#oxford2022
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The Best Summer
~by Lily Kachmar
Not many people can say that they studied in Europe for the entire summer, but I am now one of them! Participating in the Oxford Program has been one of the best experiences of my life, and the memories that I have made during this time will stick with me forever. I have visited so many amazing places, learned about other cultures, made new friends, eaten amazing foods, and ultimately learned how to become a respectful world traveler. On top of this, I was able to live at one of the top universities in the world and explore the historic city of Oxford. I have gained so much from this experience and am excited to share my takeaways!
Me and my friends in Oxford
Everyone knows that you will be entering into new cultures with different societal norms while traveling, but you don’t realize how little prepared you are for this until you are actually in a new place. When my friends and I first stepped off the plane in Rome, nothing felt that different. We were greeted by our tour guide, Heike, who was a wonderful and knowledgeable leader during our travels. She guided us to our bus and helped us check into our hotel- an easy transition into Italian life. The moment we went to explore and order lunch, however, we realized how little we knew. Figuring out how to cross the street without cross lights was our first challenge. We narrowly avoided being hit by the mini cars and mopeds whizzing past. Once we made it to a restaurant, none of us knew how to ask for a table in Italian and were embarrassed that we knew so little of the language. It was a high-stress lunch: we couldn’t get google translate to work to read the menu and the attitude of European waiters, who leave you alone for the most part, was entirely foreign to us. The fact that we had to pay for water also came as a bit of a culture shock. By the end of the lunch, the stress and embarrassment of the situation, which was heightened by our tiredness from jet lag, made if seem as if we would never acclimate to being in Europe. This, however, proved to be untrue. We began to adapt to our surrounds and slowly became more comfortable. By the end of the travel portion of the trip, my friends and I had learned a number of new phrases in different languages, how to efficiently navigate the public transportation systems in each country, and how to order at restaurants like pros. We, of course, ran into other difficulties over the length of the trip, including almost being detained at the German/Austrian border while on a day trip to Salzburg from Munich. But such difficulties became learning experiences, turned us into hardened travelers, and will now just be funny anecdotes about our summer abroad.
Me and my friends in Salzburg before almost being detained by the German police
Without being pushed out of my comfort zone and learning to deal with the hardships of travel, I never would have experienced half of the amazing things I did on this trip. Visiting so many countries has given me the chance to immerse myself in different cultures, meet people from different walks of life, and appreciate Europe’s rich history. These reflections are best encapsulated by two of my experiences in the Oxford Program: visiting Heiligenkreuz Abbey in Austria and visiting Mauthausen concentration camp in Germany.
Heiligenkreuz Abbey, located deep in the Vienna woods, is the oldest continuously occupied Cistercian monastery in the world. It houses a community of monks dedicated to study and prayer, specifically prayer through choral chants. In 2008 the monks released an album called Chant- Music For Paradise, which accumulated worldwide praise and showcased how music in all forms can help bring people together. My music teacher, for example, was drawn to the chants and took us to hear an evening service prayer at the abbey. Sitting in such a historic space and listening to chants that have been used for hundreds of years was a truly moving experience. Our group also had the opportunity to speak with the monks after the service and learn about their practice. Their days are entirely focused around prayer services, but some of the monks also take courses at the local university for the sake of learning, rather than entering a specific career. This simplified, diligent lifestyle is so different from the way we live in the Western world today. While reflecting on these differences, however, I also realized that my group was more similar to the monks than we realized. We were all individuals with personal ambitions, we could relate to each other through humor, and we all enjoyed artistic expression. This realization was perhaps one of the greatest takeaways from my trip: no matter how different certain cultures may seem, people can always find similarities and ways to relate to one another.
Some pictures of Heiligenkreuz Abbey
Another significant global experience from my travels was the chance to visit Mauthausen concentration camp. Mauthausen functioned as a work and death camp during World War II from 1938-1945. Thousands of Jews and other targeted minorities lost their lives at the camp, subjected to unthinkable labor and living conditions as a result of Hitler’s efforts to create a “pure racial class.” Today, Mauthausen serves as a memorial and reminder of the millions of innocent lives lost during the Holocaust. A dark, heavy energy encompasses the entire camp. It was horribly depressing to stand in the rooms where countless prisoners were once crammed together at night and to lay eyes on the crematoriums and furnaces that were used to put prisoners to their deaths. Even though Mauthausen was a departure from the happier experiences that encompassed the rest of my trip, it was an incredibly important site to visit. It is one thing to learn about the Holocaust from history books and class discussions, but it was much more impactful to actually walk the grounds of a concentration camp and conceptualize the horrors that the prisoners faced. I felt that it was important to visit the site to honor the victims of the Holocaust and ensure that such an atrocity never happens again.
The front gates of Mauthausen
Overall, the Oxford Program has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life. From climbing the Duomo in Florence to punting in Oxford, I have had the chance to create amazing memories and friendships that will last a lifetime, while also becoming more culturally and historically aware through educational visits to museums, concerts, and historic sites. I would absolutely encourage anyone thinking of applying to the program to go ahead and do so. I would remind applicants that while studying abroad can feel daunting and exhausting at times, it truly is an experience like no other.
Punting in Oxford
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A Helluva Good Time
~by Brendan Coyne
Throughout my time participating in the Oxford Program I had an astounding amount of learning experiences both inside and outside of the classroom. I could never have imagined that I’d get the opportunity to learn and interact with so many cultures and people in my life. These experiences taught me so much and I believed that I’ve come out of this program a more wise and mature person. Some of my favorite parts of these globally engaged experiences were getting to eat traditional and local cuisine, making new friends both in and out of our travel group, and being blown away by such beautiful cultural and historic sites.
