It's been over two months since I've been back in America, and I still miss Europe every single day. This blog post is definitely the most difficult to write because I have so much to say, and I feel like once I post this, my study abroad experience will actually be over. It's hard to describe how much I learned, experienced, and grew while living in Europe. My time there was unbelievable, and I would go back in a second if I could. Before I started to write this, I reread my very first blog post. This was my concluding paragraph:
"Some of my goals this semester are to become comfortable traveling in foreign countries, become more independent, succeed in my classes, make new friends, try new food and other cultural activities, and learn some German. I am sure this semester will be my favorite semester of college, so I am going to make the most of my time in Germany. Next blog post I write I'll be there!"
Let's see if I reached those goals: Become comfortable traveling in foreign countries? Definitely. Over the course of the four months I spent in Europe, I visited nine different countries: Germany (obviously), Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Thinking back, I am blown away by how much of Europe I was able to see. I have so many amazing memories from this past semester of college, and all of them are in foreign countries! I am also astonished that when I remember Germany, I don't feel like it was one of the "foreign countries" I visited. It felt like home. Hopping from country to country and then returning to Bonn felt like coming home. I love that I can say there is a city which is not in America that feels like home to me. So I would say, yes, I do feel comfortable traveling in foreign countries now.
Become more independent? For sure. When I describe my travels to family and friends who ask, I am sometimes taken aback when I remember - wait - we planned all of those trips by ourselves. A bunch of college students. Booking trains, buses, and planes in foreign countries. As weekend trips, no less! When I first signed up for this study abroad, I assumed that the coordinators would help us or give direction on how to get around Europe - and don't get me wrong, everyone was very helpful - but the thing is, we didn't really need it. We decided where we wanted to go, searched Hostelworld and GoEuro, booked everything we needed for a weekend, and went! It didn't take long at all to realize, hey, we can do this. It registered for me after I got back to America how independent I really was in Europe and how much I've grown.
Succeed in my classes? Well, for the most part... I suppose it depends on how you define "succeed." Did I get a 4.0? No. Did I learn more than I have any other semester of college so far? Yes. The out-of-the-classroom experiences I had, such as watching surgeries at the Bonn Uniklinik and working on the enmodes biomedical design project, were once in a lifetime college learning experiences. Figuring out how to travel and live in a foreign country gave me more confidence and experience and real-world learning than a classroom ever could. Did I form bonds with my instructors that enabled me to learn more and easier than in College Station? Yes. I am so grateful to Dr. Wasser and Madeleine for the academic and emotional support they gave all of us. If there was ever a problem with anything - classes, enmodes project, host-family, traveling, you get sick and can't read the German on the medicine you just bought - they were ready and willing to help. So, did I succeed in my classes? Yes. I made decent grades and learned more about the world and myself than I have to date.
Make new friends? Wow, yes. I already miss everyone so much. The people on this trip were all so unique, kind, and fun to be around. By the end, I formed true friendships. Living with Claire was great. I reminisce on the dinners we had together at home and masses we went to in our neighborhood. I'm so glad we ended up living with the same host family! The engineers got incredibly close - getting to AIB as soon as it opened and staying until midnight studying. I loved having a tight-knit friend group in my major to study with - it made the intense stresses of school bearable! I also cherish the friendships I made with the BIMS (and biology, you too Ethan) students. One of my favorite parts of the entire trip was getting to know the girls I went on Spring Break with. Clare, Sarahi, and I went to mass at Fatima together. Stephanie brought me water when I was throwing up in Barcelona from a stomach bug. We all made tacos together at our Airbnb and couldn't decide if the meat was cooked or not because it wasn't like American ground beef and then talked for hours. I am surprised by how close I got with so many of the wonderful people on this trip.
Try new food, cultural activities, and learn some German? Food: of course. One of my favorite parts of traveling is trying new food! Cultural activities: I don't think I realized when I wrote that particular goal that this whole experience was one giant immersion of culture. Living with a host family, being surrounded by foreign languages, visiting countless museums, interacting with people from around the world - all of this contributed to a culture-filled semester abroad. Learning German, or lack thereof I should say, is probably my biggest regret of the trip. I learned a handful of phrases, but I never really gave it my all to learning German because I was focused on my other classes, and almost everyone in big European cities speaks English so well. This was probably my only regret of the trip. I am happy with the balance of prioritizing school and travel I did, and I wouldn't really change anything.
Some final thoughts before I end this novel of a blog post: First of all, I love Europe, and I could see myself living there again short-term in the future. My time living in another country did make me appreciate America more, though. I kept a running tally of points for Europe vs. America during my study abroad. The total came out to be 5-6, America. (I mean America had to win; I'm a patriot.) Europe is much older, which lends itself to incredible history, art, and cobblestone streets (1). It has widespread public transportation, which I found to be hugely convenient (2). The architecture of Europe is stunning (3). While in Bonn, after the first couple weeks of novelty wore off, I tried to remind myself to look up at the buildings and not just hurry to AIB and to look out the bus window as I rode over the Rhine twice a day, everyday, for four months. Europe as a continent is so easy to travel because of the proximity of countries (4). Europe is so Catholic (5). Being Catholic, I appreciated this because I got to go to mass in five different languages and visit dozens of breath-taking cathedrals - another one of my favorite parts of traveling. America has - get this - FREE WATER (1). Which leads to my next point, free bathrooms (2)! I still do not understand why every restaurant in Europe charge 3 euros for a tiny bottle of water or why I had to spare change to go to a bathroom while traveling. America has bigger kitchens and, well, everything (3). Although a tiny kitchen with a tiny refrigerator hidden as a cabinet is cute, it is not conducive to cooking or storing food in a refrigerator...good thing it's cold enough in Germany not to need to. America has microwaves and dryers (4). I never realized I took these appliances for granted. America does not have a smoking culture like Europe (5). I mean for being "healthy" people they sure do smoke a lot. Finally, America has good ol' democracy and capitalism (6). While there are certain benefits to the German/European government systems, I'm still a fan of America's. So, America narrowly beats out Europe.
These are just a couple of the things I learned and experiences I had during my life-changing study abroad. None of them would have been possible if my parent hadn't have said yes and paid for this trip. I sincerely thank you Mom and Dad for allowing me to leave for four months to live in a foreign country and experience the world. I am forever grateful.
I was completely correct when I assumed this would be my favorite semester of college, because it was. This trip changed me. For the better.
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