If you have a chance to travel to a foreign country, I highly recommend it. I've been to Canada, Germany and Belgium. The reasons I have traveled are for different reasons. The most recent place I traveled was Belgium because I was representing Widener at EuroSim 2016, which is a student-run simulation of the European Union. I was playing the role of the Prime Minister of Romania. The simulation went well and my group traveled to see the sights and sounds of Antwerp and Brussels, Belgium's capital as well as the EU's headquarters.
However, this story is not about the simulation itself, it is about the journey and flights to return home. We had two flights; the first was from Brussels to Frankfurt, the second a connecting flight from Frankfurt to Philadelphia. The first flight was OK, until the pilots on the plane announced that a runway in Frankfurt had been shutdown. They then announced they had no idea why. Well, thanks for making us feel safe, not really. This caused our plane to have a thirty minute delayed landing. Once we landed, we had to run, and I mean run to the next gate where our connecting flight was. Unfortunately for my group we missed the flight....by this much (insert the gesture of two fingers pinching air). It was then when I realized the journey back home wasn't going to be as smooth as I had hoped.
I'm not gonna lie, it was a bit concerning, but I informed my parents about what was going on. We had to stay in a hotel in Germany for one night, in which the airport paid for. My two professors and I were the only individuals from the trip staying at the hotel. I got my own room on the second floor. We were able to get dinner and breakfast the following morning, but in between, I had time to think in my hotel room and ponder many things. Every time I looked out the window, listening to cars passing by, feeling the crisp night, these caused me to think about everyone back from home. Those who I loved and missed. I felt extremely lonely. To assure myself everything would be okay I watched old Bundesliga matches on the TV in the room. After this I could finally go to bed.
It wasn't until we got on the plane the following morning that I knew we were coming home and going to be alright. From this experience I have learned that things won't always go as planned, and that you need to make the best of an abrupt situation, like missing a flight. In the end, I returned home to the US, and now have this story to tell all of you.
