Natural Roller Coaster

Starting my journey of studying abroad has been a balancing act so far of finding a way to keep stable in a new environment. Everything pretty much has an equal opposite reaction, so the key has been letting the natural balancing between good and not so good experiences occur without riding a roller-coaster of stress. 

Walking off the red-eye flight to Dublin, I had about the mental awareness of a zombie. This was helpful to get me through the first steps of my journey- the tiredness numbing the overwhelming stimuli flying at me from being somewhere new. The first shocks were somewhat lessened, so I could mildly observe that I was moving on the wrong side of foot and vehicle traffic, and I could wonder if I actually spoke English as I tried to communicate with the locals. This fog started to lift with a jolt of caffeine, coinciding nicely with the inevitable build up and then let down of something new. Things got real dark for a second. Being let into my new residence, not going to lie, my first impression was that I was entering a cell block, and the inner crisis of “Oh no! What have I got myself into?!” took over.

Now in the U.S. my solution would be to call my mom. But the eight hour time difference, meaning it was the middle of the night in California, made that not really an option. So, I had to cope for myself, which in the long run is the better solution. Being overwhelmed and getting bogged down in the realignment of preconceptions with reality, definitely had me thinking ‘I’ve jumped out of the nest and now am just falling,’ but then I remembered that I do indeed know how to fly. As I started to sort stuff out, I found myself settling in and the panic receding.

Everything is a mixed bag, no surprise. The key is to not let the stressors: predictable or random, big or little, really get to you. I’m not saying you can ignore them- we’re human after all, but remembering there are also happy accidents when you’re feeling out of control is helpful.  My mantra has become “Keep calm and carry on.” I have had a fair share of “fails” already: dropping yogurt in the grocery store, taking many wrong turns, accidentally doing the same load of laundry twice in the pricey washing machines, my computer going on the fritz in the first week of classes… It’s been real. Now, I could choose to focus on the negatives, and I’ll be honest, I have, BUT I have also been mindful to give myself a bit of grace. I can acknowledge that this is all still very new and no one expects me to get it right in the first go.  If I keep calm and not work myself up over things that aren’t a big deal and some that are,  I can focus on the awesome things that have been happening too. Highlights including:

• Exploring a beautiful city with the help of a super accessible transportation system
• Meeting peers and being able to dive into conversations about what everyone’s writing
• Starting a D&D campaign with my suite mates
• Listening to St. Patrick’s Cathedral’s change-bells while sipping coffee in the park

The let downs, stressors, flat out fails are inevitable but so are the highs, splendid surprises, and successes. As a whole, the experience has been very lovely so far, especially when I let it.