Looking Back

As I write this post summer is coming to a close and I am prepping for my senior year of college.  I have been back in the U.S. for a while now and I have not been able to stop talking about Europe since I got back.  My journey back to America actually felt a bit rushed.  Rather than having time to slowly adjust to life back in the states it felt like I was just immediately thrown back in.  As soon as I landed in America my mom picked me up and we headed to Galveston for the day.  One of my favorite things about this was seeing my mom’s reaction to my hair.

 

During the last week of the program I decided to bleach my hair, but I kept this a secret from everyone in the states.  As I walked up to the car my mom had her mouth hung open in bewilderment the entire time.  I had wanted to bleach my hair for a while and for whatever reason I decided that Europe was the appropriate place to go through with it.  I am not sure exactly how, but I think going to Europe helped boost my confidence to be my own person.  If I had to guess there are probably two factors that played a role in this.  For one, Europe is a much more open-minded place than America.  This is a bit of a blanket statement, but I think it holds true for the most part.  That being said, I just gained a better perspective on how to be myself.  At the end of the day there is no point in trying to dress or act like someone you are not.  This is not to say that I came back from Europe a completely different person, I just feel a little more comfortable doing my own thing now.  The other factor in this change would have to be the amazing friends that I made while in Europe.  I managed to find some truly amazing people who I really clicked with.  I feel like I really got to be myself around these people and I was rewarded by making friends that I think will last a lifetime. 

Going to Europe helped me meet some truly amazing people.  This would have to be one of the things that I was the most surprised about.  I knew I would meet all kinds of amazing people but I never thought I would leave Europe having made as good of friends as I did.  I became closer with some of the people on the trip than I am with people I have known for a few years now.  I had just heard so many stories of people going on study abroad trips and making friends but then once they were back in the states they barely kept in contact.  Since returning from Europe I have seen almost every single person that I became close with while in Europe.  They have visited me in Houston and I have visited them in their hometowns.  I am so thankful for the knowledge I gained on this trip but I think I am most thankful for the friends that I gained. 

One thing that surprised me about the trip was how close I ended up getting with my host family.  I think a lot of this had to do with how loving my host family was.  The very first night we were there they had arranged a huge spread of food for Dae and me.  It felt like they were welcoming back a part of their family that had been out of the country for a long time.  During the first night we were there they also made it very clear that from then on out were a part of their family.  We were to help ourselves to anything in the house and should we need anything we just had to ask.  I felt kind of bad that I was unable to spend more time with my host family.  It seemed like I was constantly coming home late or only seeing them for dinner.  The time we had together though was awesome and I learned a lot from living with them.  We touched on many things including the dreaded topic of politics.  They were always very open with me about their ideas and had a lot of wisdom to share.  While their views differed from mine from time to time they were never rude.  They wanted to learn about America as much as I wanted to learn about Germany.  Talking with my host family helped give me a new perspective on a lot of things.  In living with my host family and just from being in Europe I learned just how important it is that people learn from each other.  We have so much to learn from each other and if people could learn to be a little more open-minded I think the world would be a better place. 

In going to Europe I gained a different perspective on nationality.  Up until this trip I had only ever left the country to go to Canada and I had gone when I was much younger.  After being in Europe for a few weeks though I truly felt labeled as an American.  That may sound weird but I had just never put much thought into it.  I have been surrounded by Americans constantly for a majority of my life so I did not put a lot of thought into nationality.  While I was in Europe so many different races of people surrounded me and I knew that when they looked at me they saw an American.  I was not just another face in the crowd.  We as a group definitely stood out at times because of where we are from.  I think this experience gave me valuable insight into what it feels like to be a foreigner in a country.  For the most part everyone was very hospitable in Europe, but there were times where people said some very rude things because they knew I was an American.  At a time where there is a lot of racial tension in America, and around the world, I think it was really healthy for me to know what it feels like to be a foreigner and to not be accepted by the people around me.  Becoming aware of my nationality also made me want to be on my best behavior while I was in Europe.  I know that there are a lot of negative stereotypes about Americans so I wanted to prove that we are better than how we are presented at times.  I had a true sense that I was representing my country and my university while I was in Europe and I tried to act as such. 

Going to Europe with this program was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Over the course of six weeks I visited six different countries, learned about European culture and the history of medicine, and made friends that will last a lifetime.