Exceeding Expectations #HogsAbroad in Italy

Hello! My name is Jacob Velliquette and I am studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Arkansas. This summer, I was blessed with the opportunity to travel abroad to Rome and spend five weeks studying at the Rome Center. I took a Basics of Economics course along with a Basic Art History course and learned far more than I ever expected. I am currently blogging as I sit back at my home in Springdale, Arkansas only two days after arriving back in the states and just finally getting over my jet lag completely. As I reflect upon my time spent in Europe, I can’t help but smile and laugh in disbelief of everything that I was able to see and do. Upon arrival to Rome, I knew two other people on the trip. Now I have fifteen new lifelong friends that all go to school with me in Fayetteville.

Potentially the greatest highlight of my time spent abroad was all our travels on the weekends, but in particular, that very first weekend. Within the first three days of the trip, we managed to plan a weekend excursion to an island off the Amalfi Coast with nine other people that I had never met before in my life. We booked a large Airbnb to accommodate us all then set out for the beautiful island of Capri at 3am Saturday morning. This experience is something so unique and special to study abroad because in no other circumstance would I plan a vacation to travel away and stay in the same house as nine strangers who I had only just met days before. There is something about all being in the same boat of living in a totally foreign country without the comforts and familiarities of home that brings people together and creates friendships like nothing else.

I cannot think of a better way to learn art and economics than to visit and explore the markets, museums, and rich architecture of the city of Rome. Each day for class we would leave the classroom to observe a real-world lesson in art or in the practices of market exchange and supply & demand. I was able to make economic observations of things that at the surface seemed to not contain any economics at all. This class taught me so much more than economics; it taught me to look beyond the surface and to become a watchful observer of the world around me. You cannot learn that in a classroom in Fayetteville. I do not think that I have ever truly appreciated art until I was able to experience it in the context of Roman culture first hand. You can look at pieces of art on a screen or in a textbook all day and not be interested at all until you are living it, walking in it, and taking in every detail with your own two eyes. 

In preparation for the trip, I expected to feel more uncomfortable than I did. I didn’t expect to find joy in living in an apartment of our own and having to cook and clean and do our own laundry like independent adults, but I did. I didn’t expect to enjoy waking up early in the morning to walk a mile to class every day, but I did. I certainly didn’t expect to create as many new and lasting friendships as I did in such a short time, but I did. Absolutely everything about my trip and experience studying abroad completely blew my expectations out of the water. I could write a novel on all my adventures from the past month and must hold myself back from doing so. From seeing the inside of Saint Peter’s Basilica and the Colosseum, to feeding wild Reindeer on a Greek island, to learning to cook magnificent Italian dinners in my own apartment, to standing on top of the Florence Dome, to floating in the Mediterranean Sea without a care in the world, this last month has been the best of my life.

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Jacob spent the summer 2018 term at our U of A Rome Center.

Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/

A Cultural Tour #HogsAbroad in Italy

For the month of May, I mostly focused on traveling throughout Italy during my free weekends to become more acquainted with the region and culture. I traveled to Venice, Pisa, and Florence throughout the month. Also at the end of the month, I visited Nice, France, where I stayed for two nights, then went to Monte Carlo, Monaco for the Formula One Grand Prix.

While I was in Venice, I visited many museums to learn about the history of city. This included a glass blowing tour in Murano, one of the many famous islands of the city. Glass blowing is big on this island because too many people used to blow glass on the main island and caused too many fires, so they were forced to continue this art on a different island. I visited other islands, each of which had a unique atmosphere and feel to it. Venice was by far the most crowded city with tourists, so it was also not the most enjoyable city I have visited.

My next trip was visiting Florence. On the way to Florence, I got off the train and visited Pisa for a couple of hours. This was mainly to see the famous leaning tower. Of course I had to take a classic picture of pretending to support the tower with my arms. Once I returned to the train station, I continued traveling to Florence. Here, I visited the art gallery that had Michelangelo's David statue. It was more inspiring to see in person because of the size. I previously thought the statue was life sized, but in fact it was about five times larger than an average man. The best part of Florence for me was the dinner I ate after the gallery. Two other friends and I ordered a two pound Tuscan steak, and it was easily the best steak I have ever eaten! This alone, as well as the atmosphere of the city made Florence my favorite city in Italy that I have been to so far.

