joy for the place where I’ve been living for a little while.

Clara with a slight smile sitting in a window coach seat. There is a bluish light to her face because of the blue coach lights — 6am coach ride

Lake in Hyde Park with a giant swarm of birds in the water and on the path — So many birds

A far away shot of the Princess Diana fountain. A curved long stretch of flowing water enclosing and surrounded by a large field — Princess Diana Fountain

A London Christmas market. Lots of people in the foreground with some lights strung up along the stalls, and a larger building with pillars sits in the distance — A small London Christmas Market

A large crown made of lights sits suspended in the air over an intersection at dusk with some buildings behind it — Who wouldn’t think a light crown is cool?

Clara (left) and Lena (right) standing in front of a field of lighted white roses smiling for a selfie — Lena and I at the Ever After Garden

A close up of one of the lighted white roses. A light glows from the center and the rose gets gradually less illuminated towards the outer petals — A close up of the rose

One of our dishes at dinner. Gochujang glazed chicken lettuce wraps sit deconstructed with the chicken on one side of the plate. Then a monkey on the other side holds up a platter that holds the lettuce. A bowl of sauce and a lime sit at the edge of the plate — Part of our amazing dinner

I am definitely starting to miss my family, but that won’t be an issue for very long as they’re arriving in Nottingham TODAY!! We have a very big trip planned over the next two weeks. From Nottingham, to London, to Paris for Christmas, to Brussels, to Amsterdam for New Year’s, and back to London for another day before I head back up to Nottingham for 3 more weeks and they fly home to Oregon. So, for those of you who like my blogs about going places, you’re in for a treat with the next update.

That’s all for now! I’m still having an amazing time, and I’m happy to have all my lectures and seminars done so I have more time for other experiences in Nottingham and beyond. Stay tuned for a hefty post with lots of travel updates in the next couple of weeks!

Cheers!
-Clara

December 5, 2023December 5, 2023

Midpoint Check In

If you came here for a post full of pictures of the amazing places I’ve travelled to, you’ll be disappointed (not entirely, I’ve still been to one or two other places). But, for the most part, this post will be a more reflective style blog that focuses on my feelings toward this time and what I have learned so far seeing as I’m about halfway done with my time here.

But first, for those of you that enjoy hearing about the places I’ve been and the things I’ve been doing, let me fill you in on all of that.

On Sunday, 26th of November, I had the opportunity to go up to Leeds to help with an event at a gymnastics club. It was a fantastic experience and it was so fun to watch the pure joy as young kids tried gymnastics for the first time. It was an early wake up time for me at 3:15AM but it was very much worth it.

Entrance to Nile Wilson Gymnastics Leeds

I also was able to do another online speech and debate tournament with linfield. It was another couple of late nights holed up in an academic building until 4:00AM but I had a great time debating with Ally, my debate partner, and competing in prose interpretation and program oral interpretation. Ally and I placed 2nd twice, 3rd once, and 4th once. We didn’t make it to finals but considering it was only our second time debating together, we performed very well and our speeches were solid. The speech side was also very fun and I ended up placing 2nd in prose interpretation! This tournament was a bit harder to wake up from and really messed up my sleep schedule but hopefully I can get it back on track soon.

Clara, fully smiling with hair down, red lipstick, and a white turtleneck top is holding a small black binder in front of her. Behind her, you can see the same lecture theater seats — Speech night

Now for some reflection.

As I said before, I’m halfway through this journey and have come to realize a few things about what this study abroad is for me. The first is that this is almost an alternate universe in a way. I get to see what my university life would have been like if I had chosen to go to a big university instead of Linfield, or if I had chosen to go to a university outside of the country instead of Linfield, and I get to see all of that for 4 months and then I get to go back to the life I chose. I can’t imagine my life without all the people I’ve met at Linfield, but this time abroad really makes me think about the fact that if I had chosen a different path than what I did, I wouldn’t have met all of the people I met when I chose to go to Linfield.

