What to say about my Study Abroad overall and in retrospect? So much! It was/is so difficult to come back and have people ask “so how was Germany?!” and try to describe it in just a few sentences. In the amount of time that I was there I made great friends, ate great food, learned interesting facts about the culture and history, and got to know a great host family that took care of me as their own. There are so many people to be thanked for this opportunity to even begin to name!
While Germany was a great experience and a lot of fun, I will admit it was a sigh of relief to walk in the airport in Houston and see “Welcome to the United States of America!”. It felt SO good to be home. Germany was awesome along with all the countries that we visited and the people that we met. The Netherlands, Switzerland, Czech Republic, and Austria were each amazing in their own ways. In each country I thought of a town/location that I could compare it to that was back at home. The Netherlands had some crazy people and had sort of an “Austin-feel” to it. While it was nothing like Austin, I thought that’s as close to the Netherlands I had experienced before. Czech Republic was cheap and fun. I still remember getting a salmon dinner for $6! Austria was quite fashionable and had so much culture thrown in as well. (Not to mention the Wiener Schnitzel was the best!) However, my favorite part looking back was experiencing Switzerland’s beauty. Colorado MAY be able to give it a run for its money but everything about it was so pretty and outdoorsy. (No wonder they weren’t as overweight as Americans!)
So many things were learned and experienced in the weeks that I was abroad and I’m thankful for every one. I gained a lot of knowledge through the program and culture exposure. However, with all that being said, America just feels like home. It’s got family and familiar languages and faces. There’s a comfort to it that I never knew it had. The overall thing I learned from studying abroad is just how blessed I am to live in such a wonderful country. I didn’t know how much I took for granted until I experienced what others had. I’m not saying what they had was bad or trashy, it was just different than what I’m used to. Americans are luxurious, lazy, and many times wasteful, but the way I see it, every culture has its ups and downs. I’m extremely grateful that I got to experience the different cultures and lifestyles to compare my everyday life to. It has changed my outlook on America and the world in general. I would HIGHLY recommend studying abroad to anyone who was interested.
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