Finally, going to the Formula One Grand Prix at Monaco has always been a dream of mine, so as soon as I came to Italy I purchased my travel, hostel, and race ticket. Nice was the nearest city to stay before going to Monaco, since Monaco is too expensive to stay during the Grand Prix weekend. Nice turned out to be one of my favorite cities outside of Italy primarily for the night life and culture of being a French beach city.

I planned to complete all of my desired traveling for the remainder of my time abroad during the month of May. This is because I will use the entire month of June and possibly July to study for upcoming final exams. My first round of exams will take place during June 26 through July 6, while the second round will take place July 17 through July 23. I will not have to participate in the second round of exams if I pass on the first round and am satisfied with my grade. If this happens, I will most likely continue traveling throughout Italy and Europe until my return flight to the United States on July 31.

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Mechanical Engineering major Kody Piccirilli is spending the spring 2018 semester in Italy with our U of A Exchange Program at Politecnico di Torino with the help of our Office of Study Abroad Scholarship.

Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/

Maximizing Travel Experiences #HogsAbroad in Italy #TravelTuesday

While studying abroad, I have attempted to travel somewhere new each weekend to experience places and events that are on my “bucket list”. So far, I have been successful in doing this, and each consecutive month has been better than the last. The month of April has been no exception as I was able to do some of my favorite activities. These activities range from visiting museums, hiking, sightseeing, and eating good food.

To start off the month of April, I had just returned from my week-long Easter break trip to Switzerland, Germany, and The Netherlands. The first weekend I traveled and stayed the night in Bologna, where the next morning I went to Maranello and Modena to visit the Ferrari and Lamborghini museums respectively. This was very exciting to me as I love anything automotive related, especially Italian supercars! I continued the automotive trend the next weekend by traveling to Monza, a suburb of Milan, to attend the Blancpain GT Series race. This race is a traveling international “endurance race” where high-end automotive manufacturer’s such as Audi, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes, and many others compete in a three-hour long circuit race. The GT race was accompanied by smaller class one-hour races prior to the main event. I regularly attend various automotive races in the Southern part of the United States, so attending this race was one the highlights of my experience abroad. The last weekend in April, I traveled to Cinque Terre national park where I saw some of the most beautiful landscape in the entire world in the cities of Corgnilia, Manarola, Riomaggiore, Vernazza, and Liguria. In addition to the amazing cliffs and cities along the Mediterranean Sea, I also ate some of the best seafood I have ever had. From here, I traveled North-East to Venice where I spent the rest of the weekend. Here, I continued to eat local seafood (my second favorite thing, after automotive). I also visited local palaces and museums to learn about the history and the forming of Venice. Among the best part of getting to experience this myself, is that I have made new friends from different countries all over the world and I have been able to experience this with them.

Even though this past month may be hard to top, I am excited to see what the month of May has to hold for me! I have planned to visit the following places:

• Barcelona (last international travel) 
• Pisa 
• Rome 
• Naples 
• Pompeii 

I will continue to write about my experiences and adventures in my next blog post featuring these cities as well as what other surprise trips I might take.

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Mechanical Engineering major Kody Piccirilli is spending the spring 2018 semester in Italy with our U of A Exchange Program at Politecnico di Torino with the help of our Office of Study Abroad Scholarship.

Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/

New Lifestyles & Learning Styles #HogsAbroad in Italy

As I have been living abroad for over one month now, I have begun to settle in and fully adjust to the Italin lifestyle. I attend four different course lectures and laboratory sessions every week at Politecnico di Torino which occupies most of my time throughout the week. But, in what free time I do have, I have been planning various trips as well as traveling throughout the local region of Italy. So far, I have been on a weekend trip to Milan, Bardonecchia, and Sant’Ambrogio. I have mostly done sightseeing and tourist activities in these cities such as watching a football game, skiing, and hiking. I also signed up for a weekend trip to Prague, Czech Republic with the staff at my dormatory, Collegio Einaudi, during March 15th through 20th. This trip has been the highlight of my travels so far, as I spent five days in the Prague city center. Most of my time spent in Prague was sightseeing and visiting various museums. I have been recently planning many trips for future weekends throughout the semester. Some of my future travel plans include the following cities and activites

• Bologna/Modena – Ferrari/Lamborghini museum
• Nice/Monaco – Formula One Grand Prix
• Venice - Sightseeing
• Rome - Sightseeing

As I am writing this blog post, I am preparing to leave for my week-long Easter Break trip. Me and six other American students are traveling to Zurich, Switzerland for two days, then to Munich, Germany for another two days, and finally to Amsterdam, Netherlands for three days. We have many activities planned that will keep us very busy for the seven days we are gone.

