The end of my study abroad program brought many mixed feelings. By the time I was on the last few days of my program, I was somewhat ready to be back home. It was not because I disliked Europe or anything bad like that, but it was just different culturally. Being away for that long makes you realize some small things you take for granted in your everyday life in the United States. Something as simple as ice is not standard over there when getting drinks like water. Water also is not included at restaurants like it is in the United States. You also have to make sure you are ordering still water instead of sparkling water. Sparkling water is huge in Europe. When you are shopping and buy water or order water at a restaurant, make sure to ask for whichever one you prefer. I prefer still water, but I accidentally got sparkling water a couple times. It is a little shock to drink some fizzy water when you are expecting still water. It honestly isn’t a huge deal though. It is really more of a preference thing.
In addition, I feel the biggest thing I took away from my study abroad was plenty of memories and new friends. No matter how different you are to the people in your study abroad group are, you will still have to be involved at least a little bit. I recommend becoming friends with your group. Although not everyone is going to get along, you will have people that you will become good friends with while you are on your trip. I can say I made a few friends, and we did plenty of fun things together. They encouraged me to go do things I didn’t even know about, and it ended up being a blast. It is also nice to know that you have people to stay with when you are in an unfamiliar place. Everyone in our group kind of looked out for each other and made sure everyone got back to our hotels safely at the end of each night.
The biggest advice I can give is to just be open to trying new things and enjoy your time while you are abroad. It really is a great experience to go study abroad and do not let any little things ruin your trip. Know things will be different but be open to them. It made being over abroad fun, and it made me grateful for some things back home. (Attached are a couple pictures from Slovenia. It was my favorite place I visited)
