There’s a fantastic relief that comes with the end of any trip, no matter how long or good it was. I am coming down to the last two weeks of my trip, and I have to admit I’m excited. Studying abroad is filled with a lot of anxiety. You're worried before you even get there. Will you have a good time?
Will you find things and people you like? When you actually get there, you're worried about all the things you may have forgotten, whether or not this was the right decision for you, being on a different continent from anyone and everyone you know. At some point, you start to stress about time. Will you have enough time to do all of the things you want to do? Will you regret this decision for eternity?
But now, at the end of my trip, I feel that I can truly relax and enjoy it. I have done all that I can do, explored all that I could. There’s a blissful peace that surrounds me knowing I’ll be home soon. Adventuring is fun, but home is home.
It’s also interesting because we, the people on my trip with me, have spent that last couple of days reminiscing. Thinking back to the first conversations we had with each other, our very first opinions. It’s crazy to think that was four months ago. The number of friendships that have begun, stalled or ended in that time is utterly beyond me. It’s something no one really mentions, but it's so important — the group dynamic. Ours has been crazy since the beginning.
You try taking a four-month trip with a bunch of people you just met on the plane ride over. I really feel like I understand why the people in reality shows are always trying to kill each other. There are so many different personalities and opinions filling such small apartments. Everyone does things differently — not to mention we all have set friends at home whose theme song is “No New Friends." It really feels like high school at first. You’re not sure who to trust, who will like the things you do.
It’s important to have a confidante, and you have to grab one quickly before all the good ones are taken. Honestly, it’s a very tedious part of studying abroad, but it can really make or break your trip. Yet, as our trip draws to a close, tensions and drama have taken a serious backseat. I think knowing that soon we won’t all be jam-packed in eight-person apartments is making us giddy. People who have spent the entirety of the trip as bitter rivals are now agreeable. It’s exciting, almost makes me want to dance with wild abandon.
This trip has taught us all a lot about ourselves. How capable we are at cooking for ourselves (Gordon Ramsay would be impressed). How well we handle being legally allowed to drink (not well). Studying abroad seems like a vacation, and for the most part, it is, but it's also a way to inadvertently push yourself into adulthood one bunch of asparagus at a time.
