After being back in the states for over a month or so, things have returned to normal for the most part. To be honest I haven’t made any life style or drastic changes since returning from Europe, I’ve been slowly acclimating back to my US lifestyle. I must admit that I do miss Europe a lot and often find myself daydreaming about being back in Germany. I miss the culture, the beer, and the public transportation (although it does feel good to drive my own car again). Probably what I miss the most was the carefree attitude I adopted while I was in Europe. Even though we were always busy and always traveling it was still a relaxing time.
I learned an awful lot from my month abroad, like how to use public transportation in different countries, a great deal of medical history and German history, and a lot about myself. When I first got off the plane (arriving to Germany) I had no clue how to exchange money, buy a train ticket, nor did I know how to get around. However, if I were put in that same situation after having spent a month in Europe I would have no problem accomplishing this. I have become a much more experienced and wiser traveler. I also found that my experiences while abroad focused me toward my goal to become a physician. For some reason, being exposed to the medical field/health care in Germany further solidified my desire to pursue a career in medicine. Traveling to all the hospitals, research facilities, health science centers and all the other field trips we went on allowed me to view health care in a whole new light; it provided me with new insight into the profession that I desire to become a part of by allowing me to compare/contrast the various health care systems in the world.
Despite the fact that our group was half the size of all the previous study abroad groups (which was worrisome at first) turned out to be just fine. We all became really good friends and we had a great time with one another. In fact, having a small group probably had some benefits. We were able to visit places a bigger group probably would not have been able to go to and b/c of the size of group the tours that we took were more personal. However, big group or small group, it would be hard to find a way to not enjoy yourself while in Germany/Europe.
In conclusion, this study abroad experience was something that I will remember for a lifetime. My experiences on this trip have opened the doors for other opportunities such as more traveling or studying/ working abroad at some other time in my life. My eyes were opened to a completely different world outside of Texas. I had a wonderful time and cannot wait to go back to Germany.
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