Truth be told, when I signed up for this class, I expected it to be the easiest class I would ever take. After all, I already had a blog and updated it  regularly, so how hard would it be to just write a few more entries? As it turned out? Very hard.

Most of my entries come into being when something really strikes me, whether in a good way or a bad way. Unfortunately, since external influences are by nature in unpredictable, my typical blogging habits are highly erratic: no entries for a long stretch, only to be followed by three in a day. Of course, that didn’t quite work for a class where an entry has to be produced once every five days.

More difficult yet was to write about specific topics that I had absolutely no inclination to write about, or at most, peripherially. I would sit staring at the assignment prompt for a good while, with my mind drawing a complete blank before giving up. Frustratingly enough to, some of the things that I’d already written about for an open topic suddenly fit into a fixed category later on in the semester, but since they had already been written, couldn’t possibly double count. What was I to write about now, having already written about it before? The class would have been a lot more enjoyable if there were less restrictions on what to write, but more feedback on what about our writing worked or not, and possible other areas to explore that we might not have considered before.

Having to write about events as opposed to thoughts helped me tremendously though, since my normal blog is disproportionately full of introspective musings that make no sense to anyone else but me. This class forced me to sit down and consider my audience more, what they’d want to read, what they’d be bored by, and whether or not they would even understand what I was trying to say. I have a feeling that this class therefore did more than just help hone travel blogging skills; it improved my general writing skills.

this is me posting my blog

I think that having a class abroad from NYC is tricky. Throughout the semester I felt a bit distanced from the course because for me, it was challenging to have a class without a set class time and without a professor that I physically see and speak to on a weekly basis. I found that the distance made committing to the class far more difficult. I had trouble remembering to keep up with my posts and for some reason, even though I enjoy the assignments, it was always a chore for me to sit down and actually get to work. Regardless, I don’t think there is any way to avoid the feeling of disconnect I felt with the class…I’m not sure what else I could have expected. I think I found it especially difficult to adjust to because I had taken the “Abroad at Home” course last semester in NYC which was very similar to this course, but having a physical class and a professor and a great class dynamic made a huge difference.

In reference to the assignments, I liked the open topics the best. Sometimes I found the more specific topics frustrating because I felt like I had to desperately weed through my experiences here in Buenos Aires in order to find something that applied to the assigned topic. Often I felt I was turning my experiences into something they were not by attempting to analyze them in a specific way. Still, I really enjoyed this class because it forced me to take a step back from the fast pace of my life and my experiences abroad; the process of blogging grounded me in a sense. My time in Buenos Aires has passed so quickly, but these assignments were able to briefly remove me from many moments that may have just flown by if I hadn’t stopped to look for them. I am happy I took this class and I would choose to take it again if I were reliving my semester in BA.

I originally signed up for this blog because I was excited to use my new digital camera to publish my own images on a site. When I heard that a family friend had gone to Buenos Aires and gotten his camera stolen I backed down and decided not to bring my own. For the first month or so I used other peoples’ pictures and ones I found on the web. Then my parents brought a camera down which was smaller and more practical and I began to integrate a few original pictures into my posts; but by then this course was well underway and I no longer cared most about the graphics. Instead, blogging became a way to distill some of the thought processes that were going on in my head or to clear those processes away and respond to a prompt or reading that I had not seen or considered before.

I liked blogging but it never became a habit. It was less like a work-weekly activity and more like a somewhat stressful though usually enjoyable unburdening that happened in clumps as the semester progressed. In this way I don’t think that I experienced part of what blogging is said to be about. And I think that if I were to take this course again I would try to post more regularly. The way I (and many people, especially those I know in Buenos Aires) did it did not feel exactly like a blogging class. But I don’t consider this a failure on my or the course’s part. Each post was an experience in rehashing experiences, feelings, and opinions within a structure that I felt was loose enough to let my thoughts flow.

This class is very different because of Steve’s Wizard-of-Oz manner of teaching. I received a few e-mails from him towards the beginning but other than that I barely feel the presence of the teacher. I do wonder about how my performance is being evaluated, whether my posts are being seen as good or bad but I realized that if I received any of that information this class would cease to be about blogging. Responses are not papers and though I’m sure they will be graded with some element of normative university policy I have not worried about that when I have written responses and I appreciate that.

What would have made it better? I think that it is good that Steve wasn’t as strict as he could have been about the schedule for turning in posts. I think it is best to respond more regularly—to make blogging a habit rather than a confusing mixture of duty and pleasure. Yet it was difficult to make this habit and maybe (maybe) it would have been easier had there been more occasions to write on an open topic instead of a prompt. That said, I think all the prompts were helpful. Maybe my main criticism relates to the timing of the class in relation to the study abroad programs. In New York school is over and kids from a few of the programs that began with Spring semester are back at home as well. Meanwhile the students in Buenos Aires and Shanghai have a few more weeks left meaning our final thoughts are going to be sent out (tonight) before I think my actual final impressions have taken shape. This is a casualty of school-schedules and the beginning of summer-term which I don’t know how to solve. All and all, I have really enjoyed this course and think it is a meaningful addition to the travel experience. Thank you.

