Wow, what an absolutely amazing semester! Somehow, every semester of IBEA just keeps getting better. If you had asked me last fall which semester I thought would be my favorite, I would have told you there was no way anything could beat the U.S. semester. I got to live at home with my family, spend time with my friends from USC, and be surrounded by all of my international friends. It truly felt like the best of all worlds. But after spending this semester in Singapore, I tak

HAPPY MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL! It has now been about four weeks since I arrived here in Hong Kong, where I will study literature and anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) for the duration of my sophomore year. I am not exaggerating when I say that the last month has been an absolute whirlwind of events. However, I am very thankful that I had three full weeks to adjust before going out to experience some of Hong Kong’s most iconic Mid-Autumn Festival events. D

One of the most insane things I did this semester was complete not one, but two crazy challenges. I walked around Singapore in three days and biked around Singapore in one night. Here's the story. The Singapore Walk Before I even stepped foot in Singapore, one of the guys in my cohort challenged me to complete a three-day walk around Singapore. One of his friends had studied abroad there previously, created the challenge, and even made a YouTube video about it. Ever since the

One of the biggest takeaways from this semester was that I found so much more clarity about my interests and future career aspirations. Like I've mentioned in previous blogs, every semester in the IBEA program includes an international consulting project. This semester, I genuinely loved my project and all of my classes. I left Singapore feeling more confident than ever about what kinds of work excite me and where I could see myself in the future. I attended ESSEC Business Sc

Well...I know my study abroad insurance works! Today's blog is all about my crazy hospital visits and injuries this semester. Safe to say I definitely got my money's worth out of my study abroad insurance. Number One: I Stepped on Glass in Australia and Had It Surgically Removed in Singapore Here's the story. Before flying to Singapore to start my semester abroad, I spent a week in Australia visiting one of my friends. One morning, I walked to Surfers Paradise Beach to watch

Hi everyone! In this blog, I’ll be talking about the rainy season in Japan (and hydrangea season)! Hydrangeas at Takahata Fudoson The rainy season (梅雨) in Tokyo began on June 7 and typically lasts until around mid-July. While it doesn’t rain every day, rainy weather becomes a regular part of daily life during this time. As someone who isn’t a fan of rain or humidity, I can’t say I was excited for the rainy season. However, it also happens to be hydrangea season! Tokyo has ple

Made it to Singapore! (Let’s ignore the fact that I’m writing this on June 19, 2026, after I’ve already finished the semester and returned home. I really need to be better about blogging during the semester, but either way, it’s been so cool to reflect on my time abroad and all the things I did and learned.) Ever since I got back to the U.S., people have been asking me what my favorite thing about my semester in Singapore was. I always reply, "I just loved my routine while I

IBEA Weekend 3/4! Every semester, we have a designated IBEA weekend. The previous ones have been to the Black Forest in Germany and North Myrtle Beach in the U.S. This semester, the ESSEC students organized an epic weekend trip to Pulau Besar Island in Malaysia. The experience was so amazing that I still have a hard time understanding how they secured such an incredible vacation spot for us. It literally felt like we had an entire island and resort to ourselves. That's why we

Singapore is conveniently just a ferry ride away from Indonesia, so one weekend in April, one of my roommates and I decided to take a little getaway to Bintan, Indonesia! After our Entrepreneurial Marketing class, we headed to the ferry terminal and took the hour and a half ferry over to Bintan. We stayed at this little beachfront resort called Ten Rooms (which literally has ten rooms, five upstairs and five downstairs that are all facing the beach). There was a little seatin

A Week in Japan! From April 18th-25th, six of my friends and I traveled from Tokyo to Mt. Fuji to Nara to Kyoto to Osaka and back to Tokyo. It was an absolutely incredible trip, and I know it's one I'll never forget. Since there are so many places to travel throughout Southeast Asia, it was honestly hard to decide where to go for spring break because there were endless options. It's actually kind of a funny story about how we ended up choosing Japan. One of my friends was sup

