We are happy to announce the results of the CIEE story contest. We asked all Fall 2007 CIEE Study Center participants to submit their story – a reflection of their international experience. We asked: what did you learn about the local culture, people, yourself? How has it changed your outlook? What would you tell other students thinking of going abroad?
We received many wonderful entries. It was hard to pick the winners! For those who participated, thank you. We greatly enjoyed reading all about your experiences on a CIEE Study Center program.
Congratulations to all!
Overall Winner
David Francois, George Washington University
CIEE Study Center in St. Petersburg, Russia
Dasvidanya Rossiya
The past semester has encompassed the most life-changing four months of my life. I have come to know this city on the Baltic Sea like the back of my hand, familiar with every nook and cranny of its 300 year history. I have seen Tchaikovsky's ballet at the Mariinsky Theater and explored the darkness and resilient light of besieged Leningrad. I have eaten more blini, shashlik, and shaverma than I would care to remember, and I have thoroughly sampled the Russian beer repertoire.
I have rubbed elbows with Gogolesque characters on Nevsky Prospekt, and stalked after Raskolnikov in the back alleys of Sennaya Ploschad. I have eaten a lifetime of sour cream and dill. I have sweated bullets in a banya and "caught" my own fish dinner. I have successfully dealt with the Russian postal system and have learned (the hard way) about the value of small change.
Read David's entire story...
Second Place
Melinda Misener, Williams College
CIEE Study Center in Guanajuato, Mexico
Please, please let us in?
Strange thing is, I’m not sure which performance we were waiting for. I went to more than eight shows during those three weeks of the Festival Cervantino in Guanajuato, Mexico; at least five of those were the free concerts at the Alhóndiga every night. Those free shows were particularly popular, so you had to get there early if you wanted a seat. My friend Kristin and I had arrived early, by nearly two hours, for this show. But we were kept waiting.
Why it is that I can’t recall whether we were waiting for a tango group from Argentina or a folkloric dance group from Mexico City? My memories never seem focused on what they should be. When I think about the performance that evening, I can recall the movement on stage, and the colorful costumes, and the cheering, but those details are blurry compared to my sharp memory of the policeman standing before me, blocking my way in, avoiding eye contact with me.
Read Melinda's entire story...
Third Place
Laura Grevas,
Wartburg College
CIEE Study Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina
If I don't think too hard about my experience in Argentina, it can easily feel like a dream - a sort of extended vacation in which the novelty of it all keeps cross-cultural frustrations at bay. A new and exciting place where a month of cloudy days doesn't bring the melancholy that usually accompanies Minnesota winters.
But as I sit here, in the dead of winter, I can't pretend I just took a five-month getaway to somewhere warmer. Nor do I want to. It was much more. And if I look in the mirror, the evidence is clear.
Read Laura's entire story...