After Easter break I will return to school with a fresh mindset ready to learn new material. So far school has been a slight challenge to adjust to, as the entire experience is different than what I am used to in Western culture. For example, going to school is very relaxed since attending the lectures is not mandatory and there are no regular homework assignments. The teaching style is also much different than the style in the United States because it focuses on a more abstract, theoretical thinking mindset opposed to the analytical problem solving techniques that I am used to. Because of this, I have had to change my approach to learn new material. I have begun to enjoy this style of teaching because I believe it allows me to have a deeper understanding of the material which translates into long term retention of the material.

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Mechanical Engineering major Kody Piccirilli is spending the spring 2018 semester in Italy with our U of A Exchange Program at Politecnico di Torino with the help of our Office of Study Abroad Scholarship.

Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/

Engineering and German Student Awarded International Fellowship #HogsAbroad

Connor Heo, a senior mechanical engineering and German major, has been awarded a fellowship for study at the Technische Universität Darmstadt from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange Service) in the amount of 1800 euros.

Heo is a student in the International Engineering Program, which incorporates a year abroad to prepare engineering students for careers in the global economy and is a partnership between the College of Engineering and the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

Through the program, students spend one semester taking regular university engineering courses in German at the Technical University of Darmstadt, an institution recommended by Albert Einstein and located in a major German research and technology hub, and one semester working in a paid internship with a German company.

Please visit the International Engineering Program website for more information.

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To find out more about exchange programs, visit http://studyabroad.uark.edu/programs/exchange.
Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/
And, be sure to come to the Study Abroad Fair to explore your program options!

Engineering an Internship in Germany #HogsAbroad #WanderlustWednesday

Steven Sonntag outside of the BMW headquarters in Munich, Germany.

Studying abroad in Germany was always part of Steven Sonntag's plan, even before beginning as a freshman in the Honors College in 2013. However, the extent of time he would spend in the country and the varied experiences he would have there were far beyond his imagination.

Sonntag, who started at the University of Arkansas as a mechanical engineering major, has always had an interest in learning the language of his ancestors. He took German classes in high school and continued developing his language skills in German courses in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences' Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures. When he learned about the university's International Engineering Program, which allows students to earn degrees in both engineering and German, he knew it was an opportunity he had to pursue.

As part of the International Engineering Program and with the support of a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, Sonntag spent the fall 2016 semester as an exchange student at the Technical University of Darmstadt. Before arriving in Germany, the U of A junior passed the Goethe-Institut B1 exam, certifying him in intermediate to advanced German language proficiency. However, he quickly learned his language ability, especially in relation to engineering terms, wasn't as good as he thought.

"My German has improved exponentially since I've been in Germany, but the first two months at the university were really difficult, because each subject has its own specific vocabulary and way of speaking," Sonntag said. "It wasn't until the third month of engineering classes that I began to feel more comfortable and understand the material being taught."

After passing his final exams, Sonntag began the second half of his experience abroad in the International Engineering Program by earning an internship at BMW's Munich headquarters. As an intern, he has conducted quality analysis of competitor car interiors, created a program that automates data collection and analysis and test driven competitor cars to check suspension, handling and dynamic performance.

"I applied for internships at several automakers, but working at BMW was always my dream," Sonntag said. "This experience has taught me that, as long as you try your hardest and put effort into the things you want, you can make them a reality."

Though being immersed in a new culture and new country has been a life-changing experience for Sonntag, it has also come with some unexpected challenges.

"When I moved from Darmstadt to Munich, I wasn't sure if I had to re-register as a resident of Munich," Sonntag said. "When I received my third pay check from BMW, I noticed I was suddenly being taxed at the country's highest tax rate. I called the tax office to find out what was going on, and they explained I was being taxed at that rate because I had been de-registered in Darmstadt and wasn't a resident of Munich yet. My only options were to pay the taxes or declare myself homeless. So, for a month and a half, I was officially considered homeless in the eyes of the German government."

The honors student is looking forward to telling that story with a laugh for years to come.

Sonntag, a native of Rogers, Arkansas, will return to the United States later this year and will resume classes at the U of A in spring 2018. He expects to graduate with both mechanical engineering and German degrees in December 2018.

