In the age that study abroad is so the norm, you would think that returning students would come up with more to say than it was an "inspiring and life-changing experience." Now acting as one of those students, dare I say, it really really was an inspiring and life-changing experience. However, after being home for a few months, I can look back and see other lessons I was taught and the beauty I may have missed at first glance.
Here are five lessons I learned from studying abroad, not from the books, but from the day-to-day experiences I lived through.
1. I don't know anything.
Alright, this is the harsh truth. I came into the abroad semester thinking that Ireland wouldn't be as different as America. I thought I would fit right in, look like the locals even. After all, they speak English, so how different can customs be? I learned my first lesson as I stepped out of the cab in front of my apartment, and, trying so desperately to be a "sweet Irish girl," tipped my cab driver. His face looked perplexed and a bit tiffed, but he accepted my money with a sarcastic "thank you."
After doing some research, I found that tipping is extremely unpopular in Ireland, and some cab drivers and waiters actually become offended when you try to tip them. I can honestly say I was put in my place a bit. I tried to show off, and I ended up looking like a total tourist idiot. I had to get over the fact that I didn't know anything, admit it and embrace it.
2. How to be really alone.
There is a period of time during study abroad when you don't know why you studied abroad., You literally lay on your face and think about everything you are missing from home, your boyfriend, your pets. You don't know your new friends well enough to talk to them about this kind of stuff, and your old friends are time zones away. Slowly I learned that nights like these are great for some independent thinking. I learned to not run to my friends with problems or day-to-day petty problems. I remembered why I did study abroad in the first place, and then I walked right out the door of my apartment and admired all of the foreign beauty around me.
3. How to be patient.
Patience is always something I struggled with. The upbeat American lifestyle did not prepare me for a semester in Europe. Every bus ride to the airport was between two and three-hours long, then there was waiting for the plane, waiting ON the plane, airtime, landing time, stamping a passport and getting to the destination city all equaled to an entire day wasted in each country I went to. When I got to each country, all I wanted to do was explore, but I had to get a map, check into my hostel and by that time my body was shutting down for sleep.
4. Home is good.
Like every other study abroad wanna-be, I had an urge to leave my mundane life and discover rich language, delicious food and a new appetite for adventure. What I came home with five months later was a gift even greater than that. I realized how important my family and friends are and how much they truly influence me throughout each decision I make. Things I learned from Mom, like what remedies to use when I am sick, I carry with me and used while I was abroad.
In a more literal sense, I never quite saw the intricate beauty of my hometown and college town before study abroad. I realized how lucky I am to live and grow in such safe areas with such special people, how lucky I am to have my own car and my own apartment. I think that made the trip home to America just a tad easier.
5. How to heal wounds (but accidentally open new wounds).
Study abroad took me out of a boring routine, cleaned me up, blew me dry, and I came out sparkling new. Anything that bothered me beforehand is nothing now. I have healed wounds created by my routine American life by simply living each day in the complete present. However, I never realized the repercussions study abroad would have. I got extremely close with my five housemates, all North Americans. The nearest one lives in Ottawa, making it fairly difficult to get together with any of them on weekends. I formed relationships with people from so many countries incredibly fast, and after five months, we all wondered, well what now? Sure, I could always go back to Ireland, but the same experience that I had, this "inspiring and life-changing experience" will essentially never happen again. I will have to settle for it living on through me for a lifetime.