I also have reflected on the idea of homesickness while abroad and if I’ve felt it at all. And I can honestly say I haven’t felt nearly as homesick as I expected to feel at all. The first couple of weeks here I definitely felt out of my element and missed the security of the cities in Oregon that I’ve come to feel comfortable in, and every now and again when I think about someone that I miss from home or I text someone that I miss from home it will make me wish that I was back there to talk to them in person. But overall, I’ve embraced this time as a time to really understand the culture of the people I am living with and appreciate the differences I’ve noticed.

A lot of those differences have to do with a focus on community. People here place a much higher value on connection and spending time with each other: whether it’s going out to bars, grabbing a coffee, going home to spend time with family, or even just asking to hang out in each other’s rooms/houses. That’s in fairly stark contrast to the US where we place a higher value on things like work and productivity. There is still a focus on that here, but taking time to relax and spend time with people you care about, is of equal importance here and that is something I’ve really enjoyed.

Another difference that’s definitely been at the forefront of my mind is the academic schedule. The US has a very participatory approach to education where your attendance is marked and you have assignments/tests throughout the semester to monitor your retention and understanding of the material you are learning. Here, your attendance is checked, but it doesn’t count towards your overall grade, and your grade is based on (at least for all my classes) one essay that is turned in at the end of the semester. Needless to say the next couple of weeks for me will be filled with a lot of research and writing.

Overall, as I reach and pass the halfway point, I’m in a kind of weird state where I feel like I simultaneously have a lot of time left, and also feel like I should be almost done and ready to head home. I do miss seeing all of my friends and family and I miss some of the US culture that I love, but I’ve also really enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone and exploring more of the world than I ever thought I would in a span of 4 months.

Over the next two months I hope to finish out the semester well with my essays being good quality work that I can feel proud of. I also want to get as much time in with the new friends I’ve made as possible because I don’t know when I’ll be able to see them again. Through things like societies and classes, plus just sheer coincidence, I’ve come to form bonds with quite a few people here and it’s weird to think that in two months, I’ll be on the other side of the world from them.

I’ll never take for granted how much I’ve been able to do and see throughout this trip, and I will make sure I get as much out of the next two months as I possibly can.

Well, that’s it for my philosophical ramblings and sentimental reflections. See you back here in a couple weeks for my end of school semester thoughts and maybe some more travel stories.

Cheers!
-Clara

November 20, 2023

More Of The Same

You thought I was done with the trips at the end of the last blog? Well, you must really not know me then because I go above and beyond for everything 🙂

So, where did we last leave off? Oh, yes, we were on the train to Florence. Well guess what, we made it to Florence!

We arrived at the train station around 8am and stashed our luggage in a storage locker, and then set out to find some breakfast. We settled on Starbucks, because it was close to the walking tour where we had to be at 10, and let me tell you I have never seen a fancier Starbucks. It looked like some futuristic hotel/spa entrance. So, we decided to park ourselves there until it was time for the tour and just chat with each other for a little while.

Photo of a Starbucks order counter with lights coming out from the bottom of the counter and around the top of the walls, looking almost like an industrial spaceship — Fancy Starbucks

Then we set off on our walking tour. This was a tour by the same company as the one we went on in Rome, and it lasted about 2 hours. The tour was led by a native Florentine and she was very knowledgeable about all of the historical information she shared about Florence. We hit some important historical spots including the houses of the Medici family, the Duomo, medieval towers, and of course the David statue in the main square.

A large stone building with two domes sitting on top. One larger, in the foreground, one smaller, in the background — The side of the Duomo in the mid- morning sunlight

A very tall tower with extremely straight, square sides in a dark, shadowy alleyway in Florence’s medieval district — A tall medieval Florentine tower

After that, we ate at a great family owned and operated Italian sandwich shop for lunch and walked to a wonderful, small gelato shop on one of the farther edges of the main city. We took some time to just walk around, going along one of the bridges overlooking a river and heading into some small shops.