Getting into it let’s start with a wonderful globally engaged experience I had during the travel portion. While the travel portion is amazing, one of its caveats is how structured our schedule is. From concerts to museums to check-ins and check-outs we are on a very tight schedule. Within this restriction though, we found ways to maximize our free time to visit beautiful historic and natural sites that we weren’t in the itinerary and find wonderful restaurants through recommendations. For specifically the restaurants, they often felt like a treasure hunt because on most occasions they took a lot of time and effort to get to, but the treasure was always delicious. One of these occasions that sticks in my mind the most is from when we were in Rome. We had received a recommendation from our Italian professor from her friend, a Rome native. All we got was a name so we plugged it in our maps and went on our way. Rome’s public transport system was our first hurdle and the heat made it even worse. Our last bus even stopped in the middle of its route for some reason, and we had to walk the rest of the way. Instead of the big city we were now walking through a residential area with kids playing soccer and people buying groceries. Luckily along the way we found an adorable, fluffy white dog that we politely asked to pet and were allowed to. Once we got there we were exhausted and we just wanted to eat. The restaurant seemed very local, like a “mom & pop” style place, and we were not met with very much enthusiasm. After we were seated, it naturally it took a while for us to finally order and get our food because European service is much slower and more lax compared to the States. We all had to order in Italian too because the waiters and waitresses barely spoke any English. After all the trials and tribulations, when I finally put a fork-full of spaghetti carbonate in my mouth and took a sip of my white wine, it was worth it. Both were incredible, like an oasis after an hour of dredging through the desert. Unsurprisingly, everybody else enjoyed their meal as well and we all said “grazie” when we left to show our gratitude and appreciation. Through this experience I was humbled and learned the importance of politeness and respect for the customs and language of other cultures. When we entered the restaurant, I immediately lowered my tone and opened up my Google Translate app to read the menu and learn how to say what I wanted to order. To this day, it was one of the best meals I ever had.
Next I’ll go over a great experience I had during the Oxford portion. One of the greatest aspects of the Oxford part of the program is that you do not have class on Friday, which gives you the opportunity to plan and go on weekend or day trips to travel around the U.K. or fly to a country or city you may not have had the chance to visit during the travel portion. On one of these trips, a couple of friends and I went to visit Cardiff, the capitol of Wales. The train ride there was like any other going through the countryside of the U.K., that being very pleasant. Once we got to Cardiff we first went a pub for lunch, where we learned an interesting little tidbit about the Welsh vernacular. When the Welsh are referring to what Americans and other English speakers would call a pickle, they call it a “gherkin.” We got to visit the Cardiff Castle and courtyard and Bute Park right beside it which were magnificent and beautiful respectively. After that, we decided to take a detour to Cardiff Bay to see if there was anything fun to do there. Much to our surprise, when we got out of the taxi we laid our eyes upon a fair. This fair had everything you’d expect prize games, small-scale thrill rides, a fun house, and a Ferris wheel to top it all of. We had such a great time trying out all of the fun activities. It was a really great thing to see that even though this program allows you to see so many different things throughout the ridiculous amount of unique places, there are still so many similarities so that you can feel a little bit at home even when you’re so far away.
If you are considering taking on this program in a future summer, which I strongly recommend to everyone capable of doing so, here are some small tips that might prove helpful. First, is to know about and get comfortable with public transportation as fast as possible either before or at the very beginning of the travel portion as that is how you’ll likely be getting from place to place. Second, is to try and plan for free days and weekend trips as far in advance as possible, the price and availability of travel tickets and event/site tickets both skyrocket and plummet respectively the longer you wait. Thirdly, I’d recommend you order or have a credit card that works broad, typically Visa or Mastercard, because many other cards that would normally work fine in the U.S. do not work at many places abroad, and it’s also a good idea to find a bank or currency exchange location with a low fee for places that only except their local currency in cash for payments. And lastly, if it was not obvious in the previous stories, EXPLORE! while staying safe of course. So many of my favorite moments of this program occurred in places I never would have expected.
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A Reflection Upon the Grandest Tour
~by Derrick Adams
After I finished the fall semester of my freshman year, I reflected back on the person I was before then and noted the ways I had changed. Moving across the country, drastically changing my lifestyle, and exposing myself to new ideas in and out of the classroom turned my freshman year into a catalyst of personal growth and change. I figured that period of time would be the only one to truly change me in such a way. I knew I would encounter changes and new experiences as I moved forward, but I would not be thrust into such a foreign atmosphere ever again. This assumption (the last part in quite a literal sense) was dead wrong.
If I could describe to myself from just a few months ago the sheer volume of amazing experiences I would have during my travels with the Oxford program, past me would cast some doubt on what he was being told. Everybody talks so highly of their study abroad experiences and how it changed them but I always thought those accounts were exaggeratory and self aggrandizing. Sure I knew it would be a unique, fun, valuable experience but how much could someone really learn and change in 12 weeks? Turns out the answer is a lot. Like a lot a lot.
While I could sit here and write a novel about every significant experience I had this summer, I’m sure much of it would seem trite on paper and this is a blog post not Dante’s Divine Comedy. To try and condense it a bit I am going to highlight the most memorable experiences I’ve had in some of my favorite cities I have had the pleasure of visiting.
The first city on my list is Prague. A truly stunning city rich with so much of what I love about Europe, beautiful architecture, delicious food (chimney cakes are to die for), friendly people, and an ambience that can only be described as romantic. Not romantic in the sense of love but romantic in the feeling of inspiration and wonder I felt walking through the streets of the city. Being one of the few cities I knew relatively little about, Prague definitely took me by surprise. The stand out experience here was one provided to us through Dr. Scibelli’s music class: the ballet performance of Onegin at Prague National Theater.
I gotta say, Onegin blew me away a little bit. Seeing the expertise and care put into every ounce of the performance was marvelous. The dancers flew across the stage performing striking movements, the scenography and set pieces were consistently amazing, and of course Tchaivosky’s symphonic score was a sonic wonder. Not only was the performance an enjoyable display of talent, it was also an exposure to a cultural phenomena I had never experienced before. Seeing ballet for the first time in some ways felt like colliding with centuries of culture that I have always been aware of. I had learned about these artists, the cultural context surrounding ballet, and the countries which they originated from but that was all just knowledge. Names, locations, and events stored in the back of my mind. Witnessing it unfold on stage was one of the most memorable experiences I had on this trip and it makes me wonder just how amazing of an experience it must be for someone who is truly engrossed in the culture of ballet. Of all the performances we saw for the music class Onegin was an easy favorite, no other performance we saw evoked the same feeling.
