It has been a good while since I have blogged. I have been putting it off for some time. Not because I don’t want to do it, but because I have been quite busy. Between the last week of classes to two consecutive weeks of finals, It has been intense.
I am writing this as I have already taken a nine and a half hour flight back and am currently in Chicago waiting to get on my last connecting flight back home to Minneapolis.
I don’t even know where to start. Finals were exhausting, and the emotions going into leaving didn’t help my studying patterns. I felt good about my last three exams, and it was a bittersweet ending to my time in Amsterdam. My suite and I had one last final potluck with other apartments to say goodbye. In celebration of our last night, my roommates put their mattresses in my room and had a sleepover. I am so thankful to the lovely people I have met.
Leaving this morning was extremely challenging, and I’m pretty sure I am a bit dehydrated from all the tears (I blame the lack of sleep and finals stress on the tears too). Walking from my apartment to the train station was an unforgettable experience. It was still dark out, and I did my best to take it all in, and breathe. I actually ran into a couple people that I had met in the airport and got to say a final goodbye.
On my flight to Chicago I met some really amazing people. It reminded me now travel doesn’t have to be a long and sad process. I ended up sitting next to a Dutch man who was visiting his girlfriend from Arkansas and we pretty much talked the entire flight. He even gave me some Drop (black licorice) flavored Mentos to try. He helped me practice my dutch, and we talked about cultural similarities and differences. It was really fun.
While in Chicago, I met a dad and his eight year old daughter and talked with them for about two hours out of my four hour layover. All my hesitations about coming home were starting to subside. Now that I am in the traveling process I am getting less and less nervous about losing the person I have become while abroad. Talking to all these people and laughing has made the whole traveling process much easier, and I can’t wait to finally come home.
I thought blogging would be a good way to give people insight into my study abroad experience, but truthfully it was very challenging to even give even a glimpse of my experience. It is much easier (although somehow still a challenge) to talk about it in person.
So, if you have any specific questions, or truly want to know more about my experience while in Amsterdam, feel free to contact me (you can get my information through the Off Campus Studies Office).
Tot ziens,
Mary
