By avoiding writing this post I have been living in denial that I am back. If you told me before I left for Germany that I would love it I would believe you, but if you told me that I would stay forever if I given the chance I don't think I would have. I knew when Dr.Wasser gave the Hero's journey lecture that the trip would transform me in some way but I was thinking more surface level. I knew I would learn more about other cultures but I didn't just LEARN it, I LIVED it. I moved into a home with a family who in almost every way, operated differently than mine. A family who really didn't speak much of the same language. I travelled around countries I had never been to before with people I had never met and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything in the world. The things I experienced and saw have changed me already in ways I didn't expect. I realized that we live in a bubble in our country. We are so far removed from everyone and everything that we take for granted the calm that we are used to. I miss waking up in the morning to the birds outside my window and having breakfast with my host family while their cat tries to rub on my coffee mug. I miss power walking every morning with Ali to class early enough to grab coffee at the AIB. I miss tai chi in the courtyard during breaks. I miss traveling on the weekends to new places with my friends, and even forgetting my eurail pass. During my Berlin day we went with a yogi, Nico, to an abandoned spy station built upon a literal mountain of world war two rubble. We learned about and enveloped ourselves in the sounds of the city and nature. He taught us about the thin space between the two and how it is the cusp of diversity. I feel like right now I also am living in a sort of thin space between two different worlds. I am back in the US with my family, getting into the old routine, taking classes, working again, but I am also conscious of the things I have and how lucky I am to be able to do what I do and the way I do it. I notice small things around me that I wouldn't have ever done before because I have experienced what it is like to be the outsider. When I landed in Newark I was stunned by the lack of any language other than english in the airport. Since I noticed that, I have looking everywhere I go for any other language written anywhere. I don't even want to think of what would have happened had Europe not had things printed in multiple languages everywhere. The Frankfurt airport had German, English, Spanish, Japanese, and others so anyone flying in would be able to find their way around and yet as a country that prides itself in being a "melting pot" we can't even put up signs in other languages anywhere. I know that that is a small thing to pinpoint but it's only the tip of the iceberg in things that I am starting to become conscious of.
I knew I was going to see amazing things on the trip and that I would learn some cool facts but I honestly feel as though I have gained a new outlook on life and that is what I am most thankful for. If anyone reading this is curious about the trip or whether or not they should go - do it. Take the leap. Learn more about yourself than you ever thought possible. Meet new people, make new amazing friends. This is the most important time of your life and if I dare say, one of the most important times in history to be stretching out and becoming more cross culturally aware. Things are changing here, things are changing everywhere. Be part of the reason that it's in a better way. It won't make sense reading these posts, it truly takes the experience - but I promise you it's real.
Thank you to Dr.Wasser for never having a dull lecture and making me realize how much I don't know - in the best way possible. Thank you to Professor Waltz for teaching me a better way to appreciate music and where to sit in a movie theater. Thank you to Alexa and Brian for always being there to answer a million stupid questions and always giving me a laugh. Lastly, thank you to all my friends I made on this trip. I really don't know where I'd be without everyone I met. To end this I thought I'd share some of my favorite memories:
-Completely busting my butt dancing with Madison during the Norderney barbecue
-Thalasso every morning on Norderney
-Malloy's in Dublin with the gang just singing along to classic songs before being called French by the singer lol
-Getting to see the goat with Emily in Dublin. iykyk
-The Versailles rave - Tyler, the Creator showed up
- Swimming in the river in Vienna and then going to Europe's oldest amusement park
-Getting to tour Prague with Madison and her long time friend from Czech
-My Berlin Day with Nico
-Wandering around Vienna after the concert and singing way to loud in the subway stations to Taylor Swift
-THE BADEHAUS
-The Rhine cruise
-Dragging Ali into every cheese store in Amsterdam
-Watching Geordie Shore in Amsterdam and laughing so hard I cried
-There are so many more to mention but this would get way to long, congrats if you're still reading
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