Three Cornell students studying overseas are writing about what they see and hear in their studies, home life and travels in their host countries, as part of a new effort in journalistic online reporting.

Their words and pictures from overseas are posted on "Voices from Cornell Abroad" at http://commune.cit.cornell.edu/blogs/ca/.

"Train travel is a great way to meet other people from all walks of life," writes Amy Lin '08, a biology major (with a concentration in nutrition), who is at Beijing Foreign Studies University in the Language Intensive Program of the Institute for the International Education of Students. She is studying Mandarin in Beijing. "We [overseas students] are a curious sight for the Chinese travelers. According to them, I am 'Yi ge bi zi, liang ge yang jing. I have a nose and two eyes.' This phrase implies that I look just like a Chinese person. They often introduce themselves to me because they think I am a Chinese teacher or trip leader for the foreigners. From there, the ice is broken ... I have had discussions ranging from the One-Child Policy to the latest American celebrity gossip."

The student writers are enrolled in foreign study programs as varied as their on-campus interests. Emily Dally '09 is a major in communication with a minor in French, which she is putting to use in Dakar, Senegal, in a School for International Training program. Her field-based studies include classes in French and the native Wolof tongue, contemporary development and poverty, and traditional Senegalese dance.

Her time in Senegal has included "experiencing the everyday lives of people in remote villages to my own family in the capital city of Dakar, and the research that I will commence on health communication in the rural village of Saraya."

Jill McCoy '09, an English major in Cornell's Paris program, uses the blog, in part, to report on current events affecting daily life in France, including a transit strike that she managed to avoid on a day she had to get to class (which was cancelled when her professor could not commute to the university).

"There's a lot going on these days in France with the kickoff of [French president Nicolas] Sarkozy's term and the resultant transit and student strikes," McCoy writes. "Now there's a serious scandal involving a corrupt child-rescue program and the illegal kidnapping [of] a group of Chadian children. The bad news is that it's not all good news. The good (read: selfish) news is that I'm interested in it and I'm absorbing it."

The writers were chosen from a pool of 14 applicants; the application process involved interviews and a written essay. "Part of the selection process was they should be in different countries, different settings -- urban and rural -- and different colleges," said Corinna Lewis, information coordinator for Cornell Abroad. "We were fortunate that all three of them had home stays, living with local families."

Each year, more than 500 Cornell undergraduates study in more than 40 countries around the world. For more information on Cornell Abroad, visit http://www.cuabroad.cornell.edu/.