Hi everyone! In this blog, I’ll be sharing a bit about my experience interning in Japan during my study abroad semester. For the past two months, I interned at Intralink, a business development consultancy that also serves as the South Carolina Department of Commerce’s representative in Japan. As a University of South Carolina student, I worked exclusively on projects related to South Carolina-Japan business relations, making it a particularly meaningful experience. I think i

Hi everyone! Today, I’ll be talking about the time I spent in Fukuoka during Golden Week. Golden Week is a series of national holidays in Japan, so we ended up getting almost an entire week off from school. To take advantage of the break, a few friends and I decided to head south to Fukuoka! Popular destinations like Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto become incredibly crowded during Golden Week, so if you ever find yourself in Japan around this time, I’d definitely recommend visiting s

Education abroad goes by quickly. And when I say that, I mean it. It seems like a summer, full semester, or even a year abroad would last a lifetime, but your experience will go by like a flash. I’m still shocked that my semester abroad was already a year ago! It was such an amazing experience that went by in the blink of an eye. But, as they say, all good things must come to an end. So I think we ought to talk a bit about my experiences in my final weeks in Japan as well as

Hey guys!! I’m three weeks into coming to Japan and my class is starting tomorrow. I’m super excited to start my classes and meet my classmates but before that I wanted to share the best eats I had in Tokyo so far! One of my goals of studying abroad is to find hidden gems all around Japan! And for three weeks I have been going wandering around to find the best foods around Tokyo. First thing you have to try after coming is to go to any rotating sushi restaurant. If you have e

Hi everyone! I have officially been in Japan for three weeks now, and what a time it has been. The first two days after I arrived, I stayed with my friend and her family. It was great seeing familiar faces in such a new environment. I was practically running on adrenaline those first couple of days, and once they dropped me off at my dorm, everything really set in. The best way to describe it is like when your parents drop you off at college freshman year—everything feels new

Living abroad. We’ve talked a lot about the adventures, the school, the people, but a massive part of the experience is just living in a different country! Your bathroom might be in a different layout, you may not be able to find the foods you’re used to in stores, or you may not even be able to find clothes that fit you! (Such was my case… I’m too tall for Japan!) But no matter what roadblocks you must face, living abroad is a crucial and, honestly, quite exciting part of st

Hey guys! Welcome to my very late Pre-departure blog post. My name is Temmi and I am a junior majoring in Accounting and International Business with a minor in Japanese. Starting from this mid April, I will be studying at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan!! The spring/summer semester in Japan doesn't start till April so It was a perfect opportunity to complete a busy season Accounting Internship from January to March in Chicago. After all this busy season work, I am very exci

I’ve been talking a whole lot about the trips and such of my time in Japan. I don’t want to say it isn’t all fun and games, but half of the title of “study abroad” is “study” , so, let’s talk about it! Broadly, classes abroad are structured quite similarly to how classes work here in the US. Yet, I have no doubt that you might find yourself with more free time to travel, enjoy your time in your host country, and do fun things! For me, Japan was an interesting change of pace,

Hi everyone! My name is Madelyn, and I am a junior International Business and Marketing major with a minor in Japanese. This semester, I’ll be studying abroad at Keio University in Tokyo, Japan. My semester doesn’t start until the beginning of April, so I’ve actually been on break since December! While it’s definitely been nice to have some extra time to relax, I am so excited to finally go abroad. A bunch of my friends are also studying in Japan this semester, which makes it

Last week, we scratched the surface of what is in store for you in the hot spring city of Japan: Beppu! From the Jigoku Beppu to the various hot springs available, there are countless things to do, but still, as I said, we only scratched the surface. Let’s dig a bit deeper shall we? Beppu has a very storied history and that is directly conveyed in the fact that much of the architecture and infrastructure is very old and well-maintained. Many of the bathhouses and onsens are h