(Erin Mitchell | Student Life)

Those of us who were left feeling a bit unsatisfied with our measly Thanksgiving break can rejoice at the news that Washington University will be overhauling its academic calendar next year. Beginning next fall, the school will give students a full week off from classes for Thanksgiving and remove the fall break entirely. [Editor's note: This assertion may be misreported, according to the University calendar for the 2010-2011 academic year.]

Granted, our fall break wasn’t much to boast about in the first place; for those of us who live any significant distance away from St. Louis, flying home for a three-day weekend is hardly feasible in terms of either time or cost. Fall break serves more as a small reprieve from the monotony of school, giving us a milestone in our progression through the semester.

Perhaps fall break seems more significant than it actually is by nature of calling it “fall break”; in high school, one day off from school hardly qualified as a “break.” Here, however, students count the weeks until they can enjoy an extra day of relaxation or fun. Fall break makes Wednesday the new Thirsty Thursday and Tuesday the new Wasted Wednesday—if you’re into that.

Ultimately, though, the end of fall break is no huge loss. Some people have no classes on Fridays anyway, which renders fall break meaningless in a practical sense. Extending our Thanksgiving break is a fantastic move by Wash. U., and many other universities have already adopted this policy; this year, I had to endure classes on Monday and Tuesday knowing that my brother and high school friends had already been home for two or three days.

The short Thanksgiving break leaves little time to spend with family and friends. For example, I arrived home late Wednesday night and spent a whirlwind three days living out of a suitcase before flying back to school early Sunday morning. Spending Wednesday and Thursday nights with my family meant that I had time with my parents and brother but sacrificed the chance to see my best friend.

A longer Thanksgiving break will also give international students the option of heading home. Under the current system, many students from other countries are forced to stay on campus during the holiday because plane tickets are simply too expensive to purchase for a mere five days of vacation, two of which presumably would be devoted to traveling. With the new calendar, however, students will have nine consecutive days in which to fit traveling and visiting. With two shorter breaks, the possibility of traveling home at all between August and mid-December is precluded for many students. Maybe I’m just immature and three more years of college will change this, but for now I’m a mama’s girl, and four months is simply too long.

A full week off in November will allow for meaningful use of the vacation time, including traveling, seeing friends, being lazy at home, eating, eating more and sleeping.

After all, isn’t that the point of a vacation?

Kate is a freshman in Arts & Sciences. She can be reached via e-mail at kemarcal@wustl.edu.

Playa Marsella in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Have you ever considered exploring the sights of a new country? Did you dream of studying abroad but couldn’t fit it in your schedule? With the economic recession particularly hurting the airline business, international flights are now cheaper than ever. And, with Washington University’s long winter break coming up, now is a great time to think about going overseas. So if you’ve been dying to go on a real vacation and escape the St. Louis chill, or escape America all together, here are a few international locales to check out that won’t break your budget.

Morocco

Located along the Atlantic coast of Northern Africa, Morocco has a lot to offer any tourist—but especially tourists interested in exploring rich, new cultures. Due to its location, Morocco often feels more like the Mediterranean than like Africa. Northern Morocco boasts countless historic cities full of Roman and Islamic influences, lush valleys, and cooler temperatures. But as you move south, Africa emerges.

There is much to explore across all of Morocco’s different districts: Tangiers, Agadir, Marrakech, Casablanca, Ouarzazate and Tarfaya. For a taste of Morocco’s history and culture, Marrakech is a must. And while you’re visiting the city, I definitely recommend exploring the Majorelle Garden, which was bought by famous fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and has inspired many of his runway shows.

If you’re more of a beach person, not to worry—Morocco is a coastal country and boasts 3,000 miles of beachfront. Agadir in the south is the only resort area of Morocco and claims the warmest climate. During the winter months, temperatures tend to hover around 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Morocco’s tourism industry is growing, but it has not yet become an established tourist destination—which means lower prices! You can find nice places to stay without sacrificing comfort. Food and activities won’t cost you much either. Flights to Morocco vary in cost but start around $1,000. Be sure to dig around for the best price—and always call several airlines to ask about their package deals or seasonal specials before you book anything.

