Although it seems like just yesterday I was walking your city's streets, quite a lot of time has passed since I have been where you are. I am writing this letter out of nostalgia, out of wanting to turn back time and be in the travel-hungry high that being in your city caused.

I'm writing this during a time when life is not as easy, or as simple as it was when I was studying abroad. Instead, I am sitting in my dorm room, taking time away from my studies to write this letter to you. But since I am no longer in your city that left me with so many wonderful memories, I thought I would instead tell you a few things I'm grateful for that you gave to me.

Thank you for giving me enough memories to last a lifetime. Thanks to you, I have story after story after story to tell my family and friends. And, of course, some stories that are "you had to be there" stories that no one, except for the people that experienced them with me, would find amusing. It seems that not a day goes by that something doesn't happen in my life back here in America that doesn't remind me of you. Whether it be the food I'm eating, the store I'm shopping at, or how my coffee tastes. Somehow every little thing seems to remind me of you.

Thank you for allowing me to grow more in such a short amount of time than I have in years. Being away in a different country is a lot different than being away at college. My parents were no longer a short drive away and were even hard to reach by phone for that matter. So because of you, I was forced to figure things out on my own. Figure out public transportation, how to convert my American dollars and how to interact with people of a different culture than my own.

Thank you for letting me also learn more in such a short amount of time than I have in years. Thanks to you, I learned about a whole other culture and a beautiful city with a rich history. I love learning, but books can only teaching you so much. It's experiencing what we read in those books that allow us to really learn. There is so much more to learn out there than we know, and thanks to you I was able to grasp just a tiny part of it.

Thank you for all that you have given me, all that you have taught me and all that you have let me see. I wish I could go back but I know that for now, I have to keep on doing what I am doing until I save up for another trip to a new place full of new experiences and memories. Anyone who has studied abroad knows that the memories that are made stay with you forever, and a part of you will always be left in the city that you called home for a while.