The next two experiences which left an impact on me both took place in Italy. One at the cardinal’s villa in Tivoli (recommended to us by our fantastic art history professor Dr. Kemling) and the other at the Accademia in Florence. Tivoli is a town near Rome which is the site of the majestic Villa D’Este. The villa was originally constructed during Ancient Roman times and later appropriated by a cardinal of the church in the 16th century who built upon and expanded it. Among the beautiful statues, luscious gardens, and lavish living quarters lie perhaps the most impressive set of fountains in the world. Every single one of the fountains within the villa are powered by nothing but gravity. Water rushes down from the mountain above to provide the necessary pressure and force needed to launch the water in the air. Knowing this fact going into the villa I was expecting to see a few dozen fountains lamely spitting water in small arcs. What I was instead met with was hundreds of fountains spewing a ridiculous amount of water, with some launching tremendous amounts of water dozens of feet in the air. I was utterly awestruck by this. No other work of art or engineering on this trip kept my jaw dropped for as long as the fountains at the Villa D’Este did.
The next memorable experience I had was at the Accademia Gallery in Florence when I went to see everyone’s favorite big guy, Michelangelo’s David. Our art professor Dr. Kemling has what you could call a significant interest in the works of Michelangelo as he wrote his dissertation on the man. Throughout the trip he had been hyping up the experience of seeing the David so often that it almost seemed like a daily occurrence. On our second day in Florence it was finally time for the big reveal. Going into the experience I was quite curious, as years before I had visited Italy and seen Michelangelo’s David myself. At the time I remember how much it towered over me. I was unsure whether or not I would feel that same phenomenon again. As I walked into the hallway of the Accademia and Dr. Kemling motioned for me to turn and see Il Gigante himself, I felt just as small as I did years prior. It turns out, growing a little over a foot in height is still miniscule compared to a colossal 17 foot marble figure.
This program has been a truly special experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. I learned so much, made so many friends, and had so many awesome experiences that may never be topped.
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A Busy Summer of Adventures
~by Sydney Tuttle
Hi! My name is Sydney Tuttle and I recently completed the Oxford Program with Georgia Tech. The Oxford Program is a summer study program that is broken up into two sections. One of the sections you spend traveling through Europe while you take two classes and the other you spend in Oxford, England taking classes at Mansfield College. Both parts of the oxford program were completely different and I could not choose one that I liked more over the other. Having the travel section as the first part of the program very much prepared me for traveling on my own on the weekends in Oxford. I learned how much planning goes into deciding on traveling somewhere as you have to figure out how much a weekend there would cost, how hard transportation is to get to the location and what the public transportation there is like. It made me appreciate how much was planned for me during the travel portion. The traveling portion helped me get out of my comfort zone and experience more things that I wouldn’t choose to do on my own. Some of those experiences were the concerts that I went to for my music class. Throughout the travel section, I went to five classical music concerts. I definitely would not have attended these concerts if not for this class. I am very grateful to have been able to attend them as I learned much more about classical music and how different it is to experience this type of music in concert. Each concert I attended was unique as each featured different works and types of classical music. Before this class, I grouped all concert music together and thought it all sounded the same. Learning the differences between songs and the musical eras helped me identify what was being played at the concerts. I love being able to now identify whether or not a song is from the baroque era based on if I can hear the harpsichord or the piano in the work. Going into cafes or hearing elevator music and being able to recognize that it is Mozart is a rewarding feeling.
Me and me friends before the Prague Opera.
One of the harder parts of the travel portion was going from city to city so fast and trying to adjust to the culture shock each time. For the first three cities of my program, I was in Italy and I remember that I had gotten so used to some parts of the culture in Italy by the time I got to the next city, Munich that I was accidentally telling people Grazie instead of Danke for the first few days. I had not expected there to be so many religious holidays while we were abroad either. There were a few days that I tried to go to the grocery or the laundromat but everything was closed. On my birthday, I remember wanting to go to some museums and sights in Munich, but then our group tour guide informed the group of a holiday and I figured out that I wouldn’t be able to. Checking to see if a day is a holiday is something I would not have normally thought about it and I was grateful for our group tour guide to have mentioned it.
Besides the culture being different, the contrast of the art and architecture when going from southern to northern Europe was interesting. Comparing art from the same periods, but from different regions was interesting. Looking at art from the Italian Renaissance in Italy and then less a week later analyzing Northern Renaissance works in Munich allowed me to see the differences between the two. Learning the historical context of how paints and materials were available in different regions in Europe during the Renaissance and how that affected what artworks you can see from that period was interesting.
Me and my friend Lucy at lunch.
Some of the other immediate differences I noticed when going from different countries was the public transportation, manners expected of you, and the tipping customs. Upon each new city, I would have to google on the bus rides what all of these things were like before we got there. Another large difference was the way that people ate as in most of these countries having dinner or a meal was a large part of their day and was not quick at all. Having a meal or going out for one is a two-hour excursion that is meant not to be rushed and is supposed to be a time to be with family and friends is one thing that I learned while traveling. In the US, it feels like I am constantly rushing from one thing to another, and being forced to have these long meals made me appreciate slowing down and enjoying having good conversations with my friends. Although there was one time in Venice when my friends and I only had an hour to get food before one of our concerts so we thought that was enough time to get food at a restaurant nearby the venue but we spent the whole dinner trying to rush so we could leave and it was not nearly as enjoyable. We, fortunately, made it to the venue in time and learned our lesson that there is no such thing as a quick meal in Italy.
The monks at Heiligenkreuz Abby, Austria.
One experience that made me notice how different my life is from some of the people in Europe is when I went to an abbey in Heiligenkreuz, Austria. The music teacher for my group, Dr. Ulrich, organized a trip for my group to visit an abbey and hear the monks at the abbey chant their vespers, which is an evening prayer. Hearing their chanting was such a unique opportunity that I could not have imagined being able to have without the Oxford Program. The monks even have released an album called, Chant - Music For Paradise. When I was at the abbey, one of the monks talked to us about how the abbey runs and how people become monks. Hearing his description of how he felt a calling to God and when someone feels this calling they’re supposed to go to a nearby abbey to start their journey was so interesting. He described his calling as not a choice and something he felt he had to follow. I found it fascinating that people have felt this calling for thousands of years and have been following this calling to this abbey for just as long as it is the oldest abbey to have been continually occupied by monks. It is so weird to think about how no matter what conflict was going on in Europe or just in Austria that this abbey was still standing and the monks were still doing a very similar routine to what they do today. This visit with the monks made me introspective and think about how people are content in such different roles and working towards different goals in life.
Punting by Magdalen Bridge.