Nicaragua

If you’re looking for a great vacation involving beaches, delicious food, lots of local culture and low prices, Nicaragua is for you—particularly if you haven’t had a chance to travel outside America, and you’re looking for something a little closer than these other destinations.

Nicaragua is located right in the middle of Central America and is bordered by the Caribbean Sea on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. I haven’t explored the Caribbean side much, but the Pacific coast is beautiful. I recommend staying in San Juan del Sur, a wonderful coastal town with white sand beaches, great markets and authentic open-air restaurants. Not too far away is Granada—a historical town with a quaint colonial feel—which is definitely worth exploring for a day or two.

Lake Nicaragua, a large lake located in southwest Nicaragua, is also closeby. And in the middle of the lake is Ometepe Island. The island consists of two old volcanoes, some of the country’s most beautiful beaches, and wonderful conservation grounds. I recommend taking a day to hike one of the volcanoes, which are covered in forests full of monkeys and rich wildlife. Ferries take people to and from the island several times a day.

If you don’t get a chance to make it to Ometepe, consider exploring Mombacho instead. This volcano surrounded by small farms and coffee plantations is right near the city of Granada and is a protected nature reserve. At the top of the volcano is a cloud forest, where there are countless nature trails. Here, tourists can spot rare flowers and birds, as well as spectacular views of Lake Nicaragua and the surrounding area.

Flights to Nicaragua can be as cheap as $600 in December and January, and it is easy to find places to stay with comfortable rooms for as little as $40 per night.

Thailand

Thailand is perhaps the most beautiful place I have ever been to. But there’s more to do than just sit on the beach staring into the ocean—try learning to scuba dive. Due to a surge in tourism, Thailand offers visitors numerous licensed diving instructors to choose from. With the clear waters and tropical fish, divers will never be bored here. To experience some of the world’s finest beaches, try visiting Phuket or Ko Samui.

If you’re down south, there are hundreds of small islands jutting out of the water right by the coast that are often full of beautiful caves and hidden beaches, perfect for a boating excursion.

Or you could always consider taking classes in Thai cooking, Buddhism or traditional Thai massage, all of which are very popular tourist activities. And don’t forget about Thailand’s fascinating museums, temples, World Heritage sites and hundreds of national parks.

Flights over winter break can be as low as $1,000, and you can find comfortable rooms for as little as $50 per night.

Vietnam

For another alternative vacation option, Vietnam is one of the most fascinating trips you can find. To really experience Vietnam, you must look at its military history.

Try checking out the Vietnam Military History Museum in Hanoi. Or travel to Cu Chi, and take a tour of the remaining tunnels left over from the war. These tunnels, however, are certainly not for the faint of heart (or for the short of breath). There is very little breathing room along these super-narrow underground pathways. Yet if you can manage to squeeze yourself into one, you’ll see tiny underground rooms that were once people’s living quarters, operating rooms, dining rooms and bathrooms. Most tours of these tunnels also incorporate a brief history of the Vietnam War and a description of their war strategies and weaponry, including some gruesome booby traps.

For a change of pace, head to the Ngũ Hành just south of Da Nang. These mountains are named after the five elements: Kim (metal), Thuy (water), Moc (wood), Hoa (fire) and Tho (earth). But tourists have dubbed these the “Marble Mountains,” as huge amounts of marble and limestone are extracted from the hills. At the base of the mountains is a small narrow “road” full of stalls of marble carvers who sell their artistry to tourists at very low prices. And, of course, haggling is certainly acceptable here.

There are still beaches aplenty in Vietnam, if that’s what you’re looking for. A particularly interesting beach setting is Halong Bay, which consists of almost 2,000 islands extending out of the ocean, most of which house floating villages of fishermen, countless caves, lakes and small beaches, all perfect for a day of exploring.

Flights can be found for $1,500, and hotel rooms can be found all over the country for as little as $15 per night. But if you’re looking for the most comfortable setting at a cheap price, accommodations are often around $50.

