Re-entry

Saying goodbye to Barcelona, reminiscing on my favorite trips, and some last pieces of advice for anyone studying abroad.

Gradually, I’ve been adjusting. To the 14 hour time difference, the food, to constantly hearing English instead of Japanese, to driving a car instead of riding the subway, and to not seeing a conbini on every corner. For the past five months, I have embraced a lifestyle far different from the American Midwest, and though I’m excited to see my friends and family, there are things I deeply miss and habits that seemed to be deeply ingrained into me now.

For the past week and a half I have felt so strange, like the world I am now inhabiting isn’t real. Or maybe it’s Morocco that isn’t real, and I’ve just woken up from a dream. The first few days back in the States, I kept looking at my phone, adding four hours to the time, and imagining what was happening in Rabat and what my host family was doing at that time. 3pm here – almost time to break the fast in Morocco. Getting ready for bed at 11pm – my host family must be getting up for suhoor before sunrise.

From my experiences this year abroad, I’ve become critical of the way study abroad is portrayed. It seems full of fluff, an experience that is too good to be true. In fact, my high expectations for Amsterdam lead me to be dismayed at points. I’d expected challenges in Ecuador, yet Europe seemed like a different story. An adventure full of happiness and fun 24/7. It hasn’t been, just as life isn’t a continual stream of positivity. My below post is an attempt to expose this unfair standard we hold to those who study abroad. It’s raw, it’s emotional, and it’s reality.