The transition from living it up abroad to the daily routine
of college life was mind boggling. I remember the first day of class looking
over at Jessica and saying, “Can you believe we were in Vienna 24 hours ago?” I
didn’t even begin to realize how much our adventure impacted me until I first started
to notice little things. I had to stop myself from saying danke instead of
thank you, or driving to class I found myself wondering where the train to ETB
was (or should I be walking, it’s probably only takes 10 minutes) or realizing
I wasn’t craving sprite, I wanted “Lift”! Even In casual conversations I would
find myself saying something along the lines of, “Oh that reminds me about this
time in Germany when...” And I’m not going to lie, saying that made me feel prettyyyy
cool. Don’t mind me, just a world traveler over here!
But it wasn’t just a cool thing to brag about or a check off
my bucket list. Studying abroad honestly was a life changing experience for me.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what I took away from this amazing experience but
I tried to pick out 3 thing that really stuck with me...
First of all, who knew how awesome Germany is? Whenever I
hear people talk about where they want to travel it’s generally countries like
France, Spain, or Italy. But traveling through Germany was amazing. There is
history literally everywhere whether its cities that survived the war, a house that
used to be a gestapo prison, a cathedral that was built over a 600 year time
frame, or Roman ruins, seemily under ever road and building. Dr. Wasser led us
on a tour through the History Museum that was so interesting and detailed we
had Germans tagging along to get a little of the knowledge downpour. And I can’t say how great Germany was without
mentioning our favorite German and program coordinator, Olaf. The trip would
not have been as memorable without him.
Secondly, let’s be real, the US is not all that great. That sounds
so unpatriotic but that’s not the point! There is so much American pride, not
to mention Texan pride, but now I know we don’t necessarily have the best and
only way of doing things. My favorite lecture of Dr. Wasser’s had to be the one
about the American healthcare system compared to those in different European
countries. There can be a hundred different perspectives and it’s important to
try and consider them all. I want to say I am better about keeping an open mind
since being back.
Lastly, our trip has been such an eye opener to me about how
rewarding traveling is! This was my first time out of the continent. I knew I
would have a good time but there’s no way I could have anticipated the actual experience.
Now I have five countries down, how many more can I visit? I have been inspired
and have made a point to make traveling a goal in my life. There is so to learn
and so much to see and I want to experience it all! I am so grateful for this
amazing experience, the great friends I made along the way, and Dr. Wasser and
Olaf for making it possible.
So with that being said, who’s ready to go back to Europe with
me?
No comments:
Post a Comment