Final "Retrospective" Blog Post: "There and Back Again"

There and Back Again

By John Kyle Cooper

It has almost been two and a half months since I flew back to the United States from Germany. During the first few weeks in Texas, I experienced both a prominent culture and weather shock. I felt a need to eat a frozen treat every hour of the day in order to regulate my body temperature (it was insane to be freezing while wearing a jacket in Frankfurt, Germany and walk off the plane into a wall of humidity in Houston, Texas). The first place I chose to eat at was Rudy’s (which was probably one of the weirdest experiences I’ve ever had in my life). Everything was very different and it almost felt as if I had stepped into another world (it was very “un-German”) (the ribs were good though). After a nice meal at Rudy’s I proceeded to ride back to Waco in the car with my father (then I proceeded to go into a coma until we arrived at home) (international flights…I was able to watch 3 movies on that 9 hour flight though).

[Okay so after a couple of weeks spent back home I was able to tell some of my many stories that I had accrued throughout the Spring semester, which brought up memories that made me extremely sentimental.] During many moments of the day, I would think of something that reminded me of a certain time in Germany (I then would go deep into thought and wonder what I would be doing if I still living in Germany).

I miss a lot of things in Germany. One of the things I miss the most is the Bäckerei (Bakery). [Okay there are bakeries here in Texas, but they are not as prevalent and aren’t as good] [there is nothing like a large Voigt choco-croissant mit einem Kaffee]. So far I have not found anything that compares to a good German Bäckerei.

After missing a lot and remembering a lot, I started reflecting a lot. The more I told my stories to my family and friends, the more I realized the magnitude of my adventures. It’s not commonplace to one day pick up your bags and travel to Southern Germany for a weekend or travel to Hungary for a weekend. I traveled to 9 countries in the span of a semester! THAT’S INSANE. The amount of worldly exposure I had was unprecedented to any previous event in my life. After traveling this much, I believe I have ruined my outlook on world travel because I may not be able to travel that much again in my life (we’ll see). Experiencing the culture in these different countries has changed the way I think about others and my own self. This has sparked an interest in learning other’s languages [I believe by learning another language you gain a new piece of yourself that is almost tied to that language’s culture (it is important to have a friend that speaks the language well) (Luckily I have a few) (One of my German friends from Siegburg will be visiting College Station this month!)].

Recently, I caught up with a good friend of mine, who (at the end of our meeting) told me that I “had not changed at all”. I was disheartened by this comment because my main goal when beginning the Spring trip was to come back a new person (a changed man [if you will]). However, I thought about how I had interacted with my friend and I came to the conclusion: no matter where I go, my innate behavior will not fade away (I am still Kyle Cooper); however, the stories I tell, the people I meet, and the knowledge those people give me will stay with me and ( I believe) over time I begin to shape myself into who I want to be (from what I see and who I meet).

“The Hero’s Journey”, I certainly was inspired by Dr. Wasser’s lectures over this topic and I genuinely believe it is an important process in every human-being’s life. One must embark on an adventure one day — one must leave their hobbit-hole to find a stolen treasure — one must overcome their fears to become feared — one must leave Tatooine, in order to train under a Jedi Master to fight against the Dark Side ( ;) ). These examples are very exaggerated, but they seamlessly apply to our lives on this earth. These examples should inspire us to leave our comfort zone and try new things - meet new people - (travel to different lands [ a little extreme ]).

I want to end my post with the “boon” that I brought back from my “Hero’s Journey”: “Don’t hold back”. I found that the best moments I had during my adventures were times where I decided to do something even if I thought it was “out of my comfort zone”. I encourage those in new places and new lands to try things that are different, because they open your eyes to the unknown. This philosophy made my adventures “greater” and I hope that adopting this mentality will do the same for those going off on their own journey.

I would like to thank Kristin, Nick, Madeline, and the minions (Nathan and Nicole) for a wonderful semester full of fun times. Furthermore, I would like to thank Dr. Wasser for everything he does to make this program so great and inspiring. It will take a lifetime for the moments of my Sophomore Spring semester to fade from my memory.