Why we should be glad fireworks are illegal in America

Happy Chinese New Year from Beijing
Happy Chinese New Year (新年快乐)from The Study Abroad Blog. The actual start of the Chinese New Year a.k.a. Spring Festival (春节) was the 23rd of January, but since it lasts for 15 days, I think I can say Happy New Year and still be in the clear for another 3 days. Knowing both that it’s the biggest Chinese holiday and that the Chinese do it bigger than we do any holiday in America, I was looking forward to my first Chinese New Year experience, and what an experience it was… Read the rest of this entry
Everything study abroad for the week of January 29, 2012
It’s amazing how fast time flies, and how much longer it takes to do simple things when you live in another country. Somehow I thought I was going to be doing a lot more traveling and a lot more studying over these past 6 weeks, but in the end, I’m just happy I finished everything I needed to in order to stay/live in China. I’ve got my own place, I’ve learned how to use just about everything in my place, school starts soon, and the firework-fest known as Chinese New Year has ceased. There’s some exciting news from The Study Abroad Blog down below, and on that note here’s everything Study Abroad for the week of January 29, 2012.
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Everything you need to know about using your iPhone abroad
I’ve written in the past, both here on the blog and in The Ultimate Study Abroad Guide, about the big role communication plays in the study abroad experience. I’m now realizing it’s more like “the big role the iPhone plays in the study abroad experience”. However, due to Apple’s tight restrictions, using the calling, messaging, and data features on the iPhone when you’re abroad can come with some hefty international roaming charges. I created this guide to help you navigate your options for using those features when you’re no longer in America. Read the rest of this entry
An experience no amount of House Hunters could prepare you for

Apartment hunting in Beijing? Your chariot awaits you
Way back in November, when I decided I was going to keep studying abroad in Beijing for an indefinite amount of time, I made a list of 3 major things I needed to get done in order to stay/survive here: get accepted into a Chinese Language Program for the Spring semester, find a place to live, and make some sort of income. I ended up adding “get a Bank of China bank account” to the list (different story for a different day), and I’m still working on the income thing, so you could say I’m about 83% of the way to a stable life. For the benefit of anyone studying abroad here in the future, or those looking to be amused, I figured I’d share my experience with #2 on the list – finding my first apartment abroad.
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Everything study abroad for the week of January 15 – ish, 2012
This week’s edition of Your Study Abroad Sense happens to be a middle-of-the-weeker. Like I said in last week’s Study Abroad Sense, it may be every week, every other week, or who knows when – stay on your toes. I still have about 3 weeks until I start classes at Beijing University, so not much happening on my academic front. There was definitely some cool news this week in the world of Study Abroad (Cuba decided to get in on the action) which you can check out along with a new Post From The Past, some study abroad resources, and some cool/exciting news about something that’s going to be happening very soon on The Study Abroad Blog.
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