After that, Elizabeth had to register for classes, so we went back to our favorite Starbucks to do a little bit of work and recharge for a bit before heading back out and looking for a ring for me, and we found one right across the street from the Starbucks! We then went to dinner at this cute restaurant called Dante e Beatrice, and I can confidently say that getting risotto in Italy is so much better than risotto anywhere else.

It was a quick walk back to the train station from there where we boarded our train to rest for about 3 hours. It was a very short stay in Milan, (we only had about 2 hours of sleep in our hotel), and then headed to the airport. Elizabeth flew home to London and I went to Paris to meet up with my cousins who were vacationing there! All in all, Florence was amazing and I would definitely go back. The Duomo at dusk was one of the most beautiful sights to see.

An order counter at a Florentine sandwich shop with breads and meats in the foreground and cooktops behind the counter with lots of penents and framed photos lining the wall behind it — Florentine sandwich lunch stop

A very long, clear lake reflecting the midafternoon sun and lined with walkways and buildings on either side. A bridge sits far off in the background on top of the lake — Walking around Florence

Midafternoon gelato stop

A wide open field in the foreground with marble/stone buildings lining the outside of the field making a curved shape. The midafternoon sun is casting almost the entire field in the foreground in shadow — Beautiful Florentine square

Clara in the foreground, from shoulders up, standing on the street in front of the entrance to the Duomo. Lots of people are milling around behind her — Proof that I was actually at the Duomo

Clara’s hand, with a ring on her pointer and ring fingers. The ring on her pointer finger is 7 very thin rows of silver beads all in line with one another to make a very thick band. The ring on the ring finger is a gold band that gets wider at the top and sets a clear, fake diamond — 2 rings I got in Florence

An alleyway alongside the Duomo showing the main entrance as well as part of the side that shows the dome peeking out in the background. The photo was taken at sunset, so the sky is a bit darker blue and the warm streetlight gives the whole building a very warm, inviting glow — Duomo at dusk

After a relatively peaceful flight and a decently long Uber ride, I arrived at my hotel in Paris! I had a little bit of time to get settled, take a shower, and relax before I met my cousins and I cherished every second of it because I was running on 2 hours of sleep, a 4:15AM wake up time, and 20,000 steps the day before. But once I was a bit recharged, I was ready to meet my cousins outside my hotel. We took a short walk to a cute wine bar and sat outside to catch up over some wonderful champagne and orange wine.

We then headed off to our dinner reservation at this small bistro that my cousin had found. It seemed to be populated by a lot of French locals and we split 5 dishes, a bottle of red wine, and a crème brûlée among the 3 of us. That may have been the best meal I have ever had in my life… no – scratch that. That WAS the best meal I’ve ever had in my life. Everything was so simple, yet so perfected and well prepared that even things that I wouldn’t normally like (mushrooms for example) were so delicious that I wished the plate was bigger. We had such good conversation and I really felt like I bonded with my cousins that night.

Olin, Clara, and Shila sitting from left to right in a selfie. Olin is taking the selfie and Clara and Shila are holding wine glasses with champagne in them. The bottle of champagne sits on the table in front of them and the street lies behind them at dusk — Olin (left), Clara (middle), and Shila (right) enjoying champagne at a wine bar on the first night of the Paris trip

The next day was one of my only days to have a decent amount of sleep on this trip, so I made the most of that. But eventually I got up and headed out to explore Paris with my cousins for the day. We started with coffees and pan a chocolait at a cool coffee bar, and then made a few stops at places like the Notre Dame, the outside of the Louvre and Shakespeare & Co bookstore.

Overall, though, we avoided the main touristy attractions in favor of leisurely strolling along the Seine, having lunch in the gardens, and just stopping to take in the beauty of the architecture of Paris. We capped off the night with some delicious Greek food and I woke early the next morning to head back to Nottingham.

