I returned home from Greece yesterday. It is going to take me a few days to readjust back to the time change. It took me a few days in Greece to adjust, and I have always heard it is harder coming back. I guess I will find out if that is true. As I am glad I got home safely and seeing friends and family is great, I do ache to be back in Greece with my study abroad group. I never knew you could get so close to a group of strangers so fast. Not only did traveling across the world change me but the group I was with did as well. This trip and the people opened my eyes beyond what I could have imagined. I feel I have a new perspective on the world. I feel more accepting of everything.
This trip gave me the travel bug….bad. I just want to get up and leave around the world now. This trip gave me the comfort of travelling by myself and I am ready to take on the world. I do not think I was gone long enough to feel 100% reverse culture shock. I did notice some things when I got back to the states that I didn’t realize how much I would miss. For example, ice. Wow, I really missed having ice in my drinks.
If had to give one piece of my best advice to future study “abroaders” is to just immerse yourself. Immerse yourself in the group of students with you because having everybody as friends makes the trip so much better. They become your family when you miss your actual family at home. Immerse yourself in the culture of the country you choose. It opens your eyes to so much more. One thing I realized was how much more there is to our life and world than just the small hometown lifestyle I had back at home.
This was the best decision I have ever made and I couldn’t be more grateful that I was given the opportunity.