After a year of applications and paperwork, a week of packing and goodbyes and a day of planes and trains, I have finally touchdown in Europe.
What most study abroad blogs won’t tell you about is the unshakeable sense of fear and excitement that run through you as you chase the platform for your connecting flight. I got on a flight with a quarter of my closet and flew to a completely different continent all by myself. The blogs also neglect to inform you that once you land at 6am most of your friends will be fast asleep because they have classes the next day. So you sit in a foreign airport thinking about how much you want Chipotle and how long these next six months are going feel without it!
The first couple days were aggressively overwhelming! Adjusting to a new culture, friend group, apartment, currency, time zone, even night life. I felt like I woke up everyday surprised to still be in Europe! Like I was in a dream. A mild form of homesickness also had its grip on me. I missed the familiarity of the States more than the actual country itself.
More than ever I wish I could be in two places at once!
The first week had many unexpected challenges! For starters how does one make friends? I thought back to all my friendships and tired to pinpoint their origin but they all just seem to happen out of nowhere! The second day I woke up drowsy and nauseous. I learned that jet leg is not a myth. I spent most of the day in my bed or bathroom, until I drag myself to the store to buy some food. That is how I learned the hard way that the Netherlands doesn’t accepted any credit cards and most places don’t accept visa, the only forms of currency I had except for the 200 euros my mom slipped into my jacket at the airport. On day four, my laptop decided to go on the fritz and I desperately tired to convince myself that I could just use the computers in the university library the whole semester. Luckily there was a Mac store just down the street that was able to quickly and cheaply restore my main comfort item.
This week was a week of many first like flying by myself, riding a train, going to Europe and I dove in head first. I panicked a little when it felt like I couldn’t touch the bottom but a part of me knows that it’s not about touching the bottom but learning how to float and swim with the current. I have many expectations for this trip, some superficial such as increasing my Instagram clout but most are far more deep-seated. I want to become stronger in ways I can’t even imagine. I’m beyond blessed to have the most supportive parents and friends who check up on me everyday and remind me that I’m stronger than I know and that these six months will allow me to have a revelation of my raw self.
For all the downs this week had, there were so many ups! I get to call Europe my home for six months! I can experience art, food and music that I would never get to try in America! I can go on weekend trips, which seems to be the part everyone talks about when they mention "studying" abroad! As a matter of fact, I am writing this on a train back from Brussels, Belgium! I spent the weekend there with a couple of my flatmates and I think we ate and saw just about everything Brussels has to offer!!
So as my sense of uneasiness finally starts to fizzle out, I’m excited to uncover what these next six months have to offer!
Any tips on how to deal with homesickness? Study abroad advice? Suggestions on where to travel to next?
Would love to hear from you guys!
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