A wide open square with a few people standing in it in the foreground. In the background is the Notre Dame standing very tall in a partly cloudy sky — View of the Notre Dame

Leaves of a tree color the foreground, and through them you see the sunlight in midday Paris reflecting on the Seine — Sunlight reflecting on the Seine

A photo of Clara’s hand very close up showing a ring on her middle finger. A small square clear stone sits on top of the band of the ring — Ring collection, Paris edition

Olin on the left and Clara on the right, sitting in armchairs in a dimly lit bar, each holding a cocktail. Olin’s is in a shorter tumbler glass and Clara’s is a taller, skinnier cylindrical cocktail glass — Olin and Clara (and Shila not pictured), sharing cocktails at an experimental cocktail bar before dinner in Paris.

The day after I returned, I had the opportunity to participate in the Mahaffey speech and debate tournament hosted by Linfield online. It was a very late night for me and, though I didn’t end up as a finalist in anything, it was still a great experience.

Close up of Clara, slightly smiling with curly hair flowing around her shoulders and bright red lipstick. In her hand she holds a small black binder, and behind her are rows of red fabric seats and desks — Before I gave 6 speeches in the middle of the night for the Mahaffey speech and debate tournament

The next week was fairly tame. Not much happened. I attended my classes and caught up on work. This past Saturday, though, I went to see the new Hunger Games installment with my friend KEESHA. It was amazing and I’d definitely recommend it if you’re at all a fan of the Hunger Games universe.

An old historical looking building sits behind a large looming tree. A marquis reads “Hunger Games Prequel” — Movie theater where I watched The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes

The next few weeks will also be pretty academically focused, as I’m nearing the end of my semester here and have several essays coming up. But, I’ll be sure to keep any updates posted here so you can follow along with my journey.

That’s all for now!

Cheers!

-Clara

November 7, 2023

Trips On Trips

Welcome back to your virtual tour of England and beyond! (You’re in for a bit of a longer read this time, sorry not sorry!)

I’m sitting here writing this on the Italo train from Rome to Florence, but before I tell you about that, let’s backtrack to some things that have happened over the last couple of weeks.

My life is in shambles…

Ok, not really, but I did visit the shambles while on a trip to York!

York was another day trip, similar to Cambridge, with transportation organized by the UoN travel society. So as per usual, I pre-ordered my ticket and hopped on a bus with my travel buddy, Elizabeth, at 8:00AM and we headed off to York. After a bit of a delay, and a fear that we wouldn’t make our tour we had scheduled for 11:00AM, we made it to the York Chocolate Story (yeaaaa we were around 15 minutes late but let’s just choose to ignore that cause we still were allowed on the tour by some very wonderful chocolatiers). The tour of the history was fascinating and we even got to experiment with making a chocolate lollipop as a part of the tour!

The edge of a chocolate swirl sculpture in the top left corner, with the main focus of the photo being a round table with a few bowls and cups in the middle where people will soon be making chocolate lollipops — Chocolate lollipop workstation

A round flat plate with two flattened bags on top. Atop those bags are two chocolate lollipops decorated with chocolate shavings — Clara and Elizabeth’s chocolate lollipops

After that, we went on to York Minster. We didn’t go inside because we didn’t have tickets for that, but even the outside was gorgeous, and the church bells chiming was very interesting. I’ve never heard a church bell that chimed consistently or with as many different tones as this one.

A large church facade with a bell tower perturbing up from the front most corner — York Minster

Then we refueled at a very bougie Starbucks

People sat at many tables with 3 large arched windows in a high ceiling Ed room — The most classic British Starbucks there ever was.

And then we headed out to the shambles. It’s said that the setting for Harry Potter was inspired by the shambles, and as such, there are a lot of Harry Potter themed shops in the narrow walkways within the shambles. Though it was very cool to pass through, the streets are very crowded and Elizabeth and I opted for the shambles market instead.

