There’s an episode in ‘Friends’ where Rachel moves out of the apartment, starts crying and yells “it’s the end of an era”. That is exactly how I felt leaving Jacobs. Even though it was only four months, I felt a sort of sorrow thinking of leaving. So many people asked me how I felt to leave and every single time I answered simply with one word: bittersweet. I missed my family, my friends at Rollins and my home that I really wanted to go back and yet that meant the end of my study abroad.
The amazing thing about Jacobs University is the diversity there, I met so many people that I will most probably meet up with in future travels. I already have plans for the summer and several people from Dubai that I met there that I can see when I go home. I know it wasn’t a final goodbye to all the friends I made there which eased the process more.
I have been back for exactly a week now, celebrating Christmas and catching up with my family and I realized the biggest thing is the difference in culture again. I am in Bordeaux right now until the 30th and I will be back in Dubai after. Now that I am back in France I am getting back used to the more open mentality, the greetings of the two kisses and not hearing German everywhere is a bit shocking too.
Even though it was a short trip, I feel as if I have grown a lot these past few months and made memories that I will cherish my whole life. One thing I will say is that at the end of the day, I am glad that I go to Rollins permanently because as much as I loved Germany and Jacobs, the educational system was unorganized and not as advanced as Rollins. I am so happy I was able to have the opportunity to experience this and be able to even make this comparison. I would recommend a study abroad to practically everyone, being able to travel and explore is such a privileged in life and I can’t wait until my next adventure. Tschüss Germany (bye Germany).