Monday, July 7, 2014

#18: The End of My Lux-y Road

Hello everyone! I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who followed my posts here! As you may or may not know, I fly back to the United States on July 14th...(from the time I'm writing this, 6 days...) time sure does fly, doesn't it? It seems like it was only a few weeks ago that I first got here and was totally lost and hardly managed to find my way around. Now right when I've mastered getting around the country, it's time for me to return to my own.

I've shared a lot of stories on here, and trust me there are many that haven't made it. But it wouldn't have mattered if no one was reading them, I would have just been some girl talking to herself online. But thanks to all of you readers, I've been able to share stories and make people laugh and make people generally have a nice time. Sure, I appeared to have ruffled a few feathers along the way, but you can't please everyone, I suppose. To those of you who didn't take me too seriously, thank you.

I've been asked a few questions about my return home, though, that I thought I'd share with you. We'll do this Question (Q) and Answer (A) style.

Q: What's the first thing you're going to do when you get back?
A: Sleep...no but something I've really missed is going out and having a nice American style breakfast. So I'll hopefully be able to talk my mom into going out. I'm sure she won't mind. And then once my stomach is absolutely full, I'll probably sleep and sleep and sleep.

Q: Would you come back here?
A: Of course. Actually my supervisor at my internship asked me whether I would consider coming back to work in Europe. I would love the chance to. I really love the area, I love how easy it is to get around, and in general I really love the lifestyle. I'm studying International Business back home, and now that I've gotten international experience, I would love to continue it. As long as I can make trips back home.

Q: What do you miss the most about back home?
A: I miss a lot of things. I miss being able to understand the language, to start off. When my friends and I went to Spain for a few days, it was so nice to be able to kind of understand and speak with people. I'm only conversational in Spanish though. Also, I miss my friends and family more than anything. Sure, I've made so many great friends here and they've been a huge reason as to why this trip was such a success, but I can't forget my roots here. I miss my little sleepy town, but I'm sure I'll get over that pretty quickly. I also miss being able to drive. Taking buses and trains was fun, but it was nice to just be able to get in the car and drive to where ever I needed to be.


Q: What will you miss the most about Europe?
A: So many things, once again. Being able to travel, the night life, my friends here, the more laid back lifestyle, the food, I could go on and on. I really do love it here, it's been the best experience thus far in my life. I mean sure it will be nice to go home and get back into my routine there, but it won't compare to the adventures I've had here where I could get on a train or a plane and be in a different country in a few hours. Maybe I'm still in the honeymoon phase, but so be it, I don't mind.


Q: Do you have any advice for future students?
A: Try to learn some French before you come, even if it's just the basics, it will help a lot and make you feel more comfortable. But even if you don't manage to learn a little French, don't worry, I survived. Second, check the wattage on your devices, the electricity back home and here in Europe are very different, and you can accidentally kill your devices. Third, wear sunscreen! (Wanna hear that story? It was a hot mess, just ask me about it...not something the public wants to know about).

Q: Where was your favorite place to visit?
A: Well I was lucky enough to visit a few different countries while I was here: Turkey, Belgium, Germany, and Spain. In that aspect, I'd have to say Turkey was my favorite because not only did I get to explore a totally different place, but I got to do it with two of my best friends from back home (well one of them was from Turkey, but I met her back home). In respect to in Luxembourg, Little Switzerland was beautiful and worth hiking my butt off (once). I spent most of my time in Luxembourg City as well, so I gotta love it there. And of course there is Esch, strange strange Esch. We've had a love-hate relationship over these months, but it was all a part of the experience, so I wouldn't trade it away.

Hmm...it seems like that's all the questions I can think of at the moment. Again, I want to thank everyone who helped to make my stay here in Luxembourg so comfortable and enjoyable. I'd also like to thank those back home who made this trip possible. When you hear people talk about their experiences with study abroad programs they always use the cliche of "it was the best time of my life", and I'm here to tell you they're so right. If you get the chance to do it, do it, you won't regret it. I had so much fun! I'm at the worst part of my stay now, saying goodbye to everyone.

So, Luxembourg, I've loved everything you've had to offer, and I'm sure I'll be back someday to appreciate it all over again. And now, it's time to use my favorite word here, it will be misused but it's been the word of the semester...Moein! And to end this post, Addi. :)