Fasten your seatbelts! This summer, we took an Epic Canadian Road Trip, driving from our home in Kalamazoo, Michigan all the way out to St. John’s, Newfoundland (yes, a ferry was involved). Why? Well, I’m the co-founder of Writing Walking Women, and we chose St. John’s as the site of our conference this year – MUCH more on that to come!

Charles Kronk (charleskronk.com) is a junior at the University of Pittsburgh majoring in bioinformatics with focuses in German studies, international studies, neuroscience, computer science, web development, statistics, biology, chemistry, global health studies, European politics and theatre arts (because choosing any one thing was just too difficult).

Working abroad is one of the best ways to experience a different culture first-hand whilst developing a new professional skillset. If your current job does not offer the opportunity to travel, or if you are simply looking to try something new, there is a wealth of employment prospects to be explored the world over.

Students are not known to be the tidiest bunch out there. When each day, your date is only with the library and a stack of books, there is understandably a reluctance to dress up. Indeed, for those forced to wear school uniforms, there is probably a significant amount of relief in finally being able to cast of those uniforms once school life is final over.

Clara Dorfman is a senior majoring in philosophy and Italian at the University of Pittsburgh. She spent the summer of 2014 interning at Vatican Radio in Rome, and then the following school year studying at the University of Bologna. Before coming back to Pittsburgh this year for her final year of college, she returned to Rome for another internship, this time at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See.

Have you seen Once? It's a musical that touches the heart of anyone who loves music. ONCE is the celebrated new musical based on the Academy Award-winning film. It tells the story of an Irish musician and a Czech immigrant drawn together by their shared love of music. Over the course of one fateful week, their unexpected friendship and collaboration evolves into a powerful but complicated romance, heightened by the raw emotion of the songs they create together.

Brianna Gasgonia grew up in Southern California and is a senior at the University of Pittsburgh, double majoring in German and Russian and pursuing certificates in Russian and Eastern European Studies and European Union Studies. Her interest in international affairs began shortly after high school graduation, when she had the opportunity to study abroad in Germany as a Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Scholar.

If you travel a lot, you would have realized that Chardonnay (pronounced shar-do-nay, for all those uninitiated out there) can almost be found everywhere. If your country produces wine, it most likely produces this white grape variety. In fact, a grocery near you might be offering a Chardonnay wine or two. The Chardonnay variety is what we can call the “initiation wine” for start-up wineries.

Florida Culture for the Week of January 25, 2016 by Josh Garrick