The portion of the trip that was spent at Mansfield College in Oxford was very different from the travel portion. I remember being so excited during the last few cities of the travel portion to finally be able to unpack my bag and settle into one place. Living in Oxford has been great! The city has a lovely vibe and has a ton of great cafes to study in. Exploring Oxford has been fun, although it was more like being back at Tech where I have to focus on balancing my social and academic lives more. Some of the best memories I have from Oxford include going to port meadow during the heat wave, getting Knoops on Mondays with my friends to talk about our weekend trips, studying at Blackwell’s, three-course dinners every night, going punting, and the champagne reception. Something that I had not expected was that Oxford was going to be full of other US college students studying abroad at the other colleges in Oxford. The University of Georgia was one of the other colleges and our rivalry still stayed alive while abroad as there was even a soccer game against them at the end of the program.
A group photo at the champagne reception.
On my last weekend trip from Oxford, I went to Bergen, Norway with some friends. While we were there, we watched Frozen one of the nights. It was so funny watching the movie and seeing The Swing, which was one of the paintings that we studied in our art class, and how we all got so excited over seeing it. I love being able to see the paintings I studied in my art class alluded to in the media and having them remind me of this trip.
Me and my friends on a hike in Norway.
If anyone reading this is thinking of applying I would highly recommend doing this program if you can. The experiences that I have had and the close friends that I have made are invaluable to me. Some tips that I have for those who do decide to apply is that you should expect to be pretty tired by the end of the travel section, but finding the right balance of sleep, studying, and sightseeing is helpful. The tiredness helped me realize what things I actually found valuable to do and see in each city rather than just going to the top attractions. When planning what you want to do, I would suggest thinking about ways that you can experience the culture of the city because in some of the more touristy cities when you go to the top sights it is very touristy and you don’t get the full experience of what that city is actually like outside of its tourist areas.
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Oxford Study Abroad
~by Jay Mulay
This was an extremely memorable study abroad program that is unique among the ones offered at Tech. The program has both a travel portion where I visited 8 different countries (France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Austria, Slovakia, Vatican City, Czech Republic) within the European Union and a residential program at Mansfield College at Oxford where I further visited 3 countries (United Kingdom, Norway, Netherlands). It provides a good mix of structured educational experiences and independent time in each city, as well as an opportunity to explore the rest of the continent when at Oxford.
The classes you will take during the travel portion will be one of the best during your Tech career. Coming from the College of Engineering where we have on average 50-60 person classes with limited professor involvement, it was refreshing at minimum to have a set of professors that not only knew you by name, but ones that you could be comfortable with talking about any experiences you would have on your trip. Being able to experience first-hand the art and music that you learn about in the classroom is a profoundly different experience than any other at Tech. It was mind blowing to me that I would learn about this incredibly well known art piece in detail just to see it hours later in person. Even if you are not particularly interested in the humanities (which I assume is a majority of engineers at Tech), I can guarantee that you will enjoy these classes more than any other of your favorite subjects. The only word of caution that I can provide is that the travel portion is intense and tiring. There is very little free time in the traditional sense (i.e. no weekends) and staying hotel room to hotel room gets exhausting very quickly. Having said that, I would still highly recommend this program to anyone who wants to really explore Europe as more of a local and less of a tourist. The art and music classes really allow you to get to know a city at more than just face value, and having 2 professors with you who have been to these cities before is an incredible asset that cannot be understated.
One of my favorite experiences on the trip was during our single day off (yes we only had one!) during the travel portion when all of Group 1 decided to go to Cinque Terre from Florence in Italy. Navigating the public transit systems is something that you will become a professional at after this trip, and this experience was definitely a defining one in that we had to travel a considerable distance on the inter-country high-speed trainline from our mountain village of Montecatini (just outside Florence) to the city of Manarola on the Italian Riviera. The pastel villages, largely the same for centuries, combined with the bright water was a surreal experience. We got to hike the local trails and try pesto from the region it was created in firsthand. Destinations like Cinque Terre, or my other favorite of Chamonix in France, are not particularly easy to reach from the United States so being able to experience them in person is truly something special to this program.
Another memorable experience in the “classroom” was being able to travel across the continent by bus. Even though it could be boring at times, it was amazing to see the countryside of all these countries and stop at small villages and cities on the way. One such educational excursion we had was taking the bus from Munich to Salzburg in Austria for the Sound of Music tour. Although I wasn’t a huge fan of the movie, it was great to be able to see all these quaint Austrian villages and be in the Austrian mountains.
An important skill that you will pick up on this trip is how to effectively communicate in a foreign environment. Many of the countries had a strong tourism industry so English was often understood. People in countries like Belgium and Germany, and to a smaller extent France, learn English in schools so you can often get by without learning Dutch or German. Italy, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic were quite different. The Czech Republic and Slovakia had extremely low levels of English literacy and understanding the local language was next to impossible if you don’t have a background in Slavic languages. Here I had to often rely on hand gestures, basic vocabulary I learned ahead of time and very common English phrases that they may know to communicate. Especially on our day trip to Bratislava, it was a very different experience seeing a city that had little to no English influence. In Italy, the smaller villages we went to (Montecatini, Cinque Terre) has similarly low levels of English literacy with the other cities having a moderate level. I recommend that anyone going on this trip learn basic Italian phrases along with basic French phrases if possible. The full list of foreign languages I encountered on this trip are French, German, Flemish, Dutch, Italian, Czech and Slovak. An important piece of advice I did not find out until later on is that the Czech Republic does not use the Euro (even though it is in the EU) so be sure to bring some Czech Koruna from the US. The Czech Republic’s cities like Prague are very cash based so you will definitely need to have some on you.
One last piece of advice I would give to any prospective students is be prepared for the prices, especially for food. In the United States, food is relatively cheap and there are a lot of quick options. Almost nowhere, aside from maybe Paris, had a similar set of options. Almost everywhere in the EU, food is not only relatively expensive (minimum 20-25 Euros per meal) but takes at least an hour to eat. Fast food options do not really exist. The food is of a noticeable higher quality in Europe, but anyone with dietary restrictions will have a hard time. For example, countries like Germany and Italy have a very limited set of non-meat options available everywhere.
Overall, I would definitely recommend the Oxford Program.
