The End

The first week or so after we got back, I was so stressed out by thinking about trying to get a job for the summer, and worrying about trying to get into medical school, that I could barely even think about how I liked my first trip to Europe or what I experienced. After a while though, when I had time to think about everything, I realized that we got to do some seriously cool things, and that I really did have a good time. When I think back to all the places we got to go, and how much we learned, it really is incredible. For one thing, we got to observe surgery, which was something I probably would not have been able to do at home, and is also one of the coolest things I have ever done. We also got to go to so many different medical and historical museums that are unique to the area where we were. The longer excursions, Vienna and Berlin, were especially enjoyable. I can't even imagine the amount of effort and planning that must have gone into creating the program, and I am very grateful to Dr. Wasser and Kristin for making this possible for us. Overall I would say I learned so much that I wouldn't have learned had I not gone on the study abroad, making it most emphatically worth going on.

Looking back at my first blog post, I first of all feel like an idiot for writing any of that nonsense, and second of all feel that my expectations were not only met but expectations that I would have had if I had known at all what to expect were met. I got to see so much art, architecture, and famous sites that after a while I could barely even absorb it all, like my brain was on cultural overload. I went to so many places that a few years ago were an impossible dream. We got to go to the symphony in Vienna, which I think for many people was one of the highlights of the trip. I believe I have become more independent and confident, since I know I can travel and figure things out on my own if I need to. I can also make plans and carry them out, on my own if I want it enough. I have more confidence to dream and make plans that I might not have dared to before. Not all of them will be realized, just like not all my plans for this trip came out exactly how I thought; I wanted to do an internship in Ireland this summer after the study abroad, but despite quite a bit of application and effort, it was not to be. But a few years ago studying abroad was just a crazy idea that I really wanted to happen, and now I've spent about four months in Europe. Thinking about this over the past few weeks has opened up a lot of possibilities that I would not have even considered before. I would like to live abroad at some point in my life, although I'm not sure when that might be.

I also definitely got to see America from another point of view. In America we seem to have a tendency to think we're the most important country in the world, and everyone should be concerned with the same things we as a country are concerned with. It was really interesting to be in another country, and to see world politics from another point of view, where America is little more than a footnote. It's kind of humbling and makes me feel sort of small in the context of the entire world, but in a good way. I also really liked the comparison of different health care systems for a similar reason. Now I feel like I can actually have an intelligent conversation about health care and I even want to learn more about the different systems we discussed.

One thing that happened that I didn't really expect was making such good friendships with so many people. Almost all of the places I went, at least some portion of the group was there, and most of the new experiences I had were shared with someone. I feel like I became close to several members of the group, and I hope we will maintain the friendships that we formed. I was kind of sad when we all said goodbye, because even though I knew we could see each other later, it would never be quite the same as when we were all thrown together in a foreign country and saw each other nearly every day. I'm looking forward to next semester and continuing the relationships that we formed as a group.

In conclusion I just want to list some of the things that I miss about living in Germany, some of which are expected, and some are kind of surprising.

recycling everything

taking the bus

dönner

cooler weather

doppelkeks

running along the Rhein

taking trains

meeting people from other countries everywhere

differently-colored money