Blogging is hard workLast semester I really wanted to take another class offered by Steve called Abroad at Home which is kind of taught in the same manner as this one, with the only difference being that there was an actual class setting. Because I had a class that conflicted with the time, I set up an Independent Study with Steve based on the class he was teaching. I had so much fun with the class, and even though I wasn't necessarily a part of it in the traditional sense, I still felt like I was. I was able to set up meetings with Steve, exchange e-mails, I received comments from him and his classmates and was incited to stop by the class whenever I could. For some reason this time around felt isolating and I'm not exactly sure why. One of the problems I believe, stems from the fact the students going to BA start much later than the rest of the study abroad kids, and our posts just don't coincide with one another. Because of this, it's really difficult to really get a feel of your progression. I know there's probably no way to really fix that, but I guess it's just something to point out. I notice that this time around there's a lot more open topics than last semester which is great and the readings were really good as well. There were times when I felt that the prompt for the next blog post didn't necessarily apply to my own experiences and I had a lot of difficulty being able to articulate my experiences in a way that I felt was appropriate for a class setting. The posting schedule at times felt rushed. But I guess that's my fault for being so behind.

Having already taken the class before, I felt that there was a noticeable difference in the amount of response I got from Steve this semester as opposed to last semester. I was surprised when he emailed me to see if I was ok because of the lack of me posting, and even proclaimed to him jokingly that I thought he had forgotten me. Maybe I was just spoiled last semester, but sometimes I didn't even think anyone was reading my posts. There was a lot more correspondence between a poster and a commenter that I didn't really see this time around.

This class will always have a special place in my heart though. Even if its not time for me to post a blog, I find myself internet surfing and still finding myself back here. Sometimes I still can't believe this is a class. Where else can you find a class where there's a bunch of student traveler-bloggers, travel internships, travel news, travel scholarships and youtube videos all in one.

Playing set in the park and thinking of blog anecdotes. Yes, I have a scarf on my head....This class really worked for me in ways I didn’t expect it to. Initially I felt very self-conscious about posting. I have never written anything so public before and it created a lot of writer’s block for me in the beginning. I am really proud of how my confidence evolved over the course of the semester, especially lately as I have had to boldly pump out blog posts the last few days, and there’s been no time to worry. This class also helped me experience Buenos Aires in ways I would not have without the class. I found myself seeing the world around me in of blog posts. This sounds like a way to disconnect, and observe the city passively, but for me, it actually forced me to think critically about the culture I was experiencing. I would have some funny run in with a taxi driver, or a hostile twelve year old, and I would find myself thinking: this will be a great anecdote for my blog! I think without the class, all the inconveniences of being foreign would have just frustrated me, but through this class, I was able to appreciate these moments as unavoidable aspects of travel, which in a way is what I asked for choosing to study abroad. I also got some exposure to and practice with travel writing, a style I had never explored before. But I do have a few, tiny, really insignificant complaints… I thought the class was a little too big. I read in other people’s posts that they appreciated connecting with students at other study abroad sites, and sharing common experiences. I was only partly able to do this successfully. I would have liked it better if it had been a small group and I felt like I was keeping up with everyone, or almost everyone’s blogs. Rather when it came time to post a comment I would just randomly pick a post to comment on, with or without having kept up with all of the rest of their blog posts. As a result, I felt like I was getting a disjointed view of other people’s experiences abroad, which made it hard for me to connect to the other students. The only blogs I truly followed were the blogs of the other students in Buenos Aires, and I only followed their blogs because I know them personally, and often times the things they are posting about are things that directly affected me too, which kind of feels like cheating. I also wished the dates on the syllabus had been shifted for the Buenos Aires kids. I ended up completely ignoring, to the point of almost forgetting the suggested dates to post by, got totally off schedule and I screwed myself over in the end (if you haven’t noticed I’ve posted seven times in the past week, which is not what I initially intended to do). Other than those small complaints, I loved the class, and found it amazingly complimentary to my study abroad experience. 

the internetThis course was difficult for me because I felt very alone and isolated. Even though we comment on each other’s blogs, it felt impersonal and didn’t really lead to any discussion. And because I felt very alone, it became more and more difficult to hold myself accountable to actually doing my work on time and doing it to the best of my ability. I think it could be a really great tool to learn about places all over the world and share the common experience of immersion, but I don’t think I made it as meaningful as I was hoping. In the end, I’m not much of a technological person and the social barriers of internet communication really do affect my ability to interact. Blogging is probably not for me.
I think in the future, it would help those students who have my problem if there was more teacher/student interaction regarding assignments timeliness and quality. I still don’t know if what I’ve been writing is of the appropriate length, formality, clarity, etc. It would have helped me to hear that someone was out there reading and guiding me. Also, I think some form of discussion board could encourage more student interaction. In addition to commenting on blogs, if there was an on going discussion we could have more back and forth and dialoguing about our experiences.