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My Amazing Summer
~by Alex Grimmett
After travelling to so many countries, how do I even begin to describe my summer? I learnt so much about different cultures, had impeccable food, and of course, did some classes too. Something that Dr. Moore, the previous director of the GT Oxford Program, said before we departed was that she hoped that by going on this journey, we would learn more about the world rather than only doing math and coding for the rest of our lives. I can safely say that her goal was definitely achieved. During the first half of the program, I took 2 classes- one in music appreciation and one in art history. While I have done music classes previously, I never would have picked a course in art for myself. After traveling around galleries and seeing work by some of the greatest artists of all time, my perspective has definitely changed. I have bought two books on an Italian Baroque painter- Caravaggio. I can now go into a gallery and recognise his work without even looking at the description (I’m not 100% correct, but it’s still pretty good considering I had never even heard of him before May).
“Medusa,” Caravaggio, 1595-1598, oil on canvas covered panel
Learning about these artists and how they shaped society has really broadened my perspective. It’s made me look at things less rationally, but not in a bad way. I think that I now look at technology in a different light. It’s difficult to explain in words, but that’s another reason I liked a class that was focused on visuals. Although it was a bit sad to have to study in cities like Paris, I still wouldn’t change this experience.
During this trip I also had many solo adventures, which I really enjoyed. I liked feeling independent, wondering around cities and seeing what I would find. One of my favourite memories was my second day in Venice. I wondered around beautiful alleyways, purchased some infamous Murano glass, and even decided to treat myself to a gondola ride (probably not the smartest decision financially, but I don’t regret it).
My gondola ride
I’m really glad I got to spend time with myself. Because I had no one with me to rely on, I felt like it forced me to embrace the culture more than I would with others.
Nonetheless, I still enjoyed the memories I made with friends as well. Although I didn’t know too many people before this program, I definitely have plenty of new friends now. One of my favourite memories was actually seeing Elton John in Leipzig. While I did enjoy wondering around the quaint German city, I wouldn’t have been able to get tickets that cheep in any other city I visited, and how could I say no to Elton John?
Me moments before seeing Elton John
Something I will definitely miss about Europe is the food. Pizza will never taste the same now that I’ve had it in Italy. One of, if not the best meal I had was definitely pasta in a town in Tuscany that we stopped at for lunch during one of our many bus rides. When my meal was served, I remember thinking that I should ask for parmesan cheese, but as soon as I took a bite I realised it was already perfect.
The perfect pasta
To top of the experience, we were sat at a table with an incredible view of the Italian countryside.
The perfect view
I’ve written a lot about the travel portion, but that doesn’t mean that my time in Oxford was any less fabulous. This city has so much beautiful architecture. I still remember the first time I ate dinner in the dining hall- I literally felt like I was in Hogwarts. One of the classes I took during this portion was a Medieval England history class. I think that was a pretty smart choice. I would learn about the influence the Romans had, and then go visit the Roman Baths. I would learn about the important historical figures like King Richard and King John, and then see where they were born. History classes are so much cooler when you can actually see where the history happened.
On a more personal note, I also got to see my cousin, Alice. Because she now lives in England, I hadn’t seen Alice since 2016, so it was great to catch up with her. She took me to Stonehenge, a landmark that I had been wanting to see since I was about 11 years old, as well as the Harry Potter Studios. Because she used to work there, I basically got my own private tour!
Harry Potter Studios
It’s hard to choose what memories get to make it into this post. I also went to an aquarium in a converted WWII building in Vienna, saw mountain goats in Spain, walked into churches that were so intricately decorated that it blew my mind, and so much more.
So, if you are a student considering doing the Oxford Program, I would definitely tell you to do it. First of all, it is a much more interesting way to complete your humanities requirements. But what’s more important is what you learn about yourself and the world. If you do your best to embrace every culture you visit, you learn so much about different people and how they live. You see historical sites that you’ve only seen in pictures. You make friends that you may have never met without being bought together like this. And hopefully, you learn more about your learning style, your interests, and how to navigate the world (I know it sounds cliché). While I’m definitely ready to be back in an environment that is more recognisable to me (despite the fact that I didn’t grow up in America, in some ways it’s still more familiar to me), I will miss this. I will miss the random conversations with strangers, the laughs you get when you order food and get something completely different to what you expected, and not just doing S.T.E.M. classes. I like math as much as the next guy, but it was a nice change, even if it only lasted for the first half of my trip. Am I now incredibly burnt out and tired? Yes. But do I regret doing this? Not at all.
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HP Oxford Blog Post
~by Rachel Paul
During the Oxford Program I had many globally engaged experiences. The one I enjoyed the most was going to Thingvellir National Park in Iceland, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. Thingvellir National Park is the place where the North American and Euroasian tectonic plates are pulling apart. The tectonic plates float apart at a rate of about 3cm/year, which is what causes Iceland’s immense volcanic activity. In this kilometer-wide basin, there are rifts that come from the earthquakes as the plates shift, and a large lake about the size of manhattan that you can go snorkeling or SCUBA diving in. I learned about how this national park is not only an important and interesting geological feature of Iceland, but it is also an important historical place for the country. It is the place that back when Iceland was just becoming independent, the 17 tribes from around the island would come together once a year for a parliament. This parliament was where policies were voted on and court rulings were decided. It is an important place of Icelandic democratic significance.Seeing the natural beauty of Iceland was awe-inspiring and impactful. It made me reflect on the world around me and the natural beauty of the universe, and the ancient processes that built our world today. It was also interesting to me to see how early Icelanders implemented a democratic parliamentary government.
The historical district of Porto is another UNESCO world heritage site I visited. Porto is older than Portugal itself, people have been settled in Porto since 8th century BCE, and has historically been a very important cultural and historical site. Today it is a charming city of Portuguese culture that specializes in port wine. While in Porto, I explored the historical city center and saw the old cathedral, took a tour of the wine cellars, and did a port wine tasting. It was such a cool experience sitting in such an old place that had updated new charms and eating breakfast at a local cafe. It made me reflect on the history and heritage of the place I was visiting.
Another globally engaged experience I had was eating a Florentine steak in Florence, Italy. It is a local traditional dish that has been served in Florence since before Italy even became the country it is today. It is made of Chianina beef, which is a cow local to the Tuscany region of Italy, and only served by the kilogram. Me and 5 friends tackled 2 kilos of meat while sipping on a local red wine. Eating at a local Tuscan restaurant in the south of Florence and feasting on the massive steak made me feel like I was really experiencing the culture of Florence as I learned about the history of the area.
