Get Lost abroad

Most students at Indiana University have already left Bloomington or they are a week deep into the first summer session, but not me.

 Instead of worrying about how I’m going to fix my farmers tan without being seen by other people, I find myself cooped up inside preparing for my finals that take place this week. After gallivanting in Europe for the past 104 days, I only have five days left until I return to reality — I mean Bloomington.

As the end draws near, I can see the American flag at the end of the tunnel. While I look forward to returning home and I imagine how good that first #2 Jimmy Johns sandwhich with salt and vinegar chips is going to be, it is difficult to leave this place and the people I’ve met.

Instead of studying for finals, I procrastinate by flipping through photos of the places I’ve been and remembering all the different experiences I’ve had, such as traveling to Barcelona, Dublin and Amsterdam for spring break and then going to France the following weekend after I returned to school.

Being away from America has given me so much more to say about the culture that I’m from.
I have a newfound love for accommodations that America has provided me with for so many years that I never appreciated properly, such as the “15 items or less” line in grocery stores or Steak N’ Shake not making me pay two euros for a glass of water.

I look forward to free ketchup packets and it will be strange that I won’t feel bigger than all the smart cars on the road around me.

If you know somebody who has gone abroad, you probably remember how many stories they had and all the inside jokes they’ll try to explain but eventually move on to another tale to prove their worldly-ness.

You may have wanted to tell them “Yeah Steve, you already told me about how you lived off baguettes and Nutella for three days in France,” or maybe after the 15th time hearing about how much nicer the McDonald’s restaurants are in Europe, you decide that you’d rather go to Wendy’s with them this time.

Admittedly, I’ve already made myself into one of those people by writing this article. For students debating whether to study abroad I offer this advice: Do it. For most young adults, we spend basically all our time planning our futures and preparing to fit in to a world we’ve never truly seen.

It is easy to believe that the American way of life is the best way, I’m not arguing it isn’t, but there are so many countries that have cultural qualities everyone should have the opportunity to appreciate.

Sure you may have studied a few countries, but writing a paper using the sources at the bottom of the Wikipedia page doesn’t count.

Where the traditional classroom way of learning can go stale, studying abroad pushes you into new ways of thinking without having a professor guide you through with the use of PowerPoint.

­— agreiner@indiana.edu