Boy oh boy, have the last two weeks been hectic. That’s, of course, why it’s been so long since my last blog post. Now, I’m sitting in my apartment on this fine Sunday with a choice: study for my three midterms or procrastinate a little bit. So here I am, writing my blog.
Oktoberfest, two weekends ago now, lived up to and exceeded every one of my expectations. I had a great time, and met a lot of interesting people. Before going, I’d heard from different people that I’d mostly be seeing other American college students studying abroad. I was overjoyed to find that this was not the case. Oktoberfest had so many people, and they were from all over the world. My friends and I met people from Italy, the U.S., Germany, New Zealand, and England, just to name a few. I thought that the event was particularly special because, no matter the attendees’ country, culture, or language, everyone was united in their love of having a good time. I’m so glad that I went.
I couldn’t wait to return to Rome, though, since my good friend Deep, who is studying in Copenhagen this semester, was visiting! We got to hang out for two nights in a row before he left, and it felt great to see someone who I actually know from back home. But I got another dose of this feeling just a couple of days later, when my parents arrived for their visit! Our weekend was packed full of quality time, sightseeing, and, of course, eating. They left for a week of traveling around Italy and returned to Rome on Friday. We spent the day together, and then said our goodbyes, which was interesting for me. I’ve never had any visitors during my previous abroad experiences, but have always kept in contact via Skype. However, seeing my parents in person actually made me miss home more, I think. It’s a good think that I spend too much time loving Rome to spend any missing home!
As far as the “study” component of study abroad goes, things have been ramping up very quickly. Last week, I had a midterm and two presentations, and this week, as I mentioned earlier, I have three midterms. Everything will work out, though, since right after midterms end, Fall Break begins! For me, it’ll be ten fun-filled days of traveling with friends in Paris, and then with my cousins in Madrid an Barcelona. I’m really looking forward to it, for obvious reasons.
I’m having trouble grasping that with the end of this week will come the halfway point of my study abroad experience. I’m enjoying it so much that time has flown by faster than I every would have expected. I’m getting more opportunities than ever to do some truly amazing things, and I want to keep doing those things. Oh well. Looks like I’ll just have to make the best of the time that I have left! I can definitely handle that.