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To find out more about exchange programs, visit http://studyabroad.uark.edu/programs/exchange.
Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/

Politecnico di Torino Academics #HogsAbroad in Italy

For many Uark engineering students, there is a very interesting opportunity that far too few know exists. In Torino, Italy, surrounded by the Alps, there is an engineering school called Politecnico di Torino and they accept Razorbacks as exchange students. The best part of this program is that their academics are very close to Arkansas’s. This allows you to study abroad without getting set back a semester. With this said, there are many differences in a class abroad.

The first thing that you will notice about classes in Italy is their length. The shortest lecture that I have seen is one and a half hours, but it is not uncommon for a class to have multiple three hour lectures each week. Normally these long lectures will have a fifteen-minute break in the middle to give a much needed recess to both the instructor and students. 

At first, the classes feel incredibly long, but after several weeks it begins to feel normal.  Due to the amount of lecture time available, the instructors have a much slower teaching style. One that leaves many American students feeling as though lecture is less efficient than studying independently. If you have enough self-discipline to do this, you will end up with a lot of free time and in turn a lot of opportunities to travel. Most of the American students in 2017 were able to travel to over ten countries during the academic semester.

All of the classes that the American students take are taught in English. From my experience, half of the professors speak English very well. The other half can be very difficult to understand only increasing the importance of studying independently. 

Perhaps the biggest difference in courses taught in the United States and Italy is the grading policy. In Italy there is only one grade in the class, and that is the final exam. Finals month in Italy is a very stressful time for students. However, while the stress is real, you only have to pass one exam per class for the entire semester. There are no graded homework assignments or midterms. You only have to pass one test, and even if you were to fail one exam—which does happen—you are given two chances for every test. Passing the exams and doing well is very obtainable. It requires keeping up with the material throughout the semester, and then putting in the time before the exams to thoroughly learn it. With a little self-discipline, it really isn’t hard.

When everything is considered, making the decision to study abroad was one of the best I have made during college. The incredible amount of new experiences and people that I have met added an incredible amount of value to my education. If you are an engineering student take a look at Politecnico di Torino, and if you have the opportunity to study abroad, I highly recommend it. 

Brett Glenn

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Find out more about the University of Politecnico Exchange with the College of Engineering at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/exchange/pdt

So, What's Engineering in Darmstadt like? #HogsAbroad

The following is an informal tip file for students who are about to study in Darmstadt on the University of Arkansas exchange, written by students who are returning.  Keep in mind that these are student opinions and not endorsed by the university. 

General tips for living in Darmstadt (How to get around, things to see, etc.) 

"The main way students get around in Darmstadt is by bus, tram or walking. Mostly because those are the only modes of transportation available to you as an international student.  I would suggest trying to find a bike, because it offers a lot more freedom and gets you places as quickly as the buses do, if you peddle quickly. The main buses you should know are the H bus, and the K/KU bus, and the Tram 9. There are 2 main campuses, the city center campus and Lichtwiese. The K/KU bus and Tram 9 can get you to Lichtwiese from Luisenplatz. 

Visit and talk to Christian Tischer in Karo 5. He's in charge of American exchange students and can help you with everything. Also, ask your tutor everything. No question is stupid, and they're there to help you. 

When you apply for your visa, go ahead and request a 13-month long visa, just in case. It's the same price. 

Get your international license before coming to Germany, but have it become valid as late as possible, because you can drive with your regular American license for your first 6 months with no problem." 

--Steven Sonntag, 2017  

Taking classes / the uni (Any courses or professors you’d like to recommend?) 

"I would suggest taking multiple Deutsch-als-Fremdsprache courses after your month-long intensive course. The courses are taught similarly to the German courses at the U of A.  Engineering courses that I would suggest are VerbrennuAgskraftmaschinen taught by Dr. Beidl and perhaps Aerodynamik I with Dr. Tropea.  Dr. Beidl will give a summary of the previous lecture in English, at the beginning of the lecture. You can take both final exams in English.  

Lectures will be once a week for 3 hours.  They are hard to pay attention to, especially if they are only in German.  Your first couple months will be hard regarding following along and understand what the professor's talking about, if you take engineering classes that regular German students take. Just stay calm and google translate like crazy.  The American students from Virginia tech are very good to become friends with and take classes with. They have a huge database of stuff for classes, since they've had a partnership with TUD for many years already. " 

--Steven Sonntag, 2017 

Shopping /eating tips (Restaurants?  Handys?  Best super markets?) 