When I was in Leipzig, a friend and I found a historical walking tour of the area, and we walked around the beautiful city and learned about the important historical events that had occurred there. Leipzig is where the iron curtain first began to fall after peaceful protests in the church there. It was a great experience to understand the still persisting cultural divide between former east and west Germany and how it affects Germany today. This made me realize that in my travels there is so much going on in the countries I am visiting and greatly changed my view of Leipzig and its importance to Germany.
In Oxford, I participated in the cultural tradition of punting. Punting is propelling a boat forward with a large pole in a shallow river. It was much harder than it looked but really fun to get the hang of. It was a fun experience to get acclimated to the city I would be living in for 6 weeks by participating in the local culture. Likewise, while staying here I also participated in a few days of afternoon tea time in local tea shops.
Reflecting back on the program, overall I liked the classes in the travel portion a lot more than I expected to. It was really interesting to learn about pieces of artwork in class then going to see them in person in the next few days, and made it feel a lot more tangible than just memorizing slides and iconography in a traditional course structure, and the music performances were amazing and really interesting, and I actually enjoyed learning about them too. I think the program is structured really well with lectures on the first day in each city, then the next few days being class activities and some down time. The classes were great, however I think I most enjoyed the free time exploring the cities with friends. Exploring a castle in Prague, going on a gondola ride in Venice, finding a place to eat steak in Florence, or any of the other numerous amazing memories and fun activities I did were made great by being with other Georgia Tech students I made friends with on the program. I also really enjoyed the in residence portion of the program. Oxford is a beautiful city and is very charming with fun things to do, and its great to just walk around on a nice day. Something people who are considering applying should know is that for the travel portion while in theory there is not too much scheduled on each day and there is time scheduled in to allow you to eat, in practicality there will be a lot of rushed quick food truck meals and nights with few hours of sleep because of a combination of planned activities from the program and independent activities you will want to do in your free time. This is so worth it but took some time to get used to, so don’t forget to take care of yourself too so you don’t burn out or get sick. Getting sick on the travel portion is the worst because things move so quickly and are hard to make up so missing one lecture or a museum or two puts you pretty far behind and makes the midterms and finals a lot harder.
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The Best Study Abroad
~by Connor McPhilliamy
This study abroad has been one of, if not the best experience I’ve had in my life. The chance to spend five weeks traveling around Western Europe, to countries like Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, and France, and then to spend six weeks in Oxford with free weekends to travel to even more places on my own (Ireland, Spain, and Scotland to name a few) has been incredibly fun and educational. I’ve made new friends, had too many new experiences to count, and the ability to experience first-hand numerous different cultures while abroad. This trip was super fun to be a part of, but it also had its educational moments as well. I still remember the first day of this trip well, when me and my two friends I came abroad with were thrown into Berlin, Germany, with no rules or instructions on what to do. We were jet-lagged, confused, and overwhelmed at the sheer possibilities of what we could do in the city. It was a very funny moment for all of us to try and order lunch in a language we didn’t know (for me I awkwardly pointed at a pretzel and showed the cashier my card when I had to pay, very little was actually said in that interaction). However, we quickly grew from those awkward experiences and got to have more complete experiences in the countries we were in.
A photo of me and my friends while abroad!
The first time I really felt as if I was finally becoming more engaged with the culture and tradition of a city was with a salad. I know it sounds like not much can be taught from a salad, but it marks the first meal I had while abroad that made me feel like I was finally a traveler to the city and not a tourist. My friends and I were still in Berlin when we decided to get out of the densely populated, more touristy areas for lunch. We saw a couple eating what looked like a fantastic salad outside of a restaurant, and we decided to grab a table inside. Luckily for us, there was a QR code we could scan that took us to the menu, that was entirely in German, with no English translations. If we saw that menu the first day we arrived, we might’ve said it was too much to handle and found a new restaurant to eat at. However, we decided to figure it out on our own, attempting to translate parts of the menu on our phones and eventually ordering what may have been the best salad I’ve ever eaten before. Although it was a small moment of venturing into the unknown, it was one of the first steps I took into it and was incredibly satisfied with what we uncovered. From that day forward, it was my goal to seek out the uncomfortable and really experience the cities instead of just seeing a few touristy spots.
Unironically this is the best salad I’ve ever had before. Prime example as to why you should always stray off the most traveled path
The way we spent our time in cities vastly evolved while abroad as well. Like I said earlier, the first day we spent in Berlin was almost a total waste, we didn’t see many historical or interesting sites or get that good of food. However, by the time we got to Oxford we became a lot better on finding the best places to spend our time, as well as how to divvy up the time we have in each city. For example, the best day I’ve had on this trip has to do with this scheduling of our time while in Dublin. My day started at 7:15am in the morning, when I woke to Uber to a nearby early house (a bar that opens before it legally should) to watch the Irish rugby team play the All-Blacks. For those who don’t know, these are currently the best two teams in the world, and it was game three of a three game series, which Ireland has never won in history against the All-Blacks. However, that morning Ireland finally won a series for the first time ever against the best team in the world, and I was in a local Irish bar when it happened. Then, after finishing my pint of Guinness with some of the locals, my friends and I went to the Forty Foot, or a huge rock off the coast of Ireland. I, like many of the locals, swam in the 50–60-degree water for nearly 30 minutes around the buoys, before jumping off the rock into the water and calling it a day. Then, we went to a nearby restaurant to get the “complete Irish breakfast” with sausage, black pudding, and eggs to name a few of the food items we ate. We then we headed back into the city to see a few of the noticeable locations there, like Trinity College. Finally, for our night out, I went to a whiskey bar where I had the best glass of whiskey I’ve ever had before, grabbed some fantastic food, and went to a pub with some of the best live music I’ve listened to at a bar. I know it sounds like I’m exaggerating how much fun this day was (the best whiskey, food, music, etc.), but genuinely some of the best things I’ve ever experienced happened multiple times on that day. This day highlights to me how far I’ve come from the first day of this experience. I’d like to think I’m no longer a bumbling fool with no plans of what to do when faced with the chance at new experiences, but someone who knows how to find them and seeks them out.
One of the coolest moments I’ve had before, as I was in Ireland in an early house for one of the best sporting achievements in Irish history.
