Noelle Mateer

Apparently, “I want to go to Sweden” isn’t a valid excuse for missing a final.

“It’s nice we have this room to ourselves,” said my friend Alex mere seconds before a group of Hungarian teenagers entered.

“Oh,” he whispered. “I spoke too soon.”

I’m in week 14 of my study abroad experience—you’d think I’d have figured that out by now. But it began innocently enough in a bar in Brussels when a British guy at a nearby table overhead me chatting with my friend Krista.

Yesterday, I’m blowing my nose in the library’s bathroom when a man walks in. Then another. Weird, I think.

Today, I said “merci” when a French man handed me an unopened bottle of red wine. “Here,” he said. “Drink this in 2017.”

That sounds sketch. But my host dad and I had spent hours working on his vineyard. This was his repayment.

Budapest, Hungary, where I spent my fall break abroad, has played host to many royalty over the centuries—myself included.

Really, it’s a serious question. How are you OK with planes? I’ve been traveling a fair amount my whole life, and I have yet to get used them. “Get used to them” is putting it lightly. I’m terrified.

I don’t want to go to Venice.

It’s not like I’d ever say, “Ew, a trip to Venice? Lame.” If so, I’d fully deserve a #firstworldproblems comment on this post.

I’m just Team Budapest.

Each person has a unique experience abroad, but somehow ends up meeting similar personalities. They’re all hilarious. Read on.

My wallet is angry, but yours doesn’t have to be. If you’re headed abroad, learn from my mistakes.

My Five Most Embarrassing Study Abroad Mishaps

I’ve been in France for a month, and yeah—I already have a list.

I even had to whittle it to the five most outstanding mishaps. Had I made the list longer, it could’ve taken hours evaluating which was worse, this missed tram or those lost keys? Well, readers, you’ll never know, because with these five mishaps there was no debating.

Introducing a new column, Valley Overseas. We’ll hear from students exploring new lands full of strange customs, seemingly impenetrable language barriers, and Euro-trash. They’ll dish…