After coming home after abroad I have had some time to reflect on my time in Berlin. I have learned a lot during my time abroad, but I want to share the three main lessons that I learned during my time in Berlin. The first thing that I learned was it’s okay to spend some time alone. Abroad is a great time to take some time for yourself without any of the traditional obligations from your everyday life. Exploring a new city by myself gave me a new sense of independence and maturity that I would not have developed back at home.

IES Abroad: Tell us a bit about yourself and your study abroad blog.

After almost ten weeks of being in Europe, I am back home in the United States. However, it feels as if time has been at a stand still because now that I'm back it feels like I never left. As good as it is to be back in America and the comfort of being back in my home, I miss Rome and the rest of Europe so much.

I’ll admit, the water crisis in Cape Town was intimidating when I was considering South Africa for study abroad. People were confused as to why I wanted to study somewhere with water restrictions. Friends and peers often asked: “Wait, isn’t Cape Town in a drought?” with furrowed brows and noticeable concern. Before I arrived, I felt the need to mentally prepare for using less water, as if it were a lifestyle I couldn’t possibly just walk into.

It feels so good to be home and time flew by fast, so it makes the idea that I was in Ireland only two weeks ago hard to believe. With my busy schedule of school organization meetings, moving into a new apartment in Iowa and everything in between, I feel like I’ve quickly reactivated the life I put on pause when I went abroad.

One week ago, I landed at Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky airport to spend a few weeks at my family home before returning to Indiana University for the fall semester. I have spent my time home reflecting on my experiences, sharing countless stories with my parents, and racking my brain on what to write as my final update for my IES Abroad blog. I decided to finally answer the question I was asked the most, why did I study abroad?

Good morning, good evening, or maybe even good night depending on where in the world you are. For me, it is almost 9 pm on a Sunday. At home in Indiana, it is almost 4 am on Sunday as well. After being in New Zealand for about a month now, it is starting to finally not feel so odd to realize that I am living practically a day ahead of everybody else that I know back home. My Sunday comes as their Saturday is taking place, with my day beginning, as theirs is ending; always one step behind in time's eyes. At first this was such a weird feeling.

So alas, my time has come and I have head home from my journey and wonderful, wonderful study abroad experience. 

My last days were sad. Saying goodbye to my host family, teachers, and new friends I made. It's truly so tragic to leave knowing that you might never walk these streets again or see some of these people again. But goodbyes need to happen eventually! 

This week, I'll be taking off from Minneapolis and, three flights, a 13-hour layover and about 6,000 miles of travel later, arriving in Buenos Aires to study for two semesters. The last few months have been a hectic blur trying to get all of the documents I need in order, working three jobs to save up money, continuously putting off cleaning my room, and fitting in time to hang out with everybody I can.

Here I share with everyone what a week of my life looked like while I studied abroad in Amsterdam. This is typically what a week looked like for me, studying and exploring the city during the week and traveling out or enjoying Amsterdam nightlife during the weekend! Before I began my study abroad journey I believed that it would just be filled with constant traveling or exploring, and though I did a lot of that, I also had downtime for myself and with my friends there too.