"There's the central mall, Luisencenter, which has some cool stores. The entire Luisenplatz area is full of stores, just walk up the hill towards the dome church and to the left, you gotta explore the city, so I'm not going to tell you everything, but C&A as well as H&M are very cheap stores with decent clothes. Great place to get a cheap pair of tennis shoes  if you need one.  

 You don't have to buy a new cell phone, probably. I just stuck a German SIM card into my phone and it worked. I got a SIM card from Lebara, but most of my friends got ALDI Talk, which seemed pretty good as well. You normally buy the SIM card and the buy your package of data online.  Have your tutor help you set that up.  

Regarding food, there are lots of options.  To save money, buy groceries and learn to cook.  The main grocery stores are called Rewe and ALDI; you'll probably shop at Rewe a lot more if you live in Karlshof. Aldi is the cheaper of the two, but there's always Penny and Lidl, but they're not as good. If you buy at Rewe, you save a lot of money if you buy everything JA brand. JA is like Walmart's GreatValue, but cheaper.   The Mensa (Cafeteria) at TUD is pretty good for the price. I ate there almost every day for lunch (a plate of food is about 2.50 to 4 Euros, depending on what you get. For restaurants, you also have a ton of options. 

• There's a Turkish Döner place you can eat every street corner in Darmstadt. The best one is a small hole in the wall, close to the Roßdörfer Platz stop on Tram 9.   
• Vapiano is a good Italian restaurant. 
• There are tons of good asian places and burger places. For a huge plate of Asian noodles for super cheap, go to Asia Express.  
• For pizza, go to the Hobbit. The Hobbit and Hotzenplotz are two bars that serve pizza; the pizza at Hobbit is better, but I preffered Hotzenplotz because it was a lot more comfortable, spacious, and more size options for drinks.  Those two places are also the only place you can order a Laternchen in Darmstadt, a famous drink with Apfelwein, the regional drink of Hessen. " 

--Steven Sonntag, 2017 

Bloß nicht (Things to avoid) 

"Avoid paying more than 5 euros for  Döner.  Avoid going overboard with drinking, especially when you first get here; moderation is always a good thing. " --Steven Sonntag, 2017 

Random other tips

• "Travel as much as you can during your first couple months, on the weekends, because it's the best and easiest time.  Oktoberfest starts on the 16th of September. Use goeuro.com and busradar.com.  Also, Ryanair has random super cheap flights, so keep an eye on that.   
• Go to all the events during the X-weeks, if possible; you'll make your closest friends in your first month through the x-weeks. 
• Make friends with Brazilians. I'm somewhat biased, but they were the best people to hang out with.  And the Spanish, they know how to party, but it's a little hard to infiltrate their group. 
• Explore all the cities around Hessen with castles, when you're not travelling to other countries and partying with the other international students. Your student pass allows you to travel all around Hessen for free, excluding ICE trains. Always carry a photo ID along with your student pass.  
• If you go to the sauna, know that they do full nude, mixed gender saunas in Europe. If you go to one with a group of friends without knowing, it could be a weird experience.  
• Soak up the sun at the Hochschulstadion and the Woog, before the weather gets cold.    
• The weather gets cold late September and doesn't warm up until the mid April or so.  In Darmstadt, the temperature during winter is constantly around –3C, and it drizzles a lot, so bring a good rain coat that you can wear over your sweaters and such.   
• Go to a Darmstadt 98 game.  They'll be in the 2nd division, unfortunately, but they'll still be fun to watch. 
• Go to all the little festivals around the town.  This year is going to be the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, so there will be a lot of festivals at the end of October.   
• Go to the Landesmuseum next to Karo 5.   
• Germans tend to be a little harder to become close friends with, so if you make a small handful of German friends, that aren't involved with the international student groups, you're doing pretty well. 
• There are a lot of sports and extra-curricular activities that you can get involved in. You just have to really pay attention to when you can sign up for teams and groups, because they tend to fill up pretty quickly.

There's so much to tell you, but it's better that your find out the rest for yourself.  Darmstadt is a great city, despite what all the German people say about it, and it'll become comfortable after a short time."

--Steven Sonntag, 2017

Students with an interest in expanding their international career options can enroll in the International Engineering Program — a multidisciplinary initiative between the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, through a partnership between the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures and the College of Engineering. The International Engineering Program allows students to earn both a German and an engineering or computer science degree in five years including a year spent in Germany.

Interested? Read more about the dual degree program. 

For more information about the exchange year in Germany, visit http://studyabroad.uark.edu/exchange/darmstadt