Looking back at this experience, I couldn’t have been happier with my decision to participate in it. I honestly can’t think of a single thing about this program that wasn’t fun. They did have us constantly doing activities and visiting sites during the travel portion, so it can be tiring at times, but to me being a little tired to fully experience several European cities is extremely worth it. The classes we took while on the travel portion were actually interesting as well. Although there is a good bit of work to do for these classes, in my opinion they actually make the travel portion more enjoyable. I’ve been seeking out art museums now when I travel to cities during the weekends (still can’t believe I said “Wow it’s a Bruegel the Elder painting! I love that artist” when visiting an art museum a few weekends ago with friends), so the classes do actually enhance the experience. On top of that, once you’re done with the travel portion you still have six more weekends to travel to other cities if you want to. I mostly stayed in the UK with friends for these weekends (especially since it was noticeably cheaper than traveling to Iceland or a country in Africa for the weekend), but every time we went to a new city we had vastly different experiences that were fun every single time. I nearly didn’t participate in this program because I was worried about doing an internship instead for the summer semester (I’m going into my third year and haven’t done a summer internship yet), and still had a few of those worries while flying over to Berlin for the program. However, looking back on this study abroad, I wouldn’t have changed a thing for my summer. This study abroad has been one of the best experiences of my life, and I don’t think I will ever regret spending the time to participate in it.
London Eye at Night
For my final photo for this post, I thought I would share what is my favorite photo I’ve taken on this trip. This is a picture of the London Eye at night during London Pride, absolutely love how it turned out.
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European Adventure
~by Paul Hutchinson
The Oxford Program has given me a fulfilling opportunity to study abroad: forming new friendships, seeing beautiful old sites, and engaging in a culture distinct from my own. More broadly, the program has allowed me to live in new cultures, gain respect for them, and give me a new perspective on American culture. Two experiences epitomized my growth as a global citizen. Those being an opera in Prague, Katya Kabanova, and the Wimbledon final. These experiences, among many others, integrated me from observing the community to participating in it.
Before diving into specifics, I want to give an overview of the travel itinerary. I was in group three, and we flew to Rome to begin the program on May 25th. We met our guide, Heike, and bus driver, Joel, at the airport before leaving for the first hotel. We spent the next four days in Rome, kicking off the Italy leg of the travel portion. The other two destinations in Italy were Florence and Venice – we stayed outside of both cities. Following Venice, we departed for Munich where we enjoyed the lovely gardens for three days. Next, we left for Vienna and then Prague. Prague (my favorite European city) will be detailed in more depth alongside the opera. Prague preceded the two-day journey to Paris, having to stop in Frankfurt overnight. The cosmopolitan Paris was contrasted by the quaintness of Ghent that followed. We crossed the channel to Oxford after the brief period in Ghent. The past three months have been life-changing and completely packed.
Group photo before the opera.
The program proceeded with us attending many museums and listening to a concert in every other city. At the midpoint of the program, my group arrived in Prague. Prague is a hub for music in the Czech Republic and western Europe. Prague is a smaller city compared to the rest of those we visited in Europe, allowing for easy transportation by foot. There was also so much to see on all the cobblestone paths throughout the city to Prague Castle. A culturally enlightening event was when we attended the National Theatre and saw and listened to Katya Kabanova, composed by the Czech composer Janáček. The story follows a woman who has an affair on her abusive husband and eventually commits suicide due to not being wanted by her husband or her lover. Fortunately, there were supertitles to follow the story and Dr. Ulrich – my music professor – gave us a summary beforehand. We were faced with a baren set that made the singing and lighting the primary feature. The singing was in Czech, and it was stunning. The stage director’s vision of this performance is unlike anything I could have imagined in my own mind. The actors’ voices struck over the orchestra that permeated the background and evoked emotional responses throughout the audience.
Inside of Prague Castle.
Unlike the previous concerts in Rome, Venice, and Vienna, this concert gave me a deep appreciation for the shows themselves instead of just the music. By this, I mean that I had a sense of joy during the opera that I did not when listening in class. I would consider myself a fan of opera now and would very much enjoy attending another one. Much to my chagrin, Atlanta does not have an opera house. I feel that this engagement with the medium is distinctly European – though there are now operas from outside Europe. I was a part of the audience as a whole, connected with the Prague people attending that opera. I feel that this piece gave me an appreciation for Czech culture, even if the culture has changed since the 1920s.
After the rest of traveling through Paris and Ghent, we arrived in Oxford. This is the best time of the year to be in England if you enjoy sports. While we were in Oxford, Wimbledon, the London Grand Prix, and the British Open were all happening in the span of three weeks. Four friends made throughout the trip and I were able to get tickets for the Wimbledon final the day before. The seats were for the boy’s final, but more importantly, we got grounds admissions to watch the men’s finals from the Hill on the large screen. I know nothing about tennis, but I enjoyed the atmosphere of the grounds and the community that formed inside them. The cheering fans and the iconic strawberries and cream made the experience for me.
Strawberries and Cream at Wimbledon!
I had – I feel – a decent understanding of tennis following three of the day’s matches despite never having seen a game of tennis before. This experience gave me an appreciation for the sport of tennis for one. I figured I would not have enjoyed it, but I found the game entertaining. Second, I got to experience the culture of England and contrast it with America’s. I found them to be quite different. This surprised me quite a bit since we speak the same language and live in such an interconnected world. I figured the cultures were likely similar. It seems that English people are more engaged than Americans in sports. They were very passionately cheering on the Hill whenever points were scored, unlike myself and the other Americans in attendance, who remained quieter. I also learned that Europeans take time to enjoy the small things in life more than we do in America. A prime instance is people taking the time to enjoy long meals with others as they did at the Wimbledon café. I think that this is a good thing. I believe Americans have something to learn from the Europeans about how to be a little more carefree.
Wimbledon Boy’s Final.
This experience has broadened my horizons to how different other countries are from the United States. Not necessarily better or worse. Seeing all these old sites is very fulfilling, unattainable in America, and necessary for my development. I would recommend this program to anyone considering applying. I would even recommend it over the other European programs because of how unique this program is – you travel nonstop for five weeks, unlike GTL. If you are planning to apply for this program, I would recommend that you be prepared for lots of traveling that may get tiring towards the end and think of some things you want to do. If you have no idea where to go, it is harder to figure it out a couple of days in advance. So do some research.
The courses are also not necessarily layups either. Some of them, particularly those while in residence at Oxford, are as rigorous as courses in Atlanta. They could be even more strict than some in Atlanta if you have no experience with six-week semesters. This program is primarily academic, and all plans are made around your courses. The courses are, however, experiential by design allowing for the educational parts of the program to be enjoyable.
