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Published: June 16th 2010
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I’m writing this blog sitting at Gate B11 at the Brussels International Airport about to board my United Airlines flight to Washington. I cannot believe that my time in Europe is
over . It’s shocking how fast the past 5 months have passed. It feels like just yesterday that I was trying to manage around this airport with 2 giant (& heavy) bags incredibly jet-lagged & overwhelmed by the fact that I still had a 2-hour train ride to Maastricht. Funny how much easier traveling gets the more you do it…
While I’m still feeling a little bit sick, I’m so happy that it’s not as severe as it was the other day. I have been taking some antibiotics that my doctor gave me as a precautionary measure (because I usually get sick in February). It figures that I lasted 5 months & literally within the last few days of being here, I had to put them to use, haha.
I’m happy Dad is here with me because it should really make this long flight not seem so bad. (Plus, he has the seat right next to me so I won’t feel bad about having to disturb him to go to the bathroom in the middle of the flight like I do when I have to ask strangers to move, haha). Ahhh, the advantages of taking advantage of parents. ☺ Our flight is supposed to leave at noon & we land in Dulles at 2:30. (Not bad - a 2.5 hour flight! Haha, yeah right).
I’m excited to see how American life affects me. I’m totally prepared to have reverse culture shock, that’s for sure. While the European lifestyle really hit me pretty hard in January & February, I’ve grown accustomed to the fact that going out for dinner will not take less than 1.5 hours & tipping is not common. It’s going to be weird to eat at American restaurants where the waiters constantly ask how everything is & expect to be tipped. I just hope I remember to tip so I don’t look like a cheapskate, haha.
Mom asked me what I wanted my first American meal to be when I got home, & to be honest, I’m not entirely sure! I mean, I’m hungry for a bunch of things, but I can’t put my finger on one thing that I’m craving more than the others. (That doesn’t include the fact that I’ve already told Dad we’re stopping at Dunkin’ Donuts for tea - those of you that know of my addiction can only imagine how difficult it has been to go 5 months & only have it once in Barcelona. I mean, during Fall Semester, there were days that I was getting it twice a day. I swear they lace it with some sort of addictive ingredient. Haha).
I’m excited to see my cats. I know that sounds stupid & totally crazy-cat-lady style, but I’m excited. Gracie isn’t a baby anymore - she’s HUGE; Cedric is just as surly as ever, but I still miss his little attitude problem. I’m also excited to see my family & friends in person that I’ve only been in contact with through e-mail, Facebook, or Skype for the past months.
While there are a lot of things I’m looking forward to, there are a lot of things that I’m going to miss. For one, I met some
awesome people while in Maastricht. Without my great group of core friends, I’m not sure that this study abroad experience would have been as much fun. It’s just incredible to think that people can come from different cultural backgrounds & still get along as if they’ve known each other their whole lives. Carolina & I always joked that we’re literally the same person, she’s just Swedish & I’m American (although she says I can pass as a Scandinavian since I’m tall & blonde, haha). It was hard leaving them, but at least now I have an excuse to go to Sweden. ☺ Right now it’s hard to pinpoint all the various things that are going to change, but I’m sure if you ask me in a week what my impressions are since returning to the States, I’ll have a different point of view. It’s exciting that a few people from Maastricht are going to be studying at Penn State next semester. I’ll definitely have to make a trip up to State College to see them again. They’re good people.
All in all, my final impression is that this could quite possibly have been one of the best experiences of my life. I’m actually getting a little sentimental writing this right now, but it’s not kosher to cry in the middle of the airport for no reason, so I’ll do my best to hold it together. Haha. I feel that I learned a lot (both about law & about myself), I experienced a lot (from different cultures, to different languages, to different everything), & I’ll never have an opportunity like this again in my lifetime. While it’s true that maybe someday I’ll have a job in Europe or a job that requires me to go to Europe occasionally, it will never be the same. I’m truly thankful to everyone who helped me be able to have this experience - from my parents, to the Dickinson School of law, & I’m truly blessed to have people in my life that supported the decision to take a break from “normalcy” for 5 months to experience more - my Grandma ranking in the #1 spot. For sheer corniness sake, if I could I would put a sound bite of the “Time of My Life” song from Dirty Dancing right here. In order to keep everyone from vomiting from the cliché factor, I’ll pass, but just go ahead & sing it in your head. ☺
This will be my last post from Europe so I just want to say thanks for following me. For those of you that know me, I hope this was an effective way to communicate to all of you my experiences. For those of you who I have never met, I hope this blog has been able to help you gain some insight into an American living a European lifestyle for a few months. Regardless of who you are, thanks for reading. Hope I could entertain you at least a little bit. ☺
Tot ziens! Au revoir! Auf wiedersehen! Ciao! Cheers!
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