Off to Brussels...

Well, I have yet to update a bit about last weekend...I headed to Heidelberg last Friday and Cologne on Saturday. Both were great day trips, but I will have to explain maybe in another blog, BECAUSE, I need to get my rest for Belgium! I leave in a couple hours (yikes!) with my friend Angie to catch a train to Brussels where Tanya and Tony (both of whom I met--or shall I say, will meet--through our good family friend, Tom) will pick us up. We will tour around around Brussels Saturday and go to a Music Festival on Sunday where we can sample all of the traditional Belgium delicacies...waffles, chocolate, frits--sounds too be good to be true, right?

I also had my first test today for a media studies course, which went, I believe, pretty well. I was able to work with two of my Danish buddies on it because the professor said we could answer the 8 essay questions together. It took us longer than expected (nearly 6 hours to be exact) because not only were we formulating all of our answers, but of course, making sure the grammar was correct. Good practice, but glad it is behind me. I have two other tests next week....

And the following is an essay I wrote about this experience in general...most of I what I wrote, I have already written here on the blog, but I thought I would still post it.

Down to about 2 and a half weeks...crazy.

THE ESSAY:

I know I am a lucky girl because of what I have done, seen, and simply, lived. Going to Germany during my college career had been a dream of mine since I began taking German classes in high school. I yearned for independence and a better understanding of the world. But, most of all, I wanted to learn the language and get to know the people of Germany through what I knew would be an unforgettable experience.

Getting off the train in Trier and walking into the new world of mine, I had no idea what to expect. Sure, I did my research of the area and reviewed my German grammar, but ultimately, I went into it knowing nothing. My world was turned upside down and all for the better.

Without the magical wonder of a foreign language, I would never have gotten to know people who I now consider some of my closet friends. Rather, I see the world through the eyes of not only Germans, but also those from Denmark, Japan, Syria, and Cameroon among other formerly foreign places to me. My friend Renate from Latvia put it best when she said how amazing it is that when we think of a foreign country now, we won’t just think of the stereotypes or politicians, rather we will think of our friends who call those places home.

The range of emotions I have experienced while being here has taken me into many directions and I believe I have grown because of it. I called my mom crying the first day and asked myself, “What am I doing here?” However, the jet lag faded and I was on cloud nine. To think, ‘I, a small-town Nebraska gal, was living and studying in Germany’. The thought even now, as I prepare to pack up my things to head back home, thrills me. Other than my homesickness mainly caused by my exhaustion from the long journey, I have had no sadness. Yes, I miss my loved ones, but my happiness of simply being here overwhelms me.

The most exciting part is the education in the experience. The most precious of those experiences have most certainly not been behind book covers or speaking in my native English tongue. Rather the most valuable knowledge I have acquired has been in the traveling, the meeting of people, and using my German for the day-to-day stuff like buying fresh bread from my local bakery.

I have also been blessed to see parts of the world that I might not have seen otherwise. My eyes have wandered along the Baltic Sea coastline in northern Germany, the Alps in Innsbruck, the lush gardens of Luxembourg, the tantalizing chocolate of Belgium and the architecture of France. These memories along with my day-to-day life in my ‘German home’, Trier, have made my experience incredibly rewarding.

Stereotypes I previously had embedded in my mind have thankfully been confronted and replaced with the reality of the German culture. Like any culture, however, it mostly depends on the individual. But, from the many Germans I have gotten to know, I have learned just how sincere, helpful and fun they can be. Before I came, many told me that Germans were a bit standoffish and although this can be true, I have met many to go actually go against this stereotype. One German friend of mine, in fact, I happened to simply strike up a conversation with her on the train and we met up later to visit and watch a World-cup game.

In fact, the times I threw myself out there by striking up conversations with strangers have been some of the most memorable and some of which I have made my most dearest friends. My best German friend I have met here actually helped me carry my luggage on the first day and then invited me to lunch. I was nervous, jet-lagged, and my German was rusty, but that first encounter has blossomed into a lifetime friendship.

It is in the simple things that I will look back on with the most fondness. A barbecue will never be a barbecue to me again, instead it will forever be a‘grillfest’ to me; my knowledge of the German language will now be wrapped around the dialect and slang I have learned to use each and everyday; and lastly, Germany will not be a place on the map rather a place that I can say I once called home.

What makes studying abroad special is that each experience bears possibilities unique to each individual. Two people may travel to same city and yet come out with two completely different views of themselves and their time abroad. I can look back on my time abroad and know that I have changed for the better. There will never be an ounce of regret wrapped up in this semester abroad, but a regret that the time went too fast.

My time here is coming to an end and there is not a moment I would change. I have learned the significance in not only seizing the moment; but most importantly, not being so rushed in life that the opportunities pass you by. This dream of mine has come true and I know I can live my life better because of it.