Many people walking towards the camera in a narrow pedestrian only road with many small shops on either side — The small roads of the Shambles

Something that I’ve decided to do on this study abroad is, for every city I visit, I’m going to try to find a ring at a vintage store or a vendors market. (No I promise I’m not gollum), but as rings are my favorite kind of jewelry, and I want things that I collect on this trip to be able to be used for a long time and not just be postcards that I keep in a box and take out once in awhile, I figured this would be a good way to remember my trip while getting some use out of the product, and trying my best to support local shops/artisans. All that being said, at the shambles market, we found a jewelry vendor and I picked up 2 rings!

Clara’s hand, outstretched, showcasing 3 rings. A silver band with two engraved lines on the pointer finger, a silver and gold indented diamond pattern and edging on the ring finger, and a silver indented diamond patterned ring on the pinky finger — Ring from Cambridge, (on pointer finger), and two rings from York (on ring and pinky fingers)

Our last stop on the York trip was the oldest pub in England, the Golden Fleece. There is a lot of history in that pub, but we didn’t really have time to stop and fully experience it because we were on a time crunch to return to the coach to take us back to Nottingham.

Small hole in the wall entrance to the Golden Fleece with a barn looking decor style — Exterior of The Golden Fleece

The next week of classes was a lot of prep work for our end of term essays coming up in December, and I did a lot of brainstorming on the topics I want to write about. Some of the highlights include the intersecting identities between class and gender associated with a song, as well as the contributions costume design has for film. I also had a debate tournament which was an internal debate competition between members of the debaters union at UoN and my partner and I took 2nd in the whole tournament! The trophy was so tiny and cute.

Clara, hair down and slight smile, looking at the camera for a selfie holding up a tiny trophy smaller than her hand — Debate tournament trophy

Now, we arrive at this weekend.

Elizabeth and I woke ourselves up at 4:45AM on Saturday the 4th of November to get to the East Midlands airport and fly to Rome.

Clara and Elizabeth seated side by side on an airplane from Nottingham to Rome before takeoff — Clara (left) and Elizabeth (right), before takeoff to Rome

We arrived at the hotel at around 3pm and immediately turned around and went into the city for dinner and dessert. And what else are you gonna get in Rome but pasta and gelatos? Elizabeth had found this place in the heart of Rome called Nannarella which was famous for its fresh pasta, and I can confirm, it was absolutely delicious. The gelato we got was just down the street and was such a cute little shop. We then found a small vintage store where I added another ring to my collection.

Two Wok style bowls, a tin of bread between them, and a glass of Rose wine to the right, sat atop a small dining table — 2 spaghetti Carbonaras for dinner in Rome night 1

Fist showing a gold ring with a blue heart stone on the middle finger — Rome ring

Then yesterday, we did a 2-hour walking tour of some of the Piazzas in Rome which was a great way to knock out a lot of the tourist spots quickly and with someone who has the historical knowledge that our tour guide has.

A very old, historic looking church about 3 stories tall — Piazza Altieri

Large open space in the foreground with a few stairs, and a large white building in the background with a bright sun coming through the two towers — Large meeting square in Rome

Clara in the foreground standing in front of the Trevi Fountain with a large smile on her face — Looking for my soulmate at the Trevi Fountain

We also made a quick trip to the Vatican as well as the gardens at the villa Borghese, which have some beautiful walking/running trails and a gorgeous lake. We then circled back for dinner near the colosseum, and lastly, went back for the Spanish steps and some more gelato.

Clara standing in the open square outside the Vatican — The Vatican

A beautiful lake reflecting a floating gazebo with a couple of pillars — The gardens at the villa Borghese

Photo of the back side of the colosseum with the very beginning of a sunset on the right side — The colosseum

Large rectangular pizza with six large slices of salami on top in the foreground, a large plate of Gnocci with red sauce in the background — Pizza Diavola and Gnocci with pesto and Raghu for Rome dinner night 2

This all brings us to right now; me, having woken up at 4:15AM, sitting on a train to Florence, where Elizabeth and I will be for around 13-14 hours before we hop on another train to Milan, stay about 5 hours at a hotel, and get up at around the same time tomorrow where she will fly to London and head back to Nottingham, and I will fly to meet up with some family in Paris for a couple of days before going back to Nottingham. But that’s for next time. Until then, I’ll just be here balancing work with some of the most amazing travel experiences of a lifetime.

