My post trip experience has been a very interesting one. I have officially been home for a little bit over a week and I am glad to be back home! Despite my elation to see my family and spend time with my friends who I have not seen in weeks, this is still a bittersweet moment for me. I really enjoyed experiencing another country. Germany was different than the United States and I would love to go back. Studying abroad with other students was not like going on vacation with my family or going on a spring break trip with my best friend. Studying abroad was more academic and it also required me to improve my communication and interpersonal skills because I was traveling with eighteen strangers.
When I first arrived at the airport, I was exhausted. I was so happy that the plane had finally landed but then I realized that I had to go through customs. Customs was a simple process but also a long process because the line for customs was very long. After I finally made it through customs, I cried tears of joy as I hugged my mom and dad for the first time in weeks. I had not realized how much I truly missed them until I saw them in that moment. For the first few days I was home, things felt very surreal. I was very tired and jet lagged. I was able to get over that feeling within the week by taking lots of naps and relaxing. Moving forward, as I settle into my summer routine, I will deal with the culture shock of returning home.