What I can (and therefore will) do, however, is give a great big hello to all of my loyal readers and a slightly smaller hello to those of you readers who found this article not so much by following me but by meandering through the jungle of Student Life. How was your summer, reader? Did you go home and see as many friends as you could in those precious few hours of the day you weren’t working? Did you stay here or attend some other university, taking classes or perhaps doing research? Was there an internship waiting for you in some strange city at the beginning of last May?

Regardless of what you did, what you are doing now is the same as what we all are doing now: enjoying the scant time we all have here in St. Louis before we go back to a new school year. But maybe this is a bittersweet time for you. Are you filled with reflections about the past three or four months? Is your mind abuzz with thoughts of what had changed back home? Mine is.

I was still friends with the people I’d been friends with in high school. We still went to the same ice cream parlors and bowling alleys and movie theaters, swam in the same pools, hung out in the same parking lots. We were still close, almost as close as we’d been before college.  But something had changed irreversibly.

The fact of the matter is that a year away changed me in ways that I still don’t quite understand. I have more perspective now; the problems that seemed so insurmountable during high school now make me scoff; the petty concerns of me and my peers have revealed themselves to be nothing more than adolescent whining. I have more experience now; people are more comprehensible to me, and I am more open to new exploration.

The topic of conversation at my home-away-from-home (I spend most of my time here­­—so much, in fact, that I find it difficult to imagine being anywhere else for extended periods of time) strayed from whatever we talked about before college-mania took us over during senior year to stories from college: what we or our friends did, things we saw or heard, the strange people one is bound to meet at an institute of higher learning. True, the stories petered out as time went by, but they were always there.

I spent more and more of my time alone as the summer progressed, wishing fervently for time to speed up until my return here and my reunion with my college friends. While final goodbyes last year were emotional ordeals—sometimes lasting hours—a simple “Have a nice semester” seemed like overkill this year.

Did these changes need to happen? Are they a necessary consequence of leaving the nest, taking on some independence and having life encounters that are totally different from those of the peers with whom I grew up? Am I, Heaven forbid, maturing?

This summer, airport security proved to be even more interesting than normal. I had relatively major shoulder surgery about three weeks before I was supposed to hike, raft, climb, etc. through Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Needless to say, the quarter circle pillow encircling my waist put a bit of a damper on my vacation plans, especially when what was supposed to be a three-week recovery turned into a six-week ordeal. Nonetheless, I decided to continue on my trip and make the best of it. It never crossed my mind that the hardest part about recovering from surgery would be making it through the airport security.

In O’Hare airport, I patiently waited in a half hour line to walk through one of eight security hubs. Considering it was O’Hare, not so bad. I placed my purse on the conveyor belt and walked up to the line. I barely fit through the door, since my pillow was sticking out about a foot and a half in front of me.

“Should I take the pillow off? Run it through the X-ray machine?”

“No!” the security guards replied. They exchanged confused glances.

“We wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself in any way.”  Oh boy.

I walked through the security booth quite soundly. No beeps. But then I was attacked. The male security guard blockaded me into the inspection area.  The female security guard pounced on my pillow, squishing and squeezing and altogether misshaping what was supposed to guard my shoulder. It failed.

After confirming all that my pillow contained was indeed stuffing, I thought I could board the plane. Not so! Again, the male security guard—who was at least twice my size and a foot and a half over my head­­—stepped in front of me. He gave me a very intimidating look and I cowered in the corner.

“Hold out your hands.” What? My good hand went forward. That wasn’t enough. The female security guard took my bad hand and ran over it with a cloth. Then she swabbed my good hand.  I was very confused.  Apparently, my hands were being checked for some kind of residue. While one hand was still pinned by my side. Right.

As I and my surgical devices were being thoroughly inspected, my mother was going through security. With her make-up bag. Which contained liquid makeup and many other assorted containers.

I took off my sling on the way back home. Apparently, having surgery makes you look suspicious. Who knew?