Small train window showing a glaring sunrise over the countryside outside Florence — Sunrise on trails from Rome to Florence

Cheers!

-Clara

October 23, 2023

Exploring and Adjusting

Hi and welcome to the first blog about me actually living in Nottingham! We have lots to discuss…

This blog post will cover two larger experiences I have had and a couple of smaller updates

The day after writing the last post, I ended up going to something called the Goose Fair with a few friends, Aki, Chloe, and Abhita. The Goose Fair is a big traveling fair that comes to Nottingham every fall and it’s the biggest fair in the UK. Needless to say, there were a lot of rides and a lot of people. I (along with a mix of the friends that joined me depending on the ride), went on 3 rides: a Ferris wheel, a giant rotating swing, and something called the Xtreme which is very hard to explain but made me very dizzy and feel like i was flying sideways in an airplane. This was a very fun event and it allowed for a few of my friends that didn’t know each other to meet as well.

Clara, Aki, Chloe, and Abhita sitting in a circular Ferris Wheel car high above the lights of the Goose Fair shining at night below — From left to right, Clara, Aki, Chloe, and Abhita, all sitting in a Ferris Wheel car at the top of the wheel.

Ferris wheel on the left and in the background, Swing (looks like a tower with pointed petals sticking straight out from the top of it), lighted, on the right and in the foreground — Ferris wheel and swing rides

The other big event was my day trip to Cambridge! I joined a travel society here and they arrange day trips for us to cities around England. And by arrange, I mean they get us all together on a couple coaches and take us to and from, but once we are there, what we do is almost completely up to us. I went with two friends, Elizabeth and Angela, pictured below,, and we went to everything we possibly could despite the complete downpour of rain while we were there. We started the day with a trip to a cafe that Elizabeth found and got brunch, then we went to the Great St. Mary’s church and climbed the tower. We then tried to get on a boat tour on the river Cam, but unfortunately, because of the rain, they weren’t running the tours. Angela wanted to go see a poem inscribed on a stone in King’s College, so we walked around and started by going into the chapel there. It was beautiful and everyone there was so kind (we were all seeking shelter from the rain so we all felt a sense of kinship).

After that, we went to see this poem. Angela, having studied the poem extensively in her home country of Taiwan, translated the poem, written in traditional Chinese, for Elizabeth and I, and told us what the poem was about. The poet had studied in Cambridge and the poem was essentially his goodbye letter to the city.

After we had seen everything there was to see at King’s College, we walked around some shopping centers and vintage stores before going to get dinner at a traditional Neapolitan pizza restaurant. Once we were done with dinner we hopped back on the coach and came back to the university. I had an amazing trip with Elizabeth and Angela and I look forward to more trips with them in the future.

Two sandwiches sitting on two plates in the foreground, one iced latte with a spiral colored paper straw and two hot chocolates sitting on a tray in the background on a polka dotted table — Breakfast sandwiches and morning coffee/cocoa to start the day

A short but majestic looking apple tree growing in a grassy patch in front of an old English style building at King’s college — Isaac Newton’s gravity tree

Angela, Clara and Elizabeth standing in an archway that look out onto an old historical building — From left to right, Angela, Clara, and Elizabeth standing in an archway near King’s College in Cambridge

King’s College chapel with beautiful intersecting arches carved into the ceiling that make intricate patterns. Stained glass windows cover the walls and shine a little bit of light through — King’s College Chapel

In the left bottom corner you can see a bit of the river that runs through king’s college. Then there is a big open field and behind that you can see some of the historic buildings like the chapel and tower on the king’s college campus — View from the bridge inside King’s College

A poem written in traditional chinese characters inscribed on a light colored stone sitting in an alcove next to a patch of grass — Traditional Chinese poem

3 Neapolitan pizzas sitting on top of a red and white checkered table — Our dinner of traditional Neapolitan pizza

Some other updates on my life so far:

Classes have still been going great. I feel like I am adjusting to the structure of English university well and even though the lectures are rather big, we get to engage a lot with the course material in seminars.