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Traveller, Not Tourist
~by Sayonee Das
After 3 months, 11 cities, 6 countries, and 4 classes, it’s safe to say that this summer has felt like the longest and shortest summer of my life simultaneously. Despite being wholly exhausted from it, the Oxford Summer study abroad program is an adventure I will never regret embarking on, mostly because of the experiences and memories I’m leaving with.
As an international student, I’ve always felt comfortable being away from home and being a tourist, visiting different countries across the world. But this program definitely pushed me beyond previously unexplored limits. I’m an introvert; making friends and new connections was never an easy feat for me — also, may I mention that having a group of 56 other people with me at almost all times for a month was incredibly draining to begin with. Yet, slowly, we became closer over discussing art (children holding a goose, anyone?), music, embarrassing pronunciations of French words (spoiler, it’s ron-dey-voo, not ron-dezz-vooz), singing Sweet Carolina on the bus (BUM BUM BUM), and ranking our favourite cities that we’ve been too — almost everyone said Prague, can you blame them?
Me and some friends in the National Theatre, Prague, Czech Republic.
I would have said Prague too, but Paris took the cake for me. Not only had I wanted to go there since I was a wee little child, but also because I took French in school for seven years, which allowed me to overcome the language barrier, practice my French IRL, and connect with the Parisians more than my friends could (I definitely flexed on them during our time in Paris).
Us at the Eiffel Tower!!
I did not only bond with the people in my group but also attempted to connect with as many locals as possible, like with the Parisians. In Germany, this consisted of me learning how to ask, “can I please pet your dog?” in German —say “kann ich bitte Ihren Hund streicheln?” — and going up to locals. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that phrase. We pet so many dogs in Germany, but sadly the number of dogs dwindled to very few in the other countries we went to.
During the travel portion, Dr Kemling and Dr Scibelli (my art and music history professors) redefined what it meant to be a traveller, not a tourist. Before this trip, my travels consisted of going to the most popular sites, eating at restaurants that served supposed traditional food, bought souvenirs from vendors claiming they had the best price. I’m not going to lie, I did do a little bit of touristing. But more than before, I explored the cities on foot without a solid plan, leading me to the cutest restaurants with authentic food and locals lined out the door, underrated monuments, independent souvenir shops with unique mementoes, and farmers’ markets with the freshest locally grown fruits and original antiques. Looking back, being a traveller was actually better for both my pockets and experiences. Regardless of what city we were in, fully grasping the city’s vibes by chatting to locals in bars and at shops was my favourite part. I can’t see myself being a full tourist over a traveller ever again.
Coming out of the travel portion, I found my tastes for travel are more refined - I crave authentic experiences and living like a local in every country/city I visit. Moreover, I now have a greater appreciation for art and music. I’ve begun to place art and music into the greater history of humankind and analyse every art piece I see. Group 2 has a running joke that Dr Kemling had made up all the artworks he talked about in class. Obviously, after the surreal experience of seeing those pieces on display in all of their glory in museums in person, our speculations of art being real were confirmed.
The Raft of the Medusa, by Théodore Géricault at the Louvre. My favourite painting!
Same with music; I’ve heard recordings of ballets, operas, and jazz pieces on Spotify, but hearing them in person was a whole other experience. Especially seeing Onegin in Prague from the most perfect seats.
Onegin, by Tchaikovsky at the Prague National Theatre.
After the five weeks spent travelling, I feel like an entirely new person because of these globally engaged experiences, the biggest change being my transition from a tourist to a traveller. I was sad to see these five weeks end, but our six-week adventure at Oxford was just beginning.
While other people decided to continue their traveller adventures over the three-day weekends we had, I was exhausted from not getting many breaks and not exploring one city fully. So, I decided to spend the next six weekends in Oxford and London. On weekend one, we went to the 50th Pride festival in London, and I consolidated what I’d learned about humanity over my travels. Transcending languages, religions, and any other disparities in culture, love is a constant. I’d seen it in owners and their pets in Germany, tourists sharing a bottle of wine in Rome, a man complimenting his girlfriend on her new earrings in Venice, and especially at Pride. London Pride has always been one of the largest in the world, so I’m incredibly grateful that I got to experience it for the first time here.
At London Pride, July 1st, 2022!
Unlike in other cities, I didn’t spend much time doing all the touristy things in London. Instead, I took the tube (chewb, if you will) regularly, visited local favourite restaurants, exaggerated my already existing British accent, and went to so many West End productions — living like a true local. My favourite West End production was ‘Back to the Future, the Musical’; I would give anything to go back and watch it for the first time. Everything about it was magical, and it was an experience I couldn’t have back home in Atlanta, or anywhere else for that matter.
Back to the Future the Musical on West End!
Of course, I didn’t do all of those things in one weekend. I slowly explored London over the course of four weekends. Weekdays and the remaining weekends were spent wandering around Oxford. I would highly recommend spending as much time in Oxford as you can. Many of my afternoons were spent in cafés studying while having tea, wandering around all the Harry Potter filming sites, or at the Gloucester Green Open Market browsing through vintage maps and clothes (we found a vintage NCAA Georgia Tech Varsity jacket! Crazy rare find), or at the Botanical Gardens, or punting. I could go on forever. If there’s one thing being a traveller has taught me, it’s that the underrated things often tend to be the best experiences. Tried, tested, and true.
Overall, my favourite part of this program was definitely the travel portion — getting to see all these wonderful places I’ve only ever read about was surreal. The Oxford portion was also amazing. I loved exploring the city of Oxford and studying at the cutest cafés and bookstores ever. It’s sad that my time abroad is coming to a close, but I have small reminders everywhere that I was here: the hordes of tote bags from bookstores and libraries (I may have accumulated a slight addiction), postcards from the most revered museums in Europe, my Phantom of the Opera keychain from Opera Garnier in Paris, my vintage thrifted German jacket, et cetera.
I’m so excited to carry the memories, experiences, and memorabilia I’ve collected over this summer through the rest of my time at Tech and life. Of course, I will miss walking through the Covered Market and visiting some of the world’s most famous museums and institutions. But, I’m excited to go home and tell my family and friends how amazing this summer was. The bittersweetness of this moment makes me cherish this opportunity, this program. How often do you get to travel all over Europe and study at the 5th best university in the world?
All I have to end with is: Europe, I will be back shortly as a traveller, not a tourist.
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