The few months before leaving for abroad, you go on a rollercoaster of emotions. First, there was happiness. In the spring, when all of your friends who went abroad come back to Rollins and tell you about the most amazing experience they had. Then follows FOMO, or fear of missing out, when you realize that once you leave, everyone else will be moving on with their lives as if you never left. But then, you watch a movie like, “Eat Pray Love” and suddenly feel inspired to travel the world and grow as a global citizen. And then, right before you leave, you realize how you have completely taken your family for granted and you wish you would have made more time for them before you leave for a semester, thousands of miles away.
Surprisingly, the entire journey to get to Jacobs University in Germany didn’t feel as if I was about to attend school in a foreign country without any of my friends or family. It didn’t hit me during my 8-hour plane ride, or the bus ride to the school, or when I checked in and got my room key. It really hit me when I opened up my suitcase to unpack and I realized I did not have hangers. And then, that I had no idea where or how to get hangers, or who to ask about getting hangers.
The thing I was looking forward to most about studying abroad was being immersed in German language and culture, and traveling of course. I was so excited to improve my German language skills and have the opportunity to practice in my day-to-day life. Unfortunately, that is not exactly the experience I am getting here – but I will get into that in my next post.
I am still looking forward to traveling to countries and cities I’ve only dreamt of going to. (And some countries I never even dreamed of going to.) Traveling and meeting people from countries you have only considered when memorizing their location for your map test is a very eye opening and humbling experience. So far I have been to Budapest and Paris, but I look forward continuing my journey of being a more global citizen.