I'm ready to come home

While studying abroad in Seville, Spain, I learned a lot about not only Spanish culture but also my culture and myself. Through this experience, I now know how important it is to be able to view life from another world perspective. In doing so I feel more able to look at my country and government more objectively (or less subjectively). My first and strongest lesson was how much we as Americans consume compared to the Spanish, and it's not like they don't shop or like to take long showers. We're all very interconnected, especially the United States and Western Europe. And despite many differences, Spain and the United States have a lot in common. Although it's not as available, technology is becoming increasingly important in Spanish culture; Spaniards listen to a lot of our music and watch more of our movies than their own. We place a lot of importance on higher education ... the list could go on and on.\nThat being said, let me now mention some things that are quite different because during this semester I've learned a lot about my likes, dislikes and American dependencies. For example, after walking 45 minutes each way to class every day, I know now how very dependent I am on my car. Despite living in Spain for a semester, I have found I am very partial to American food. Not that Spanish food is bad ... it's just not that good. Oh, and how nice it is to walk down a street clear of dog poop! And after watching some television that is even more mindless than some of our worst, I know how very entertaining American television can be. Never having had the dorm experience, I can now appreciate how silly and important being young is, but one semester of last-minute plans and going out every weekend is enough for me! Something I'll miss right away about living in Spain is how much easier it is to tune out annoying chatter when it's not in your native language. Along with that, I learned how very difficult it is to truly express yourself in another language, especially when talking about something like politics or literature, which they do oh-so-often.\nSocially, I got a lot more practice making friends, I tried more independence on for size, I learned what it's like to live with people who aren't exactly nurturing, (i.e. people different from my parents), I learned how to deal with occasional solitude, and I gained the reinforced insight to know who and what is really important to me back at home -- mostly my family and school.\nFrom Spanish culture, I learned the benefits of living life at a slower pace, but I'm now ready to speed back up and start getting more accomplished on a daily basis and making longer to-do lists. However, one of the first things on this list is to spend some quality time with my new best friend, TiVo, a television system that lets you record one program live, pause it and pick it up where you left off. And I can't wait to walk down a street, sharing my exciting adventures with a friend, all the while not looking down for dog poop.