I also haven’t completely lost touch with Linfield or my friends/family. I still talk to people from home quite a bit and I have started planning the courses I want to take in the spring semester. It’s definitely a weird feeling doing that from halfway across the world, but I am excited about what lies ahead for me at Linfield after I return.

Some of my Swift-ness friends will be happy to know that I can now say I have seen the Taylor Swift Eras Tour movie! One of my friends here, Keesha, is a big Taylor Swift fan, and I went to see it with her. It was a great movie and a wonderful performance, and it was so fun to be surrounded by a group of people who you could just tell were having the time of their lives watching a concert performed by someone they all love.

Keesha and Clara sitting in a movie theater waiting for the Taylor Swift movie to start — Keesha and Clara at the Eras Tour movie

That’s my update for now! Next weekend I’ll be going to York, and in 2 weeks I’ll be splitting my time between Italy and Paris for a week, so look out for the blog post that breaks those down coming soon. Until then, I have some lectures to attend and some more memories to make.

Cheers!

-Clara

October 9, 2023

Planes, Coaches, and Automobiles

Hello from Nottingham, everyone! While I have already been here for a few weeks, I thought it would be fun to reflect a little bit about my journey getting over here and share a some of my thoughts on the initial cultural differences I have found, as well as friends who I have made.

My journey started at 6:00AM on Friday, September 22nd, when I packed all of my suitcases into my family’s car and headed to the Portland International Airport. I checked all of my bags and was able to get to my gate with the help of a great gate assistant.

Selfie of Clara, curly blonde hair, on a plane with a bright airplane window to the right of her face — Portland>San Francisco

I had successfully made it to the San Francisco airport and to my next gate with plenty of time to get a good lunch in, as well as call and catch up with some friends and family while waiting to board my next plane.

Clara, slightly less zoomed in, on her second plane. Behind her, 3 empty plane seats and a closed airplane window before others boarded the flight — San Francisco>Heathrow

Once on my second plane, I was strapped in for a 10.5 hour flight to London Heathrow. I had my headphones on and was ready to attempt to sleep on the plane, however the cramped environment and a crying baby, coupled with the fact that I don’t sleep very well on planes, meant that I collectively got about 1-2 hours of sleep. But I was running on adrenaline and ready for the next stage of my journey. After a very quick stop through customs and baggage claim, I was assisted to the area where people board coaches. It took some trial and error (yes, I may have almost gotten on the wrong coach to start with, pictured here), but eventually I made it onto the right coach and sat for about a 4-hour long ride.

One big black roller suitcase, a smaller duffel bag, and a backpack style bag in the foreground. Behind it are barricades, and beyond the barricades is a large coach style bus — The incorrect coach I almost boarded, as well as all my luggage

The coach pulled into Broad Marsh Bus Station, and I only had about 3 miles left of my journey! A student ambassador from University of Nottingham was there to greet me and kind enough to help me with ordering an Uber to the University. My Uber ride was quiet and peaceful as we drove past some very cool architecture in a part of town called Old Lenton.

Looking out the window from an Uber to an old brick building with a set of old wood double doors, the right one of which has the number 4 in the upper middle. A sign to the right of the doors reads 10 pound entry — Night Club entrance near the Nottingham City Centre

The driver let me off a block or two away from my hall, and you know how everyone says the last bit of the journey is the hardest? Well, that was proven true as I had to get 3 bags down some stairs and across a lawn. Luckily, some very kind students saw me trying to hold everything and offered to help/direct me to the right hall.

