Study Abroad at Queens University Belfast, Ireland/UK

As cliche as this sounds, my semester in Belfast was everything I desired out of an abroad experience and more. The city is small and walk-able, each quarter has interesting nooks and crannies to explore. Queen's Quarter, where QUB is housed, is a fabulous part of Belfast; restaurants (Maggie May's milkshakes, Ryan's banoffee pie, French Village's everything), pubs (Woodworker's craft beer samplers, Filthy McNasty's cocktails), coffeehouses (the Pocket), grocery stores, bus stops, health centers and pharmacies are all just a short walk away which make this quarter easy to live in. The people in Belfast are friendly, funny, and outgoing making it easy to make friends and feel at ease in your new home. Moreover, Belfast is beautiful with greenery everywhere, Victorian architecture sprinkled throughout the city, the iconic Lanyon building at QUB, and a gorgeous nature, countryside-like escape along the Lagan River called the Tow Path.
In comparison to my small, liberal arts college in the States, QUB was much academically less rigorous making it a very easy semester. Despite that, I do feel as though I learned a lot while at Queen's--make sure you attend tutorial since that's where you'll get a lot of the valuable instruction.
What really made Belfast feel like a home away from home were the other international students I befriended. QUB did a wonderful job introducing us by housing us together and providing mixers at the beginning of the term. These people became family to me; we did everything together and a select group of us were actually inseparable. None of my close friends there studied the same subjects as me and most of them were not Americans either which made my friendships a cultural learning experience.
All in all, I cannot put in words how amazing my time in Belfast was. To all thinking about attending QUB, do it. You won't regret it.