The application for studying abroad in Fall 2015 is quickly approaching on Feb. 10. However, we realize that for some of you, the very thought of filling out yet another application might inspire several days of straight-out-of-the-carton Ben & Jerry’s consumption in an unlit dorm room.
Have no fear! 4E has a solution to your application woes with several ways for you to study abroad without ever leaving this state city federal district we call home.
We researched some of the best and most popular places to study abroad (research=consulting BuzzFeed, answerer of all of life’s inquiries), and then devised alternatives right here in DC.
Don’t bother paying for flights and dealing with the hassle of actually traveling to a foreign country, having a life changing experience, immersing yourself in different cultures and learning about the world. With the help of our advice, you can do basically the same thing while still having the option of returning to your cozy dorm room every night and watching Netflix for 5 hours.
Here are the best ways to study abroad in DC:
- Australia. Who would want to take the 20-hour flight to Australia when you can have basically the same experience right here on Georgetown’s campus? That’s right, instead of traveling all the way to Australia, you can just wander down to the brand new volleyball court in Southwest Quad, which they decided to build in the middle of winter. Australia has lots of sand. So does the volleyball court. You know what Australia also has? Poisonous snakes.
Winner: Volleyball Court
- Shanghai, China. Why go all the way to China when you can just hop on the Metro and go to Chinatown? Although Chinatown has the totally authentic Chinese arch, we’ve noticed that the area itself is kind of a scam: most of the stores are just American retailers with signs in Chinese lettering. If you’re looking to remedy the situation with quality Chinese food, unfortunately, DC’s options leave much to be desired. By the time you get the motivation to venture out into suburbia for more authentic cuisine, you might as well have just taken the flight to China to get the real thing.
Winner: Actual China
- Cape Town, South Africa. South Africa is in Africa (it’s even in the name!). Also in Africa: Ethiopia. According to seriouseats.com DC is one of the world’s best places to find Ethiopian food, “second only to Addis Ababa”. With the many Ethiopian restaurants in DC, including Meskerem, Dukem and Ethiopic, you could probably spend an entire semester eating at a different restaurant every night. While this sounds compelling, the total cost of all that injera bread and doro wat would probably add up to a round-trip plane ticket, and spending a semester exploring South Africa does sound pretty rad.
Winner: Spend the Fall semester eating your weight in tibs and the Spring semester in Cape Town (the weather is better!). End the year with negative dollars to your name.
- London, England. London is basically the same as America, except more cloudy and with more tea. Also, we beat them in the Revolutionary War. Instead of going to London, just marathon Harry Potter and Sherlock.
Winner: USA! USA! USA!
- Madrid, Spain. I don’t really have an argument for this one. You should probably just go to Spain. I mean, look at this city.
And these churros with chocolate.
Also, Enrique is from Madrid.
Winner: Just go to Madrid.
In conclusion, you should probably suck it up and fill out that study abroad application, unless you’ve been convinced to take advantage of the severely underused volleyball court. DC is great, but the opportunity to see other parts of the world and have amazing experiences is greater. So go to https://studyabroad.georgetown.edu/, take a deep breath, and finish filling out that application. I believe in you. And so does Enrique.
Pictures/Gifs: giphy.com, Flickr.com, Shutterstock.com, alpineservices.com, jllproperty.com, humanandnatural.com
