Time Flies

It’s half way through spring semester and it seems like only a week or so ago I was traveling all throughout Europe. It’s still hard for me to fathom the fact that I’ve seen the Eiffel tower, I celebrated New Year’s in Berlin, and visited the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna. I still can’t believe I was at one point elbow deep in a cow or that I was only a few feet from an exposed and beating human heart. I could go on and on about all the amazing things I saw and experienced. In fact talking about this trip seems to creep into my everyday conversation and is something I will truly never forget. People are usually very surprised by some of the things we were able to do.

There are an endless number of things I learned on this trip. I learned that I actually do enjoy some history; in fact anytime my history teacher mentions Germany I perk up a bit and usually know what he’s talking about. I learned how to deal with different types of people- whether it be people you travel with and are around for 3 three weeks (no offense to anyone!), those who don’t speak the same language as you, or those who are just plain rude. I even learned more about myself. I’ve learned to be more open and accepting to new ideas, as well as trying new things. As my title of this blog says, time flies- so I’ve learned that you need to take amazing opportunities like this trip when they come and to embrace it while it lasts. I don’t know when I’ll have another chance to go on a trip as amazing as this was.

I have enjoyed being back in America, not living out of a suitcase, and being able to see my family, though I do miss so many things about Europe, especially Germany. I miss attempting to read German signs and menus, I miss the subways (it was quite difficult to drive for the first time after returning home!), I miss trying new types of food, I miss German beer, I miss talking to natives and listening to their opinions and learning about their way of life, I basically miss everything about this trip. Well, except trudging through the snow on a daily basis. I’m originally from Chicago and have thought about going back there for graduate school, but now I don’t know if I could handle 5 years of snow!!!!

Since there were so many things I loved, it makes me think about all the other things I’m “missing out on”. There’s so much more out there that I can learn about and experience. I’ve always loved traveling, but now my love for traveling is on a whole other level. I’d love to definitely travel back to Germany as well as many other countries. Hopefully I can fit this in sometime in the near future before I have to face the reality of having a career, bills, and even bigger responsibilities. This trip has also made me think about my future. I’d like to incorporate international learning and interaction into my future. I wouldn’t mind traveling for “business” (whatever it is that I wind up doing) and working with people in another country. This trip has made me look at the bigger picture. I was so used to thinking America was the best and not worrying about other countries. Now I can see and appreciate the importance of working with other countries- it’s amazing how much you can learn from them.

I’d like to thank Dr. Wasser, Olaf, Dr. Roussel, all the AIB staff, and anyone else that helped make this trip possible. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget and would recommend to anyone!!!