At 6:45PM on September 23rd, after 24 hours of nonstop travel and only 1-2 hours of bad airplane sleep… I made it! Granted, I was about 10 minutes late to the dining hall and it had closed, so I had to get some instant noodles from an RA and realized too late that I had no silverware to eat them with, but I was at least in the right place and had all of my belongings with me

There were definitely some cultural differences that hit me right away. For instance, every announcement at the Heathrow airport was made by someone with a British accent, and I didn’t think that the driving on the wrong side of the road would be as weird to me as it was. But, since my seat on the coach was directly behind the driver, I had an uninhibited view of the road and noticed that almost instantly. As well, the next morning after I had arrived, while waiting in line for a dining hall brunch, I was asked by a student in front of me “is it weird for you to be the one with the accent now?”

I was able to make some friends right off the bat, which I am extremely grateful for. One of them had reached out to me after seeing my name in an international student group chat for UoN and we ended up going shopping for some room necessities. I also found a friend through my hall, Keesha, who is a full time UoN student, and we have gone to club meetings, out shopping, and are planning on going to the Taylor Swift Eras Tour movie next weekend.

Clara, on the left, hear up and a rain jacket on. Keesha, on the right, hair down. Both smiling with the doors to a tram behind them on their way to Beeston, shopping centre — Clara & Keesha on a tram on their way to Beeston to go shopping

I’ve also finished my first week of classes. The format is very different to the Linfield classes that I am used to, but they all seem very interesting and I am very interested in learning about the material they cover: from how the media shapes our self identity, to the role of people such as cinematographers and costume designers in film and television.

It has been an adjustment, but I have been very open to all of the cultural differences I have experienced and feel very blessed that I am able to have this opportunity to live in a country different from my own for 4 months. I will no doubt be learning new things every day, not just in my modules, but through other everyday experiences and larger travel excursions that I plan on doing. I am very much looking forward to these next few months, and I know that they will teach me a lot.

Cheers,
Clara

September 19, 2023

Starting The Journey

Hi everyone!

My name is Clara Johansen and I am a junior studying communication arts at Linfield. In one week, I will be departing from the Portland International airport to San Francisco California, then headed to my final destination of Nottingham England for a semester abroad.

I applied for this study abroad on a bit of a whim, but I couldn’t be happier that this came to fruition. As a communication arts major, I really value getting to experience and learn about other cultures and gaining a better understanding of how to interact with people from those differing cultures. Linfield providing opportunities like this is such a great way for a lot of students to gain new experiences while still advancing in their academic pursuits, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

While I am very excited to start this new chapter of my life, there are some things that make me a bit nervous. I am the only person from Linfield participating in the England study abroad program, so I won’t know anyone when I get there. As well, being a legally blind individual, navigating airports like London Heathrow, even with gate assistance, seems a bit daunting. But, I am not one to shy away from a challenge and I’m hoping that my skills of adaptability that I have honed over the years will allow me to arrive and settle in safely without much trouble.

While those are the things I am nervous for, the things I am excited for far outweigh the nerves I am feeling. As I already mentioned, I get to experience a culture that is very different from my own and learn how to navigate and settle into being a part of that culture. Getting to take classes like film and television production and how media shapes our identities is also very high on that list as I wouldn’t be able to take those classes at Linfield. I’m also very eager to travel around the greater EU as ease of travel is so good from country to country. Lastly, I’m looking forward to creating some new friendships that will stay with me even when I come back from this journey. I have the opportunity to meet people whom I never would’ve met if not for this study abroad program I signed up for, so, even though I am the only person from my home school going, I’m still blessed for the opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and create lasting relationships with others.

I hope you’ll be excited to follow along my journey, as I’m sure there will be a lot to update you on as experiences keep rolling in.

Cheers,
-Clara