Friend's Broken Wrist @ Chinese HospitalI had never taken an online course before and didn’t know what to expect. I hadn’t ever blogged before, I knew it wasn’t going to be technically challenging but I was hoping it would challenge me intellectually. I wanted to come into this study abroad experience with an open mind and I wanted to reflect on the things I was experiencing, I can honestly say that The Art of Travel helped me greatly in reflecting on my experiences.

The course was pretty straight forward and it was what I expected it to be. The hardest part of the blog, for me, was meeting the deadlines for the assignments. Initially, it was difficult to become adjusted to a new culture, learn a language, socialize and still blog regularly. Because there isn’t a classroom setting it is easy to forget that you have a 5th online-only course. Assignments then become piled up and you can easily be set-back 3-4 assignments without even realizing. However, it was easy to catch up and Professor Hutkin’s reminders were helpful as well.

I appreciated that the deadlines were there more for guidelines than actual mandatory requirements. It would’ve taken away from the course itself and from the actual blogging experience and the travel experience. The flexible syllabus gave students a chance to complete the assignments but on their own time, just like how a blog should be. The first few assignments were awkard. It was difficult for me to express how I was feeling and what I was experiencing into words, and even more difficult for me to put all my thoughts out there for everybody to see. As the semester progressed I became accustomed to the thought of blogging and actually came to enjoy it.

I would have liked it a little more if there were more “open topic” assignments. I just feel a blog should be a medium for someone to talk about whatever they want, I understand that The Art of Travel is still a course and needs a syllabus and structure, but a couple more “open topic” assignments would’ve been appreciated. I understand that the comments requirements were there to facilitate discussion and support bloggers but I found it a bit of a nuisance as a requirement. I regularly read people’s blogs but sometimes I just felt like I didn’t have anything to say, maybe that’s something I need to work on. The photo requirements were nice because it gave the other bloggers a chance to see what that blogger sees, even if its just a photo. It also would have been nice to here some feedback from Professor Hutkins in our blog comments.

When this semester began I must admit that I was conflicted regarding whether or not I would enjoy this class. Blogging was not something that I was knowledgeable about (yes, even though I live in this technology driven society blogging was not something I had ever responded to). But the concept of the class did appeal to me. The idea that I would have a place where I could talk about my semester abroad, almost like a journal keeping track of what and how I was doing, was something I was looking forward to. So, I tried to keep an open mind.

Blogging in my room! (Sticking my tongue out at my roommate, not at blogging!)

Now that the semester is coming to an end, I must say that I am a bit sad to leave behind this blog. I think it is a great way for students who are similarly studying abroad to reach out to one another and converse about their experiences. 

Somedays, I did find the blog topics difficult to start, but for the most part they were easy since it was basically writing about personal travel experiences, etc. I do wish, however, that we were given more 'open topics'. Its nice when I can just write about travel plans or something that I experienced while living abroad and get feedback from my fellow classmates. As for the reading, I found it very insightful. It made me think more deeply about the idea of travel and what it means to me to be able to travel. 

For the question of whether or not I found a new appreciation for blogging, I am sad to say that I haven't. Not that there is anything wrong with the process or even the concept of blogging, it is simply that I don't feel I can commit to blogging. I enjoyed the class for the sake of education and studying abroad, but if and when I decide to travel again to a different country or city I find comfort in the fact that I don't have to dedicate my travels to typing away at a computer. Instead, I like to live in that moment of the journey. Its my time to experience life and blogging just interrupts that time.

I can't really say whether I have any suggestions for making this class better. I can't complain because it was a very freeing class based solely on my own opinions. There really is no right or wrong to what I blog, just as long as I do. 

I had a wonderful time and could not have asked for a better class!

Overall, I have mixed feeling about the course. I liked the diversity of assignments but often wanted more “open topics” than specified ones. I feel like I had many experiences that were not conducive to talking about considering each assignment.
I think the amount of work was appropriate, however, since this is a blogging class minus the classroom, I sometimes would forget to blog. It would have been helpful to have maybe a monthly email reminder to the class just saying, hey these blogs are do on this date and that.
I think my favorite topic was the departure/arrival posts. In hindsight, it is interesting to look at the class’s expectations of the places they are studying in comparison to their thoughts now.

This class has been a very good opportunity, and it is a very interesting concept. When I told my friends abroad about the course, they were all jealous, a class without a classroom requirement is very appealing. It also made my course load a lot more manageable because I did not have to take 18 credits like some of my friends.

I wish I had been a little bit better about keeping up with the blogs. I had a really hard time getting them done because of computer problems, and truthfully it is really easy to forget. I really appreciated the friendly nudges Steve gave me to keep on going.

I really would have liked it if people put up more pictures from their trip. The formatting looks funny with more then one picture, so no one really took the extra step to post more pictures. The pictures were my favorite part. I really wanted to visit a lot of the places people are studying, so it was a really interesting experience.

On a side note, I had a lot of trouble with the formatting. I wasn't always able to get paragraph breaks and I had trouble with the pictures a few times.