Pitt Global Experiences Students' Blog

As someone who believes food exemplifies the titular sentiment, the food of Belgium was no exception. During our short but eventful study-abroad in the Belgian region closest to the North Sea, our group relied primarily on local restaurants and the occasional fast-food joint to meet our dietary needs. While eating out proved more costly, these restaurants revealed to us an array of either hearty or aquatic cuisine. Based on the prior reading of a provided cultural guide, I entered the country knowing the national culinary identity of northern Belgium consisted of Flemish stew, meatballs,... Read More

For me, food has always provided a way to immerse myself in a culture and truly experience the authenticity of the traditional cuisine. I think for a lot of people it is quite literally “the window to the soul,” as many people express themselves through cooking. During these past two weeks in Costa Rica, we always ate out since we stayed in hotels and were not really given the accommodations to cook our own meals. However, eating... Read More

I am living in an apartment in the east of London.  The neighborhood is in between The City of London and Whitechapel, part of the Tower Hamlets postal code and technically called Aldgate.  The apartment building itself is inconspicuous, sitting in a street that contains a pub, a grocery store, other businesses, and other apartment buildings as well.  My apartment itself is a great size.  We have a kitchen, living room, and dining area that is all open.  There are three bedrooms and three bathrooms, as the apartment fits seven students.  A common feature in European bathrooms is heated... Read More

You might be thinking to yourself right now how does one even establish, a quotidian routine as a foreign student, well allow me to explain. Moving to an unknown city may seem like a stressful and intense experience, let alone an unknown city that is also known to be as one of the world’s largest megapolises. I like to consider myself a pretty adaptable individual, but I will admit that it took me a while to achieve a so called “routine”. For myself, every day was consisted of unexpected new experiences and was filled with a multitude of new memories however, certain days I did have an... Read More

One question friends and family kept asking me before I went to study abroad was, “What do they eat in Australia?”

Countless Google searches led to the same lists of foods: Vegemite (a dark brown spread made from yeast extract), meat pies (a literal pie with meat filling), fairy bread (white bread smeared with butter and topped with rainbow sprinkles), fish and chips (fried fish with a side of fries), and even chicken parmigiana. These lists, consisting mostly of traditionally Australian desserts and meals that did not seem traditionally Australian in the slightest, led me no closer... Read More